tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83194542120548744192024-02-20T17:39:22.254-05:00Frank Colón's Bongo Madness!As a percussionist, I specialize in Latin Caribbean instruments such as congas, bongos, timbales, shekere, and Cuban bata drums as well as Brazilian specialty items such as cuica, berimbau, atabaque and the entire array of samba instruments. Much more biographical info is available on my site - www.frankcolon.com ~~~
As Friedrich Nietzsche said, "Without music, life would be a mistake." To this, I say, "Without Drummers, life would be a dismal existence, at best!"Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-13109093416334929862012-06-29T14:52:00.000-04:002012-06-29T14:52:27.969-04:00While <u>The Beatles</u> were the primary influence in sparking my interest in becoming a musician,<b> it was, without doubt, the Santana Band</b> <b>that defined the direction that I would take!</b> Up until their international debut within the Woodstock movie, I had been trying my hand at playing guitar, bass and keyboards (as well as doing vocals!) in various Puertorican teenage cover bands, reproducing British and American rock songs, performing mostly at parties and such.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y89pIuk1leI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
Moving to the States in 1970, the rug was literally pulled out from under my feet when I witnessed this Latino- rock-fusion band, composed of cats that resembled street hoods and that anchored their mesmerizing sound around the beats and tones of the conga drums! I was hooked! And, I haven’t looked back since.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/SiGSsP60BLA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
These clips portray the original Santana Band line-up, with Michael Carabello on congas, Jose “Chepito” Areas on timbales, and Mike Shrieve on trap drums…all of whom I’ve since met and hung out with during my own professional touring.<br />
<br />
<b>Enjoy the hot, fiery grooves! </b><br />Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-29083402238596674892011-03-21T21:32:00.002-04:002011-03-21T21:35:31.615-04:00Pioneers, Mentors, and FriendsThis is what it’s all about: the older generation passing on the knowledge to the newer generation! If one has been fortunate to have had someone give them a hand in getting on the elevator that’s going “up”, it’s then our/your responsibility to send the elevator back down, so that someone else can also have that opportunity. <br /><br />An example of this is seen in this clip, wherein the late, great Tata Guines is jamming with a young and talented Havana youth who goes by the name of “Lucumi”.<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Q3-VYIAKGWI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />This other clip also features some more Latin drumming pioneers, friends, and mentors. It’s a great compilation…enjoy! Of notable mention are friends Eddie “Gua-Gua” Rivera on bass and Steve Berrios on timbales, performing in the Mongo Santamaria Band!<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/336JucNrWnA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-75940483412680879642011-02-10T07:46:00.005-05:002011-02-10T08:01:46.376-05:00More DrumBrothers!Hello, Friends!<br /><br />As you know, this blog is dedicated to music and drumming and, while this supposition embraces the unlimited percussive expressions worldwide, I most often fancy featuring many of my close DrumBrothers from all around the globe.<br /><br />Here’s an archive clip featuring one of the most influential fusion trap drummers of American music: Steve Gadd!<br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2cM9sj8W_D4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br />Here’s another sensational DrumBrother (composer and pianist!) who is very dear to my heart: Tommy Campbell! Our friendship goes back more than a few decades, during which time we toured, recorded, and performed together in bands such as The Manhattan Transfer and Ray Anderson’s Alligatory Band, as well as Tommy’s own band. <br /><br />This performance in Budapest also counts with the participation of Attila Laszlo on guitar, Olah Kalman on piano, Bela Latmann on bass, and Horvath Kornel on percussion.<br /><br />Enjoy! :-)<br /><br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tyIm5RTSyfY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br />Another deeply creative DrumBrother (and Manhattan Transfer Alumni) whom I love to perform with is Cliff Almond! In this first clip, he is featured with the Michel Camilo Trio, performing in Spain.<br /><br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aG9rjLrQ0nY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br /><br />In this next clip, Cliff is featured performing in New York City alongside Wayne Krantz on guitar and John Patitucci on upright bass!<br /><br /><br /><iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uDvW4scffSc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-41411103269831882772010-04-22T14:31:00.004-04:002010-04-22T14:42:06.942-04:00The Hurricane from Bahia: Ivete Sangalo + Samuel Formell of Los Van Van!Here’s one of my all-time favorite bands; Los Van-Van de Cuba!<br />Led by the wonderfully creative bassist, Juan Formell, it is from this band that the celebrated drummer, Jose Luis "Changuito" Quintana came from. Changuito is credited with having co-created the “Songo” style of Cuban music and rhythm, by which means he adapted the traditional drum set into the context of the Latin music orchestral drum ensemble. When he left the Van-Van band in 1992, Juan Formell’s son, Samuel, took Changuito’s place, effectively commanding the drum chair while also manning the timbales, as well! It is Samuel who is featured in this swingin’ clip, filmed at the Karl Marx theater in Havana, Cuba. Enjoy, as Samuel sculpts a badass solo on timbales and drumset! ...smokin'!!!<br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SiQJGogjCoo&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SiQJGogjCoo&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Now, some more samba percussion, from a show titled , “Cidade do Samba”, which has become a favorite of mine. This clip features the special appearance of singer/composer Juan Luis Guerra, from the Dominican Republic, paired off with Brazilian singing and dancing hurricane, Ivete Sangalo. Between us, it’s a very bold move to attempt to sing and/or perform roots samba if you don’t know how to speak Portuguese or how the samba rhythm swings. But, to my surprise, Juan Luis Guerra pulls it off, without causing any major train wrecks. Then again, an even bolder move is to attempt to demarcate one’s own stage space while performing with Ivete Sangalo! That’s what’s really dangerous to do! This beautiful performer from Bahia takes absolutely no prisoners during her performance!<br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wLgtDYEit0c&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wLgtDYEit0c&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />I am able to sense that Ivete, who naturally exudes tons of charisma on and off stage, wasn’t totally satisfied at having been paired up with the Dominican merenge star. One can notice how she challenges him to move his feet to the samba – a challenge that is quite common in the idiom and genre of samba! As Juan Luis doesn’t bite the hook, Ivete resolves to simply have her own fun on top of the samba groove while taking over the stage, effectively stealing the spotlight from the Caribbean brother. I can see from Juan Luis’ face that he is concentrating on keeping it together during this performance, as Ivete commands every square inch of their stage riser, except the spot where he is standing on. I'm afraid that he's learned the hard way that, while Ivete is a tough act to follow, it can prove to be even more hazardous to share the stage with this formidable performing powerhouse!Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-8674580771534368592010-04-09T22:33:00.001-04:002010-04-09T22:36:09.702-04:00Gilberto Gil and Marjorie Estiano - Chiclete Com BananaHere’s another video clip from a great show which features former Brazilian Minister of Culture, singer/composer Gilberto Gil and singer/actor Marjorie Estiano. Originally from Bahia, Gil is totally at home in the samba genre, although he has composed prolifically in almost every style of music, including rock and reggae. Marjorie, on the other hand, is not that experienced with this style, but she manages to defend her presentation with her sense of stage presence and her appealing tonal quality.<br /><br />While Marjorie is totally committed to her heartfelt vocal delivery, Gil’s natural charisma and exuberant artistry quickly evidence why he has always been a musical powerhouse in Brazil and around the world. An accomplished guitarist, as well, Gil’s enthusiasm is as contagious as it is over-powering! However, the experienced and consummately confident entertainer that he is, provides him with the insight of knowing exactly when to physically lift up Marjorie to his own level. And, rise she does!<br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/haxF-Xyxj3U&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/haxF-Xyxj3U&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />This song is performed really jazzy and we can see that the band is performing with a cool reverence that denotes the respect and sheer awe that everybody feels in the presence of Gil. The drummers keep the groove burning at an even smolder, maintaining a controlled wicked infectious swing all the way through song, which Gil flipped into an improvised vocal jam. There is even a cat playing a small frying pan, which is mentioned in the lyrics of the song!<br /> <br />Brazilian audiences love to see their artists dancing to their own groove. It’s appreciated as the artist’s surrender to the most elemental of instinctual human pleasure for the benefit of the audience. And, Gil throws down, on the hoof, with total natural abandon, much to the crowd’s delight! Even band director, Rildo Hora is totally mesmerized by the magic of the moment, so much so, that Gil directs the finale of the song.Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-84406472517723836512010-04-07T16:00:00.004-04:002010-04-07T19:27:15.174-04:00The Roots of Samba: Zeca Pagodinho and Dudu NobreFollowing my blog's purpose, which is the featuring of virtuosic drumming from around the world (and, preferably performed by my own friends!), I’ve lately been giving priority to samba jams. Here’s one that features two of the genre’s most popular contemporary masters, Dudu Nobre and Zeca Pagodinho, performing together at a National Samba Day celebration party, this year in honor of singer Beth Carvalho’s 40-year career commemoration. The music and video production was directed by Brazil’s stellar producer, Daniel Figueiredo, owner of the Music Solution Studio, in Rio de Janeiro.<br /><br />The song is titled, “Quem É Ela”, and was written by both of the performers, Zeca and Dudu. Check out, however, the cats on the pagode drums, as they lay down this thick, sweaty, badass, funky accompaniment to the singers and melody players! These cats are putting muscle into a traditional poly-rhythmic samba stew, with sophisticated technique that actually surpasses the need for amplification. They are playing just as if they were hanging on the corner of their favorite neighborhood botiquin on an animated Sunday afternoon!<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aC5JDIFGwPg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aC5JDIFGwPg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Towards the end of the song, Zeca snaps on colleague Almir Guineto, who rises to the challenge (literally!) and responds with an improvisation of his own – something totally spontaneous and unplanned! Dudu Nobre, sensing from his ample experience that the situation is about to veer off into uncharted territory, raises his arm to direct the song’s finale, just as Almir is calling on another sambista to rise up and get into the developing call-and-response singer duel. As such, the song ends on a good note and organically flows into another jam….soon to be featured here, as well!<br /><br />Enjoy... then, get up and get your drums out!Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-37084668610834581582010-04-01T11:33:00.007-04:002010-04-01T14:48:30.834-04:00Old Songs > New Grooves!It was back in 1939 that Glenn Miller first recorded his classic song, “In the Mood”. A subsequent Brazilian version, with Portuguese lyrics was composed and recorded in 1954 by Aloysio de Oliveira, whose orchestra Bando da Lua (The Band from the Moon), accompanied Carmen Miranda on her tour of the U.S.A. This samba version combines the talent of radical punk-rocker, Pitti, with hard-core rapper, Marcelo D2, in an interesting and swinging rendition of this timeless classic! But, check out the guys back in the percussion kitchen, cooking up a hot and spicy samba jam! <br /><br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fnzk6DveWHM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fnzk6DveWHM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />And, here’s an impromptu jam with my soul brother, Daniel Figueiredo, and mutual bro, Claudio da Matta. We were all in a recording studio in São Conrado, mixing video for another project, (www.musicalnationproject.com) when we took a break and pulled out some instruments, just for the fun of it. As we set up, with no previous rehearsal, a swift video assistant scooped up a minicam and registered this first-take of us experimenting with a new groove for the bossa classic, Wave”. Now, all of a sudden, besides all of our other individual and collective projects, we’re considering building up a repertoire for this trio.<br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/47AR9FuRwmg&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/47AR9FuRwmg&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Daniel Figueiredo is one of Brazil’s premier television soundtrack composers and producers, as well as a gifted multi-instrumentalist. Claudio da Matta, a former Olympic athlete medalist, is a proven composer, vocalist and guitarist.<br /><br />Later this month in Rio, I'll be featured in a show with saxophonist Ricardo Serpa's "Quarteto Aquariando", at the Santo Cenarium theater! Don't miss it!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcHyI4tlBZXFL7UGrDFG2xiYm0-iwzG9CmPPls66zzvyXAqfZl19jEYw7m6NrxjPC2VmrlfQREweAG3Qm7KyRwZHcmHLoqKDhGDdYX5WfDU-mfclPE9xZpaCTK8ONUNkzpXsM6DDMKpYU/s1600/ricardofrankapril23.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 336px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcHyI4tlBZXFL7UGrDFG2xiYm0-iwzG9CmPPls66zzvyXAqfZl19jEYw7m6NrxjPC2VmrlfQREweAG3Qm7KyRwZHcmHLoqKDhGDdYX5WfDU-mfclPE9xZpaCTK8ONUNkzpXsM6DDMKpYU/s400/ricardofrankapril23.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455242669730936770" /></a>Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-702985572429015812009-10-23T22:11:00.006-04:002009-10-23T22:38:53.443-04:00Impure Thoughts - Pete Lockett - Selva GaneshHello, Friends!<br /><br />First of all, today I'd like to share a video clip that up on the Tube from one of the bands in which I had a ton of fun performing in: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Impure Thoughts</span>! This sextet, led by the extraordinary pianist, Michael Wolff, was one of the rare groups that I worked with for an extended length of time in which I never performed on either bongos or congas. In fact, I really can't remember any other band in which I both toured and recorded with that described my participation as strictly a "percussive colorist". <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwekytXqq7l95j0McvyWJZZ-k7nncNhrZUdJzjzmSZulbV1a5cRjgkOtteqHBsXUomiJn2PU2x_WbM5hdBCaBwdfXlzlY5Jaq3Z65HpGfyuHmGkxQttPJsUeQhNgYA_uampvSePX6bpi4/s1600-h/Intoxicate.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 115px; height: 114px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwekytXqq7l95j0McvyWJZZ-k7nncNhrZUdJzjzmSZulbV1a5cRjgkOtteqHBsXUomiJn2PU2x_WbM5hdBCaBwdfXlzlY5Jaq3Z65HpGfyuHmGkxQttPJsUeQhNgYA_uampvSePX6bpi4/s400/Intoxicate.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395987484153237666" /></a><br /><br />Mike had originally thought of my inclusion in the band as a Tabla player who also used sound effects, but I instead suggested that he use a full-time Tabla drummer and referred him to my friend, the musically-flexible Badal Roy. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCrHxhNfZDvqX6PKpF_DCMDb_0VDKQKTjU2L2vkA61cBGDKpWv-lQOeSvIsejo4j3EwnrUQvu3tvja7HVD0xRInDAbB_M2ezMc3WXBWd0YrjwHYnMelj_Ozp3SCzQ5TO5A1MoZCig3yZ0/s1600-h/ImpureThoughts.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 107px; height: 107px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCrHxhNfZDvqX6PKpF_DCMDb_0VDKQKTjU2L2vkA61cBGDKpWv-lQOeSvIsejo4j3EwnrUQvu3tvja7HVD0xRInDAbB_M2ezMc3WXBWd0YrjwHYnMelj_Ozp3SCzQ5TO5A1MoZCig3yZ0/s400/ImpureThoughts.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395987742085837266" /></a><br /><br />The concept that Michael was looking to explore was that of a world-music sound that did not lean towards the Latino concept, as he abhors the role of the Latin pianist who is often relegated to "playing montunos all night." As such, after a series of rehearsals, during which we three got tight with the other members of the band - John B. Williams, on electric up-right bass, Alex Foster on saxes, and trap drummer Victor Jones - I settled on a functional percussive arsenal that featured Shekere, Berimbau, Cuica, Djembe, Timbales, and another 50 or so sound effects. I introduced a Wave Drum (it's a drum synth, built by KORG) during a couple of gigs in NYC, but I believe that Mike and Badal were a bit frightened by the electric amplification of such and I was requested to please remain acoustic. I always did, however, use my K & K contact mics for my Berimbau and Cuica, so that I could project my sound while not being prisoner to a specific stage location.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj4mICwHau2YeHqnH_LkuoFm33sAtYetepoiKJvdLs4gwD1oxwLB1H826VYiYwpeyR3YFJ_i8KFSUisCCyIX8EkEddA-Yayxru_A4oSIUFOGsXRl572TCc14c0f2WcMrwx-hAM4VzAG6E/s1600-h/ImpThoughtsJapan.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 104px; height: 108px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj4mICwHau2YeHqnH_LkuoFm33sAtYetepoiKJvdLs4gwD1oxwLB1H826VYiYwpeyR3YFJ_i8KFSUisCCyIX8EkEddA-Yayxru_A4oSIUFOGsXRl572TCc14c0f2WcMrwx-hAM4VzAG6E/s400/ImpThoughtsJapan.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395987937473272434" /></a><br /><br />This composition is called Eritrea, and was inspired by Mike's personal exploration of the music from various areas of northern Africa. It just happens to be the first song that we worked on at our first rehearsal at Euphoria Studios in Manhattan!<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Impure Thoughts Clip</span><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z1pVeM-g03U&hl=pt-br&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z1pVeM-g03U&hl=pt-br&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Now, it gives me great pleasure to share with you the news about a wonderful drumming book which has recently been released by my friend and colleague, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Pete Lockett.</span> The book is, <span style="font-weight:bold;">"Indian Rhythms for Drumset"</span>. The book presents an in-depth study of the intensely complex musical system of rhythmic cycles which define both the music tradition from northern and southern India. <br /><br />Pete, whom I met and befriended at a WOMEX conference in Berlin (and, who later, along with his wife Pam - who is also a musician! - visited me in Rio de Janeiro) is one of the premier percussionists of our generation, who happens to be from England! He has certainly paid his dues, subjecting himself to acquiring drum knowledge through the traditional method of apprenticeship to a drum master, for a long period of time. His efforts have handsomely rewarded him with vast profound knowledge and impeccable technique on both the Tablas and the Kanjira, the major classical drums of northern and southern India.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_64SwBCYddY-4dP6OqRhgWQpPpIRvo8W-v_vVdHY0t-d6fle5auZAN_DqLoveVSreuIvgjyolLWPDtjrFUmxKmOSpU5rqqjXgmGWbDQYHx6KidmosbGFS5SlRdPWNlFpC7o8f0dqWbaQ/s1600-h/PeterLockettBook.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_64SwBCYddY-4dP6OqRhgWQpPpIRvo8W-v_vVdHY0t-d6fle5auZAN_DqLoveVSreuIvgjyolLWPDtjrFUmxKmOSpU5rqqjXgmGWbDQYHx6KidmosbGFS5SlRdPWNlFpC7o8f0dqWbaQ/s400/PeterLockettBook.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395990312026957106" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Indian Rhythms for Drumset</span><br /><br />Rather than a book by a trap drummer who has "checked out" Indian drumming and attempted to graft some of the exotic swing beats to the traps, Pete has absorbed the true essence of Hindustani and Carnatic culture, becoming a master Konnakol reciter, as well! And, for those of you who are not familiar with this term - Konnakol is the art of reciting the Indian rhythmic cycles / rhythms, using the traditional onomatopoeic syllables! In India, this is a respected discipline in and of itself and many times one can enjoy a Konnakol reciter performing on the stage alongside the musicians in a Carnatic music concert. The accompanying CD is chock-full of vocal and sonic illustrations of all of the transcribed rhythmic examples covered in the book. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Congratulations, Pete,</span> on a seriously fine workbook which will prove a valuable addition to all drummers and percussionists!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">And now....... MORE DRUMS!</span><br /><br />Here's a clip of a smokin' Kanjira drummer by the name of <span style="font-weight:bold;">Selva Ganesh</span>, who happens to be the son of the greatest Ghatam player, <span style="font-weight:bold;">T. H. Vinayakram</span>. You'll see an example of some Konnakol singing, as well as Selva playing a traditional Monitor Lizard-skin Kanjira.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RwzCEHybF0Y&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RwzCEHybF0Y&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-36789729104149594602009-10-09T19:39:00.044-04:002009-10-10T00:01:57.156-04:00Giovanni Hidalgo + How To Copyright a Song + More DrumsHello, Friends! Welcome Back!<br /><br />You know, it just dawned on me that I've yet to acknowledge a dear friend of mine who, in turn, has grown to be an inspiration to thousands of drummers, young and old. I'm referring to the one-and-only: Giovanni Hidalgo!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNombsVmvmX20GBGhqTP6Rm9eKROXB5KlAFxEk-XbYOj9fNVlGXeK_mXTxzLlaEFvp5_kuRa9wrkzOQ8jafOH6hcAGTqqgx9a38eHZ8NBVENQMpjTVe-ou9GlsuzcYFIg0NiNWIKeLiWQ/s1600-h/GiovanniLP.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 255px; height: 352px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNombsVmvmX20GBGhqTP6Rm9eKROXB5KlAFxEk-XbYOj9fNVlGXeK_mXTxzLlaEFvp5_kuRa9wrkzOQ8jafOH6hcAGTqqgx9a38eHZ8NBVENQMpjTVe-ou9GlsuzcYFIg0NiNWIKeLiWQ/s400/GiovanniLP.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390805896053376274" /></a><br /><br />I first met Giovanni around '82 or '83, when I went to Puerto Rico to perform a series of shows with the Airto Moreira and Flora Purim Band. The band configuration, at that time, had Airto at the helm from the drumset, with me on multiple percussion and Flora featured on most of the vocals. The other members of the band included Jeff Elliot , Kei Akagi, Keith Jones, Larry Nass.<br /><br />During what was to be the first night of a week-long engagement at the Teatro Tapia, in Old San Juan, friend and fellow drum-brother Angel "Cachete" Maldonado showed up during the sound-check, to hang out and catch up on old times. It was at this moment that he introduced us to somebody whom he was mentoring on the Bata drums: Giovanni. We all had dinner together and then, after the show, Cachete took us to a restaurant a couple of blocks away where we ran into bassist Eddie Gomez, who was also in town, performing with I don~t remember who right now.... We all had something to eat and drink when.... don't ask me how, but, there were suddenly some more drummers on the scene with congas and Plena hand-drums... and I had my shekere (like American Express...I never leave home without it!)... and an electric bass materialized and fell into Eddie's hands...and the jam was on! Pretty soon, the restaurant owner locked the doors and the sangria began to flow and the music and drumming got more intense, and.... well, let's put it this way; I remember leaving way after the sun had come up, feeling tired but enriched and thankful for this unforgettable experience. And, Giovanni, a young teenager, at the time, had hung in there with us, just drinking soft drinks and playing drums non-stop all night!<br /><br />That series of concerts in San Juan led to the recording of Airto's first record album directed towards a Latin fan base. It was a project produced by Frank Ferrer and recorded for a Puertorican label called Tierrazo Records, which came to be titled, "Latino: Aqui Se Puede". The recording session was done in Los Angeles and included, besides the core members of Airto's band , some other cats such as Roland Baptista (guitarist with Earth, Wind and Fire), Laudir D'Oliveira (percussionist with Chicago), Geni da Silva, Giovanni Hidalgo, Joe Farrell,Jorge Dalto,Oscar Castro Neves, Rafael Jose ,Tite Curet Alonso, and Tony Moreno. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK2iMClQXhmVIXJjB1m9DTfUcS-dTcS9cgLzXPZ-Tdj_FZbemUI6Os8Q9Wlq3o7ffFCW4FBqX0EQUiDrSzDb1TXHFE0AKOYJDdI8aUazY2kowWt4ReV3bi2_vYWcAyz_z6rJopLwqFc0o/s1600-h/Mickey_Frank_Giovanni.