I know, I seldom write to promote my own gigs, but this time it's different: It's really my gig.
So here we go:
Justin Lim Fang Yee, my old buddy since UPM, is coming over to New York to have some fun before he leaves the US. So I decided to put on a show with him on the 11th of May in Room 264 (Choral Room) in the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. This is a piano and violin duo concert that also will be featuring our wonderful and nonetheless beautiful guest guitarist, Michelle Marie. Repertoire will be our own originals, you don't wanna miss out if you're around town! The time is 12pm, a little odd, but for freelancers, you might stand a chance to make it! :D
My band, the newly formed Project Taming Sari is going to do our debut recital less than one week after my show with Justin. This time, my crazy cellist brother Jeremy Harman is going to play with us throughout the gig. So it's Project Taming Sari overlapping the Evil Twin!! How sweet is that?? The date is May 16th, the time will be 8pm, also in Room 264, a.k.a. Choral Room, in ACSM, Queens College. Guest appearance: Francesca Han Jiyoun, my Korean "sidegirl" (as she called her position in my band,hehe...) We will be playing some of our original spacey jazz originals, as well as a couple of standards.
Uh uh, not so fast! If you can't make it to the 8pm set, don't worry, we will be waiting for you to show up at 11pm in Hope Lounge the same night! Hope Lounge is located in Williamsburg, the address is "10 Hope St. (Between Roebling and Havemeyer)". No cover (yay!!). Very cozy place, wonderful drinks. The music will be similar to the ones in Queens College, but Francesca won't be appearing in this set unfortunately, since they do not own a piano there. Don't worry, we will have Akim Funk Buddha to jam with us!!
Need anymore info? Drop me a comment and I will be sure to get back to you.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Sunday, April 29, 2007
沉迷 Complete Obsession
他把电脑打开。 为的只是看着桌面上的照片。也许那是他每天觉得最幸福的事情。
他自认一无所有，能够得到安慰的就是从桌面上那张她的照片;尽管她是一个他完全没有见过的一个人 --- 他甚至可以假设这个人的不存在。
一早起来，不散步不做运动没关系，他享受那几秒钟的心跳加速，觉得那比任何费力的体操都有效。
他笑了，一副很满足的表情。
“今天下午再打开来看看...希望她在那一头也一样的在惦记着我，更希望下一次上网会再见到她!”他是这样告诉自己的。
然后他就关机了。
在世界的另一端，她松了口气 ---- 终于暂时不用下线状态了。
He started up his computer, only to look at the photo on his desktop background. Perhaps that's his happiest moment in a day.
He admitted that he's got nothing, and the only comfort he can get was from that photo of hers on his desktop; even though she is someone that he had never met --- he could even assume that not such person exists.
It's alright if he was not doing any exercise every morning, for him, he enjoyed that few seconds of accelerating heart pounding, which he thought as a more effective method than any kinds of exhausting physical exercise.
He smiled, his expression full of satisfactory.
"I'll open it up this afternoon and have a look again... I only hope she is missing me as much on her end, and also hope that she will miss me as much as I do!" thus he thought to himself.
Then he turned off his machine.
On the other side of the world, she sighed in relief ---- at last, a short moment that she could stay out of invisible mode.
他自认一无所有，能够得到安慰的就是从桌面上那张她的照片;尽管她是一个他完全没有见过的一个人 --- 他甚至可以假设这个人的不存在。
一早起来，不散步不做运动没关系，他享受那几秒钟的心跳加速，觉得那比任何费力的体操都有效。
他笑了，一副很满足的表情。
“今天下午再打开来看看...希望她在那一头也一样的在惦记着我，更希望下一次上网会再见到她!”他是这样告诉自己的。
然后他就关机了。
在世界的另一端，她松了口气 ---- 终于暂时不用下线状态了。
He started up his computer, only to look at the photo on his desktop background. Perhaps that's his happiest moment in a day.
He admitted that he's got nothing, and the only comfort he can get was from that photo of hers on his desktop; even though she is someone that he had never met --- he could even assume that not such person exists.
It's alright if he was not doing any exercise every morning, for him, he enjoyed that few seconds of accelerating heart pounding, which he thought as a more effective method than any kinds of exhausting physical exercise.
He smiled, his expression full of satisfactory.
