02011-11-26 | Uncategorized
On Wednesday we finished recording the percussion for “Dune”, and yesterday we had our first accordion recording session. It went really well. We recorded from ten in the morning to one in the afternoon, and then I kept working by myself until half past six in the evening.
What an amazingly expressive instrument the accordion is! As a kid and young adult I had a very very low opinion of the accordion. The instrument was only used in folk music and was the brunt of many jokes – like banjos, trombones and violas. I did come to love the bandoneon, once I discovered Astor Piazzola, but in the last couple of years I discovered the use of accordion in Arabic music and music from the Balkans.
And luckily there is an accordion player right here in Santa Fe who can play like that! :-)
The new album has a really really interesting sound, a bridge between so many styles and traditions. Its roots dive deep into the ground in many locations, but the trunk also rises high above the traditions and lifts the crown into original air.
02011-11-07 | Uncategorized
02011-10-05 | Uncategorized
We have never toured with an opening act, but there is a first time for everything.
We are excited to announce that next Summer we will tour with Round Mountain. Robby will also play percussion with Jon and I, which will mean long evenings for him. You may recall that Robby was in the 2004 edition of Luna Negra, which was one of the best groups we’ve had in our twenty plus years of touring. Jon, Robby and I played as a Luna Negra trio with the New Mexico Philharmonic this past July and it was magic!
Since Jon plays bass on the Round Mountain albums he might even join them for a song or two now and then, and I would like Char to play on a few of my pieces, since I will ask him to play on the 2012 release “Dune”. And who knows what we’ll come up with for the encore!
Jon and I have the highest respect for the brothers and this should really be a fun tour. I hope that we can find a set up for everyone on the stage at once, so that nothing will need to be moved between Round Mountain and Luna Negra. Round Mountain will perform for about 40 minutes, and then Luna Negra will play for 90 minutes.
The Sounds of Santa Fe!
02011-09-13 | Ottmar, Performance
I will perform solo at the Rrazz Room in San Francisco November 10th through 13th. More information here.
02011-07-02 | Music
We are in San Francisco this weekend, for six performances at Yoshi’s. This afternoon I will also do a solo performance at the Fillmore Jazz Festival – at 2PM on the Fillmore street at Sutter street stage.
I have been watching Houman Orei play the traditional Persian Tonbak drum with us, a gorgeous instrument carved from a solid piece of Walnut wood. It has a lovely sound, darker than the bright Darbuka, which is also called Dumbek. The playing technique of the Tonbak involves mostly finger slapping, compared to, say, the palm slapping of a conga or djembe. These finger techniques are exactly the same as rasgueados, the strumming technique used in flamenco guitar music. Since the Tonbak is a very old Persian instrument, it seems likely that Moorish musicians in Spain played those, or similar drums. It seems logical to me that guitarists observed these drum techniques and copied them to enhance their rhythmic playing, especially in view of accompanying dancers.
