JSSDT Volunteer Bulletin

Yes, you read that title correctly. The 2nd annual Beatles Ukulele Festival will be held in Brooklyn on December 5th and 6th at Williamsburg’s N8.

16 Hours. 185 Songs. 60 Singers. 40 Musicians. 16 Yoko Ono impersonators.

Last year’s benefactor of the well deserved proceeds was of course Warren Buffet, an avid ukulele player,  who donated the money to Girls Inc. of Omaha to provide the girls club with ukuleles and lessons. This year is even more strange. All the money brought in goes to Yoko Ono. Who knows what she’ll do with the it. Maybe buy some more hats and sunglasses or even better, maybe some singing lessons.

Some of last years performances.

If everything sounded like this at the show I’d be buying my plane ticket right now.

Good morning (“I’ve got nothing to say but it’s O.K./Good morning, good morning”)

We’ve got Beatles lyrics running through our heads, from the lovely (“Blackbird singing in the dead of night/Take these broken wings and learn to fly”) to the secretive (“Everybody’s got something to hide except for me and my monkey”) and the zen (“I am he/As you are he/As you are me/ And we are all together”) and the nihilistic (“He’s a real Nowhere Man/sitting in his Nowhere Land/Making all his Nowhere plans for nobody…”) and the environmental (“Born a poor young country boy/Mother Nature’s son/All day long I’m sitting singing songs for everyone…”) and we could go on all day.

Last week we asked for your favorite obscure Beatles music and we got several requests.  We’ll get to as many of those as possible and we guarantee you will hear some things you’ve never heard before.  We’ve noticed that the Great River Radio Confluence segment is starting to converge from week to week – like a river of musical ideas with lots of little streams of creativity flowing into it – as we move from birds to Beatles, things are really starting to get connected. And one other hint of things to anticipate: Mae West.

Besides the Beatles, we’ll have a set of songs from Iowa, new music from Molina and Johnson, Vampire Weekend, Air, and Tegan and Sara. We’ve got something you haven’t heard from Bat For Lashes and remixes from Phoenix and Au Revoir Simone. We’ve got a request going out to Brooklyn listeners and a nod to one of the greatest records of all time, released 50 years ago last August.

Remember, you can listen to the recorded show in its entirety at any time following the live broadcast via this Website – just click on the “Play” button below the title of the post.

Catch the show live here: http://www.kustradio.com
iChat/AIM: kustradio

Next week’s “Confluence” assignment: teachers.  We’ve been around them all our lives, formally and informally. We love them, and sometimes we don’t love them. They change our lives, they form us.  But how have they inspired songs? Think, now.  And send us your ideas – songs you associate with the teachers in your life and experience.  We’ll take your requests via email or at the website.

For now, please join us this afternoon from 4:00 to 6:00 or later this week online for another installment of Great River Radio, now in its fourth season.

Brian/Dan

Playlist
You Fell in the River-Ben Connelly
Year of the Ox-Sufjan Stevens
Hell-Tegan and Sara
Horchata-Vampire Weekend
Twenty Cycles to the Ground-Molina and Johnson
Sing Sang Sung-Air
I Want You Back-Discovery
This Is My Favorite Cage-Joe Henry
And Your Bird Can Sing-Guadalcanal Diary
Blackbird-The Beatles
Mockingbirds-Grant Lee Buffalo
Something-Jim Sturgess
Thank You World-World Party
Grow Old With Me-Postal Service
Here There and Everywhere-Jake Shimabukuro
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band-Jimi Hendrix
Daytripper-Mae West
Maybe-Ingrid Michaelson
Things That Scare Me-Neko Case
Shadows (Tanline remix) – Au Revoire Simone
Rome (Devendra Banhart remix)-Phoenix
Fever-Over The Rhine
Crash This Train-Joshua James
Dreams-Brandi Carlile
The Road Theme-Nick Cave and Warren Ellis
In My Mind I Was Talkin’ To Loretta-Pieta Brown
#80-Dave Olson
Freddie Freeloader-Miles Davis

No joke. Watch:

Acabou de sair nas bancas a última edição da revista Alma Surf.
Nets edição, tudo sobre o FestivAlma 2009, onde o tema abordado foi:
O SURF É AMOR.