"I'll open it up this afternoon and have a look again... I only hope she is missing me as much on her end, and also hope that she will miss me as much as I do!" thus he thought to himself.
Then he turned off his machine.
On the other side of the world, she sighed in relief ---- at last, a short moment that she could stay out of invisible mode.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
"...and so she said goodbye"
He came out of the bar, sober. He was surprised that he didn't even have one beer.
He had a faint smile on his face, almost unnoticeable. But his heart was pounding hard --- so hard that it didn't feel good at all.
"Am I sad?" he thought to himself, "or am I happy?"
It's been two years now that he was struggling --- struggling over the choices between leaving or staying for her.
"Give him a chance," he remembered saying that to her,"maybe he's busy, try to talk to her. Don't give up so easily!" He knocked his own head while he said that to her. You idiot! What are you doing to yourself?
So she did give him a chance, and their love flourished.
And what about me? He thought.
He knew from the start that it is not going to happen, telling himself that he is just a good friend to her, and he wants to see her live happily.
10,000 miles apart! What can you expect from that?
So he decided to be her best friend, advice her when she needs help. He knew that he couldn't give her more comfort than those of words. If she needs a hug, she would have to get it from "him", not me, so I have to help them to get back together.
It's not that she didn't feel his strong feelings towards her, in fact she herself felt the same way when her relationship was in the bottom of the abyss. But then he helped her to stand up again, and pushed her to give it another shot.
3 hours ago she gave him a short message on the messenger, telling him that she signed the paper and tried the wedding gown. She thanked him for everything.
He was planning his European tour right then.
"It might be a good thing that it hasn't be planned out yet," he thought, not without a feeling of bitterness.
And so they parted, without ever meeting each other before.
He had a faint smile on his face, almost unnoticeable. But his heart was pounding hard --- so hard that it didn't feel good at all.
"Am I sad?" he thought to himself, "or am I happy?"
It's been two years now that he was struggling --- struggling over the choices between leaving or staying for her.
"Give him a chance," he remembered saying that to her,"maybe he's busy, try to talk to her. Don't give up so easily!" He knocked his own head while he said that to her. You idiot! What are you doing to yourself?
So she did give him a chance, and their love flourished.
And what about me? He thought.
He knew from the start that it is not going to happen, telling himself that he is just a good friend to her, and he wants to see her live happily.
10,000 miles apart! What can you expect from that?
So he decided to be her best friend, advice her when she needs help. He knew that he couldn't give her more comfort than those of words. If she needs a hug, she would have to get it from "him", not me, so I have to help them to get back together.
It's not that she didn't feel his strong feelings towards her, in fact she herself felt the same way when her relationship was in the bottom of the abyss. But then he helped her to stand up again, and pushed her to give it another shot.
3 hours ago she gave him a short message on the messenger, telling him that she signed the paper and tried the wedding gown. She thanked him for everything.
He was planning his European tour right then.
"It might be a good thing that it hasn't be planned out yet," he thought, not without a feeling of bitterness.
And so they parted, without ever meeting each other before.
Friday, April 27, 2007
It's the Zorn thing!
John Zorn's Marathon concert for his Schuman Award.
Yup.
In Miller Theater.
3 sets. 45 minutes each.
Nick and me were lucky enough to get standby tickets.
1st set, Masada String Trio and Masada Rock. Fuck yeah... I was especially impressed by Erik Friedlander's awesome tone and creativity!
2nd set, his concert music. I missed the first piece for clarinet and bass clarinet. But the 2nd piece for piano, "Carny", is a schizophrenic yet lively work, even further brought to live by Stephen Drury. 3rd one was "Necronomicon", his 5-movement string quartet, performed by Jennifer Choi, Jesse Mills, Richard O'Neill and Fred Sherry. Very well performed.
3rd set, COBRA!! Fun fun fun... All-star cast: Cyro Baptista, Okkyung Lee, Mark Feldman, Erik Friedlander, Stephen Drury, Sylvie Courvoisier, Jamie Saft, Ikue Mori, etc. Zorn was the prompter. That shit was fun from beginning to the end.
One funny moment, when Nick and me came back from the intermission after the 1st set, Zorn took our seats...
Yup.
In Miller Theater.
3 sets. 45 minutes each.
Nick and me were lucky enough to get standby tickets.