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 294px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK2iMClQXhmVIXJjB1m9DTfUcS-dTcS9cgLzXPZ-Tdj_FZbemUI6Os8Q9Wlq3o7ffFCW4FBqX0EQUiDrSzDb1TXHFE0AKOYJDdI8aUazY2kowWt4ReV3bi2_vYWcAyz_z6rJopLwqFc0o/s400/Mickey_Frank_Giovanni.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390809132051830754" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">At Mickey Hart's (Grateful Dead) Ranch/Recording Studio, in San Anselmo, California.</span><br /><br />At the time of this recording, I was impressed with Giovanni and his dedication to his craft, because whenever there was a rest period during the studio recording, when we'd all be either listening to what had just been played and/or discussing new ideas or specific music arrangements, we'd notice that Gio would have slipped out, only to be diligently but softly practicing something that, to my eyes, was a different way of handling the conga drums. Friend and colleague, Sammy Figueroa, used to tell me that when Giovanni stayed with him, at his apartment in NYC, he would often wake up in the morning and find Gio already softly practicing on his congas...apologizing, in case his shedding had woken Sammy up!<br /><br />Besides this seminal recording, Airto brought Giovanni and myself back together again for the recording of his CD, "The Other Side of This", produced by The Grateful Dead's drummer, Mickey Hart. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_J5zqBQwsrYo4ovz01_Ouv9SJ2_aboeaYtLiF9v67wkWtqYPBcv9dEKE5Y0Ei6VTmh1fM6OKRGamjZKmaXmR3jWPSdORnsOnXrDDBg67H0RoK5ka67oBjkNyjumZt7Fvfp8N9zr6pS5Q/s1600-h/TheOtherSide+OfThis.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_J5zqBQwsrYo4ovz01_Ouv9SJ2_aboeaYtLiF9v67wkWtqYPBcv9dEKE5Y0Ei6VTmh1fM6OKRGamjZKmaXmR3jWPSdORnsOnXrDDBg67H0RoK5ka67oBjkNyjumZt7Fvfp8N9zr6pS5Q/s400/TheOtherSide+OfThis.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390815872741394770" /></a><br />This CD became very special for me, as I believe it was the first one on which I recorded the sacred Bata drums on popular music...and it also marked my debut as a lead vocalist on a commercial recording! And, while we were in San Anselmo, CA. recording at Mickey's studio, he took the opportunity to invite me to perform on his Grammy-winning CD, "Planet Drum".<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpz-4NXW10CiCwqRndq90RPf3d1fjFKuXnQxRyd42hz1nLv-BIog1Io8whaQETcjjZhp261VGVJ_C-lyhbqbAlmASQqR2B0Y8_jGjCgGn3UrBcwVDkMuR6rWOUOqAAMYbwopzrihaQq5Q/s1600-h/PlanetDrum.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpz-4NXW10CiCwqRndq90RPf3d1fjFKuXnQxRyd42hz1nLv-BIog1Io8whaQETcjjZhp261VGVJ_C-lyhbqbAlmASQqR2B0Y8_jGjCgGn3UrBcwVDkMuR6rWOUOqAAMYbwopzrihaQq5Q/s400/PlanetDrum.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390806935603141010" /></a><br /><br /><blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<br /></span><br />Planet Drum is a world music album by Mickey Hart, a musician and musicologist who was a member of the rock band the Grateful Dead.<br /><br />Hart's concept for Planet Drum was to play drum music with percussionists from around the world, and incorporate their different musical styles and traditions into a new global sound. The musicians on the Planet Drum album were from the United States (Hart), India (Zakir Hussain and T.H. "Vikku" Vinayakram), Nigeria (Sikiru Adepoju and Babatunde Olatunji), Brazil (Airto Moreira and his wife, vocalist Flora Purim), and Puerto Rico (Giovanni Hidalgo and Frank Colón).<br /><br />Planet Drum won the Grammy Award for Best World Music Album of 1991, the first year for which the award was given.</blockquote><br /><br />Since then, Giovanni has completely re-defined the concept of playing conga drums and shows no sign of stopping his forward motion! While there may be a slew of young drummers who have studied and learned the techniques that Gio has generously demonstrated, none to this day, in my opinion, have been able to perform the ambi-dexterous double-stroke speed rolls and other modern and progressive techniques with the sophisticated musicality that Gio so smoothly exudes! And, besides the unequaled height at which he glides, soaring constantly higher out into space, I have rarely, in all my life, met a more humble and compassionate human being!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ3Nf7dp4ldclv4I8iNnjrzX32aiAKuORStXNvEW7kuKLT44gSx1R7qvQmBNSjUgiKyiLg8G14hJzaUdjhzrgYrHq63XeHMmp9lS9O4AoC-X9PJmeFMFQoDQkCu8W_SEAJDtIFCXWozms/s1600-h/Airto_Giovanni_Frank.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 302px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ3Nf7dp4ldclv4I8iNnjrzX32aiAKuORStXNvEW7kuKLT44gSx1R7qvQmBNSjUgiKyiLg8G14hJzaUdjhzrgYrHq63XeHMmp9lS9O4AoC-X9PJmeFMFQoDQkCu8W_SEAJDtIFCXWozms/s400/Airto_Giovanni_Frank.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390804801166084850" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />I consider this friend of mine, who kids around calling me "Uncle Frank", to be truly the Avatar of the art of congas.... touched by the hand of God.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Here's a video clip of Giovanni, totally open to the universe and channeling cosmic sound vibrations!</span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EuvOE9Nk6tM&hl=pt-br&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EuvOE9Nk6tM&hl=pt-br&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />Now, I'd like to share a video about a topic that might interest musicians in general: <span style="font-weight:bold;">How To Copyright A Song.</span> <br /><br />I was recently looking for some printed info on this subject, you know...to refresh my memory, as I'm writing some new material... and I came across this video clip which explains the procedure quite clearly. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Check it out!</span><br /><br /><div class="embedded-howcast-video" style="text-align:center;font-size:9px;"><object width="432" height="357" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" id="howcastplayer"><param name="movie" value="http://www.howcast.com/flash/howcast_player.swf?file=74709&theme=black"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><param name="flashVars" value="&fs=true"></param><embed src="http://www.howcast.com/flash/howcast_player.swf?file=74709&theme=black" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="432" height="357" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" flashVars="&fs=true"></embed></object><br /><a class="embedded-playback-url" href="http://www.howcast.com/videos/74709-How-To-Copyright-a-Song" target="_blank" alt="How To Copyright a Song">How To Copyright a Song</a> on <a class="embedded-howcast-url" href="http://www.howcast.com" target="_blank" alt="www.howcast.com">Howcast</a></div><br /><br />Now, those of you who know me (specially, my colleagues who've been on the road with me!) are well aware of the fact that I've been a vegetarian and a physical fitness buff, from way back! I'm not so much a gym rat as I am a martial arts lover, having pursued and earned teaching degrees in Chinese Tai Chi and Israeli Krav Maga. <br /><br />I've also always approached the art of drumming as a physical contact sport, for which one has the responsibility of maintaining one's health and fitness in the utmost of excellent conditioning! I owe it to myself, in respect for the material vehicle which houses my essence this time around, as well at to the friends who come out to enjoy my music!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZFA9Dyc_fsJPgyYdmCSMi-BE6L3neJIRM0slB-JuFiW-We_FKxoxZpKOx8x917-RqEQ0ZaZcwuCDu8n7w_xUc1ixDhdhPTNYei4_TEMw_SkdtLVRb3WvE0Ior_BMM0GPeAlCw37X4gyA/s1600-h/Frank_DRUM_mag1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 255px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZFA9Dyc_fsJPgyYdmCSMi-BE6L3neJIRM0slB-JuFiW-We_FKxoxZpKOx8x917-RqEQ0ZaZcwuCDu8n7w_xUc1ixDhdhPTNYei4_TEMw_SkdtLVRb3WvE0Ior_BMM0GPeAlCw37X4gyA/s400/Frank_DRUM_mag1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390811366624773858" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Photo session for DRUM! Magazine Interview</span><br /><br />As a vegie-head since 1970, it's definitely been a challenge to tour around the world, often visiting countries where the concept of a vegetarian was often exactly like that scene in the movie, "My Big fat Greek Wedding" - where aunt Voula (Andrea Martin) tells boyfriend Ian Miller (John Corbett) of the bride-to-be Toula Portokalos, (Nia Vardalos), "What do you mean, you don't eat no MEAT?! (pause...) That's ok....I'll make lamb!" For years, when touring, I'll pack, along with my clothes and many instruments, a large supply of vitamins, dried fruits and assorted fresh nuts and seeds, in order to supplement my diet. Back in the 70's, I used to get some weird stares for this... not as much anymore, though.<br /><br />So, as I'm definitely a senior citizen now, ("...what do you mean...'NOW'? You've been senior citizen for a long while, dude!") it always pleases me immensely when I run across an example of someone who embraces similar concepts about healthy living, nutrition, meditation, martial arts, chanting, NLP, and other self-improvement and enlightening disciplines as me! One such brother very dear to me is the sensational guitarist/composer/producer/animal rights activist/meditator/cosmic joker, Jamie Glaser (www.jamieglaser.com), who's friendship changed my life for the better and who's example continues to inspire me towards striving for the maximization of the human potential. But, I will write about Jamie, at length, in a near-future post on this blog....<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqX8SUBZjwRln-hMS1XI8yNh4qPCPQGbdfemgqqa1HcU1PcgkA7odwNsm6wo4xUy5dN1zEjXDUJu8wmBzQONC8JGWjqSpp2RyB2voJmhkLgalhOK7aB_2TFfbYeAa5KBAnercA5TD3jU4/s1600-h/JamieGlaser.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 277px; height: 277px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqX8SUBZjwRln-hMS1XI8yNh4qPCPQGbdfemgqqa1HcU1PcgkA7odwNsm6wo4xUy5dN1zEjXDUJu8wmBzQONC8JGWjqSpp2RyB2voJmhkLgalhOK7aB_2TFfbYeAa5KBAnercA5TD3jU4/s400/JamieGlaser.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390813505814205954" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Jamie Glaser</span><br /><br />Right now, however, I'd like to share a video clip of 72 year-old bodybuilder, Jim Morris, in hopes that his example may serve to inspire us all to believe that there are no limits to what we, in our humble human form, may achieve! Once you see this, I think you'll see why this clip has been viewed close to 2 million times! And, please, pay attention to the description of Jim's diet! :-)<br /><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/iUvjXQHt6QQ&hl=pt-br&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iUvjXQHt6QQ&hl=pt-br&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />JIM MORRIS<br /><br />And, of course...........MORE DRUMS!!!<br /><br />Here's a short clip of former child prodigy and present-day tabla master, Zakir Hussain, gracing us with a short solo in the Tintal (16 beats) rhythmic cycle. Enjoy!!!<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xbDofgD04dc&hl=pt-br&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xbDofgD04dc&hl=pt-br&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-63613736083646344902009-10-08T23:58:00.007-04:002009-10-09T00:10:42.259-04:00New Book by Clive Stevens + Drummer Horacio "El Negro" HernandezHello, Friends!<br /><br />Ever since moving to NYC in '76, I've always considered myself a New Yorker. And, face it - being a New Yorker is really more about a certain attitude and manner of thinking and living, rather than simply an identification with having, by chance, being born there! I mean...really...how many New Yorkers are actually native-born in Manhattan or any of the other boroughs? Truly the capital of the world, it's vibe and energy adopt those who move there to make a difference in their own lives as well as to leave their mark on the culture of our blue and green globe.<br /><br /> Yet, alongside of this love for the Empire State, I have always considered myself to be a planetary citizen. I can't remember when I began to answer the question of, "Where are you from, man?", with a response that always went more or less like, "Well, I'm from New York, although I was born in D.C. and raised in Puerto Rico...but, who knows where I'll die, so actually, I'm from Planet Earth!"<br /><br />There's one cat, however, whom I've known for years and consider family (he was actually married for a long time to a cousin of mine!), who I've always considered to think and exist in a plane beyond the constraints of our planetary dimensions, as they are conventionally understood by most people. This "undiscovered" Renaissance man that I would like to make mention of is the British-born composer / musician / producer / spoken-word artist / poet who most often goes by the name of Clive Stevens.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixfjnVEjaK6rGnMb-Xu5kH6LFuhmTZXp85MkUKOmADpSrNojSbFsZMeoid09gUAxz3kLJrix8-1EeKypoA3u9hdbG8R2ahyjXhHFga5V_UIl5II42HZRhyphenhyphenOvKVYwnkrn9cyyTYT-NVuL8/s1600-h/Clive.