Surfe,Arte, Cultura, Música e muita vibe.
Dá uma conferida que vale a pena

Lark Camp Redux

Hope you’re all enjoying these last days of summer vacation!  Taylor and I just got back from another amazing week up in the Mendocino Woodlands at Lark Camp, where the music never sleeps.  I took  three ‘ukulele classes every day, hula, swing dance, swing singing, and attempted to learn how to play the mandolin I bought in a weak moment 30+ years ago in Italy. I also  took a couple of tango lessons (that’s right) and enjoyed ”‘Ukulele Happy Hour” just about every evening before dinner. I’m not exactly sure what Taylor was up to, but he did take two slack key guitar classes a day, earned enough money to buy a new guitar, performed during the ho’ike, and put a lot of miles on his mountain bike.  I didn’t get to see him, but I heard reports that he was also one of the major sources of entertainment on the shuttle bus. Rebecca’s “Midnight Bolero” in Camp One was fantastic and got a standing ovation. That was followed by an extremely entertaining bus ride back to Camp Two, where we stay, in which everyone on the bus started hammering out “Bolero” on one instrument or another, which segued into the theme from “Star Trek,” which somehow ended up as the theme from the “Addams Family!” I just can’t say enough about how much fun this camp is….you’re going to have to experience it for yourself.

‘Ukulele classes at Lark Camp are taught by Mark Nelson (“Fun with your ‘Ukulele”), Kevin Brown (contemporary Hawaiian songs), and Robyn Kneubuhl (Queen of the Diminished and Walking up the Neck). If you were at the Wine Country ’Ukulele Festival last year you probably had a chance to see Robyn and Mark  perform at the lu’au.  (Robyn also teaches hula and writes music…she’s just amazing.)  Robyn has a band back on Maui with long-time friend Ginger Johnson; they are The Hula Honeys.  Their first CD,  Life Just Got Sweeter is one of my all-time favorites.  At Lark Camp Robyn taught us how to play the title song (written by her and Ginger) the way she plays it. (You know all those chords on the chord chart you never thought you’d need to learn….well, guess what!) For some reason, I don’t quite sound like Robyn…..but I’m working on it.  She also taught us “Hana by the Bay,” another beautiful, original composition from the Honeys’ newly released CD,  Girl Talk.  You can download either CD at their store, or download it from the link to the right.  It’s money well-spent.

Flea Fest!

Enough of that.  We need to start planning for our next Flea Fest.  Diana has generously offered us a permanent home at NapAloha.  However, if anyone would like to offer an alternative, please let me know right away.  Our next Flea Fest is scheduled for Sunday, August 30.  If I don’t hear from anyone, we’ll go ahead and meet at NapAloha, 1428 Main Street, in St. Helena, at 6pm.  Erich Sylvester will be joining us again and we’ll be picking what songs we want to play for our 15 seconds of fame on the stage at the festival. Those who want to be part of the performance troupe  can also agree on a good night to meet to practice before our next Flea Fest (September 27) when Erich will come back again to help fine tune us.  This is totally voluntary and no one should not come to either Flea Jumpers or the weekly practice sessions because they have stage fright or aren’t planning on going to the festival.  We want you all there. We should also think about a “uniform.”  In fact, maybe we could see what Diana has in the way of shirts that we can all agree upon.

New Affiliate

You may have noticed the new Hawaiian Airlines link on the right. That’s because Hawaiian Airlines has joined the Wine Country ‘Ukulele Festival as an affiliate. What this means is that anytime you link to Hawaiian Airlines through this link  to book a flight, you will receive an additional 5% discount off the lowest webfare for transpacific flights between now and June 30 of 2010!

At the same time, you will be helping the festival accrue points with Hawaiian Airlines so that we’ll be able to bring over more of your favorite Hawaiian artists for future festivals. And (this is the best part) if you are a member of HawaiianMiles, you will also accrue points in your own account!  It’s a win-win and we are extremely grateful to Hawaiian Airlines for this opportunity.

These days I fly on Hawaiian Airlines whenever I go to Hawai’i, which can be 4 times a year.  Among other things, I love their schedule, which gets you from San Francisco, Oakland, or Sacramento  to Oahu by late morning–in time to catch a few waves at Kuhio and stop by Leonard’s Bakery for hot malasadas stuffed with dobash before checking in at the house, unpacking, and trotting out to the beach for a quick swim before dinner.  Coming home, Hawaiian Airlines has a drive-up check-in stand at the Honolulu Airport  so you can drive right up in your rental car, unload your bags and check-in on the spot, return your rental car, and get the shuttle bus back to the airport without humping your bags all over the place. And, if you have the Hawaiian Airlines credit card, you can lump the miles from everyone in your family into one account and rack up the miles for fee travel even quicker.