1st set, Masada String Trio and Masada Rock. Fuck yeah... I was especially impressed by Erik Friedlander's awesome tone and creativity!
2nd set, his concert music. I missed the first piece for clarinet and bass clarinet. But the 2nd piece for piano, "Carny", is a schizophrenic yet lively work, even further brought to live by Stephen Drury. 3rd one was "Necronomicon", his 5-movement string quartet, performed by Jennifer Choi, Jesse Mills, Richard O'Neill and Fred Sherry. Very well performed.
3rd set, COBRA!! Fun fun fun... All-star cast: Cyro Baptista, Okkyung Lee, Mark Feldman, Erik Friedlander, Stephen Drury, Sylvie Courvoisier, Jamie Saft, Ikue Mori, etc. Zorn was the prompter. That shit was fun from beginning to the end.
One funny moment, when Nick and me came back from the intermission after the 1st set, Zorn took our seats...
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
My shittiest day ---- April 24, 2007
Yup, that's my shitties day, no kiddin'.
Woke up, got a letter from MF, saying that he had to back out writing a recom for my artist visa... sigh...
Then in the afternoon I saw my other roommate, whom I met once, a chick from TW. She was cooking, I smiled at her and tried to say hi and she just turned back and looked at me like a stray dog for a split second, then went back to cooking.
WTF...? She doesn't even have a very basic gesture when two civilised human beings see each other.
Then I went to fix my bow and went over to Flushing, the train stopped at 103 St-Corona, and the conductor asked all of us to leave the train, because of "customer injury". Apparently some motherfucker jumped into the 7 train track while my train was approaching. A woman pointed at the track and yelled, "He's right in there!! I saw it because I was about to ask him something and he just did a deep-dive into the track!!" Another black guy said, "Yeah man, there's really someone in there..."
Gross shit, someone crushed into pieces under my feet?
Namo amitabha...
Then after I came back in Flushing late at night, I got an email from Desmond, telling me that I didn't show up in the rehearsal... huh? Got meh? Why is it not in my schedule one??
SHIT!!!!!!
That wasn't Friday the 13th, why was all these things happening to me?!!
GOSH...
Woke up, got a letter from MF, saying that he had to back out writing a recom for my artist visa... sigh...
Then in the afternoon I saw my other roommate, whom I met once, a chick from TW. She was cooking, I smiled at her and tried to say hi and she just turned back and looked at me like a stray dog for a split second, then went back to cooking.
WTF...? She doesn't even have a very basic gesture when two civilised human beings see each other.
Then I went to fix my bow and went over to Flushing, the train stopped at 103 St-Corona, and the conductor asked all of us to leave the train, because of "customer injury". Apparently some motherfucker jumped into the 7 train track while my train was approaching. A woman pointed at the track and yelled, "He's right in there!! I saw it because I was about to ask him something and he just did a deep-dive into the track!!" Another black guy said, "Yeah man, there's really someone in there..."
Gross shit, someone crushed into pieces under my feet?
Namo amitabha...
Then after I came back in Flushing late at night, I got an email from Desmond, telling me that I didn't show up in the rehearsal... huh? Got meh? Why is it not in my schedule one??
SHIT!!!!!!
That wasn't Friday the 13th, why was all these things happening to me?!!
GOSH...
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Overnight on top of Times Square
I spent my night on Times Square.
Yeah seriously.
But I didn't sleep on the streets. I was in my friend's office right above Hard Rock Cafe. From the meeting room of the office, you could see the lights shining directly into the window, you hardly even need lights to read. People walking to and fro on the streets non-stop --- especially it's the first night of Spring weather.
Wow...it's like a dream!!
I fell asleep on the couch of the office's lobby while my friend was typing a paper. When I woke up, it's already 12pm.
I went out of the building, and I knew rightaway that Spring is here! Everybody was smiling and walking in the sunshine with their shorts and t-shirts.
Now that's what I call good weather!
Yeah seriously.
But I didn't sleep on the streets. I was in my friend's office right above Hard Rock Cafe. From the meeting room of the office, you could see the lights shining directly into the window, you hardly even need lights to read. People walking to and fro on the streets non-stop --- especially it's the first night of Spring weather.
Wow...it's like a dream!!
I fell asleep on the couch of the office's lobby while my friend was typing a paper. When I woke up, it's already 12pm.