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 96px; height: 107px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixfjnVEjaK6rGnMb-Xu5kH6LFuhmTZXp85MkUKOmADpSrNojSbFsZMeoid09gUAxz3kLJrix8-1EeKypoA3u9hdbG8R2ahyjXhHFga5V_UIl5II42HZRhyphenhyphenOvKVYwnkrn9cyyTYT-NVuL8/s400/Clive.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390445279904417410" /></a><br /><br />Part of the NYC east-side underground music scene during the 80's with a raw but sophisticated band he christened as "Brainchild", Clive has been consistently composing and releasing his own musical product for decades. And, for all of his artistic uniqueness / eccentricity, the highest caliber of musicians have always gravitated to his side, seeking to collaborate and/or participate in Clive's projects...and I'm talking about cats such as Steve Gaboury, Tony "Thunder" Smith, Lincoln Goines, Billy Cobham, TM Stevens, Mino Chinelu, Roy Venkataraman, Kenia, Teruo Nakamura, and many more! I feel lucky to have participated on his CD, "Language of Secret Hearts", which has been previously featured on this blog!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOLnn1NPqZjIyQF5DlQZD9jFm-7V1Yn0u3drEy43sLtqHIaXQppu1_Zo3mbTOCVM40LoOETuoV8L0JtHwoVjwh1wcS43lVUlaBwiNasa_AXpC48o0BYUD60q1fBSmsRUTbicSpWQ1uu_Q/s1600-h/CliveFrank.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOLnn1NPqZjIyQF5DlQZD9jFm-7V1Yn0u3drEy43sLtqHIaXQppu1_Zo3mbTOCVM40LoOETuoV8L0JtHwoVjwh1wcS43lVUlaBwiNasa_AXpC48o0BYUD60q1fBSmsRUTbicSpWQ1uu_Q/s400/CliveFrank.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390445431366731170" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Clive Stevens in Rio de Janeiro</span><br />Photo: Alexandre Campos<br /><br />But, I mention Clive, at this moment, in order to bring to attention his latest release of a new book of poems titled, "Stardust Transmissions", which is available on Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Stardust-Transmissions-Urban-Lyrics-Century/dp/1438972008<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPteQOWK6ggEU27q9pNzW8KRQL0127TbHyE_livIvaHu8Fy4WG2-P5fz2gQV5eF-_I-3MpuyR-eyW4LszFG2VztNH2VaP6RQ7iYDdbnddb-UWOsjl0h2Q09d4e0j9ISnJKCM3bhBcGiAE/s1600-h/Stardust+Transmissions.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPteQOWK6ggEU27q9pNzW8KRQL0127TbHyE_livIvaHu8Fy4WG2-P5fz2gQV5eF-_I-3MpuyR-eyW4LszFG2VztNH2VaP6RQ7iYDdbnddb-UWOsjl0h2Q09d4e0j9ISnJKCM3bhBcGiAE/s400/Stardust+Transmissions.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5390445857587495058" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Stardust Transmissions Cover</span><br /><br />Here are some of the reviews that Clive's poetry book has received on Amazon....<br /> <br /><blockquote>5.0 out of 5 stars <span style="font-weight:bold;">A true bohemian spirit</span>, June 27, 2009<br />By Rachel<br />I love this book! It's a compendium of poems, lyrics and experiences expressed freely by Clive Stevens. Clive is old-fashioned in that he is a romantic whose sentimentality is never treacly, always from the heart. Simultaneously, he is beyond modern: he is futuristic. This world traveler and lover of life has a world vision that goes beyond globalism out into the galaxy... Sometimes earthy, sometimes classic and sometimes with all the cosmic love of a raver on ecstasy, Clive Stevens definitely has his own voice. He has gathered together the experiences of a fascinating life and thrown them all up into words of beauty.<br /><br />5.0 out of 5 stars <span style="font-weight:bold;">Protean</span>, June 17, 2009<br />By Ronald J. Boocock (New York NY)<br />Clive Stevens is unique. He will change his shape and answer only to someone who is capable of capturing him.<br />He has a universal way of describing the interactions and interrelations of the natural forces that occur in the world and beyond. His poetry is forceful, yet the tenderest of all. It must be read.</blockquote> <br /><br />And, while I could talk about Clive's music for a long time, I'd rather post one of his videos and just let you soak it in and enjoy the entire experience.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EDjye7kAOW4&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EDjye7kAOW4&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">And, of course..........MORE DRUMS!!!</span><br /><br />This precious clip is from the movie, "Calle 54", a film directed by Spain's oscar-winning director, Fernando Trueba. Featured here is the badass trio led by pianist Michel Camilo, which includes Anthony Jackson on electric bass and Horacio"El Negro" Hernandez on drums. In my opinion, this is the most polished performance in the movie for, as you will easily see, the level of musical execution is beyond outstanding! Each one of these cats has mastered their instrument to the point of breaking new ground and creating a new definition as to what is artistically possible...all the while grooving hard....digging in....and radiating pure bliss! <br /><br />Check out Horacio "El Negro's" multi-dextrous independence in his drumming! After years of religiously shedding 8 hours per day, he effortlessly divides the rational side of his brain into four parts, being able to express (at least) four different rhythmic and melodic manifestations simultaneously, each emanating from a different extension of his body. And it's become so effortless that he`s able to consciously enjoy his own musicality as well as enjoy the music and love that his bandmates are broadcasting, as well. As a drummer, I can`t tell you enough how beautiful this pure musical communion is...!<br /><br />The joy is excitingly contagious.... I just now relaxed, sat back and enjoyed this performance once again.... and, my friends....my whole body is covered in goose-bumps!<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bXT07AnkYRE&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bXT07AnkYRE&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-26666486983188729142009-10-06T13:23:00.014-04:002009-10-06T13:44:39.481-04:00Honoring My Mentors - Julito CollazoHello, Friends!<br /><br />Quite some time ago, once I began to be invited to join world-class performance acts (…after struggling in NYC for a few years), such as with Michael Babatunde Olatunji, Gato Barbieri, and the dynamic duo of Flora Purim and Airto Moreira, a wise mentor/colleague told me that, “Once you manage, through your own efforts, to enter the elevator going up, you have the responsibility of sending it back down again… so that someone else may get in and come up, too!”<br /><br />Speaking specifically about my own career and other life-choices and paths, I have never forgotten the individuals who not only gave of their time to “send the elevator down to help me” but who also took me under their own wings, so that I could learn to fly. It is with this love in my heart, that I will be honoring them, through this digital broadcast vehicle, throughout my future writings. Some of these people are still here, positively influencing the world, and some are gone, having transcended this material plane. But, the memory of those departed, lives on in my essence and if my sharing of their talents and contributions comes to entertain and/or enlighten you in any way, then what they lived for will continue to nurture positivity for all of us, and for future generations.<br /><br />One such mentor and friend, early during my life and career was the late, GREAT master drummer, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Julito Collazo</span>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx8dTYpl_nVVIYloZzuwlk8gczF94r7Ta1ugFy8ahZyJB_mPh3wy0FuA7q9a2l5C8d647At7yySpD2jVMU07FbRSlPXRY8E04CzjVmOMbAhNzy1sQHuN07GWUKEqmxLNYeafR7z5iA0dg/s1600-h/collazo1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 250px; height: 396px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx8dTYpl_nVVIYloZzuwlk8gczF94r7Ta1ugFy8ahZyJB_mPh3wy0FuA7q9a2l5C8d647At7yySpD2jVMU07FbRSlPXRY8E04CzjVmOMbAhNzy1sQHuN07GWUKEqmxLNYeafR7z5iA0dg/s400/collazo1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389539413061160482" /></a><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">LP photo- Martin Cohen<br /></span><br />I met Julito in 1975, at a festival showcasing the Latin-American folkloric traditions which was held in Washington, D.C. and sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution. During the rumba portion of his presentation, he casually asked if there was anybody in the audience who had the nerve to come up on the stage and jam with him and his group. Amidst the blank stares of almost all of the D.C. area drummers on hand, I immediately sprung to my feet and strode towards the bandstand. Julito looked at me rather quizzically, asking, “Oh, YOU want to jam? Ok…here…play this hoe.” He then began singing a “conga de carnival” song (“…Siento un bombo, mamita, me está llamando…..”), to which I began wailing on the garden hoe, beating out the conga clave, before any of the other drummers began playing. Julito turned his head and looked at me….and gave me a smile that I’ve never forgotten!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBW3zN6NRwniLvsNlOn0Fii8pCvCpIiP-vdiTG40X7PcIUEw0016YupWWXpqv6-0zKrrUsfCSewZZg65ZSs63Tz5521sGJMFdSPoDGAhIvdJDJFe4VuqjcmB0zr8I4-y5WRFB6_eU8Xkg/s1600-h/JulitoFrank.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBW3zN6NRwniLvsNlOn0Fii8pCvCpIiP-vdiTG40X7PcIUEw0016YupWWXpqv6-0zKrrUsfCSewZZg65ZSs63Tz5521sGJMFdSPoDGAhIvdJDJFe4VuqjcmB0zr8I4-y5WRFB6_eU8Xkg/s400/JulitoFrank.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389540794047248402" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Performance at Delacourt Theater: Julito-Iya, Frank-Itotele, Frankie Rodriguez-vocal</span><br /><br />After the presentation, we talked together for a while, which led to phone conversations, which led to a 13 month apprenticeship with him, learning the rhythms and the religious rituals of the sacred Batá drums. Every couple of weeks, or so, me and my buddy, Leo Leobons, would drive up to NYC, to hang out with Julito and shed on the rhythms and songs that he would teach us. During one weekend, where I drove up with Margo just to enjoy one of his Toques de Santo (for Changó, by the way), he told me that I should move up to New York, as he had a spot for me in his group and there was an apartment available in his building! I moved up the very next weekend!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIzP_IsorMBLqNdqN2xMHyMd4d81rmyqy92QbiFdke7cjNMCzXbNWI23irGwY5xdfpYdAAHqdfs2PwEuTGTAa0EpUv2vH3IW4WP9jR4l0gW4_XHbddU-cDh54UPDcU1SXi_r0DHJ5ToX4/s1600-h/FrankJulito.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIzP_IsorMBLqNdqN2xMHyMd4d81rmyqy92QbiFdke7cjNMCzXbNWI23irGwY5xdfpYdAAHqdfs2PwEuTGTAa0EpUv2vH3IW4WP9jR4l0gW4_XHbddU-cDh54UPDcU1SXi_r0DHJ5ToX4/s400/FrankJulito.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389541160469239954" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Performance at Delacourt Theater: Julito-Iya, Frank-Okonkolo<br /></span><br />I worked exclusively with Julito and his Afro-Cuban Drum Ensemble for the following five years, until he traveled to Cuba to become a Babalao. Returning from Cuba, he basically retired from active drumming and, in doing so, advised me, “…to extend my horizons and my musical vision beyond the world of ritual drumming!”, for I had a lot more world to visit and learn from. And, I dare say..... I’ve taken his guidance to heart!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">And, of course…………MORE DRUMS!!!</span><br /><br />Here’s a classic vintage clip of another master drummer, Tito Puente! I never enjoyed the opportunity to perform with Tito although, as a member of Julito Collazo’s drum ensemble, I did perform for a spiritual celebration of his Changó!<br /><br />Check out how back in 1965, Tito was already using two sets of timbales, tuned melodically! Notice the short length of his drumsticks as well as the lack of a cowbell on either of his timbales!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">ENJOY!</span><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/v6fhsmVyNaw&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/v6fhsmVyNaw&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-63013657882828120222009-10-04T22:43:00.013-04:002009-10-04T23:23:41.206-04:00Tribute to Michael Galasso & Mongo Santamaria + More!Hello, Friends!<br /><br />I’m back from a fun weekend at our Vedic beach house, in Angra dos Reis! <br /><br />My brother-in-law, Louie Saucha, also has a great house in the same private (gated) community and this weekend, along with a bunch of good friends, we celebrated his birthday on Saturday night. One of the highlights of that evening was a private, in-house circus act by two young carioca circus performers, one of them a musician/clown/trapeze artist (he had actually set up a trapeze in a part of the living room!) and the other one a contortionist fire-breather! <br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mr4gUc2WsnM&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mr4gUc2WsnM&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />I had just arrived with Margo after enjoying a sauna session and dashed out to the car to retrieve a video camera in order to film the trapeze act…but, the camera wasn’t there, so I ended up using my phone to capture these small clips that I’m bringing here to share with you. The performers are Celso (whom we know since he was a baby!) and his friend Natalia. Louie, the birthday honoree, can be seen with the silver top-hat, enjoying the show!