As much as I love my work, not all those trips I make to Hawai’i each year are  for “pleasure”  and I don’t always get to “hit the beach.”  Among other things, I publish and sell a card game called Go Fish! Hawai’i  which is played like the regular Go Fish, except that instead of asking for aces or kings, you have to ask for the fish by their Hawaiian name: “Do you have any humuhumu-nukunuku-apua’a?” It’s turned out to be more popular than I ever dreamed possible with both kids and adults.

But, enough about me.  Look who went to see Jake Shimabukuro at the San Sebastian Jazz Festival this summer! That’s Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani, who must have taken some time off from their ever-popular St. Helena restaurant, Terra.  Hiro has been getting around this year.  Here’s a few shots of him enjoying Aloha Music Camp last February, which leads me to some great news!  After a brief hiatus, Aloha Music Camp will be up and running again next summer at their new home in Keahou on the Big Island. This really is a life changing experience so, if you’re interested in going, be sure to book early, as this camp has always sold out in the past.

Party! Party!

Clarice Stasz, one of the masterminds of the Petalukes in Petaluma, has invited me to the lu’au they’re putting on, Saturday, August 29 at 6 pm at the Petaluma Moose Club (300 English Street, Petaluma).  Would anyone like to go with me? It’s a fundraiser to sponsor  Ralph Shaw’s performance at the California Veteran’s Home during the ‘ukulele festival.  I can fire up the mini-van and make stops all along Highway 29  between St. Helena and Napa to pick people up. It sounds like it’s going to be loads of fun and it’s only $12  (kids are $6)! It would be great if we could support these folks as they’re raising funds to sponsor  Ralph Shaw’s performance for the vets at the California Veteran’s Home in Yountville during the ‘ukulele festival.  They’re also trying to get some ‘ukulele programs established for the kids over on their side of the hill. So, if you want to go with me and you have my email address, just send me a note. Otherwise, respond in the comments below and I’ll take it from there.  Here’s a little something to get you in the mood:

Speaking of  ‘ukulele programs for kids,  the Calistoga Boys and Girls Club has just taken delivery of a dozen soprano ‘ukuleles from Ohana to kick start their’ ukulele program.  If all goes according to plan, the Wildcat Flea Band, will be onstage during the festival.  They’ve also got a private workshop lined up with Brittni Paiva. If there are any other teachers out there who’d like to get something similar going for their students, please let me know.  We can help make that happen.  (This is the second youth group in the Bay Area that we have been able to help with their ‘ukulele program.)

Also, if any of you would like to schedule a private (or small group) lesson with either Brittni Paiva or Derrick Sebastian during the festival, please let me know right away. They’re both excellent teachers and the available time slots will probably disappear very quickly once they’re announced to the general public (especialy the ones during the “lunch break.” The cost is $30 for a half-hour session. Let me know.

Support Local Theater

Burning Uke!

Those wild and whacky folks from Santa Cruz are at it again.  Burning Uke VII, a huge camp-out and ‘ukulele party at Big Sur, has been scheduled for September 17, 18, 19, and 20 at Plaskett Creek State Park, at the Southern end of  Big Sur. The cost is $35 per person, which includes camping fees for Thursday, Friday & Saturday nights. (Check out is noon, Sunday.) To reserve your spot, you need to email Marty Carlson sydmarty@sbcglobal.net or call him at (831) 440-9382. Please read the following before calling or emailing.

Your $35 includes:

One, two, or three night(s) camping at one of the three group campsites. (The cost of an individual site, if you choose to get one, is NOT included and must be paid in addition to the $35.)

Lots of new play a-long songs and ukulele (and maybe  Hula) workshops.

Friday & Saturday night dinners (Thursday dinner you will be on your own, but they will fire up a gas grill for all to use.)
Paper plates, utensils and napkins for dinners, gas grill and/or charcoal
And maybe a few exciting surprises!

Friday’s dinner will be chicken and pork sausages with buns & condiments provided
Saturday dinner will be burgers, again  with buns & condiments provided
Desserts and side dishes will be “potluck” both nights and everyone brings a dish to share depending on their last name:

Reprise de Jake Shimabukuro au ukulélé du formidable While my guitar gently weeps des Beatles, composé par Georges Harrison en 1968.

