Remembering Santiago
I just found this video online from our visit to Balmaceda, a community music school in downtown Santiago. Can you believe they have a blues harmonica class that meets every week? Just fantastic. When I went to Mississippi a few months after visiting Chile, I was telling teachers from the Delta about it. I was […]
Whole Schools Institute, Meridian, Mississippi
What a pleasure and honor it was to work with Mississippi Teachers at the Whole Schools Institute in Meridian, Mississippi July 19, 20 and 21. 3 hours a day for 3 days we worked on the workshop version of Nora’s Ark, the jazz musical by myself and Clifford Carlson. Some folks started out with a […]
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 […]
Posted in Arts Education, Blues Band in Chile, Cultural Diplomacy, Eli Yamin Blues Band, Jazz education Leave a comment
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’ […]
Fortaleza, Brazil
What a piano! It’s amazing how the possibilities open with a fine Steinway instrument at my fingertips. We opened the concert with our new arrangement of the spiritual, “Trouble of the World.” After hearing this arrangement, one person observed, “Now I know where John Coltrane and those guys were coming from!” It’s true, African American […]
American Bi-National Center
Last night was an amazing experience. We performed for students, diplomats and friends of the American Bi-National Center in Recife. This is a place that teaches classes in English. Of course, we saw it as the perfect opportunity to invite the Maracatou kids from Corpos Percussivos. We were so knocked out to perform two songs […]
Posted in Arts Education, Blues Band in Brazil, Cultural Diplomacy, Eli Yamin Blues Band, Jazz education, Recife 2 Comments
Recife Conservatory
On Tuesday, we spent the day at the Recife Conservatory which has been teaching music to generations of Brazilians for many years. As a matter of fact, many of the current teachers were once students at the conservatory which makes the place more then a school. It is a family. We felt right at home. […]
Recife, Brazil
We arrived in Recife in the north eastern Brazil on Monday. No sooner did we arrive then we visited the famous school of Maracatou Drumming called Corpos Percussivos. We were instantly enthralled by the great energy in the room. The students were fully engaged physically, mentally and emotionally in the extraordinary rhythms and spirit of […]
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