Thursday, November 25, 2004

happy turkey day!

hello everyone, and happy thanksgiving!
it's hard to imagine it is thanksgiving at home. i'm in my bathing suit and a fiji style floral print shirt and sandals on a humid cloudy day here in suvasuva.
talking up the guys in the internet cafe about calabash, spreading the good word.
we've had a busy week, and it is just going to get more and more crazy until we leave.
sunday and monday we recorded string bands at 2 of the resorts. they play a style of music they call "sigidigi" due to the fact that it is played around a kava bowl, and in between songs, the musicians and others sitting around drink bowls of kava. kava is a drug, in a sense, that basically relaxes you, numbs your lips and gums, etc. good stuff. and a huge part of the culture here in fiji.
one of the groups, the samoi serenaders from the koro sun resort, will be on the BBC on friday on the global hit segment of the world news hour. check them out! (and check out our work!)
tuesday, wednesday and thursday, we recorded concerts at koro sun featuring one of the 3 big bands that are here for the festival; Edou, Black Rose, Heartbeatz and Laisa Vulukoro (the last 2 shared a bill).
lots of fun, lots of work. one person we forgot to have here was a music director/stage manager/band liaison, so i got to put some of my past experience to bear here and help out with that stuff.
tonight and tomorrow black rose, edou and laisa will be performing at the hot springs hotel. tonight is a public show, tomorrow private. we've been promised insanity, so we'll see what happens. this town maybe sees one or two live shows a year, so everyone is coming out, everyone in town knows about the shows.
i need to run, as always. i'm off to help record a little side acoustic session with laisa's nephew, a great singer/guitarist.
much love to you all, thank you to you for supporting me in this work i'm doing. i'm thankful for that, and took some time yesterday under a cabana on the beach to just be thankful for all i've got, even if i don't have a turkey here.
e

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