L’histoire de son écriture est surprenante. Basé sur le concept oriental du Yi Jing (postulant que tous les éléments de l’univers sont reliés entre eux), Harrison désire composer un titre en piochant au hasard dans le recueil du Yi Jing. Quel que soit le mot sur lequel il tombera, il en fera une chanson.

Georges ouvre le bouquin du Yi Jing et pose son doigt sur 2 mots : “gently weeps”… Vous connaissez la suite…

Bonus : la version Jacky acoustique

Source : Wikipédia

O Jazzaldia é um festival de jazz que ocorre em Donostia. A partir das 18:30 começam vários concertos em diferentes palcos espalhados pela zona junto à praia. Sinceramente pensei que fosse ser mais “jazzístico”, pois já vi 3 concertos e nenhum deles era jazz. Os nomes mais importantes são mais caros, sempre de 25€ para cima, aqueles que assisti tinham entrada livre.

O primeiro artista que vi foi o havaiano Jake Shimabukuro, eu sei que este nome não parece do Hawaii, ele tem ascendência japonesa, mas foi criado no Hawaii. Ele tocava um instrumento de corda típico daquelas paragens, semelhante a uma guitarra, mas com 4 cordas, mas pequeno e com um som mais agudo, mas com denominado de Ukele. Não conhecia o tipo, mas ele é impressionante. Mistura feeling e virtuosismo em doses pouco comuns, tem um domínio espantoso de um instrumento do qual só estamos habituados a ouvir ritmos havaianos, mas ele faz técnicas como tapping, bending, harmónicos que soam maravilhosamente naquele instrumento, etc.

Desde já ponho alguns defeitos. Este concerto foi numa tenda muito pequena, não havia espaço para toda a gente e a maioria ficava de fora, nas laterais. Deviam ter planeado melhor estas coisas, ou então estavam a assumir que a assistência ia ser fraca e as pessoas cabiam todas na tenda, o que também não abona a favor da organização. O outro problema tem a ver com a falta de civismo e educação que os espanhóis por vezes mostram. Dava a sensação que estávamos numa feira ou qualquer coisas assim, tal era o ruído que as pessoas faziam. O artista tinha um dinâmica excelente, certas passagens eram muito “suaves”, em termos musicais em pianíssimo, e não dá para desfrutar da música com pessoal as berros durante o concerto, isto verificou-se em todos, é o problema da entrada livre, duvido que o fizessem se fosse a pagar. Esta história da fúria espanhola, interpreto mais com faço o que quero e que me apetece sem pensar se vou incomodar os outros, basta ver pelo lixo que espalhado pela praia, outra marca de luxo…

Depois deste concerto cheguei a casa e peguei no cartaz e vi o que ia haver a seguir. Às 21:30 ia tocar no palco que estava na praia uma tipa com o pseudónimo de Russian Red. O nome não me era estranho, mas nunca tinha ouvido, decidi verificar no youtube. Saía correr de casa com 2 cervejas na mão (porque os concertos na praia parecem um botellon gigante com música a acompanhar) para ver o concerto dela. Eu tenho de confessar que adoro ver artistas femininas a cantar e tocar guitarra, eles tem uma sensibilidade muito particular. Senti o mesmo ao ouvi-la como o que sinto com Anneke Van Giersbergsen, uma melancolia, beleza sempre com alguma esperança. Recomendo vivamente esta moça.

Mais uma perfeita para ouvir sentado na praia, com uma brisa fria na cara.

E Jazz? Ainda não é desta. Logo a seguir a este concerto que me deixou os pés gelados do frio, mas com efeito contrário na alma, tocaram os Klezmafour. São uns tipos polacos que tocam música judia e balcânica, que eles denominam de klezmer. Excelente concerto, muito divertido e musicalmente estimulante. O grupo é constituído por um clarinetista, violinista, acordeonista, baterista e baixista. Bons músicos e com uma excelente presença de palco. Constantemente a serpentear nas escalas judias com um sabor árabe, misturando com um feeling dos Balcãs. Extremamente dançável, conheço muita gente que ia adorar este concerto.

