Catching up with you... (here's last Monday).

Yes it’s been a week since I’ve really written. It’s been quite a busy week. Quite busy. Let’s see if I can sit here long enough to bring you up to speed. …

But first, I’m revisiting the record Third Eye by "Ben Allison and Medicine Wheel" right now and I am totally re-amazed by Allison’s compositions. What a great record!!!

Monday. Of course, Spanish class in the morning (wait, why did I say "of course"? Seeing how I've missed class before... didn't hear the alarm one morning last week. Oops.). I'm really enjoying my class. Even though I have barely scratched the surface of the language, it gives me lots o' confidence. The school is a tad on the expensive side, so I think after this next week, I'll start private lessons, which are normally pretty cheap. Teachers here, in general, in the public schools, including universities, get paid, so I'm told, NOTHING! Ok, well not nothing. But very, very little.

People are always telling me about this thing, this thing I've just got to experience. "La Bomba", some call it. Some referred to it as "Konex", some "La Tiempo". I never put two and two together. (And even if I had, I would've ended up with five. Thanks Radiohead! (YouTube: live on Letterman or with neat cartoon action). (P.S. Radiohead's coming to BA soon. Noah's trying to get tickets for us!))

So, I finally decided to scope out this show. After some folks at school were talking about going, I decided to go as well. With no cell phone, it's a tad hard to make many plans or connect. But I thought, I'd totally run into these folks at the show. I mean, it's a regular, every Monday, gig. How many people would really be there? Attending? From my experience, not tons and tons. Boy!, I was totally oblivious. The line to get in was down the entire block and around the corner. It was crazy!! I had no idea. I tried finding school friends to no avail.

And to clarify. The group is called "La Bomba de Tiempo" which means, Time Bomb. The venue is Konex. The group is a large percussion ensemble that's conducted, improvisatorily, with hand signals, similar to Butch Morris' Conduction. The grooves were super bad ("bad" as in "good", of course). It was amazing. Hundreds and hundreds of people dancing! The venue was open air. It was a beautiful night. I don't have pictures because I didn't have my camera. But there are lots of videos on YouTube and pix on their site. Check them out for sure. I'm going back Monday. I'll grab some shots. (...photo shots!!! that is! geez.)

Later Monday night, I HAD A REHEARSAL!!!! A tech rehearsal for my upcoming gig. Yep, that's right! Dan Godston of Chicago, of Chicago Calling, of Brown Rice, of Telematic Arts, of lots more, connected me with Azucena Losana, an artist here in BA. We were attempting to connect our music with Dan in Chicago, and folks in Mexico City, via Skype, as part of the "Sonic Bridge" project. Sonic Bridge is described as such:

"Hundreds of miles of wall and fence stretch along the U.S.-Mexico border, and the U.S. Immigration Policy could change soon since Barack Obama is now the U.S.’s 44th President. Performers at Brown Rice [in Chicago] were part of a telematic performance event which perpendicularly ran through the U.S.-Mexico border wall/fence, in conjunction with sound artists and musicians who live here in Mexico City and Buenos Aires. Artists in these remote locations interacted with each other in real time."

Peter Margasak, writer for the Chicago Reader, even suggested this event in his "Post No Bills" blog. Read it: here.

We would play/improvise together thousands of miles apart via internet. We had some issues to work out, mostly audio distortion. But after some trials and errors, we came across satisfying results. We were actually all playing together. It was great! Plus, I was excited to meet some new folks, as I always am. Very creative and innovative peoples.

Well, that sums up last Monday, at least. I've got to run at the moment. Tonight, I'm meeting some more musicians, referred to me by Martin Urbach (I used to play with Martin in New Orleans. He's a great drummer who moved to NYC after Katrina)! I'll catch you up more later.

BUT wait!, P.S., more news. I got a cell phone and number here. It was cheap. I pay for it as I go. No contract. And I think incoming calls are free. ALL INCOMING CALLS, even from the states. At least, that's what I'm told by a few friends. If you're interested in my new number, let me know.

Much love. Peace!