|
A night at Wahweap! A day on Page! Sound like a Native American novel? Hardly. (Unless I write about it someday.) There is that wonderful teacher, Sheryl, and that wonderful Concert Association person, Marie. Both made my stay in Page, Arizona such a fantastic experience. Total School District coverage in day and a capacity crowd at the Cultural Arts Building that evening. Radmilla Cody! Vincent Craig! And I was there! Wow! The voice from heaven...Radmilla did not disappoint. And Vincent... "The Great One!" ...Whew! The best... If you have a chance to see either of their shows... please.... do not miss it. It was an event to be remembered. The students were very cool. At one school their motto was, "Providing Arizona's Greatest Education, P.A.G.E." To cool... And the cream in the coffee is that there was Lake Powell, The City of Page, the wonderful landscape... What a trip. If you have a chance to visit Page, Arizona, you will not be disappointed.
Thank you Lake Powell Concert Association and Page School District for this memory.
|
|---|
<------new news------>
|
A beautiful sun shiny morning...driving to the South Rim, Grand Canyon, to meet the President of the United States. As we pass Grand Canyon Village we see an increase of "security" types and "upper" Forest Service and Nat'l Park official types, in their vehicles. There are State troopers, County mounties, and various "City's Finest" in their official finery. There's Secret Service here, there, everywhere, one in the air. It hits me.... I'm to see the President today!
Interesting side observation... I saw my first mulitple-seat solar-powered porta-pottie this today. Inside, it was elegant. I remembered Will Smith's words as he flew the alien space ship..."I need to get me one of these!"....
We sat for awhile, 30 feet from the edge of the South Rim... it was thousands of feet down to the first possible bump if one should fall. I gave up my front row seat for a dignitary. But I sat right behind, on the second row of seats and not 20 feet from the podium. The stage platform is on the very edge of the rim, seemingly, overhanging the edge. The podium has the Presidential Seal. The weather is perfect...no breeze, no clouds...just a bright Northern Arizona day. Then I heard it. The Song! "Hail to the Chief" I believe it's called.
Somewhere they had found lights brighter than noon day and as they turned the lights on...it was "so" unreal. The music was perfection and it was powerful enough to make your heart jump a beat. As he appeared at the rear of the audience, stage left, the "spots" ... an even brighter light... enblazened him in my mind's eye forever. The crowd went wild with cheers. He looked ten feet tall. Bright! Star bright! My thoughts turn to Elvis...I was in seventh heaven. I could almost taste the atmosphere. Bill Clinton, President of the United States!!!
He sat at the very edge of the platform...at the edge of the Canyon... very cool, very composed, very quiet until he was introduced to speak. Then...He spoke. Each word was from heaven. Each word led to the next...there was a purpose to each sentence and the ultimate final statement. There! There was how I wanted to public speak! There is how to give a message. Wow...and I was there...To Cool!
He spoke, exited stage right...shook hands with 3 or 4 folks before me... than he shook my hand....and than asked to lean on me in order to reach and shake hands with a person on the third row. "Of course Mr. President." To Cool! I had met the President of the United States.
|
|---|
<------new news------>
|
Wow! 1428
1428... Ray of Son passed fourteen hundred... To Cool!
Thank you for your support everyone...
James
|
|---|
<------new news------>
|
Sleeping beneath the mountains of Jurassic Park, one of my fav movies, was infinitely so much. But to be with good friends and great folks....that was heaven. I couldn't help but stare each morning at the mountain ridges/ribs in the early morning mist. I could look out to sea. There was the early morning just after dawn. There was a "later" morning full of boats and slow moving planes leaving me with a securest feeling. What a sight. What a feeling. I've not ever really wanted to visit Hawaii. But this trip will not be forgotten. And if I never visit again. I can say with conviction. It is a land not to be missed. It is a land that can only be called "God's" country. And... I never felt it to be just an island. Maybe I tricked myself... I just felt in a beautiful land with a long, long shore. Kaneohe, Hawaii! Extraordinary place. Extradordinary people. The best of the best host(s). Thank you
|
|---|
<------new news------>
|
We drove with anticipation through the Painted Desert to one of the Navajo Sacred Mountains, Dook o'o'sliid. The clouds were fantastic. A promise of rain in the air. The Square, Flagstaff, Arizona. Sir Harrison was to make an appearance. Friend Tony and I had planned this trip for awhile. All we needed was a date close by. Now the time had come. And... Sir Harrison did not disappoint! With female rain coming down. He arrives. Sets up and begins to play. Wow! What a sound... To cool! The afternoon went quickly. The music was the best. Rain intermitten. Wow! What a show. If you ever have the chance to see Sir Harrison in action. It is an event not to be missed. Sir Harrison, thank you. To cool!