No dia seguinte estava doente e não consegui ver quase nada. Mas pude assistir a algumas músicas de um interessante concerto. Eram dois artistas com o estranho nome de Thee, Stranded Horse e Ballaké Sissoko. Não era para qualquer ouvido, essencialmente instrumental e progressivo, com influências africanas pois os dois músicos tocavam um instrumento africano chamado kora. Mas um deles tocava guitarra, sempre com dedilhados bastante etéreos, tenho uma certa dificuldade em classificar este tipo de música, encaixava bem na banda sonora de um filme de algum viajante solitário. Ficam aqui dois vídeos, não encontro nenhum com os dois músicos a tocar juntos, mas estão em separado.

Houve uma banda que me deixou particularmente surpreendido por ter gostado, os Bikini Machine. Surpreendo-me porque o estilo de musica deles nunca fez parte das minha selecção, e continua a não fazer, faço uma excepção por ser ao vivo. É assim uma espécie de electro-rock humorístico, muito dançável, pelo menos as damas mui simpáticas que se abeiravam a mim o faziam parecer. Eram bastante competentes e multi-instrumentistas com uma excelente presença em palco.

Também interessante foi o concerto de Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, o estilo blues soul é sempre agradável de ouvir, os músicos eram bons e tocaram algumas melodias conhecidas.

O único Jazz que ouvi foi precisamente no último concerto. Tocaram os Noruegueses Esemble Denada, e só posso dizer que são excelentes. O baterista foi de longe o melhor que vi no festival, sem qualquer dúvida. O mesmo posso dizer do guitarrista, mas não na mesma proporção. É um jazz um bocado difícil de ouvir para a maioria dos ouvidos, em termos de tempo e melodia e mais uma vez as pessoas foram embora depois das primeiras músicas.

Em jeito de conclusão, posso dizer que ver concertos à borla é algo que sabe muito bem, e sinceramente é serviço público no verdadeiro sentido da expressão. Gostei bastante do som em todos os palcos, mesmo nos mais pequenos, que eram bastante acolhedores, um deles era uma tendo demasiado pequena, mas o outro era muito bom. O cenário dos concertos com a praia e o pôr-do-sol no mar dava um toque romântico ao espectáculo, no caso de Red Russian exponenciou o feeling que ela tem por natureza. É nestas alturas em que vejo estes concertos sozinho, que penso que dou demasiado valor à minha liberdade, mas depois passa. Os maiores nomes eram a pagar e por isso não vi nenhum. Acho que deveria ter mais guitarristas como Frank Gambale ou Pat Metheny, bossa-nova, jazz latino (Billy Cobham), jazz rock, etc. Muita coisa poderia haver aqui, até era para estar cá o João Gilberto com o pornográfico preço de 60€ o bilhete, mas por motivos de doença não tocou. Não deviam chamar Jazzaldia a este conjunto de espectáculos, tudo bem que o Jazz engloba muitos estilos, mas muita coisa ficou por tocar, isto claro de borla, porque a vida tá cara!

Quick reminder:  Flea Jumpers will be gathering at the new NapAloha Store at 1428 Main Street, St. Helena, at 6pm, Sunday, July 26.  Steve and Diana will be digging up some wine from their personal cellar, but we need to bring the pupus and other beverages.  If you haven’t visited NapAloha already, you’re in for a treat: in addition to very cool, colorful clothes, she’s selling ‘ukuleles AND raffle tickets for a koa concert Ohana ‘ukulele, on behalf of the festival.  We  had a ball celebrating Cheers at NapAloha a couple of Friday’s ago (great poke, Steve!) and Diana will be making the store available for other ‘ukulele and Flea Jumper events (including, maybe, hula!)  in the future  Anyway, be sure to bring any new songs you might be working on and about 12 copies.  If you have a music stand, please bring that as well.  I have one extra Flea Jumper Songbook if anyone wants to buy it ($14).

I understand you all worked on a “new” song in my absence: Bye Bye Birdie.  If you missed the meeting, you can download it from the Song Files.  I’ve also added a different version of Moon Glow…such a great song…it’s one of the ones James Hill uses in his “Swing, ‘Ukulele, Swing” workshops. Remember, the Song Files page only has a few of the songs (mostly the new ones) from the Flea Jumper Songbook.

Speaking of James Hill, (nice segue, eh?) don’t forget that you will be able to take one or two workshops from him AND hear him play at the Wine Country ‘Ukulele Festival.  If you haven’t already subscribed to that weblog, you should do so now.  (Click here.)  Registration has not opened yet but we are accepting vendor applications for the part of the festival taking place at Beringer Vineyards, Saturday October 10.  And, we’re still looking for sponsors; if you know of anyone or have any ideas, please let me know.  We’re particularly looking for individuals, groups, or organizations that would be willing to underwrite concerts and workshops for public school kids and/or the Boys and Girls club.  Our good friends from Petaluma, the  Petalukes, have already signed on to sponsor a performance by Ralph Shaw for the vets at the California Veteran’s Home in Yountville. To raise funds for this they’re all busy planning a lu’au to be held at the Moose, Saturday August 29. 