I went out of the building, and I knew rightaway that Spring is here! Everybody was smiling and walking in the sunshine with their shorts and t-shirts.
Now that's what I call good weather!
Friday, April 20, 2007
新房间
终于班上来我真正的房间了。
其实还是比较喜欢楼下, 楼上的人给人感觉都是怪怪的。 尤其某位仁兄都不大爱睬人, 连正眼也不看我一下, 见面也不问好。
大家同屋住就和善一点嘛, 又没有得罪你... 降鸟样有钱拿咩？？？
房间看起来小, 其实还是有点空间的. 至少不会像以前61-49那样路都难走。不过以后东西全搬进来过后就不知道了...
希望这里可以呆一阵子吧。
Moved into my actual room at last.
I actually still prefer downstairs, as the people upstairs are a little weird. Such as this bro that lives across, he doesn't give a shit to people, doesn't even lay an eye on me or say hi.
Come on man, just be a little friendlier, we're roommates, I didn't step on your toes... what the fuck?
Although my room looks small, it's actually spacier than my room in 61-49 --- which I didn't even have space to walk. But I'm curious about how will it be when I moved all my shit over here...
I hope I can stay here for a while.
其实还是比较喜欢楼下, 楼上的人给人感觉都是怪怪的。 尤其某位仁兄都不大爱睬人, 连正眼也不看我一下, 见面也不问好。
大家同屋住就和善一点嘛, 又没有得罪你... 降鸟样有钱拿咩？？？
房间看起来小, 其实还是有点空间的. 至少不会像以前61-49那样路都难走。不过以后东西全搬进来过后就不知道了...
希望这里可以呆一阵子吧。
Moved into my actual room at last.
I actually still prefer downstairs, as the people upstairs are a little weird. Such as this bro that lives across, he doesn't give a shit to people, doesn't even lay an eye on me or say hi.
Come on man, just be a little friendlier, we're roommates, I didn't step on your toes... what the fuck?
Although my room looks small, it's actually spacier than my room in 61-49 --- which I didn't even have space to walk. But I'm curious about how will it be when I moved all my shit over here...
I hope I can stay here for a while.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
When you shed your tears of fear
When you shed your tears of fear
Have you thought of more are not so near?
Though it happens in your land so dear
Deaths are out there everyday not every year
It's so clear...
What we see we always fear
What we don't we just don't care
If you're worried for your life so dear
Why not care for those who didn't die here?
Have you thought of more are not so near?
Though it happens in your land so dear
Deaths are out there everyday not every year
It's so clear...
What we see we always fear
What we don't we just don't care
If you're worried for your life so dear
Why not care for those who didn't die here?
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Friends from the older days
Since I got out of high school, I seldom gather with my high school friends anymore, except a few. What I'm sayin' is those big-ass parties and dinners with the whole class appearing, I usually don't attend --- in fact I never did.
Actually I did --- once. Just once. And I gave up.
That was not long after we left the school, they said they wanted to have a mamak gathering. Sure, why not.
So I went, and they started to talk shit, which is something I can join in.
But after a while, they started to ask me what do I study. I said music. So they asked me how does that work? So I started to explain the curriculum a little bit, then Tortoise rudely cut in and said, "Ah! That's some shit that we would never understand!" Then they started to say other things.
Fine, fair enough. I understand that they must have had a lot of question marks in their minds like "What the hell is this guy doing anyway? Music? Why do you need to go to school for that kinda shit?"
Seeing my friends all going to another direction like a school of dolphins, I thought to myself that it's time to say "bye" to the old days because we'll all start our own lives. No reason for me to dwell in the history. People change when their lives change. They're now engineers, direct-salesmen/women, pharmacist...
The only ones I can relate to, are the ones who studied graphic design and theatre, because they work in the art field, so our "brain frequencies" are somehow similar.
It's interesting to think about it sometimes, when you are wondering how far have you gone since high school. It's really nothing to feel sad about, this isolation. It's just a process of life I guess.
But I'm lucky that I still have some friends from high school that are still very close with me: Albert, Old Joe, Choo Huey aka Michelle Yeoh (of all names you chose this, beats me!) and Lai Peng. Pretty cool.
Actually I did --- once. Just once. And I gave up.
That was not long after we left the school, they said they wanted to have a mamak gathering. Sure, why not.
So I went, and they started to talk shit, which is something I can join in.
