Posted in traditional music, tagged Donald Kachamba, kwela, Malawi, UCLA on January 30, 2008 | 3 Comments »
I have said before that my time at UCLA was like a giant musical all-u-can-eat buffet. And just when I thought I couldn’t possibly pack one more ensemble into my schedule, they sprung the “year of African music” on me, and brought Donald Kachamba to teach for a quarter. Donald was from Malawi, [...]
Posted in improvisation, original music, piano, tagged art, improvisation, piano, Terry Payne on January 24, 2008 | No Comments »
This is a piece I wrote and recorded on Christmas Eve. I like it because it reminds me of an artist in Pasadena, Terry Payne, whose work is shown above. Mostly, it reminds me of the music on his website, but then I can easily remember meeting him and his big fluffy dog [...]
Posted in dance, traditional music, tagged Budapest, Hungary, csango, dance, Fono on January 23, 2008 | No Comments »
This is a short clip of the dancing at the folk club Viktoria took us to. Gotta love the way the dancers’ feet add to the ryhthm of the music.
Posted in captured sound, tagged bathtub, drip, water on January 23, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Consider this another work in progress. Got out of the bath one day, but didn’t drain the water out right away because Eleanor, the cat, likes to stand on the edge of the tub and lick the water. From the other room, I could hear this dripping sound, like I must have turned [...]
Posted in traditional music, tagged Budapest, Hungary, csango, Fono, singing on January 13, 2008 | No Comments »
I’m in an internet cafe in Budapest, and I don’t have much time, so I’ll just quickly post this mp3, and then take some time later to write about it. This was a performance Viktoria and Istvan took us to last night in this awesome folk club. After the concert, there was dancing [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on January 10, 2008 | No Comments »
I don’t know what my schedule or internet access will be like over the next week while we’re in Budapest, but I’m sure I’ll be collecting some great music there, and I promise to post as soon as I can! I’ll also be posting pictures on my flickr page: www.flickr.com/photos/butchandchristie
Next stop, Budapest! And then exotic [...]
Posted in hammered dulcimer, original music, tagged Butch and Christie on January 8, 2008 | 1 Comment »
…But it sure is starting to sound good.
Here’s me and Butch giving it a whirl, thinking we might perform it in Budapest next week. When he gets it goin’ on the guitar, I forget all about Death Cab for Cutie, and realize it’s “Dear Prudence.” Hey, I could steal from worse.
Confused Waltz, hammered [...]
Posted in hammered dulcimer, original music, piano on January 7, 2008 | No Comments »
A few weeks ago, I was feeling a little confused. And I sat down with all of my feelings at the piano and wrote this waltz. I find that it’s good to play when you’re thinking too hard, because the playing can take over… Sometimes it’s just funny what comes out, though. [...]
Posted in hammered dulcimer, traditional music, voice, tagged Africa, Burkina Faso, ngoni on January 3, 2008 | No Comments »
Another unexpected musical encounter in Ireland, which I can only faintly remember… A guy named Trevor came into The Living Tradition, the music shop where I was working (working at making conversation with just about everyone, that is). He told me he played the ngoni, an instrument related to the west African kora. [...]
Posted in traditional music, tagged Cork City, Ireland, session, trad music on January 3, 2008 | 2 Comments »
My days in Cork were so rich in music from the moment I arrived there. I hardly went anywhere without bringing my minidisc recorder along. This recording was made on November 14, 2001, which would’ve been just about 2 months after I first got to Cork for my year abroad. It was [...]