It’s a busy week for ukesters.  We’ve got the Santa Cruz ‘Ukulele Club meeting with Bob Brozman this Thursday, and the first of  Bob’s ‘ukulele workshops starting this Saturday.  We’ve got FleaFest on Sunday, PLUS… 

You can go to the audition and still make it back to NapAloha in St. Helena in time for Flea Jumpers! Click here for more information.

And, this just in from Ross Randrup at Verdant Motors in Sebastopol:

Ledward Kaapana (also known as “Led”) is one of the most respected slack key guitarists in the world, and he plays a mean ‘ukulele. He will have you laughing before he plucks a single string, crying with his tender rendition of Roberta Flack’s ‘Killing Me Softly’, then on the edge of your seat with his antics and guitar tricks ala Uncle Fred Punahoa. His mastery of stringed instruments–`ukulele, autoharp, and especially slack key guitar–and his extraordinary baritone and leo ki`eki`e (falsetto) voices, have made him a musical legend. His easy-going style and kolohe (rascal) charm, have created a loyal corps of “Led Heads” from Brussels to his birthplace on the Big Island of Hawaii. Here’s your chance to become a “Led Hed,” too. 
Here’s a  little sample of what’s in store:

Wow! He makes it look so easy! To purchase tickets for what looks a very special evening, please visit An Intimate Evening with Ledward Kaapana

And then, head on down to the Presidio in San Francisco for the 15th Annual San Francisco Aloha Festival, August 1 & 2, for two full days of Hawaiian Food, Art, Music, and Dance. The festival is free, but there’s a $7.00 fee to park at the Presidio. 

I’d be there in a heartbeat, but it’s the same time as Lark Camp, where (wonder of wonders) registration is still open!  This will be our third year there!  Can’t wait! I plan on figuring out how to join Rebecca King’s “Bolero” group with my ‘ukulele and dancing ’til dawn!  If you’re looking for something to do in August, I highly recommend it! 

And, on the chance you’re planning a trip to the Reno area any time soon, you might want to schedule it around an opportunity to join Doug Reynolds and company at 88 Cups in Minden.

That’s it for now, except that it’s time to start thinking about what you all want to perform at the Wine Country ‘Ukulele Festival. (“Comments” would be a good place to get a dialogue going about this.) I’ve left a 10 – 15 minute tme slot open for us to razzle and dazzle ‘em. So, pull out your favorite songs and PRACTICE so we can end up sounding as good as this guy:

And don’t forget to order your Jake Shimabukuro tickets for his October 21 concert at the San Francisco Jazz Festival.

The recent trend in popularity of the Ukulele can be seen most prominently on the internet, now it seems no self respecting you-tube star is without a Ukulele!

It seems to me that there are two virtuosos who in a way kicked started this popularity: James Hill and Jake Shimabukuro.

Here’s a video by each of them to demonstrate the talent that launched a thousand ukes!

Galera,

só uma mensagem: quem foi, foi. Showzasso do Jake Shimabukuro e do The Beautiful Girls, muita arte, telas, esculturas, filmes, fotos. Muita cultura surf.

O que acho mais interessante neste evento é que, quando estamos na “vida real” (se é que esta é a real), no trabalho, ninguém conhece as bandas, os artistas. Aí você chega no evento, assiste o show de uma banda que quase ninguém do trabalho, da faculdade, conhece, e  está todo mundo cantando, todo mundo conhece as músicas, muita gente conhecem os trabalhos expostos, as fotos…

Isso é estar em casa, estar no seu mundo, e descobrir que há outros como você, que se achava diferente do mundo. Isso é sintonia, sinergia. O surf é isso, uma linguagem única, que o africano, o brasileiro, o australiano, o indonésio, o peruano, o californiano, etc, entendem, mesmo falando outras línguas.

Um residual para quem perdeu, logo abaixo. Vídeo que achei no youtube do The Beautiful Girls:

Algumas fotos dos dois shows e da arte:

Esta separei da galeria pois merece destaque. Olha a felicidade estampada no rosto e a sintonia com o ambiente:

Com certeza, quando minha filha nascer (em algum dia sei que terei uma filha), vou lembrar desta foto.

