Here’s a link to our good friend and fellow mischief maker Mark Riley from the island of Kaua’i, who we have collaborated with on many musical ventures. ALOHA. Listen to his music ….. Read More
Interesting clip from Cambodia about the resurgence of Khmer arts.
“There has been a revival of traditional and contemporary arts across the country and Phnom Penh has become a hotbed of creativity and young talent. Michelle Jana Chan travelled to the capital to look at this resurgence.”
This is a beautiful traditional Korean drum and dance performance. Samgo-mu is a dance genre with colorful and various techniques, with dancers with three drums hung on the square frames laid out in a triangle form. Three drums are set so that one dancer may hit all of three drums whilst dancing.
During our recent visit we met a man who now lived in the city but had grown up in the Wagogo village. He invited us to his home to meet his family to say thank you for our partnership with Mnase community. As a child he had grown up walking 10 km a day to collect water. During droughts this well would draw so many people that he would find it hard to get near the water. So he and a group 0f 20 young children decided to go late at night in order to miss the crowds, going as a group prevented attacks by hyenas. Some nights though, in the darkness, they would slip and the yokes carrying the calabash gourdes full of water would fall and break. On these nights they would go home crying to inform their parents that there would be no water that day. With the well now in the community, his families (who still live in the village) lives have been transformed.
We have all been shocked by the horrendous happenings in Norway and I have felt for my good friends in that beautiful country. In my thoughts I kept remembering a wonderful singer Hildegunn Vederhus who I had met this May in Norway. She told me some of the stories of her land and sang some of the old folk songs. This is just one (my friend John captured roughly on his Ipad) that she remembered from her childhood.
Here is her translation – very apt after the sadness of the last few days …. Read More
LATEST NEWS – Thanks Dan …. mixing done and dusted. Bit of a marathon as we had music tracks for CD and for DVD. The exciting thing is that the DVD will have over an hours worth of video clips. Now working on the cover design with our good friend Andy at JHarts. Mastering next week at Digital Audio in Skipton.
Thanks Alex for this little bit of madness …. and yes, it’s the cowbell again!
A UN-backed tribunal in Cambodia is holding its first hearing in the trial of four former top Khmer Rouge leaders.
A quick update on the Cambodia project – we are just finishing the last video for the DVD. There will be loads of material for the DVD as this time good friend Jerry Curd from Digital Image accompanied us to film. We hope to include – a clip on Cambodia – another about CCAM and their story – 5 videos of traditional Khmer dances – 3 traditional orchestra pieces – individual instruments – and a photo gallery of life.
Here is a collection of new videos recorded on our 2011 return trip to Tanzania. A great rainy season has brought the best harvest for over 8 years which in turn has made an unbelievable difference to life in the village. Celebration is everywhere, not only for provision, we have arrived at a very special time of year in central Tanzania as Gogo children head out of the village for male circumcision …. the drummers are in full voice, often celebrating all through the night. Their light weight drums are made from a wood called muheme.
Check out more videos ….. Read More
A chance discussion about old sounds resulted in a very special discovery. This instrument is the last one in the village and had not been played for around 20 years. With a dual purpose it gathered maize during the day and was turned upside down and used as a drum for certain occasions. It was mainly used during female circumcision and as that custom has died out completely, the instrument has also now been forgotten.