<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ci8BK2ySKeQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ci8BK2ySKeQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />My good buddy, Russian guitarist Roman Miroshnichenko, has a fine, new CD he’s just released, titled, “Temptation”. Roman, as far as I’m concerned, is the premier Russian guitarist of this decade and I have a wonderful time performing with him every time I visit his country, which has been on a yearly basis since 2003. So, it was a natural urge to invite him to participate on a song on one of my on-going pet projects, The Musical Nations Project (www.musicalnationproject.com), which he gladly accepted to do, performing brilliantly on the track titled, “Xekere”. He then turned around and included the track on his new CD, released in Russia and Europe and available through CD Baby (http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/miroshnichenko2) and iTunes! <br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji9KsXwzji2OcEiZLU49CHRCLPvKCGjPKZ3VDVb1qo-SIJQJvzTmSbE5DNZ_Nruk_7cwIKpVhnDUkcyivBUG8eQKyQIpLlpOt5jbr9o7vOgO32Ty5j6IWIKrZEmD9gALsAKgfUzZ_jkz0/s1600-h/miroshnichenkoTemptation.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji9KsXwzji2OcEiZLU49CHRCLPvKCGjPKZ3VDVb1qo-SIJQJvzTmSbE5DNZ_Nruk_7cwIKpVhnDUkcyivBUG8eQKyQIpLlpOt5jbr9o7vOgO32Ty5j6IWIKrZEmD9gALsAKgfUzZ_jkz0/s400/miroshnichenkoTemptation.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388947233984184242" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Temptation CD Cover</span><br /><br />Also featured on the track are: from England - Clive Stevens (soprano saxophone), from Spain – Michael Groosman, and from Brazil – producer/composer/arranger Daniel Figueiredo. Also on the CD are musicians Henrik Andersen (soprano guitar, vocal, sitar, harp, konnakol vocals), Hernan Romero (acoustic guitar), IKA (vocal, spoken word), Nikolay Rostov (keyboards, programming), Sergei Filatov (electric piano), Leonid Atabekov (keyboards, programming), Galina Mishustina (vocal). <br /><br />Now a video clip from one of my drum mentors; the late GREAT Mongo Santamaria! The song is “Leah” and this is a “live” recording, taken when Mongo and his band were the opening act for an unforgettable show by the Fania All-Stars at Yankee Stadium in New York City.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GUNDj0vQb1Q&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GUNDj0vQb1Q&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Last month, one of my good friends and colleagues, Maestro/violinist Michael Galasso, passed away in Paris, after a fierce struggle with liver cancer. A brilliant composer of film soundtracks and avant-guard theater music, over the years, we worked on some memorable and interesting projects together, such as a two-hour sound sculpture, commissioned by Georgio Armani foundation and designed to sonically circulate the entire Guggenheim Museums of New York and Bilbao…the first sound installation in the Guggenheim’s history! <br /><br />Galasso constantly stretched the boundaries of contemporary music: from his early use of evolving music technologies, to working with Iranian, Indian, South American and African Musicians, to his use of MIDI violin and the Internet. He performed in more than 300 concerts all over the world always in groundbreaking places, such as the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, The Kitchen in NY, the Médersa in Marrakech, and the Roman Amphitheatre in Malaga. Gallasso’s work has been presented in such festivals as the Festival d’Automne in Paris, The Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy and the Festival de Musique Montreux-Vevey.<br /><br />In 2001, I performed with him at the Venice Bienniale, who commissioned a music score for a ballet by Carolyn Carlson. His works have also been included in the repertoire of the Paris Opera Ballet. We also worked together on film soudtracks, some of which won the European Critics Award and the César for the best foreign film.<br /><br />My last project with Michael was participating on his last CD, titled “High Lines”, recorded in Oslo, Norway and produced by the famous Manfred Eicher, owner of the prestigious ECM Records.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZVAW295hRSK9ViJ7c0W7noX4HNP-ISYCJDTZZQEqiJqktJSq02p692lIyzxJdUx70-ssivVL40ItOiHK3efD-5JHZzUEB1NchtFqRVIWFvFQVcgxankeud9PkaBfkIh36aPwgzZZ7G0/s1600-h/MICHAEL+GALASSO.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdZVAW295hRSK9ViJ7c0W7noX4HNP-ISYCJDTZZQEqiJqktJSq02p692lIyzxJdUx70-ssivVL40ItOiHK3efD-5JHZzUEB1NchtFqRVIWFvFQVcgxankeud9PkaBfkIh36aPwgzZZ7G0/s400/MICHAEL+GALASSO.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388947665398435154" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">High Lines CD Cover</span><br /><br />The following are the two reviews of this album on Amazon.com.<br />(http://www.amazon.com/High-Lines-Michael-Galasso/dp/B0007DHQ2K) <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">5.0 out of 5 stars Broadening his sonic palette, June 16, 2005 <br />By Jan P. Dennis "Longboard jazzer" (Monument, CO USA) -</span> <br /> <br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight:bold;">With the addition of Terje Rypdal (guitar), Mark Marder (double-bass), and Frank Colon (percussion), mysterioso violinist Michael Galasso significantly expands the aural soundscape in this follow-up to his 1984 disc Scenes.</span> How many other musicians wait more than two decades to come out with a second release? That's what Galasso has done, which, one supposes, does little to undo his reputation as a first-class musical iconoclast. <br /><br />And the sounds contained in this provocative disc further that reputation. This collection of mostly miniatures mainly featuring the leader's unique violin stylings does open things out in the direction of jazz beat/chamber jazz/world metal styles--a quite beguiling mix, if you ask me. The inclusion of guitarist Terje Rypdal was a stroke of genius. The longtime ECM-label staple here plies his rock-tinged improvisational skills to maximum effect. Check out his playing on, esp., "The Other." The leader seems to restlessly shift from one soundscape to another, moving with ease from drone to Nordic fiddle music to world jazz to Gothic to New Music to classical to chamberish ambient to Middle Eastern sounds, all with stunning effect. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">It certainly helps to have completely simpatico bandmates. And one could hardly ask for better interpreters than Rypdal, Marder, and Colon. Each brings a wealth of recorded and live-music experience, plus an ability to completely tune in to the weird vibe that leader Galasso exudes.</span> <br /><br />Certainly not for everybody, but anyone with an adventurous spirit looking for highly idiosyncratic but brilliantly conceived and played instrumental music will want to check out this remarkable recording.<br /></blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">4.0 out of 5 stars Incidental music at its best, October 23, 2005 <br />By Paul Kim (Athens, GA United States) - <br /></span><br /><blockquote>Michael Galasso's first release under his own name since 1984's Scenes consists of 16 aural vignettes covering a refreshingly broad scope of moods and styles. While listening to 30-second clips tells you very little about certain albums, in this case you'll find out all you need to know. Each track sets up a certain mood or sensation and maintains it, for the most part, throughout. Any development you get is relatively subtle. Calling this disc background music is certainly not an insult, but this music doesn't stand up to studied listening. Having said that, it is still, with a few notable exceptions, a beautiful album. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">ECM's typically-pristine production captures the performances exceptionally well. Galasso's violin sounds gorgeous, and the different percussive textures that Frank Colón produces are almost magical. Nice double-bass work by Marc Marder as well.</span> However, the guitar work of Terje Rypdal sticks out, and not in a good way. Take "The Other," for instance. Not even Manfred Eicher's sonic prowess can do anything to reduce the displeasure you get from hearing Rypdal's guitar tone. His is the reverb-drenched buzzsaw distortion tone that you hear 13-year-old nu metal shredders-to-be use as they test out import Strat copies through 15-watt solid state amps at Guitar Center. On this track and others, it spoils the otherwise-gorgeous sound of the album. In addition, some of Rypdal's playing itself comes close to noodling. Granted, he does have some nice moments, but I'd sooner not hear him. <br /><br />Still, <span style="font-weight:bold;">this is quite an intriguing disc, though maybe not one you'll continue to cherish for years and years.</span></blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />And, of course…..yes……MORE DRUMS!</span><br /><br />A classic inspiration for me, back when I was still in The American University, majoring in Political Science – the infamous conga duel between Mongo Santamaria and Ray Barreto, performing with the Fania All-Stars, titled, “Congo Bongo”! <br /><br />I still get goose-bumps when I see this!!!<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mZwe0uSyTCk&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mZwe0uSyTCk&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-33981432921045531712009-09-30T18:44:00.011-04:002009-10-01T09:01:17.683-04:00Voyage Around India & Drums Galore<span style="font-weight:bold;">Hello, Friends!</span><br /><br />Once again….wheewww!!! This blogging thing, along with all the social networking that one does nowadays, is not as easy as it first seemed that it would be to me…that’s for sure. I mean, I know many individuals who sit at their computers and simply stream the words out, with their first-drafts sounding brilliant and socially relevant and all that. Well, that’s hasn’t exactly been my case…so far.<br /><br />However, overcoming my own self-imposed filters, I’ve turned over a new leaf, in my own mind, and will, from now on, simply throw down, on this blog, thought snippets concerning one of my favorite subjects – drums and music. But, now, “snippets” is the key word! For as the fragmented ideas and/or observations pop up before my eyes or in my mind, I’ll be throwing them into this media vehicle…come as they may.<br /><br />So, check this out: allow me to point you towards a video clip that I put together from footage shot during a trip to India a couple of years ago. The trip was a blast… incredible, to say the least! I was warned many times by my Indian colleagues and friends that I would be surprised but, let me tell you – in reality, India is like a different planet altogether! My great friend, Drumbrother and tabla mentor, Pundit Samir Chatterjee (http://www.tabla.org/) has talked to me a few times about how the Vedic culture originated more than 6, 000 years ago, due entirely to the arrival of people from a different galaxy, the majority of whom intermingled with the developing beings inhabiting the Indian sub-continent, while a few branched out over to what is now Germany. And, according to Samir, this is one reason why German and Sanskrit are so similar…<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ojlvwblgzdaRguZbevFxnC6CGEhnV8tDsY9ul9MhMUYGVzCNT_HNhXcFyiBAkK2vD4676PPHKUBJFMcdpqDMHle6V60ggr55Ex3LSeVyDsGid6M3SszX7ucxjip1Thmtyl5elxXxteY/s1600-h/ChhandayanPercEnsemble-small.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ojlvwblgzdaRguZbevFxnC6CGEhnV8tDsY9ul9MhMUYGVzCNT_HNhXcFyiBAkK2vD4676PPHKUBJFMcdpqDMHle6V60ggr55Ex3LSeVyDsGid6M3SszX7ucxjip1Thmtyl5elxXxteY/s400/ChhandayanPercEnsemble-small.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387400946463436690" /></a><br /><br />Backstage after a concert in Houston with Pundit Samir Chatterjee and the Chhandayan Percussion Ensemble, also featuring Henry Hey, Dan Weiss, Baba Don, Nano Valerio, and Yousif Sheronic.<br /><br />But, back to my new video - The music soundtrack is a composition of mine titled, "Twilight in Samarkand", inspired by this trip to India and a performance tour I did through Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Turkmenistan, and Moldova. <br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yUcCJ5QQHLk&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yUcCJ5QQHLk&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />And, of course: DRUMS!!!