Well here we are in sunny California, where forest fires have burnt 850 homes some just a few miles from where we are staying ….. meanwhile at home in England there has been snow! Unfortunately the only tan we have is a studio one as we are finishing off recording with Mark Riley from Hawaii. Most of the week we’ve been recording with Kevin Penner at Green Bean studios, you can check out his studio here.
We also recorded a piano track with our good friends Tony and Sue Green at their studio www.eargallerymusic.com Tony and I have worked together for many years touring and recording and it is always great to get a chance to hang out with him and Sue. You can hear a track from Tony’s new recording below which we worked on together … just Bass and Percussion.
Mingus and the Coyote
Harrisburg, PA. (Feb)
After a very mild winter here in England it was a bit of a shock to fly into the state of Pennsylvania which had been hit with up to 9ft snow drifts!! It was great to be back with friends in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and hear their stories.
Last year I had met a family from the Amish community and this year again we spent some more time together. Theirs is quite a story …. a couple of years ago one of their family members was dramatically healed by God, which took them on a new journey, and other family members were also miraculously healed. The general understanding amongst the Amish is that God does not heal today and these family’s have come in conflict with the community’s teachings and have been ex-communicated. They have decided though, to stay as part of the Amish community even though being ostracised, praying that God would make a way for reconciliation.
Having travelled to 49 of the 50 states in North America, I have realised the amazing diversity amongst its people. In fact the Americas (North and South) are home to over 1000 indigenous languages. And what amazing musical sounds and styles from the second line drumming of New Orleans, Inuit throat singing known as katajjaq from Quebec to Brazillian samba and Guyana calypso. What stands out artistically amongst the indigenous people of these lands is their visual arts – their pottery, paintings, jewellery, weavings, basketry, beadwork, carvings and sculptures.
22 October – 6 November
A team of about 30 people representing about 16 nationalities with an emphasis on reconciliation issues concerning the legacy of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, met in Barbados for the first week and then split into 3 teams for the 2nd week going to Cartagena , Columbia, Curacao, Dutch West Indies and Martinique and Guadeloupe. We went to Martinique and Guadeloupe.
…… and the rest of the story Read More
Martin travelled, on his own this time, to record a C.D. with Jo Vogels. Martin has played on and produced an album for Jo before, and they’ve been friends for a number of years. (In August Jo flew over from Australia and spent a week with us at our home, doing pre-production work. We had a lot of fun with Jo playing his songs and Martin making suggestions about style, timing, dynamics etc..) Whilst out in the States we even had time for some paddling …… Read More