Agora só no ano que vem…

Aloha!

Estava abalado com a morte do Michael Jackson e não teve ânimo pra ir até o Reino Unido ver Passion Pit, Glasvegas e o Blur tocar no Glastonbury? Relaxa, dá pra baixar o show dos caras no blog (brazuca!) fitaK7. Tem também Doves, Franz Ferdinand, entre outras atrações. Baixa lá!

*****

Depois de Cindy Lauper e Dire Straits….JOY DIVISION

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A sexta edição do FestivAlma aconteceu no último fim de semana em São Paulo e me surpreendeu. No primeiro dia o Pavilhão da Bienal estava lotado e a primeira apresentação foi do havaiano Jake Shimabukuro. O “japa” é extremamente carismático e parecia muito feliz por estar no Brasil. Interagiu bastante com a platéia, ministrou aquela viola havaina com propriedade e no final ainda deu uma palhinha de “Thriller”. Mas o grande destaque da noite (do festival?) foi a banda australiana The Beautiful Girls. O lugar do show em cinco minutos dobrou de expectadores. Eu não sabia, mas realmente eles eram a grande atração dessa edição. Tocaram um hit (para os fãs) atrás do outro e todo mundo estava cantando junto. Ouvi umas meninas comentando: “Nem acredito que estou no show do TBG”. Os pontos altos do show foram “Blackbird”, “In Love” e “Periscopes”. Greeeeeat!

pontos negativos da primeira noite:

- A cerveja tava sendo vendida por “cambistas” do Piola por R$ 5.

- Lugar pequeno para um show do nível do TBG.

- Área de exposição restrita apenas para convidados.

O que faz com que um show seja bom ou ruim? Bom, são diversos fatores. Qualidade do artista, presença de palco, acústica do local, produção, e por aí vai. Mas o que talvez seja o mais importante é a atmosfera do local, o ambiente, enfim, a vibe do pico! E nesse quesito o show de ontem do The Beautiful Girls foi impecável. Na real, todos os aspectos da apresentação foram ótimos.

Abrindo o festival, Jake Shimabukuro já conseguiu agitar a galera acompanhado apenas do seu ukulele, que é um ‘violãozinho’ de quatro cordas havaiano.

Mas a noite era mesmo do TBG. A cada clássico que tocavam a galera ia ao delírio, sempre cantando junto. Músicas de todos os álbuns foram lembradas. Quando parecia que ia terminar, o baixista Paulie B e o baterista Bruce Braybrooke deixaram o palco para Mat McHugh tocar “Freedom Part 2″ na companhia do gaitista catarinense Felipe Harp, ex-integrante da banda, que hoje segue carreira solo na terra natal.

Quando Paulie e Bruce voltaram veio “Morning Sun”, que vinha sendo pedida exaustivamente pela platéia. Finalizaram altamente ovacionados.

Em breve fotos do show e uma entrevista exclusiva com os integrantes da banda.

We’re rolling into the Fourth of July holiday, and this rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner by Jake Shimabukuro is a good way to get primed for the fireworks and festivities.

If you never heard anything by Jake Shimabukuro, by the way, he’s worth a listen.  His Dragon CD has lots of good stuff on it.

Wow! That’s all I got for you. This week’s Backline Show gets a big, freakin WOW! The two interviews made me smile. First up, I got to sit down with The Boxmasters; yes it is Billy Bob Thornton’s band, but it’s so much more than that. We talked about Poodie Locke, their latest album and what else is going on with them. And I must say…they were so much fun to talk to and one of the best experiences in a long time. The second interview is with one hell of a musician, Jake Shimabukuro. When he isn’t recording or playing in front of tens of thousands of people with Jimmy Buffett, this ukulele phenom tours by himself. He is amazing and there’s a Michael Jackson tribute along with chatting about his recent live album. What a fun show this turned out to be! Take a listen or grab it off Itunes!

1. The Bird You Can’t See – Apples in Stereo
2. Forever Moore – Fishbone
3. He’s Just Makin’ His Rounds – The Boxmasters
4. I Don’t Wanna Know – The Boxmasters
5. Coconut Rock – Ocote Soul Sounds
6. Thriller – Jake Shimabukuro
7. My Guitar Gently Weeps – Jake Shimabukuro
8. Lower Down – Jeff Klein