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Archive for the 'Tribal Drums' Category

Crazy AC/DC Headbanger Serves Fantastic Curry & Brilliant Air Guitar

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

This story definitely fits under the Namba Gear Tribal Drums (miscellaneous) category. For this episode of “Travels From A Musician’s Point of View”, I was attending the Frankfurt Musik Messe (Music Fair) with a business associate. After a couple of days at the trade show, and having tired of the traditional German food (pork; not that there is anything wrong with that), we decided to try and find an Indian restaurant for our dinner.

We went to the taxi stand and were fortunate to find that our driver spoke a little English. We told him that we wanted to find a really good Indian restaurant and he assured us that he knew the best place in Frankfurt, the food was fantastic, and that he even took his family to this restaurant. Great, off we went.

So this is what an Indian Head-banger looks like.As we entered the packed Indian restaurant, the smell of the curries and spices convinced us that we had indeed found The Promised Land. Traditional Indian decorations and the soft sound of tabla drums and sitar music completed the ambiance. The owner of the restaurant, complete with turban, came over to our table to take our order.

Maybe because our hair was a little longer (my associate’s hair was in a ponytail), or the Dave Matthews Band t-shirt I was wearing under my leather jacket, the owner asked if we were musicians. We told him that we were in town for the Musik Messe and were certainly in the music business. That was all it took.

Do You Like AC/DC?

Excitedly, the restaurant owner asked if we liked AC/DC. We both replied sure, they are a great rock band. Now the owner launched into an excited and animated description of the AC/DC concert in Munich that he had recently attended; how hard AC/DC rocked; how great their show was; etc. We tried to bring him back to the menu and our order of food, but now that he knew he had found some “fellow believers”, he dismissed our attempts and just said that he would serve us the special for a big discount. OK, that sounded good.

The owner left and was gone about 3 minutes when we noticed that the sitar music had been turned off. 30 seconds later… Highway to Hell blasted through the speakers at what had to be close to the maximum volume. The owner appeared from the kitchen in time to do a head-banger’s impersonation of a lead guitar player. I’m certain that our mouths dropped open, as this was just an amazing sight. We watched in dismay as we witnessed an Indian head-banger’s turban wildly bouncing to the beat as he thrashed his air guitar. The restaurant cleared of it’s customers almost immediately and within 10 minutes of AC/DC’s musical debut, along with the entertainment of the bouncing head-banger’s turban, we were literally the only customers left in the place.

We made great friends with the restaurant owner, who seemed oblivious to the fact that he had just run off all of his regular customers. And yes, we listened to AC/DC for our dinner music (although at a lower volume) and the food was indeed fantastic.

Got a good musician’s travel story? Feel free to share…

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Namba Gear Announces Jim Mouth’s Rose Bowl Sit-a-thon for Charity, July 7-11

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

Let Your Ass Work for Charity & Earn Yourself Another World RecordJim Mouth, my personal friend, a great drummer, comedian, and the “Super Stadium Sitter” is at it again! He plans to sit in all 92,542 seats at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, CA, the grand daddy of all stadiums, without stopping. He will commence at 10:00 a.m. on July 7th and hopes to sit in the last seat five days later.

The event is free and open throughout those five days and the public is invited to come out and watch and chat with the outrageous Jim Mouth, the holder of 23 world records. Jim expect to wear out five pairs of pants during those five days!

The Rose Bowl Sit-a-thon is sponsored by Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! and all donations and pledges will go directly to the charity Outward Bound Los Angeles. Outward Bound’s mission is to help provide low-income at-risk urban youth nature-based education that promotes positive self-development, environmental responsibility and outdoor career exposure. 

Jim’s many renowned and novel stunts have achieved national and international coverage. Included in those are such amazing activities as stuffing 280 drinking straws into his mouth at one time, crawling 25 miles on his hands and knees, simultaneously smoking 159 cigarettes, and playing the drums for two weeks non-stop.   

