Thursday, September 2, 2010
Photo by Yann Seznec
After a great time jamming at
Livestock Festival with
Modeste (see photo) and the members of
Jaly Fily Cissokho’s Diomboulou Band, and a much needed trip home to Maryland, I am back in France, working on the music for a couple of plays with
Corpus. The first, SMILE, will take place in Jouy-le-Moutier in late September and will feature a chorus of local singers and the percussive musings of
Paul Clifford.
The second, Rapaces, will be taking place in Paris at the
Théâtre de Verre and involves much theme-driven improvising to the loosely choreographed interactions of a circus artist and an actress of the stage.
Also, I have a few shows lined up in September/October with Fredda, a UK tour in late October/November with Groanbox, and a new project in the works with Malian sensation Pedro Kouyaté!
After an incredible trip to Mali where I had the good fortune to jam with Toumani Diabate‘s Symmetric Orchestra in Bamako and Abba Tandina and family in Timbuktu, I’m back in Paris for a little bit this month, composing music for two different plays with Corpus before heading to the UK for a couple shows with Groanbox.
paul's setup
I’ve starting work on a solo album of original songs and a couple of arrangements of old folk/gospel/world tunes that I hope to release sometime this year. My brother
Yann will be playing piano and some other instruments,
Paul Clifford will be on percussion, and there may be other guest artists. More information soon! In the interim, here’s a Burl Ives children’s tune we recorded in a Congolese rumba style (Cory: vocals/guitar, Paul: percussion, Yann: piano, recorded by Yann):
The Fox
…in action with a new website that will be added to little by little as I learn to get used to wordpress. In the meantime check out my latest blog posts, youtube vids, and other activities by clicking on the links to your right…
