OK, fun story of the day…

on the way back from seeing the new Star Wars with my friend Josh, Friday morning, we walked into the 34th street subway station and there was a guy playing fiddle on the 2/3 platform. Kind of a self-taught gypsy/latin type music.

I am always happy to see fellow busking fiddlers, so I went over and put some change in his case. He stopped playing, smiled at me, and held his violin and bow out to me. “OK, your turn.”

Josh and I looked at each other and then I said, “Well, OK” and played Angelina Baker… me and the guy just smiled at each other as I played and everyone around was just kind of staring. He insisted that I keep playing till the train came. Then I gave him back his fiddle and Josh and I hopped onto the train with expressions of disbelief. Everyone around was still looking at us like, “What WAS that?”

I miss Guatemala, but New York does have its moments……..and I’m glad to be back.

“Te imaginas un festival con mas de 50 musicos de todo el mundo, en un magico lugar al aire libre en las afueras de La Antigua, tocando mas de 7 horas en vivo? Domingo, 8 de mayo del 2005″

Jamtigua… music, music, dancing, Gallo (the beer of Guatemala), music, music. 500 people, gringos & Guatemalans, hanging out on a beautiful farm 2 km from La Antigua. Kickass bands like Las Cucarachas (my new favorite Latin funk band) and Shank Bone Mystic (my new favorite alternative rock Brooklyn band). Nova Epica, a heavy metal band from Guatemala City, which reminded me why I used to love headbanging. And too many great solo artists to name, who I started meeting the minute I got to Antigua, when Rob pulled up to Cafe No Se and said “take your fiddle and go into that bar, you’re gonna play.”

Lenin, an incredible percussionist (he was the drummer of Alux Nahual, Guatemala’s most famous rock band which was together for over 18 years), stage managed the hectic event and generously mentored the musicians. He even came back to Antigua the next week to give me a ride to his house in La Ciudad, near the airport, so I could stay in his guest room before flying out on Monday. We did some experimenting with Latin rhythms and fiddle tunes and talked about what matters in life. I hope to check out the pan-central-American orchestra he tours with, La Papaya, sometime soon….the recordings were amazing.

Looks like Jamtigua 2 will happen in November, with four times as many people but just as much grassroots spirit. The whole trip to Guatemala reminded me why I choose to live this way. I thought I’d play the festival and then travel around alone, but I ended up meeting so many amazing musicians and people–both Guatemalans and travellers–that I stayed put in Antigua most of the time.

Every night people gathered to play and hear music at Cafe No Se, around a bar made of discarded school bus parts and surrounded by aloes, hanging plants and paintings. Lots of vegetarian burritos, and the best tequila I have ever had in my life (thanks John). I’m not gonna name all the people who made it happen but it was truly magical and you know who you are…it’s cold in Brooklyn as I write this and I miss everybody…next fall in Antigua!

hey blog-readers, due to a computer quirk, these blogs are temporarily displaying from oldest first. for a trip down memory lane, continue on, but to see recent entries, click on a title to the left; the top is the most recent.

Hello from Antigua … the most beautiful city in Guatemala, and one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. It was the Spanish capital of all of central America 400 years ago, and is full of gorgeous Spanish colonial architecture… pink walls, blue walls, yellow walls, all in that sun-worn, chipped, full of character way.

The music has basically not stopped from the minute I arrived in Antigua. Needless to say I am exhausted and happy. Saturday night involved me sitting in with 3 different bands in 3 different clubs - definitely a first. I’ll post pictures later. There are few things as humbling as trying to introduce songs to a group of 40 year old men in a language you don’t really speak. I tried to get them to sing “Will the Circle be Unbroken” with us, but they didn’t speak English either. But we all drank a lot of Gallo and had a good time.

Hanging flowers… bougainvilleas…. orchids growing in midair…. Mayan women wearing their beautiful hand-woven traditional clothing… vocanoes “Agua” and “Fuego” around the city… wow. I came down here to play at Jamtigua, a music festival which happened yesterday, but more about that later because I’m heading over to a restaurant called La Sala to play for my dinner. Entonces, hasta pronto!