He has already sat in all the seats at the University of Michigan’s stadium of the Big 10 and now wants to do the Pac10. Many of Jim’s stunts have been performed on behalf of various charities to raise public awareness and to bring in thousands of dollars for the needy.

Jim plans on going full steam for the first 48 hours, will take a 2 hour sleep break and start back up for the next 48 hours. We want to encourage everyone in the Los Angeles area to come out to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena along with the crew from Namba Gear and encourage Jim, as this is a huge endurance test for the human body & spirit.

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How Do You Know If Or When You’ve ’MADE IT’?

Friday, May 16th, 2008

Guest Blog by Gabriella of Bruised But Not Broken

There’s been much talk that’s been concerning me lately. Artists here in space & elsewhere often wait for the magical day or moment that they feel is coming when they can say:’ I’ve made it’.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
‘I’VE MADE IT’ ? MADE ‘WHAT’ EXACTLY?
 

AS AN ARTIST, IF WE ARE PRODUCING OUR ART, OUR SONGS, OUR POETRY, OUR BOOKS, OUR DESIGNS… WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU DO AS AN ARTIST, THEN HAVEN’T YOU ALREADY ‘MADE IT’?

The general public has a strange idea that unless an artist has a ‘best seller’, or has won a ‘Nobel Prize’ or a ‘Grammy’ or an ‘Oscar’ then they just haven’t ‘made it’. I’m here to remind all artists that if you are producing  whatever art you produce, then YOU HAVE ALREADY MADE IT!   MANY BLESSINGS TO YOUR CONTINUED SUCCESS AND YOUR CONTINUED ART.

IT’S THE DAY WE STOP -
THAT’S THE DAY WE CEASE TO ‘MAKE IT’

I hope everyone has the ability to understand that artists LIVE their ART. They live and breathe it. It is their Life and by doing so they are ‘MAKING IT’ every moment of their existence - and to set up some kind of ‘bar’ that says ‘oh yes, they’ve made it now’ is simply a matter of misguided perception on behalf of the general public - and I do speak ‘generally’, not specifically & not everyone, but generally speaking from my own observations. There are so many avenues that all artists can take, and the general public would benefit from realising that it’s not all about winning prizes (although that’s always nice) or reaching best selling lists (although that’s also very nice).. etc

Art is about creation - PROLIFIC creation.
Art is a lifestyle.
Art is NOT not a race to any finish line that say’s ‘I’ve Made It’.

YOU HAVE ALL ALREADY ‘MADE IT’ SO RELAX AND ENJOY YOUR WONDERFULLY BLESSED LIVES AND DON’T EVER LET ANYONE TAKE THAT AWAY FROM YOU.

Peace to your home & loved ones.
Gabriella
BRUISED BUT NOT BROKEN ™

‘Nothing real can be threatened
…Nothing unreal exists’

=========================

© Gabriella of BBNB (Oursong Ltd Australia)
All rights reserved.

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And Why Name A Namba Gear Product After A South Pacific Narcotic?

Wednesday, March 26th, 2008

In continuing my story of the wonderful things we learned in J. Maarten Troost’s book, Getting Stoned with Savages, we’ll push ahead to the “getting stoned” part of the book. If you haven’t read the first bit ‘o blog,  go to: The Danger Of Reading Travel Essays When You Are Trying To Name Your Company. But first, I want to give my disclaimer right here and now that I/we do not endorse nor condone nor even suggest non-prescription or illegal narcotic usage, but only present the following information for the edification of our interested readers… whom we are sure would never imbibe or participate in any illegal narcotic usage themselves. OK, then.

Preparing the Kava in VanuatuKava is a (quite legal regionally) narcotic liquid that is used in Fiji, Kiribati, Vanuatu and the South Pacific islands in general. We even stumbled upon some photos of Prince Charles having a shell of Kava. Some cultures reserve it for special celebrations; others restrict the use to men only, while other cultures think of Kava like we think of “happy hour” at the neighborhood bar. So pay close attention as here is what Mr. Troost has to say on the subject.

