What a year this has been…

We had a great quartet gig at Blues Alley on June 15 with Todd Williams on saxophone, LaFrae Sci on drums and Amy Shook on bass.  As it turned out, the performance was exactly one year after my first trip to the White House for the White House Jazz Studio Event.  It’s been an incredible […]

Santiago, Chile

Why do I LOVE the blues so much? It’s the universal language of the heart. It brings people together and makes them happy. It’s full of passion, spirit, harmony, melody and rhythm.  So much RHYTHM! We spent the final week of the tour giving workshops and concerts in Santiago and around Santiago.  What a gas […]

Iquique, Chile

After our show in Curico, we headed North to Iquique, Chile.  Our concert was on the in front of the Municipal Theatre in Hemicicio Plaza, Central Square.  It was organized by the great jazz and blues enthusiast, Alvaro Gomez. We met many eager young musicians after the show and of course, invited them to an […]

Fishin’ Blues in Southern Chile

Seems like everywhere we go in Chile people like fish! So do we and Fishin’ Blues is perfect for the occasion.  The message of the song is “many fish bite if you’ve got good bait.”  We love singing this song as much as we love PESCADO FRITO! Here are two clips from Southern Chile.  The […]

Curico, Chile

Curico was also hit hard by the Earthquake.  We can only imagine how unsettling this is to the residents here. After taking this all in we arrived at the Library where our concert was to take place.  Next door to the library was a building full of music… We were surprised to find students in […]

Talca, Chile

We arrived here Wednesday and saw many devastated buildings.  The only place the concert could be held was in an art gallery.  The gallery was gorgeous, decked out with super-fine works of art both modern and classic.  Again, Chileans blew us away with their resilience.  Life is incredibly vibrant here.  And the will of the […]

Chillan, Chile

Arrived in Chile last Saturday.  Had a day to visit Pablo Neruda’s house in Santiago then headed South to the area hardest hit by the Earthquake in late February.  We have been blown away by the warmth of the people down here.  Chileans LOVE the BLUES!

Farewell Brazil

Brazil is soul mix.  Mix of sound, culture, rhythms, melodies, messages, demands, divides, reunites.  The inner smile of Brazilian music and outer smile of Brazilan people moves me, makes me remember what’s good.  Thank-you Brazil.  I want to see you again.  Again and again.  Yours in song, Eli. HEALING SONG, from the jazz musical, Message […]

Manaus, Brazil

We arrived in Manaus to a press conference in the airport and what do you know, these reporters were prepared with good questions.  I’ll scan the articles when I can.  Thing is, you’ll need to read Portuguese to understand them.  We love the headline, “O JAZZ COMO PODER DE CURA.” “Jazz is able to be […]

Belem, Brazil

Belem is a music town!  There are multiple symphonic orchestras and a jazz orchestra here.  We did 2 concerts and a workshop.  We got an up close introduction to the mystical world of Carimbo and visited old churches, a fort, an open air market and had killer seafood.  Seems like everywhere we go, the Fishin’ […]