<br /><br />Here’s a clip that a good friend turned me on to, featuring some badass cats, slamming down the maple on the skins. <br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SqA292l9Kng&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SqA292l9Kng&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />I’m talking about Ginger Baker, Bobby Graham, Alan Grindley, John Kearns, Bobby Richards, Ronnie Verrell, Andy White, Ronnie Stephenson and Arthur Mullard, jammin’ together on this tongue-in-cheek drum fiesta! Enjoy!Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-78378443605272526672009-08-21T10:00:00.019-04:002009-08-21T17:43:09.203-04:00No More Borders for Music Creation<span style="font-weight:bold;">Hello, Good People!</span> <br /><br />I Just had the surprise pleasure of receiving, via snail-mail, a brand-new CD by John Raymond Pollard, titled, “Dreams”! Doubling my pleasure is the fact that I participated on his project, playing acoustic and electronic percussion.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyYM-LuVm5imeONSwf1itezrEFemrKGHyc_OF9Cqh_MVHzncJ8SdGRIka9_JVzQmfC-cf8qq0a3RAYwjN3U7oBGh6FI4G6dn8kBk-4Lo9tK3EGQcK9IuxIzNBHXI7H_eRHZV-cjbEk13M/s1600-h/pollardDreams.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyYM-LuVm5imeONSwf1itezrEFemrKGHyc_OF9Cqh_MVHzncJ8SdGRIka9_JVzQmfC-cf8qq0a3RAYwjN3U7oBGh6FI4G6dn8kBk-4Lo9tK3EGQcK9IuxIzNBHXI7H_eRHZV-cjbEk13M/s400/pollardDreams.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372417294878668402" /></a> <br /><br /><br />Also, very satisfying is that my participation took place here in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil! Upon the invitation to perform on the CD, I asked John to ftp the wav. files to a site of mine, from where I downloaded the material to the Music Solution Studio, where I do the majority of my production and recording work.<br /><br />While I rehearsed through the material, John mailed a disc with the music files (to avoid any file corruption), which is what I used for my actual percussion overdubs. <br />And, check it out; we´ve done 3 CDs in this exact same way!<br /><br />Here are the covers of the other albums: “Character” and “Passion, Poison, and Politik".<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiukD-1sTl_HmbQkD9bQSdfNAsV50q54wxiFjF_H_Wvkys8MSTjvn168WlT2UrXKty0h2SYPigOxuj_FqbDoSRHqwiLIopd9WGXQTWyN6g4q9tyqJxgdL7Dzxqa2SNcYlWOY6OR6Z4x1tA/s1600-h/pollardCharacter.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiukD-1sTl_HmbQkD9bQSdfNAsV50q54wxiFjF_H_Wvkys8MSTjvn168WlT2UrXKty0h2SYPigOxuj_FqbDoSRHqwiLIopd9WGXQTWyN6g4q9tyqJxgdL7Dzxqa2SNcYlWOY6OR6Z4x1tA/s400/pollardCharacter.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372417845711170146" /></a> <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxLD-u2TctgDahhYq4jrXUtXazw-c0N5FQbdgcUYUdg6qdX2X4Gg8eC3Yl2yJXNmtDOr99w3jquniCrsbQDvuX6gWvHpJ4zKmwBdctxDLFGSb9qlikDC7H3_NGlhBimqIvnuI6dcoNcVU/s1600-h/JohnPollardBrasilience.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxLD-u2TctgDahhYq4jrXUtXazw-c0N5FQbdgcUYUdg6qdX2X4Gg8eC3Yl2yJXNmtDOr99w3jquniCrsbQDvuX6gWvHpJ4zKmwBdctxDLFGSb9qlikDC7H3_NGlhBimqIvnuI6dcoNcVU/s400/JohnPollardBrasilience.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372419931803672018" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The use of technology for blending the creative collaboration of artists, no matter where they may be on the planet, is also what The Musical Nations Project is all about! All of the tracks available for listening have been created in this fashion. Very soon, there will be new collaborations to check out and enjoy, so be sure to check back here (or at www.musicalnationproject.com) for upcoming downloadable music.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/e4kOau76GqY&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/e4kOau76GqY&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Also, stay on the alert for a new CD release by poet, author, composer, professor, Diem Jones; aka Dr. Hug M. Joy (….of former notoriety as Dr. Fladimir MS Woo…!). His next project is said to be titled, “Triumph of the Spirit”, and there´s no doubt that it will be replete with clarity-inducing melodies, allied to an enlightening and compassionately delivered vocal beacon.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA4zasinhtM9NFoIoOy4HyZU-w1bV__pbHZqdnQU9vdAB0lqRyHFQ-Jd1keO1ph1Zht_aeYwxD5ZOK4UB3su902Dz7JbfxDkPSLes-OY00MVN6r0T84pPWlvo3Y-ZrlM6KlYVaNwrJC0Y/s1600-h/diemjonesEquanimity.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA4zasinhtM9NFoIoOy4HyZU-w1bV__pbHZqdnQU9vdAB0lqRyHFQ-Jd1keO1ph1Zht_aeYwxD5ZOK4UB3su902Dz7JbfxDkPSLes-OY00MVN6r0T84pPWlvo3Y-ZrlM6KlYVaNwrJC0Y/s400/diemjonesEquanimity.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372418624629425954" /></a><br /><br />On a side note about a topic which concerns me deeply – Lydia Guevara (Ernesto “Che” Guevara’s grand-daughter) is the new poster-girl for PETA’s (People for the Ethical treatment of Animals) South American campaign!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKCp_SK3zt6t0uUn1xQGzMEoMzG1HFIE8u4i2dQHAFIbN5lkbZ9crhG-ajC15qDhyphenhyphenU-ensCbdV5bIX9RVgn4a5s-B_vSF3RYhmKoUo6VQ26FqpQmQvxS9qO8_lvklv0RjigQin_9nrejU/s1600-h/lydiaGuevara.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKCp_SK3zt6t0uUn1xQGzMEoMzG1HFIE8u4i2dQHAFIbN5lkbZ9crhG-ajC15qDhyphenhyphenU-ensCbdV5bIX9RVgn4a5s-B_vSF3RYhmKoUo6VQ26FqpQmQvxS9qO8_lvklv0RjigQin_9nrejU/s400/lydiaGuevara.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5372418919855952530" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And, it always inspires me to find fresh new talent from whom I can learn a thing or two! Check out this young Drum Brother by the name of Onur Il, from Istanbul! (And, thanks for turning me on to this, Kenny!)<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5HBN9cpzook&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5HBN9cpzook&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />It´s a beautiful thing!<br /><br />Keep On Drumming!!!Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-48353133183976343542009-07-16T15:55:00.004-04:002009-07-16T16:31:17.948-04:00New Frank Colon Page on VicFirth.com!Sheeesh….. wow, it’s been soooo long since I posted anything on this blog!!! And, it’s not like I haven’t been writing, because I’m now into this “10-page-minimum/day” campaign in relation to the (at present) three books that I’m working on. Two are a practical “how-to” books, (which has inspired interest from a certain Brazilian publishing house! while the third is a novel, written in first person. And, that’s about as much as I feel like I wan to say about these projects, on this public forum, at this time….. ;-)<br /><br />In the meantime, bassist extraordinaire, Rob Fried, has released a fine contemporary CD titled, "Water Rhapsody". <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhifQlzpkR9NX7_c67nzPK6IDN8HRkoW_asFTBx_91ISA5OY-UYdNmVPk9iYLwkSxTnfbf2DTJJb9dQYV2FmQP_vojwEFRIvEmX8LyRGdKD8AjgzUDfuoVXAd4OHbA8IPJDmhSOxsxb2Dk/s1600-h/robfried2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhifQlzpkR9NX7_c67nzPK6IDN8HRkoW_asFTBx_91ISA5OY-UYdNmVPk9iYLwkSxTnfbf2DTJJb9dQYV2FmQP_vojwEFRIvEmX8LyRGdKD8AjgzUDfuoVXAd4OHbA8IPJDmhSOxsxb2Dk/s400/robfried2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359149698734450674" /></a><br />Produced and recorded by Paul Averinos at his Studio Unicorn, in Redding, Ct., this great record also features the flute of Steve Gorn, Marion Meadows on soprano sax, and Chris Parker on drums. I, happily, contribute percussion to six pf the CDs songs.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Vic Firth, Inc. company’s web department has recently re-designed their artist endorser roster’s web page on their mother-ship site. It’s got a cool, modern look to it…check it out here:<br /><br />http://www.vicfirth.com/artists/profile/profile.php?id=248</span><br /><br />Here’s another great jam by some cool cats, led by bassist and friend, Tony Cimorosi, on his album titled, "Horizon". <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFwXe2lS9nMZo35un5DIzVwKhlfFtYY0rNd8WV4Amvrkdp72ugdauKcr0IQVfvEtjOnDj0UqNfEhABIVsVJnv9mEAB0KqlVmR7XRlBTED6jscpGwM7vx_w7byPfJ3SuZI22uUG-2dXwyI/s1600-h/cimorosi2.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFwXe2lS9nMZo35un5DIzVwKhlfFtYY0rNd8WV4Amvrkdp72ugdauKcr0IQVfvEtjOnDj0UqNfEhABIVsVJnv9mEAB0KqlVmR7XRlBTED6jscpGwM7vx_w7byPfJ3SuZI22uUG-2dXwyI/s400/cimorosi2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359149940108004610" /></a><br />Included on this hot CD are Randy Brecker on trumpet, Alex Foster on sax, and Alejandro Garcia on drums. I also contribute percussion to the entire album, including some innovative work with the Bata drums!<br /><br />Another album well worth your while to check out is titled, "Language of Secret Hearts", by English reedman and wind-synth pioneer, Clive Stevens!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIXkr1Vp7YFtjAwzZJxtTldOW9WbMI1Q3EuPdh4h5BhubTlaEurFTCyB6k4XDf2UTu7ic0xFUrx_mLBUXCB66a_h_FZHBPI8fv_Z2yll4n_JO46rq-qltURWamGhZiVqTkNZs4Fv6Anzk/s1600-h/Clive-LanguageSecretHearts.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 198px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIXkr1Vp7YFtjAwzZJxtTldOW9WbMI1Q3EuPdh4h5BhubTlaEurFTCyB6k4XDf2UTu7ic0xFUrx_mLBUXCB66a_h_FZHBPI8fv_Z2yll4n_JO46rq-qltURWamGhZiVqTkNZs4Fv6Anzk/s400/Clive-LanguageSecretHearts.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359158082884011794" /></a><br />This very interesting CD features the keyboard and production skills of Steve Gaboury (recently touring with Cindy Lauper), Jeff Golub on guitar, J.T. Lewis on drums.Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-67377176340716341862008-11-17T19:05:00.006-05:002008-11-17T20:57:16.972-05:00New Video - Nano's Chilla - Hanging with Baby do BrasilA Brazilian friend of mine recently suggested, since I've been going to Russia every year, for the last 6 years or so, that I might as well get an apartment in Moscow! You know, he may be right....it might be worth it!<br /><br />There's a friend in Russia who manages to collect footage of my performances and now he's surprised me with some patched-together clips of my performance in Novokuznetsk, Siberia! It's on YouTube....but I'm linking it here, as well.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/b0ihQKWy-PI&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/b0ihQKWy-PI&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />A drumbrother of mine, Nano Valerio, has recently accomplished what is known in the Vedic Hindustani tradition as a "Chilla". It's basically a spiritual, self-awareness retreat, whereupon us drummers becoe one with our instrument - in this case, the Tabla drums. Nano, himself, describes this significant event very well...<br /><br /> "<span style="font-style:italic;">As you know a real chilla goes for 40 days, mine was a half-chilla of 20 days. Originally, Guruji (Pundit Samir Chatterjee - Nano's tabla guru..as well as mine, too!) was going to set up a space where he and a handful of students would be but at the last minute he had to leave for India. So i was left to do this on my own at my own place. The solitude was fine (and part of the tradition), doing it at home had it's limitations. Because of neighbors i had to trim things down to 12hours of practice time per day. It was very grueling the first few days and had i not blocked out the time and turned down work i probably would have stopped. In a chilla you never take your hands off the drums (except for eating and bathroom) so even the practice itself is intense. Pictures of Guruji, Coltrane and Ali Akbar Khan kept me going. i was surprised that it was very emotional at times and by the end i felt like i could have gone on longer as my mind/body metabolism had acclimated to the situation. If i ever have the time i'd like to do a full-length one but until then i'm happy that i completed this goal (something i've always wanted to do once i heard about it).</span>" <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Intense, huh?!!!</span><br /><br />Here's Nano, on the top left, dressed in white, in a backstage photo with the Chhandayan World Percussion Ensemble, during a performance in Houston, Texas.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBce99r9fpQZpPukM8u88znichyphenhyphenzGS0Gs_sek5yGhf81HOXa8njMRRpKxP9vLcaz-v4Lyti6VdNyEhCW9mfzS18-5MnyKY7V96b0PEoyO0hKeA6fAJOMzQluduIsNF8GARlT7DCO_sshk/s1600-h/ChhandayanPercEnsemble.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 170px; height: 123px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBce99r9fpQZpPukM8u88znichyphenhyphenzGS0Gs_sek5yGhf81HOXa8njMRRpKxP9vLcaz-v4Lyti6VdNyEhCW9mfzS18-5MnyKY7V96b0PEoyO0hKeA6fAJOMzQluduIsNF8GARlT7DCO_sshk/s400/ChhandayanPercEnsemble.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269806061296406642" /></a><br /><br />Also in the band and the photo are: L-R / Pundit Samir Chatterjee, Sri Steve Gorn, Dan Weiss, Henry Hey, Baba Don Eaton, Yousif Sheronick, Frank Colón.