But after a while, they started to ask me what do I study. I said music. So they asked me how does that work? So I started to explain the curriculum a little bit, then Tortoise rudely cut in and said, "Ah! That's some shit that we would never understand!" Then they started to say other things.
Fine, fair enough. I understand that they must have had a lot of question marks in their minds like "What the hell is this guy doing anyway? Music? Why do you need to go to school for that kinda shit?"
Seeing my friends all going to another direction like a school of dolphins, I thought to myself that it's time to say "bye" to the old days because we'll all start our own lives. No reason for me to dwell in the history. People change when their lives change. They're now engineers, direct-salesmen/women, pharmacist...
The only ones I can relate to, are the ones who studied graphic design and theatre, because they work in the art field, so our "brain frequencies" are somehow similar.
It's interesting to think about it sometimes, when you are wondering how far have you gone since high school. It's really nothing to feel sad about, this isolation. It's just a process of life I guess.
But I'm lucky that I still have some friends from high school that are still very close with me: Albert, Old Joe, Choo Huey aka Michelle Yeoh (of all names you chose this, beats me!) and Lai Peng. Pretty cool.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Tierras Colombianos
I live in a hispanic neighbourhood in Jackson Heights.
When most people hear "Jackson Heights", they would start telling me how they love Indian food...
Uh huh, me too.
Uh uh, but that's not my area.
I live in the edge between Corona and Jackson Heights --- obviously on the side of Jackson Heights. There are Mexicans surrounding the area that I live. If you take the 7 train (which is 2 minutes' walk from my place) one station towards Manhattan, you will see the area becoming a Colombian place.
Yup, you see the word "Colombianos" everywhere!
Right under the station, there is this fantastic restaurant called "Tierras Colombianos".
Holy crap, I went there once and ordered the Breaded Pork Loin, hell man, it's SOOOOOOO delicious!!
I couldn't the shit, so I brought it back home ---- now can you imagine how big it is?
Yeah... viva Tierras Colombianos!
When most people hear "Jackson Heights", they would start telling me how they love Indian food...
Uh huh, me too.
Uh uh, but that's not my area.
I live in the edge between Corona and Jackson Heights --- obviously on the side of Jackson Heights. There are Mexicans surrounding the area that I live. If you take the 7 train (which is 2 minutes' walk from my place) one station towards Manhattan, you will see the area becoming a Colombian place.
Yup, you see the word "Colombianos" everywhere!
Right under the station, there is this fantastic restaurant called "Tierras Colombianos".
Holy crap, I went there once and ordered the Breaded Pork Loin, hell man, it's SOOOOOOO delicious!!
I couldn't the shit, so I brought it back home ---- now can you imagine how big it is?
Yeah... viva Tierras Colombianos!
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
??
Not much happened in these few days, except playing a great show last Friday in Joe's Pub with Akim Funk Buddha and totally pissed off by the motherfuckin' receptionist in Blue Note.
I literally didn't do shit on Sunday, except practiced a wee bit.
Yesterday was some funny shit, Monday. I woke up telling myself that I was late for QC Orchestra rehearsal and rushed over. Nobody but Carla was sitting on the stage in the dark to practice.
What's goin' on?! Nobody's in school!
Ha! Stupid me, it's still spring break...
So I stayed there thinking that I could print some music for my upcoming rehearsals and gigs, but fuck, media center printer is fucked up.
Then what? Pizza break with my band of course!!
Then I did my mail forwarding and I went to New York Tong Ren Tang to buy pearl cream... oh and I bought two DVDs ---- Confessions of Pain and The Protege. Both are Hong Kong movies that got high acclaims.
I can't wait to see them! But before that... let's take care of my comics first...
Did my laundry, and went to bed.
What a day.
I literally didn't do shit on Sunday, except practiced a wee bit.
Yesterday was some funny shit, Monday. I woke up telling myself that I was late for QC Orchestra rehearsal and rushed over. Nobody but Carla was sitting on the stage in the dark to practice.
What's goin' on?! Nobody's in school!
Ha! Stupid me, it's still spring break...
So I stayed there thinking that I could print some music for my upcoming rehearsals and gigs, but fuck, media center printer is fucked up.
Then what? Pizza break with my band of course!!
