Dub Monkey Gig

I decided to join a yoga class recently, and it has seriously returned my body back to a place of anatomical solitude and analogous soul-itude. Having trained yoga on and off for the past 15 years, I think returning to a steady practice is like coming home again.

Also today was my first official gig with Dub Monkey....Sitar, Digeredoo, Flute, Drums, Bass, Accordian, Keys, Trumpet and Clarinet is the orchestration... a dream sonic texture if you ask me. Soundcheck went great except for the fact that it conflicted with Earth Hour. This is supposed to be the time when people shut off lights and try to go powerless for 1hr, a feat considering the electrical ho hum that makes this world go round. Haha, sorry Mama Nature, if only there were such things as solar powered amps and innovative sustainable projects like this one (http://www.nicernews.com/2010/02/olympics-attraction-sustainable-dance-floor-at-club-energy/) we'd be set!

We worked the crowd, dancing filled the room. Lots of compliments ensued after the gig..."You guys should play Burning Man, and have a moving installation with the CN tower as the center piece of the stage" was one of my favourites. During the gig, I got to drop some effects on my sample machine as well as do a little flute beatbox. I will post some of this stuff as soon as I can.

Beatboxing for "Mr. Don't Worry be Happy" Bobby McFerrin!

Wow! What a day. My new Toronto roomate Aarty has officially accepted me as a member of his band Dubmonkey. Nothing beats strong jams, smoothe as peanut butter, eminating from my living room. Sitar, drums, accordian, keys, flute, bass were felt through the floor boards.

To top off the glory of today, I took a spontaneous trip to Massey Hall to catch one of my childhood idols, Mr. Don't Worry be Happy, Bobby McFerrin. With only a microphone, two 500ml water bottles, and a red t-shirt he took to the stage. His whole being radiated his musical gifts. He improvised, called people to dance on stage and interpretted their musical bodies, sang unplanned duets with audience members and sent chills down the canals of 2000 ears and 1000 spines. To top it off he patiently sat and signed CDs for a 200 plus line up.. I picked up his new CD "VOCAbularies" and stood in line. I met a fellow beatboxing tabla-studying guy from Quebec whilst in the cue, and we opted that we would serenade the man when it was our turn. Bobby like a wandering minstrel sang and signed, sang and signed...and when it was finally our turn, we kicked a beat for him with our lips...and had the legend diddling along with us. What a treat!

Here's a clip of Bobby McFerrin demonstrating the power of the pentatonic scale and its relation to expectation...seeing him do this live was out of this world...to get a whole crowd to sing was pretty awesome on its own, but to have it be cued by a bouncing man was even better!


And of course...

New Roomate = Tabla Player = Awesome

Back in Toronto now. The Olympics are over, the breath can be attuned to a seemingly slower pace. Toronto in comparison actually for once doesn't feel like a super frenetic and crazily busy epicenter. Vancouver did. Tdot don't. Funny tis.

I like certain things more than others. Certain sounds (people, animals, places) sit closer to my heart than others. Certain instruments do as well. Tabla is one of them that sits pretty much where my aortas begins pumping life blood. So what are the odds that I'd find a roommate into Indian culture, playing tablas and loves my favourite comedians.

Meet Arty.

A poem..

Boundlessness

All passions were lost when I found you
You were like a plastic rose
Given to a child in search of colour
A dream impregnating thoughts of the eternal

Unable to be destroyed by time
Or mistreatment
Beauty that ignited playful charm
Yet one that could never by toyed with

But one day you turned into glass
With your tears glistening reflections
That made the world shiver
Cold and brittle, yet I still tried to hold you
And when I grasped too hard
You shattered…

That is when I realized your flesh was mere spirit
Capable of subsuming forms that remained in transit
Like wind on its endless migration in search of fire
The only element that could transform and contain
Your boundlessness