<br /><br />This weekend, Margo and I went up to Itaipava, in the mountains of the state of Rio, looking for some quality rest and meditation. But, as fate would have it, we ran into our friend, singer Baby do Brasil (formerly, Baby Consuelo), and we ended up hanging out together all Saturday and Sunday, checking out the night scene, some music, some restaurants.......we had a great time and still got some much-needed rest! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxSaK27RMYOWonyy-qDwSEs4BPn_zO1EVvppXzDMsF0IP2VXvkeCcjBKduqqpBE2Gb1WS-oFKVhnOMUJzZk0G9c0jsSDrRssWwwKI5EzMMpAFgNzUJOR0nsfJi0a5Z-0UzdyKNzw_W1Wg/s1600-h/FrankBaby.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxSaK27RMYOWonyy-qDwSEs4BPn_zO1EVvppXzDMsF0IP2VXvkeCcjBKduqqpBE2Gb1WS-oFKVhnOMUJzZk0G9c0jsSDrRssWwwKI5EzMMpAFgNzUJOR0nsfJi0a5Z-0UzdyKNzw_W1Wg/s400/FrankBaby.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269807997154741330" /></a><br /><br />Baby and I are now talking about a collaboration on some projects for very early next year! I'll keep you up to date on that...<br /><br />And, now,,, some archive photos - <br /><br />An impromptu jam session with Richie "Gajate" García and Giovanni Hidalgo at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, California! <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC1oJ5MYMqwWJESUUuMP86c4sjX7evamEBEskeQKHWCW_K49IeA3ZVpVdjlItCjZU6gOv7YUoa5ViSVoK1ShqsvD3CeSNlIWaqtScRlgsA92veAUv98OoQ3ZpofCPG6ZzXbMniyB_VVeI/s1600-h/RichieGajate-Frank-Giovanni.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC1oJ5MYMqwWJESUUuMP86c4sjX7evamEBEskeQKHWCW_K49IeA3ZVpVdjlItCjZU6gOv7YUoa5ViSVoK1ShqsvD3CeSNlIWaqtScRlgsA92veAUv98OoQ3ZpofCPG6ZzXbMniyB_VVeI/s400/RichieGajate-Frank-Giovanni.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269807068674574946" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />NAMM Show photos by Martin Cohen.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNvAvxRJgtaEUXislnnpy1QzjAAYMNOJOQ7j4pVn_sWcFxF279mzrC5BR6_NXgt_jcQlMsFrUU4WQvnoolQkjurDxQV8U6VDq4ZuW4q0pyoCBzuV8wa4kghlckhYlyxjiS9g-v4sVR-Fg/s1600-h/RichieGajate-Frank-Giovanni3.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNvAvxRJgtaEUXislnnpy1QzjAAYMNOJOQ7j4pVn_sWcFxF279mzrC5BR6_NXgt_jcQlMsFrUU4WQvnoolQkjurDxQV8U6VDq4ZuW4q0pyoCBzuV8wa4kghlckhYlyxjiS9g-v4sVR-Fg/s400/RichieGajate-Frank-Giovanni3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269807374012982258" /></a>Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-44115009677390321012008-11-11T09:38:00.012-05:002008-11-11T10:14:50.969-05:00Photos from The Wild Shamans in Moscow<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4ST0n2gnrBczUEXQxfBTVFGbRk3xdI5WTuuGynTasIe6Z0w0dRmOQtwBfaJdpUKB9rjNn6wVU_j6S7LmvTfI8yt37Hy4x1TBRCLtjzrpxplRLiJdLSssu-KokbQimuqp4s7cCw3-ruQ/s1600-h/122_1859s.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4ST0n2gnrBczUEXQxfBTVFGbRk3xdI5WTuuGynTasIe6Z0w0dRmOQtwBfaJdpUKB9rjNn6wVU_j6S7LmvTfI8yt37Hy4x1TBRCLtjzrpxplRLiJdLSssu-KokbQimuqp4s7cCw3-ruQ/s400/122_1859s.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267414820035794914" /></a><br /><br />You know, I'll be posting photos, not necessarily in the sequencial order of events.... and, by this, I mean that while these next photos are of a Moscow concert for US Ambassador, John Beyrle, at the prestigious Spaso House, I've just found some photos of band rehearsals in NYC, the week before. The rehearsal pix aren't processed yet, so they'll be posted up in a couple of days, at the most.<br /><br />In the meantime, here are some of the photos shot by photographer Pavel Korbut at the 1st concert of the Frank Colón and The Wild Shamans 2008 Tour of Russia.<br /><br />Ben Stivers - Piano Cecilia Tenconi - Sax<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxyE9FLpipwBB74OI2rb3PF1fwhdWm98_SpSJ_uWexmyoY8Z_nx5dJoB4v6Jg0x47Fa_Nhn9qZe1SOJaS_Dy0xIgAPKPUGwHoCXRqQKKtlrfl-PmEsJtj8iilMFqT7lzoFeb2nGZlZU0k/s1600-h/122_1856s.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxyE9FLpipwBB74OI2rb3PF1fwhdWm98_SpSJ_uWexmyoY8Z_nx5dJoB4v6Jg0x47Fa_Nhn9qZe1SOJaS_Dy0xIgAPKPUGwHoCXRqQKKtlrfl-PmEsJtj8iilMFqT7lzoFeb2nGZlZU0k/s400/122_1856s.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267413860149234722" /></a><br /><br /><br />Cecilia Tenconi - Sax David Meade - Drums Tony Cimorosi - Bass<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyMBBOBqENBo0bEezLJuwlLQzW9Hk5SipxMqZtHfuWDQN3UZIY13Y2DWiTN8wnraaN0K39QMUlmwFjaSwjWWh7KGfovKOQUJDxxAIhVYY0k-wtBiV8cqbV-_a30NmTHCkgkeP0Pm4jjM0/s1600-h/122_1858s.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyMBBOBqENBo0bEezLJuwlLQzW9Hk5SipxMqZtHfuWDQN3UZIY13Y2DWiTN8wnraaN0K39QMUlmwFjaSwjWWh7KGfovKOQUJDxxAIhVYY0k-wtBiV8cqbV-_a30NmTHCkgkeP0Pm4jjM0/s400/122_1858s.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267414343869138562" /></a><br /><br /> BERIMBAU<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcmrlywslCEDjBi3XrhU_PiGFy8qIFOMmE3f1HTnRRjqcpysqRsIUuha6LsocE4rDBWDUT4xx79pCz18iqE2VFTMxz1r4oQsL-BR9-_OEj6tU5i9wbZULwL2H4vJArASBVN64HLTxSR0o/s1600-h/122_1927s.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcmrlywslCEDjBi3XrhU_PiGFy8qIFOMmE3f1HTnRRjqcpysqRsIUuha6LsocE4rDBWDUT4xx79pCz18iqE2VFTMxz1r4oQsL-BR9-_OEj6tU5i9wbZULwL2H4vJArASBVN64HLTxSR0o/s400/122_1927s.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267415423682294274" /></a><br /><br /><br /> Groovin' with The SHEKERE!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHIcHw9h6uQ-uIqdEa4sdr4_05Sfef_dqGqebEGTWYIESf7qMyygsLa1nIZtAi7UpSBcjtjnf7qWPWA9ko__qxNZeU5EG86XIzbmBxTSJ-InqAXzsli0fHxNrTRex8lNRcTreIjLZDmh8/s1600-h/122_1964s.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHIcHw9h6uQ-uIqdEa4sdr4_05Sfef_dqGqebEGTWYIESf7qMyygsLa1nIZtAi7UpSBcjtjnf7qWPWA9ko__qxNZeU5EG86XIzbmBxTSJ-InqAXzsli0fHxNrTRex8lNRcTreIjLZDmh8/s400/122_1964s.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267416468855419602" /></a><br /><br /><br /> Talking with the CUICA!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5MAJkGhEdCaf9f6LWyjK1kSzgstWrGhEEXvGZV3CSq-gV_zipLespvDkojn5JnRsM914uvwCPioa7be9yACNIKMHUJru9AbRSUR2lGd_3UCuEuevVXhwwHYfVFtvEcljGkWqdZCHkqGg/s1600-h/122_1966s.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5MAJkGhEdCaf9f6LWyjK1kSzgstWrGhEEXvGZV3CSq-gV_zipLespvDkojn5JnRsM914uvwCPioa7be9yACNIKMHUJru9AbRSUR2lGd_3UCuEuevVXhwwHYfVFtvEcljGkWqdZCHkqGg/s400/122_1966s.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267416952722579186" /></a><br /><br /> Wailin' on the TIMBALES!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJEZfNdLDIVe2AFnmd6INrRyq4g1w7Z8Igb0rbksA4hJi-YfiXTqxyKTbL7GFB2Nkeikp2GWxy5r_vNg1gyolGj0jMYrvSSD6ilEes7EqT7jcQKBdkL-zIpfw7LVh26M_nhyphenhyphenJKkb6D3N8/s1600-h/122_1972s.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 268px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJEZfNdLDIVe2AFnmd6INrRyq4g1w7Z8Igb0rbksA4hJi-YfiXTqxyKTbL7GFB2Nkeikp2GWxy5r_vNg1gyolGj0jMYrvSSD6ilEes7EqT7jcQKBdkL-zIpfw7LVh26M_nhyphenhyphenJKkb6D3N8/s400/122_1972s.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267417526264932834" /></a>Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-68543446984881420872008-11-10T16:21:00.006-05:002008-11-11T09:25:04.197-05:00New Kremlin Chamber Orchestra "Adoracion al Ritmo" clip on YouTube!Hello, my friends!<br /><br />I'm just getting back from a very relaxing weekend down at the "family beach compound" in Angra dos Reis, about an hour-and-a-half south of Rio. I call it such, since Margo and I, as well as Glorinha and Luiz have houses in the same gated beach community, Portal do Verde Mar, and Luiz is now the president of the community's board of directors. maybe sometime soon, I'll post some photos of our Vedic beach house up and in here...<br /><br />Right now, I want to turn you on to another segment (movement)of the "Adoracion al Ritmo" symphony, composed for me by violinist Eskender Bekmambetov, on commission by the Kremlin Chamber Orchestra, which is conducted by the great Maestro Misha Rachlevsky. I performed this with the KCO a couple of years ago in Moscow, with the world premiere held at the International House of Music, Moscow's most modern show complex. The symphony consists of 7 movements, of which, to date, 3 are up on the Tube. Here's the recently uploaded movement, titled, "Chinese Tea Room".<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nmUx4juYpLo&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nmUx4juYpLo&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Meanwhile, a bunch of family photos dating back 10, 15 and 20 years or so has just been recovered and, while there are literally thousands of shots, mostly taken by Margo, from all around the world, I am slowly finding some that we all thought had been lost forever. <br /><br />Here's one of them, taken by Margo during a concert at NYC's Beacon Theater by the 2nd incarnation of a band called "The Samba-Salsa-Swing All-Stars"! This band performed twice...once in Puerto Rico's Coliseo Roberto Clemente and once at the Beacon Theater, in Manhattan. <br /><br />The basic roster was Airto Moreira/drums, Flora Purim/vocals, Dave Valentin/flute, Mario Rivera/sax and myself. <br /><br />For the show in Puerto Rico, we also had: piano/Jorge Dalto, bass/Sal Cuevas, timbales/Nicky Marrero, trumpet/Claudio Roditi and congas/Patato Valdes. <br /><br />For the show in New York: piano/Michel Camilo, bass/Jaco Patorius, sax/Paquito D'Rivera, and congas/Jerry Gonzales.<br /><br />This old photo shows a jam between, Jaco Pastorius, Airto, Jerry Gonzales and myself (with a full beard!), on shekere.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnL9BGvoVBo9z9kfsf11pSWzE-rVPBhIEsQC8LizZnrBrSz5AVDlVjQfkZm0q5ev2-RSXE4rEAsytusXbTAtHLfTEX2F-9PJ9b0HFNHrBHNhXEs99C94PcNwEfhMsTuoQ4It45AvczxN4/s1600-h/Frank-Jaco-Airto-Jerry.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnL9BGvoVBo9z9kfsf11pSWzE-rVPBhIEsQC8LizZnrBrSz5AVDlVjQfkZm0q5ev2-RSXE4rEAsytusXbTAtHLfTEX2F-9PJ9b0HFNHrBHNhXEs99C94PcNwEfhMsTuoQ4It45AvczxN4/s400/Frank-Jaco-Airto-Jerry.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267157501363278962" /></a><br /><br />I'll be posting some more of these archive treaures, as I find them among the many photos that have been recently recovered!<br /><br />And, here's a great song by a cool band that I just happened to check out last week! <br /><br />Grammy-winner John Legend, doing "Green Light", on the Letterman Show!<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zXM2m60PQ-s&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zXM2m60PQ-s&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /> Thanks for stopping by..... I'll be back soon!Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-35451398898455401652008-10-29T21:03:00.011-04:002008-10-30T12:37:15.336-04:002008 Tour of Russia with My Band: The Wild ShamansHello, friends!<br /><br />It's been a while since I've posted on this site and, to tell you the truth, it's obvious that I've yet to get the hang of posting while I'm traveling on tour... And, to further limit my consistent rappin' on this media, I traveled, for the first time in years, without a laptop! I must admit, it was sort of scary at first, but quickly became refreshing not to be online throughout the majority of the day! As a consequence, I'm now limiting my time dealing with email to simply an hour, twice a day - at 11:30 am and at 7:30 pm, Rio de Janeiro time! :-) <br /><br />If there's an emergency for which you need to contact me immediately, you can do so at my phone numbers, listed on my site - frankcolon.com.<br /><br />All in all, my tour of Russia 2008 with my new band, The Wild Shamans, went super! There are still many photos of the tour arriving electronically, so as I sort them out, I'll be posting them up over the next blog musings.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3z1ImtX4PKVOmO0EJ80mCjcMxDUTkCz9Bt7xgUleIowtTgGzqIPUdbyx3vBTYnEIKuuHe4I5I3ZVBanPBhoVB5DolMcz3tqLIMMRwQA6SfGffXTnTONikmfOWnAL6TchIVzRLrdRIoqY/s1600-h/Frank-RedSquare.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3z1ImtX4PKVOmO0EJ80mCjcMxDUTkCz9Bt7xgUleIowtTgGzqIPUdbyx3vBTYnEIKuuHe4I5I3ZVBanPBhoVB5DolMcz3tqLIMMRwQA6SfGffXTnTONikmfOWnAL6TchIVzRLrdRIoqY/s320/Frank-RedSquare.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262759787175492786" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Here's the post on the site pertaining to the US Embassy in Moscow (http://moscow.usembassy.gov/)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxkooKKj8Ib9eH40mQqc2KosR_yFU_Zrhmc2E1WmOa0i5J6Z9arSKa5EsZV2AjHET4caS3f5sm8lznN5c7Me71xX2VQlhv1Wj-H63zvH3XYeu3ZiQ_fOAKfGvr_7kLRfWCGjMUBJrr8xk/s1600-h/FrankSpaso2008.bmp"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxkooKKj8Ib9eH40mQqc2KosR_yFU_Zrhmc2E1WmOa0i5J6Z9arSKa5EsZV2AjHET4caS3f5sm8lznN5c7Me71xX2VQlhv1Wj-H63zvH3XYeu3ZiQ_fOAKfGvr_7kLRfWCGjMUBJrr8xk/s320/FrankSpaso2008.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262749666017043106" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Frank Colon and Wild Shamans in Spaso House<br />Latin-influenced jazz percussionist Frank Colon and his Wild Shamans launched a ten-day tour of Russia with a performance at Spaso House on October 1. In addition to performing at Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Hall, the group will perform Barnaul, Kemerovo, Novokuznetsk, and Tomsk."