Then I did my mail forwarding and I went to New York Tong Ren Tang to buy pearl cream... oh and I bought two DVDs ---- Confessions of Pain and The Protege. Both are Hong Kong movies that got high acclaims.
I can't wait to see them! But before that... let's take care of my comics first...
Did my laundry, and went to bed.
What a day.
Friday, April 06, 2007
And then it was snowing...
Can't believe this shit, SNOWING?!! What time of the year is it?!! April!!
GOSH!!!!!!!!
But I had quite an exciting day yesterday. I finally get to show joget to the Brazillian Guitar Duo, to find out how similar it is with Brazillian music. They were totally excited, not just because they sound similar, but Joao told me that there is actually ONE kind of fishermen in Brazil that play beats like this! And Douglas agreed too!
Then we started to jam, gave me a taste of what bossa nova should really feel like. They told me all that square bossa nova that I heard back home is actually afro-cuban bossa, not the real deal. And I totally feel that: They don't stress on the first beat, instead, they LEAN towards the 2nd beat (a little anticipated) and pull the tempo back on the 3rd and the 4th beats.
I guess it's the lilt that really made joget and Brazillian music sound similar.
Later after the concert, I showed my friend, a Portuguese who is currently a composition professor in NYU, my joget CD. He wasn't as excited as the duo, but nonetheless, he loved the sound of that music. When I told him this is a Portuguese influenced dance music in Melaka, he said he can hear the Portuguese influences.
Now, from the reaction of both parties, I could tell the Brazillians feel closer to the music than my Portuguese friend does. My theory is, this kind of music "migrated" to both Melaka and Brazil around the same time and grew roots into the ethnic culture there, got localised. But as for Portugal, maybe it is just a part of an evolving process for their music, and it didn't last too long.
Yeah babe, it felt so good doing "cultural exchange".
Oh yeah, before I went to Miller to perform with POA, I was in 42nd St Times Sq. Station. I saw these amazing Afro-Cuban street musicians, playing some amazing shit. The guitarist started playing a riff, and so u thoght u know where the down beat was right? Then when the percussionist entered with the clave, everything that you thought was right COMPLETELY fell out of place. The clave came in in the MIDDLE of the fucking riff!! That shit strikes me to the maximum! Hell yeah!! Not just that! Later they had a kick that came in in ANOTHER different part of the clave, gosh!! I dunno how them Cuban guys' brains work, but they sure is complicated.
After POA concert, I went to see L'Attitude feat. Richard Bona in the Cutting Room. Holy crap man, Richard is some motherfucker, both on the bass and voice!! I get to see him for real at last!!
He can sing while improvising on his bass, singing unison with his bass, without missing any single note. When you think his voice is so high and angelic with his falsetto, all of a sudden, he can sing so low, as low as his bass. I think he is using similar kind of technique with the one Bobby McFerrin is using. It's a kind of "harmonics" instead of real voice. It was fascinating.
GOSH!!!!!!!!
But I had quite an exciting day yesterday. I finally get to show joget to the Brazillian Guitar Duo, to find out how similar it is with Brazillian music. They were totally excited, not just because they sound similar, but Joao told me that there is actually ONE kind of fishermen in Brazil that play beats like this! And Douglas agreed too!
Then we started to jam, gave me a taste of what bossa nova should really feel like. They told me all that square bossa nova that I heard back home is actually afro-cuban bossa, not the real deal. And I totally feel that: They don't stress on the first beat, instead, they LEAN towards the 2nd beat (a little anticipated) and pull the tempo back on the 3rd and the 4th beats.
I guess it's the lilt that really made joget and Brazillian music sound similar.
Later after the concert, I showed my friend, a Portuguese who is currently a composition professor in NYU, my joget CD. He wasn't as excited as the duo, but nonetheless, he loved the sound of that music. When I told him this is a Portuguese influenced dance music in Melaka, he said he can hear the Portuguese influences.
Now, from the reaction of both parties, I could tell the Brazillians feel closer to the music than my Portuguese friend does. My theory is, this kind of music "migrated" to both Melaka and Brazil around the same time and grew roots into the ethnic culture there, got localised. But as for Portugal, maybe it is just a part of an evolving process for their music, and it didn't last too long.
Yeah babe, it felt so good doing "cultural exchange".