We Humans Are A Mysterious Species

“Fortunately, I was now in Vanuatu, where getting profoundly stoned every night is a venerable tradition. In the gold hour before sunset, the men of Vanuatu gather in a nakamal, typically a clearing under a banyan tree, where they consume kava, which, to the uninitiated, is the most wretchedly foul-tasting beverage ever concocted by Man. Kava derives from Piper methysticum, a pepper shrub that thrives high in the hills of Vanuatu. Traditionally, the kava is prepared by having prepubescent boys chew the root until it becomes a mulch of pulp and saliva, whereupon it is squeezed through coconut fiber, mixed with water, and swallowed all in one go from a coconut shell. Pondering this, you have to wonder And whose idea was that? I could not think of any circumstance where it would occur to me that consuming some kid’s globby spitballs might enhance my well-being. But we humans are a mysterious species, willing to try anything for a buzz, and fortunately for us, a long time ago, somewhere in Vanuatu, and enterprising individual discovered the secret to the most satisfying narcotic available for our pleasure.”

A few pages later in the book, we have this exchange.

“It doesn’t look very appetizing,” Sylvia said. “It looks like muddy water.”

“Wait till you taste it,” Patricia added. “You’ll wish it was muddy water.”

…What concerned me, however, was not the taste but the possibility that this bowl of swirling brown liquid may have had as one of its essential ingredient the spit of unseen boys, which, frankly, I found a little off-putting.

The Red Light Is On and The Kava Bowl Is Ready…Those of us who had had more than a couple of shells had become strangely mute, as if lost in some distant reverie. I was happy to note that I wasn’t the only one who had lost the urge to speak. This wasn’t from any lack of sociability on my part. Indeed, I was beginning to feel as one with all. Sam was seated next to me on the bench. He turned to me and said apropos of nothing: “America.” It wasn’t a question, just a word, an image, an idea, and it hovered between us for a long moment, enveloping us. We silently communed about this thing called America. “Yes,” I said finally, after we had exhausted the topic.

…It was two days before I returned to Earth, and many more before I ventured to another nakamal. I felt like I had been mugged, taken unawares, slugged from behind, and now I was wary. …”I asked the people at work, ” Sylvia said, “And they said you had way too much kava. You should have stopped at two shells.”

“Well, maybe they should put a warning label on their kava.”

So with this little story, we bring you the Kava Laptop Studio Bag from Namba Gear, which like the earlier disclaimer has nothing whatsoever to do with illegal drug usage; and I know that you are scratching your head looking for the tie-in for the bowl of Kava and a laptop bag. Let me put your mind at rest… other than the fact that there is still so much that is wonderous and unknown about the people of earth, there is none; Kava is just such a cool name we had to use it.

By the way, if you have ever had Kava, give us a shout and let us know about your experience and if Mr. Troost described it accurately.

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Remembering Michael Brecker

Thursday, March 6th, 2008

I was telling this story about the late Michael Brecker to a friend and he suggested that I share it with you. I am fortunate that I could count among my friendly acquaintances the late, great jazz saxophonist, Michael Brecker. Although Michael recorded many solo albums as well as jazz albums with his brother Randy (The Brecker Brothers), he was also one of New York’s first call session players.

At the time of this story, Michael had just released a solo album when Paul Simon asked him to join his Rhythm of the Saints tour. Michael told him no, because he wanted to promote his own music. But when Paul promised him a 15-minute solo spot in the middle of his concert, playing in front of 20,000 people each night, Michael couldn’t turn it down.

The Los Angeles Forum Show

I saw the show at the Forum in LA, and after Paul introduced Michael for his solo, Paul Simon and the entire 11-piece band exited the stage leaving Michael all alone. Michael picked up his Akai EWI and started playing, then using a foot-switch, he triggered some pre-recorded rhythm samples from his Akai S1000 that he then played against. Switching from the EWI to his sax, slowly… one by one… the band members rejoined Michael on stage and started playing. The song built and crescendoed to a spectacular finish as eventually everyone was back on stage, including the six drummers/percussionists.

