home sweet home again...

so 2010 is here.. and i'm back home in victoria, australia. the last month in brasil went very quickly as i had imagined, but was the most memorable part of my adventure. i met a number of amazing musicians there during december and had the chance to play with some of them as you see below... it was a shame that i left when i did, as i was just starting to make my little mark, meet the right people, understand more portuguese and learn the things i wanted to. of course, this just means that i must go back and initiate another project! now that i have some perspective on the journey, i can easily say that it changed me. experiencing brazil with your own eyes is the only answer to any questions one may have.. and certainly this blog hardly even scratches the surface. i'm choosing not to write about so many things i experienced, because writing about them doesn't justify anything~ and when you're that close to the bone, there's nothing you can write in this space that explains who, what, when, where, why and how. all i know now, is that my eyes are wider and i'm definitely wiser for having been there. thankyou unesco for that opportunity...

so..... below is a band i saw in the pelourinho~ a hoot of a night out and about in salvador! crazy adventures meeting many musicians, singing in the streets with spontaneous bouts of body percussion... then 'the cortejo afro band', the singer pictured was crowned king of carnaval in salvador this year...
i also played a show at the museum of modern art (on udu/moringa!)... with a group of amazing jazz muso's. every saturday night for the past 10 years, ivan huol has lead this band, with many guests each week from around the world. it was a great experience and my first ever show on udu!
after this show... a small set-back... yikes! the large udu had a crack! ouch! so into the bahian wilderness i went again ~ to maragogipinho ~ to have another one made, just in time for my final show in itaparica. the ceramicist mended the old moringa too, which i gave to a fellow brazilian musician~ another reason to go back!

later in december, i met up with ronaldo borges (bass player with carlinhos brown, whom i met at the cortejo afro band show).. below is pic of us playing together on the steps of the famous bonfim church~ very funky bass played indeed!

and again, later that evening, another musician i met roque vinicius (just incredible voice), ronaldo and i played into the night at a bar near the church... very memorable evening... i had met roque at the museum of modern art gig.. and learned this night that he and ronaldo had known each other for 25 years! i think i must have been in the right place at the right time... and at the end of my residency, instituto sacatar had an open day, where all the artists showed their work in progress. what a day of amazing visual art, a few delightful christmas presents, delicious traditional food and many-a-caipirinha (drink made from cachaca, brazilian rum)! we played well into the evening once again...

so my journey home to australia was long (5 flights!).. my luggage was of course left in chile, but arrived a few days later... miraculously, my moringa (and bottles of brazilian rum) arrived in one piece! yay!

and now onto my next adventure... europe! i'll keep you posted of my plans in the coming weeks as they come to light... in the meantime~ happy new year and see you very soon!