|
|---|
<------new news------>
|
It was hot. But it was beautiful. At the northern base of the San Francisco Peak. Navajo call it "Dook o'o' sliid"... The Elders were camping out. Partaking of this took me back many, many, years. The Ceremonial campouts, the pinon picking camps, the ole' logging camps up in the pinyon pine and yes, Ole' Flagstaff Pow Wow. Wow! The air so clean. The folks so alive. The songs so Native! For me, a renewal. I saw the elders dance. I heard the elders sing. There were more than one Tribe with their elders there. It was a sharing. The quiet, the relaxing, the "sharing" was powerful. It was a healing. A renewal. Thank you to the Elders and their campout and for inviting me to be there with you. Thank you Lola and thank you Tincer, Sarah and all the other staff taking care of our elders. What a time it was. What a time it is. Sa'ah Naaghai Bik'eh Hozhoon! That's what I'm talkin about... That's what it is about. Ahehee!
|
|---|
<------new news------>
|
I swear, "and I usually don't swear unless I'm angry." The bell was dancing. The bell was expanding with the notes, lengthening to address the range being played. My mind kept telling me it wasn't so. But my eyes couldn't deny what was happening right there before my eyes. I was in the midst of a clarinet experience. This fella was not just a "clarinetist," he is what I might call a CLARINET"E"IST... Nasty! Nasty!.... To Cool! Way Cool! I hear that the clarinet has the largest pitch range of any common woodwind... This dude plays them all. He inspires!
That was David Krakauer during the first ETHEL Fair at Symphony Space, N.Y., N.Y. If you ever get a chance to experience live, do so. You will not regret. Higher and higher and higher he goes. It was a fine ride. It was heaven. It finally had to end on stage. But the plane ride home seemed short. I was floating on that range, that perfection. I was invisioning the bell stretching. Whew! Back to my painted desert. New York can be scary. A wonderful fear. An uneasiness. A clarinet and the Master. Cool!
|
|---|
<------new news------>
|
There is much laughter in the air. Each member wants to explain a life full of wonderful events. There are stories to see, to feel, and to be overwhelmed by. Many questions arise about many details as the words, the wisdom, flow throughout the evening. Representative from many countries across Mother Earth participate in discussion of issues and points of interest reaching far into disciplines initially unanticipated during this remote desert oasis dialogue. There is really no adjournment for this beautiful discourse. There is only promise of future convocation to find in-depth comment, and even answers, to questions at hand...response to questions that might arise.
The experience is Elder Hostel of NAU, Northern Arizona. Here in one room gathered is 2,520 years of experience. Twenty five Twenty! Here in Cameron, Arizona. Thank you to my elders for your teachings. Thank you.
NAU Elderhostel, P.O. Box 5604, Flagstaff, Az 86011
elderhostel@nau.edu
928-532-2359
|
|---|
<------new news------>
|
ETHEL Fair at Symphony Space New York
I found my fav...Souvlaki, across the street. I was with Mark Stewart and Kurt Coble on Broadway, New York, New York. The evening was to get better and better as it went along.
Clarinetist David Krakauer brought down the house several times. Wow! What a fantastic player. Almost an epiphany for me. In music David and I took each other to new heights. Such energy, such performance. What a show it was. Ahhh, yes!
And there was Thomas Dolby. What a cool dude. Great songs and great showmanship. He did the song "She Blinded me with Science." The Company helped out on "I love you goodbye." Great performance.
The Electric Kompany Band! Wow... what a sound. And what range. What a band. To cool! World class drummer, Sean McDaniel, backed me up on drums for a song. Sean is "to" great. Wow! Makes me want to bang pots and pans. Cool!
ETHEL, the quartet out of NY,NY, was just "to hot!" What a foursome. What a force! ETHEL and I did two sets. What a privilege it was for me. They are "to" cool.
And Mark Stewart may be one of the most musical "Sound Master" I've ever met. He can play "anything" with "anything." He demonstrated some of his new fangled musical and sound instruments then blew the audience away with a guitar solo complete with lyrics and voice that took over the atmosphere.
The "mechancial" P.A.M. Band is led by Kurt Coble, a strange, but and oh "so wonderful," man. And...what a muscian. The mechanical "orchestra" helped on a number with me. Whew! It was a first for me. What a show. It was "to" cool. The whole company ended the show with an R&B rendition written by John King. It was great. They were all so great. A reviewer was overheard to say "That was a once in a life time event...!" A night that will not be forgotten. Thanks to all. If you ever get a chance to see live any of these artists, do so. I can attest to their excellence and showmanship. I took a pic of the ETHEL Fair friends. See Pic section to review.
Sincerely,
James
|
|---|