The Dallas Reunion Arena Show

Now I told you about that show in order to tell you about the next show. Two weeks later, Michael invited me to bring my wife, Lisa, and attend the Dallas performance at Reunion Arena. What a treat - the S. African accapella group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, who sang on the Graceland recording, were in town performing at SMU and they rushed over and joined Paul for the extended 40 minute encore. Michael’s solo seemed inspired that night, and if possible was even better than in LA. The song went from a dizzy, jazzy disjointed feel to a really tight ending.

After the show, Lisa & I went backstage to thank Michael for the tickets. I told him how impressed I was with his solo and congratulated him on the off-beat style that I thought was so much better than the previous time I heard his performance.

How A Little Mistake Made for a Great Performance

He seemed to get a little embarrassed, as he told me that it was a mistake. It seems that he WAS truly inspired, he closed his eyes, got totally involved with the music, turned the rhythm around and inside out, and just let it soar. As far as he knew, he could have been levitating. It wasn’t until he heard drummer Steve Gadd give him an “end the song” cue that he turned around to face the band and realized that this totally grooving engine of a band had no idea where “one” was, much less the turnaround to end the song. He said, “I saw this large group of musicians, all playing away, all looking at me with big round eyes, trying to get a clue where I was going next. The question on everyone’s lips was, where’s one? I showed them the downbeat by moving my sax and punctuating the notes and when I did that Steve was right on top of it. Which is how we all manged to end up together at the end.”

There is probably a lesson here about how listening to the other members of the band can even make a mistake turn out alright, but I’ll leave it for now as my small contribution to the life story of Mr. Brecker.

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Do Musicians Really Have The Power To Influence & Impact Change?

Thursday, February 7th, 2008

Tanacun, The Crocodile Man

The Crocodile ManMy son, Jacob, recently turned me on to a couple of amazing guitarists from the region of Ixtapa, Mexico, who go by Rodrigo y Gabriela. As I was totally blown away by their music, they will be happy to know that I have personally purchased at least ten of their CDs as gifts for friends.

Evidently in the early 90’s, Rodrigo and Gabriela played in a heavy metal band in Mexico City and later abandoned the band concept to just work with two acoustic guitars. They even do awesome covers of Zepplin’s Stairway to Heaven and Metallica’s Orion on this recording.

One of the first things that I noticed when I examined their CD is that their individual song album notes look like a blog for each song. As a result, you really start to get a sense of them as human beings. The human awareness and impact that each of us can raise in others, even through something as simple as communicating our thoughts and comments on our albums or our web pages, is phenomenal. The first song off of their self-titled album is Tanacun. So, I would just like to present you with their words, from their album notes of Tanacun.

Tanacun

In the South Pacific of Mexico, there is a town called Ixtapa, it’s in Zihuatanejo. This place had diverse and vast numbers of wild-life species in the early ’80s. Construction companies, along with the governnment of the State of Guerrero, contributed to destroy their natural habitat here. Like in many other parts of the country, the coastal slaughter of animals continues nowadays. There are just under 90 crocodiles left in the region, but one man, Erroberto Piza, AKA Tamacun, takes care of them as if they were his children and they love him like he was their croc father. The little reserve where they live sometimes collapses when heavy rain hits and they escape, scaring the shit out of a few tourists just for the laugh… (well, it’s not that bad).

But before long Tamacun is there to take them back home. The Mexican government doesn’t fund his work, and he makes little or no money. We promised him to tell people of his dedication and love for nature.

Pretty powerful stuff. All I can say is that I highly recommend Rodrigo & Gabriela’s  CD for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is their sense of ethics and world citizenship. Yes, we can make a change.

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You Can’t Always Get…

Tuesday, January 15th, 2008

Guest Blog by GuitarJunky 

You’ve heard it before I’m sure.  YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! (or not).  No middle ground.  It’s either or.  It’s true no matter what.  Cars, restaurants, clothing, yada, yada, yada!  Why is it though we put so little value on music and music education that we continue to buy very poor quality guitars?  For that matter, trumpets, flutes, saxophones too!

