Festival Cervantino Shows
I was invited by Armando Lopez Valdivia to perform as a special guest with his early music group "Los Tiempos Pasados" in the Cervantino festival here in Guanajuato. We did two shows, one in an old cathedral here in town and another in a beautiful theatre in nearby Leon. Both events turned out wonderfully and I made some new musical friends as well. Below are two photos, the first is from the show in Leon and the second is from the Valenciana cathedral.
New
CD of
Solo
Guitar and
Dulcimer - “La Esperanza Sigue”
On August 6th my new CD titled “La Esperanza Sigue” was released.
All of the pieces are solo guitar or solo dulcimer (13 guitar pieces and 2 dulcimer). The centerpiece of the disc is the suite "La Esperanza Sigue" which was inspired by the time I spent in Nicaragua working as a volunteer with young children. The organization I worked with was called La Esperanza Granada and I composed a suite based on the idea of hope for the children of the world and titled it “La Esperanza Sigue” which translates from the Spanish as “The Hope Continues”. I’m really pleased with how it turned out and I hope that it inspires something of hope in you. See the music page to listen and obtain a copy for yourself if you'd like!
CD Release shows in Chicago and Misourri
I played a Chicago area CD release show at the Two Way Street, in Downers Grove on the 6th of August and it was really great. The audience at the Two Way Street was very attentive and the room is set up in such a way that you really feel a connection to the listeners. I hope everyone had as good a time as I did!
I'll also played a CD release/benefit show in Ozark, Missouri on Sunday, August 22nd at the Ozark Presbyterian Church in Ozark, Missouri. The proceeds from the admission charge went to the benefit the fair trade movement which promotes fair business practices in dealing with the coffee growers of Central America. The show had a nice turnout
Other New Recordings from Mexico (and the USA)
In March I recorded with
Armando López Valdivia here in Guanajuato. We tracked nearly
two hours of music and it turned out beautifully. Armando played violas
de gamba, flute, guitar, zamfona (it’s like a hurdy-gurdy)
and hand drum while I played guitar, dulcimer and vihuela (a Spanish
16th century antecedent of the guitar). I am now in the process of
mixing and editing the results and I’ll post some of it as
soon as it’s ready.
I also did some playing and recording in Mexico City with my friend
drummer/percussionist Javier Sosa. He played drum set and various
percussion instruments and I played guitar and dulcimer. I’ll
be adding some bass here at home and then mixing the results. So far it
sounds great - I hope I don’t mess it up with the bass parts!
Once again, I’ll post the results when they’re
ready.
After returning home I did another session with jazz and R&B
vocalist Jazmin Skye. We have been playing duets of voice and guitar
and we recorded four tunes to function as a demo. As you might guess,
my hands have been full with mixing and editing!
Guanajuato mini-tour a Success
The first concert in the beautiful Museo Iconográfico de Don Quixote in Guanajuato, Mexico on August 7th turned out to be one of the best concerts I’ve ever given. The museum is a converted old hacienda near the center of town and it has a great concert space in the sculpture garden with wonderful acoustics. I’m happy that Armando Lopez Valdivia joined me on stage again. He played with me there 2 years ago and it was a fantastic show. Armando is an early music specialist and has a collection of nearly 200 instruments - and he plays them all! You can see my recap of the concert with photos and video here. On the strength of that concert I was offered another at the Museo Dieguino also in Guanajuato. You can read the recap (also with vieo and photos) here. Between the two concerts, I traveled to Mexico City to do some recording with drummer Javier Sosa and bassist Edgar Sanchez. I’ll post some audio of that session when it’s mixed down. I then went to Paracho, a small town in the mountains of Michoacan to purchase some instruments. If you’d like to read the blog of the whole trip, you can read it here.
Concert Tour of Mexico, Europe and Africa
I was invited to tour as the
guitarist in the band of Koulsy Lamko, an African vocalist currently
residing in Mexico City. The tour visited several cities in Mexico,
France, Italy, Mali and Burkina Faso. The band was part of
“The Caravan Tom Sank” which celebrated the life of
Thomas Sankara, the former president of Burkina Faso. Although the tour
had a number of logistical problems, it was fascinating to see Africa
and to get to know the people a little bit. We had a couple of
fantastic opportunities to play with griots in Mali. The griots are a
caste of musician/poets that are raised to be artists from childhood
and keep their people’s cultural story and wisdom in memory
through song and spoken word. I have never played with more natural
musicians in all my life. If you’d like to read the blog of
the trip, go to the following link:
Mexico,
Europe and Africa Blog