Oh yeah, before I went to Miller to perform with POA, I was in 42nd St Times Sq. Station. I saw these amazing Afro-Cuban street musicians, playing some amazing shit. The guitarist started playing a riff, and so u thoght u know where the down beat was right? Then when the percussionist entered with the clave, everything that you thought was right COMPLETELY fell out of place. The clave came in in the MIDDLE of the fucking riff!! That shit strikes me to the maximum! Hell yeah!! Not just that! Later they had a kick that came in in ANOTHER different part of the clave, gosh!! I dunno how them Cuban guys' brains work, but they sure is complicated.
After POA concert, I went to see L'Attitude feat. Richard Bona in the Cutting Room. Holy crap man, Richard is some motherfucker, both on the bass and voice!! I get to see him for real at last!!
He can sing while improvising on his bass, singing unison with his bass, without missing any single note. When you think his voice is so high and angelic with his falsetto, all of a sudden, he can sing so low, as low as his bass. I think he is using similar kind of technique with the one Bobby McFerrin is using. It's a kind of "harmonics" instead of real voice. It was fascinating.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Traditions, root, and inner searching...
Rainy today...
I woke up blurred as always, thinking that I should be fine running to the corner store and buy an umbrella. Aunt Zhou told me that it's fairly heavy, she lent me an umbrella, how nice of her!
I've never seen such a big rain in New York before.
Anyway, after the usual bullshit-filled POA rehearsal, I walked up to 42nd and watched 2 movies ---- with the price of one.
Initially I wanted to check out Grindhouse, but the line was extended to the streets, so I gave up. I went into the boxoffice and saw something that I've been interested to see ---- The Namesake. Also in the schedule was Peaceful Warrior, adapted from the book "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" that Charlie recommended to me a while ago.
The Namesake is the kind of movie that very easily touches my heart. It's about a person's realization of the value of his tradition and what he had missed throughout the years. I guess I had a similar experience as "Gogol" in the movie, somewhat. But I never looked down or doubted my own culture and tradition as he did, I just didn't find it so valuable until I get to New York City (same place as where Gogol is).
Sometimes unexpected things will make you see things a bit differently. Just like my two years of absence in Chinese New Year back home made me treasure Chinese New Year so damn much that I actually got mad when my family was acting as if they don't care on the dining table.
I went straight into the other auditorium that showed "Peaceful Warrior". The movie is just so-so, but you can totally understand what the original novel is all about, this makes me wanna read the book.
I've known about the way of inner-searching for quite some time, since I got close to Buddhism. I've always understand the power of it, and am trying to follow the Buddhism teaching of being humble and kind-hearted. I think it did change my life a bit, but I have never been very serious about it. I think I should ---- not because I want a decent reward or anything, it just makes me feel better and happier, I think.
I woke up blurred as always, thinking that I should be fine running to the corner store and buy an umbrella. Aunt Zhou told me that it's fairly heavy, she lent me an umbrella, how nice of her!
I've never seen such a big rain in New York before.
Anyway, after the usual bullshit-filled POA rehearsal, I walked up to 42nd and watched 2 movies ---- with the price of one.
Initially I wanted to check out Grindhouse, but the line was extended to the streets, so I gave up. I went into the boxoffice and saw something that I've been interested to see ---- The Namesake. Also in the schedule was Peaceful Warrior, adapted from the book "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" that Charlie recommended to me a while ago.
The Namesake is the kind of movie that very easily touches my heart. It's about a person's realization of the value of his tradition and what he had missed throughout the years. I guess I had a similar experience as "Gogol" in the movie, somewhat. But I never looked down or doubted my own culture and tradition as he did, I just didn't find it so valuable until I get to New York City (same place as where Gogol is).
Sometimes unexpected things will make you see things a bit differently. Just like my two years of absence in Chinese New Year back home made me treasure Chinese New Year so damn much that I actually got mad when my family was acting as if they don't care on the dining table.
I went straight into the other auditorium that showed "Peaceful Warrior". The movie is just so-so, but you can totally understand what the original novel is all about, this makes me wanna read the book.
I've known about the way of inner-searching for quite some time, since I got close to Buddhism. I've always understand the power of it, and am trying to follow the Buddhism teaching of being humble and kind-hearted. I think it did change my life a bit, but I have never been very serious about it. I think I should ---- not because I want a decent reward or anything, it just makes me feel better and happier, I think.
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