I was asked recently by a friend if buying a “guitar gift pack” from one of the big box retailers would be “good enough” for his child to learn on.  You’ve seen them.  Cheaply made copies of famous guitars, that usually won’t stay in tune, cheap electronics, and packed with a cord, strap, 3 picks, crappy little amp and a song book.  When I replied that I thought it would be perfectly good enough to use for building a campfire, he was somewhat pissed and defensive. “We all can’t be guitar snobs like you!”  Hm…apparently, he thought I was going to support his implied opinion of his child’s music ability.  You know what I mean…”I don’t want to spend a lot, in case he won’t stick with it,”  or  ”It’s just a passing phase,” or whatever excuse they can come up with to justify their unwillingness to actually go to a real music store and get a bit of education first and not go so cheap. (Which I suggested he should do)

 Is The Cheap Guitar A Recipe for Failure?

Young Sidewalk Musicians; a thing of the past?In an earlier post, I asked the question, “Where are the new guitar players coming from?”  In that post I was feeling the world may be moving away from the guitar in lieu of things like “virtual guitar.”  I guess I’m not surprised after all at the decline.  This “cheap guitar is good enough” idea is a recipe for failure.  I’m not suggesting that every beginner needs a brand new Taylor or PRS but I’m totally convinced that you should buy the absolute best quality you can afford.  What better way to insure interest?  If it sounds good, plays good…you get the idea. There is an abundance of good quality student level guitars out there to choose from.  Maybe local retailers need to figure a way to get that message out and not concentrate so much on price leader ads.

(more…)

The Power Of The Samba Is A Life Changing Experience

Tuesday, December 18th, 2007

A couple of years ago I visited Rio de Janeiro along with my friends and great musicians Chris “Fingers” Adams and Scott Wilkie. On Saturday night we grabbed a taxi and went to an old samba club in the Lapa area of Rio called Bar Carioca da Gema

The Best Samba Club On The Planet

Dancing The Night AwayThe club occupied an old house that had been turned into a club and held about 250 people. “Cariocas” are what the native Rio de Janeirans call themselves. The expression da gema means “very best” or “genuine article”.

The club was packed; there were more than 350 people in the place and everyone was moving to the rhythm of the beat. It was infectious. You couldn’t help yourself as the room throbbed and your body started to move of its own volition.

What Does A Traditional Samba Band Look Like?

It was a traditional 7-piece samba band with the players ranging in age from about 20 - 65 years old. From left to right:

1) Flute/percussion/background vocals
2) Tambourine (never heard anyone play a tambourine like this – he was like the snare, toms, hi-hat and cymbals of a drum kit)
3) Bass drum called the surdo (the 65 year old, played like a floor tom with mallet and hand to muffle)
4) Brazilian cavaquinho, a 4-string petite guitar (the 20 year old)
5) Mandola (the “rock star” of the band with great facial expressions worthy of any lead guitar player)
6) Brazilian 7-string classical guitar (alternated bass lines and rhythmic chords)
7) Center stage vocals (female vocalist that could give you a sexy purr or nail you with her voice.)

It was also a tribute night to one of Brazil’s well-known samba composers.

From The Backside, You Get The Washing Machine EffectThe band kicked into high gear and the musicianship was incredible. This form of traditional samba is multivoiced and heavily, hugely rhythmic. The surdo thudding out its bass rhythm was palpable. Everyone in the crowd knew the songs of the famous composer, so the entire club of 350 people sang along on the chorus of every song. As the set progressed, the singer showed the crowd an intricate syncopated beat to clap to, and they all did it! (You can’t even get most Americans to clap on 2 & 4).

My First Samba And A New Music Tribe

The entire room was dancing; everyone was singing; everyone was clapping; and best of all, everyone had a great big shitty grin on their faces! I have never felt so full of music, so full of joy and so much a part of the tribe, as in this place.

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