</span></span><br /><br />My second concert in Moscow was at the prestigious Tchaikovsky Hall and I invited my friend and gifted guitarist, Roman Miroshnishenko, to participate in the show! I wish that I could show you some photos of the performance but I've yet to receive any... here's a photo of me and my inseparable shekere,taken outside the theater, in the afternoon, just before our sound-check.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZHzBpnbLaEkrfatQx5h8On-siFxmZC0fuRQVp7DM8tym5ebuTyRY-iog0EUGc6plvy1lg5rUvvlak0_9J1GnTD2bPjVTRccHkROtVCwCjzJinssb8gbgGphW9kUP6Ilm7QaFCADTaCe8/s1600-h/Frank-Russia2008.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZHzBpnbLaEkrfatQx5h8On-siFxmZC0fuRQVp7DM8tym5ebuTyRY-iog0EUGc6plvy1lg5rUvvlak0_9J1GnTD2bPjVTRccHkROtVCwCjzJinssb8gbgGphW9kUP6Ilm7QaFCADTaCe8/s400/Frank-Russia2008.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262751149816860818" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />My third show in Moscow (three days in a row!) was at the Union of Composers Club. Our performance was one night of a festival series and, as these things tend to go, the crowd (sold out...by the way...as were all of our shows throughout Russia!) was there for the festival event, but warmed up to our band QUICK, after just a couple of songs! It turned out to be a night of a lot of musical fun! A fan in the club audience has posted a bunch of videos on youtube, for which I and my band thank him... so, I'll post the link to one of them right here -<br /><br /><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/O2ACHbb83Ds&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/O2ACHbb83Ds&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />And, here are some photos taken at the Union of Composers Club -<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpTwybaMt5u0e27nx48MviPPDmPYN2jUbbrxXdNz8AmLcMYt1FLbEO93uWuuR2GtGfkQG8NUOxPZdKy6GCes7QTN2H0QgBwjKZCzD8V7od-axENkpo4alfl0NiX9jzyvVJI24ftb9JFgo/s1600-h/frankColon-composersClubMoscow.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpTwybaMt5u0e27nx48MviPPDmPYN2jUbbrxXdNz8AmLcMYt1FLbEO93uWuuR2GtGfkQG8NUOxPZdKy6GCes7QTN2H0QgBwjKZCzD8V7od-axENkpo4alfl0NiX9jzyvVJI24ftb9JFgo/s320/frankColon-composersClubMoscow.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262754263397056194" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Fantastic Keyboardist and Great Human Being - Ben Stivers<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhZaAc9XKpLTHtTRJAr38EDfTp-mCZtFGzbSPoHqsTSeh0pYCsfZbTVaEldH91ejhDEAf0z9G0a7n4NApGFVeJrQFouhAwnrJR7KkEI9jFbLBGI9-eavPImU_mGKqeDqukvB2aK23azgc/s1600-h/benStivers-composersClub.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhZaAc9XKpLTHtTRJAr38EDfTp-mCZtFGzbSPoHqsTSeh0pYCsfZbTVaEldH91ejhDEAf0z9G0a7n4NApGFVeJrQFouhAwnrJR7KkEI9jFbLBGI9-eavPImU_mGKqeDqukvB2aK23azgc/s320/benStivers-composersClub.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262754679308866962" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Musician Extraordinaire - Cecilia Tenconi<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjym9tJ-tr4oBQlmewgh34x6Gha8GUsfge4rhKS3UAw-nQf6g1NGZ8G9fi5HDr1R1ZfdtUHCdhNTjhVVyqw8HbYQz5a7WYoykdVMNB6TQLMZoXdGnqGJWIpAeqjCNW7hGfBMkNRk6xiMXU/s1600-h/ceciliaTenconi-composersClubMoscow.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjym9tJ-tr4oBQlmewgh34x6Gha8GUsfge4rhKS3UAw-nQf6g1NGZ8G9fi5HDr1R1ZfdtUHCdhNTjhVVyqw8HbYQz5a7WYoykdVMNB6TQLMZoXdGnqGJWIpAeqjCNW7hGfBMkNRk6xiMXU/s320/ceciliaTenconi-composersClubMoscow.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262755056589794178" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />These are the photos that I have from the Union of Composers Club, but I'll be posting more from other concerts in Moscow and other Siberian cities very soon!<br /><br />Luv-n-LightFrank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-75576363330526496142008-09-16T18:27:00.009-04:002008-09-16T18:49:55.086-04:00On My Way To The Big Apple~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br />Hummnnnnn……………<br /><br />You know, with so many virtual points of access, I’m actually finding it very tricky to tend to the demands of my official music site, the myspace site, my Krav Maga site, the facebook pages, the Linked-In friends, the new Krav Maga Brazil site (in construction) Sonico….. Orkut….. LastFM…….. how does one do it without hiring a staff of web techies just to stay afloat and keep one’s head above the water? Wheeewwwww……..!<br /><br />As I quickly peck this text into my desktop in my office at Margo’s university <span style="font-weight:bold;">(www.fij.br)</span>, I look at my watch, knowing that In about 3 hours I’ll be catching a plane for NYC. The time has arrived for landing in the city in order to rehearse the band that I’m taking with me to a tour of Russia, during the month of October.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX6qUfHvp1v7y2Qd88bGDSzgVa2hY1RFoE98DIWIe1KGSgpzigv2kVqAuQ8osAHpJlPzzkCZaG5uBF5aXLuB8ZQrKPt5bwF8ugP3gnac1swSH5mWMUkzaTjquQfkHxOEDO0k-0Ni-_gdE/s1600-h/Novosibirsk.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX6qUfHvp1v7y2Qd88bGDSzgVa2hY1RFoE98DIWIe1KGSgpzigv2kVqAuQ8osAHpJlPzzkCZaG5uBF5aXLuB8ZQrKPt5bwF8ugP3gnac1swSH5mWMUkzaTjquQfkHxOEDO0k-0Ni-_gdE/s320/Novosibirsk.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246750492032102418" /></a><br /><br />Now, for the concerts in Moscow at the Spaso House (the cultural venue sponsored by the US Embassy) as well as for the concert at Tchaikovsky Hall, I have invited premier Russian guitarist, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Roman Miroshnichenko</span>, to participate on some of songs, as my special guest! Roman and I have been performing together on various different projects over the last few years and, aside from developing an exciting musical camaraderie, we have become good friends! He, in turn, has requested that I participate of his upcoming 2009 European tour… an invitation which I have gladly accepted. More info about Roman can be viewed at his cool site – www.romanmiroshnichenko.com !<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSXSi5kskKCnyCcBYvnRCiWX3Ep0PFpytvLOHDu5ev_grfsqzu-RDBPX7ErAPnzszYEJBHPCkYh99G4sfZI2XRUfxKLTkhj5_5gOYZm7hQL4yEttv9xFwU2vSemLdt0uUsoPkXpvWsxDk/s1600-h/Tomsk.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSXSi5kskKCnyCcBYvnRCiWX3Ep0PFpytvLOHDu5ev_grfsqzu-RDBPX7ErAPnzszYEJBHPCkYh99G4sfZI2XRUfxKLTkhj5_5gOYZm7hQL4yEttv9xFwU2vSemLdt0uUsoPkXpvWsxDk/s320/Tomsk.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246750909467568386" /></a><br />Next week, my friend and partner, <span style="font-weight:bold;">Daniel Figueiredo</span> (musician, producer for TV Record, owner of <span style="font-weight:bold;">Music Solution Studio</span>) and his wife, singer <span style="font-weight:bold;">Luciana Spedo</span> <span style="font-weight:bold;">(Banda Blitz, Divas)</span> will be visiting New York City and staying with me and <span style="font-weight:bold;">Margo</span>, at our Manhattan Upper West Side flat, overlooking Central Park. It'll be their first time in NYC, so we'll be sure to make it a most memorable experience for them! Please check out our collaborative project, <span style="font-weight:bold;">www.musicalnationproject.com</span> and please feel free to contribute artistically to this worthy cause!<br /><br />And, by the way, I have been sent some more of the posters that are being displayed around some of the Siberian cities which I’ll be performing at. I've inserted them in this report for you to check them out…….Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-22660734505683934432008-08-18T22:08:00.003-04:002008-08-18T22:14:31.482-04:00Upcoming Tour of the Russian Federation + MoreHello, my friends!<br /><br />As you can detect, by now, I’m still new at this “community networking”... but, I think that I’m quickly getting a handle on it.<br /><br />I may have been the last person on Earth to get into Facebook, as well but, so far, it’s been a rewarding experience, as I’ve re-connected with a lot of friends, mostly from Puerto Rico, with whom I had lost contact decades ago! It’s good to see that they’re still around and it’s good to catch up on their lives!<br /><br />But, today’s post is to tell you some details about my upcoming tour of Russia with my new band, The Wild Shamans. I had actually called this group, “The Groove Shamans”, but then I was asked, by my Russian agents, “What exactly does ‘groove’ mean?” So, if this sophisticated, worldly person was asking me this, then perhaps it would be better to change the name of the band to something that was easier to understand, don’t you think?<br /><br />My tour schedule is 95% locked in for the following performances:<br /><br />October 1 – 3 / Moscow venues, most notably, Tchaikovsky Hall<br />Oct 5 - concert Novosibirsk / Academytown, House of Scientists. <br />Oct 6, Barnaul / Philharmonic Concert Hall<br />Oct 7 – Kemerovo / Philharmonic Concert Hall<br />Oct 8 - Novokuznetsk<br />Oct 9 - Tomsk<br />Oct 10 – Moscow / Showcase for Exxon-Mobil <br /><br />Here is a photo of Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Hall promotional poster.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56UUgU3VOay7qqczekj_8H2PyRIZVDuSXigheQi6IIraWHfG8hs_knHIiIMGTm9lcG6FMpu5cAIAaAkRGsyU6KR4cSBiiyT0vi9UoV3164vmgk29GQahjw6kfJ7Jx89YSMSsxBTcQI1k/s1600-h/FRANK+POSTER+RUSSIA+08.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56UUgU3VOay7qqczekj_8H2PyRIZVDuSXigheQi6IIraWHfG8hs_knHIiIMGTm9lcG6FMpu5cAIAaAkRGsyU6KR4cSBiiyT0vi9UoV3164vmgk29GQahjw6kfJ7Jx89YSMSsxBTcQI1k/s320/FRANK+POSTER+RUSSIA+08.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236046045357850978" /></a><br /><br />On another note, a couple of weeks ago, I participated on a new recording by Brazilian blues-man, Alamo Leal. It was a cool record session with some nice traditional tunes and some great musicians on the CD roster, most visibly, harmonica prodigy, Flávio Guimarães! I talked to Alamo earlier tonight, as he called me to let me know that his record will be released next month. He still hasn’t decided on a title for the CD yet, but as soon as I receive a copy, I’ll let you all know, posting a image of the cover here, as well.<br /><br />Meanwhile, 50 of my Krav Maga Federation colleagues, including my teacher and mentor, Master Rhon Mizrachi, are spending the next 3 weeks in Israel, training under the guidance of the federation’s Grandmaster, Haim Zut! Pictures can be viewed at this location: http://www.kravmagafederation.com/forum/ !Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8319454212054874419.post-17982739123246958652008-08-13T12:16:00.001-04:002008-08-13T12:18:13.004-04:00Hello, Drum Friends!Well, as it is, I may be the last person on Earth to join the blogging world but, as they say, “Better late than never!” Fortunately, my good friend and musical partner, Daniel Figueiredo who maintains the blogs, “Ect e Tal” and “Music Solution”, convinced me yesterday that this is the way to conduct a dynamic dialogue with my supporters and all other drum freaks, all over the globe. So, thanks to Daniel, I’ve now officially joined the legions of bloggers who share their thoughts and vibes on the www.<br /><br />So, now, what to do with this open global forum? Well, for starters, I’d like to use this to communicate directly with the people who, for one reason or another, access my official web site (www.frankcolon.com) and/or my myspace location (www.myspace.com/frankcolonmusic). As I don’t enjoy direct control over my own web site, since it is, thankfully, managed by my cousin Omar in Puerto Rico (http://www.entreveroinc.com), I attempted to make the myspace site a direct means of relating to my supporters and fellow drumming lovers. Alas, this really didn’t prove to be too practical either. So, here I am, testing out an alternative means towards the original purpose…<br /><br />Through this vehicle, I hope to acknowledge my supporters good vibes and let you all know where and when I’ll be performing, and with who. Besides, I look forward to sharing news items mostly concerning drums and percussion that I happen to discover. I’ll also be posting performance videos and lots of photos of you, which I’ll be taking at all the locations that I perform at!<br /><br />So, for opener’s here’s a video clip of my former band, taped a couple of years ago in Long Island, NY. This video features the great, inimitable Buddy Williams on drums, the beautiful Cecilia Tenconi on flute, David “Mr. Smooth” Ambrosio on bass, and Adam Klipple on keyboard. The song is, “I Was Made To Love Her”, which is featured on my Latin Wonder CD.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/zW5qdb74kZg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/zW5qdb74kZg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Frank Colonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15450778049452316876noreply@blogger.com0