I have a favorite restaurant here, very near
the beach, small family operation, not well known, delicious and cheap
food, very nice people. It's under some big trees, and it's one of the
breeziest, most comfortable places to hang out on a hot day. I was
having an incredible sea food amok lunch there half an hour ago.
Incredible because the owner was likely showing his appreciation for me
being a regular customer. He made a
special bowl for me, big shrimps, hunks of calamari, some fish and
veggies in this thick roe-infused sauce, served over rice. ($2.50).
Ridiculous, one of the 'meals of the trip', it was that good.
Anyhow Simon is strumming my guitar, various acquaintances are happening
by for a chat and a laugh, and then this drunk Russian twenty-something
sits down at the table next to us and starts 'communicating'. The guy
was pretty hammered at 1:30pm, he was drinking what looked to be a cup
of cane juice (local treat), but I'm sure it was laced with vodka or
whiskey. Simon switches into a happy reggae groove to the chord
progression of Woman No Cry (Let it Be, Rock Me Baby, I'm Yours (Jason
Mraz) or any groovy song in that style. Your basic l V VIm IV
progression ho ho ho.
He played it in D (the 'People's Key')
which I had recommended yesterday. So I start making up lyrics, just
having fun and here comes the Russian, he's now making up lyrics, mostly
along the lines of 'hey no problem'. So we're singing we don't want
problem with Russia, no problem with France, no problem America, goofing
around and having fun. It was some kind of real-time validation of
Simon's and my conversation of the day before, about what kind of music
brings people in, invites participation etc. That progression in that
key is can't miss, and here was the proof. The owners are looking on
with smiles, it's a lovely scene.
Now the song is over and
the Russian is acting the fool a bit, and he calls the owner 'Papa'.
Mama laughs and 'Papa' says...'Big Problem'. Totally cracked me up,
given the just completed jam. To be able to be funny in a language
other than your own is huge, and the guy hit it out of the park. I have
to find out his name (I'm there daily, it shouldn't be a problem). A
few days ago he was listening to 'Imagine', and I asked him about it.
He said, 'my favorite song, I listen every night before sleep'. He's a
Khmer guy, special person, special place that his family runs. No, I'm
not telling you which one it is. There will be no 'Tripadvisor.com'
recommendations here. Why would I want to wreck it?
Played my second to last Friday night open
mike on the beach, at Cafe Noir, and it continues to grow and thrive,
turning into quite a scene. One of the highlights is these Russian
folks who hang out here, Sergei (about 40 years old) plays some guitar
and sings, so there is a group there to hear him. He's not great, but
he gives it a lot of energy (and he brings his friends). They've come
to see us at Led Zephyr a few times, and
the women in particular are always smiling, dancing in their seats,
enjoying the music. They have very little English, but Sergei's wife
said to me, 'we are fans of you' and that was really sweet. I thanked
them for showing so much energy when we play (it is dance music, after
all, and they are two of the folks who get it). We ended the
conversation with the hands together, head bowed symbol of respect.
(it's beyond language, you see).
Hey speaking of Russians, there are some really interesting characters here, and you never really know who it is that's walking down the beach. There are billionaires, business people, legal and otherwise, 'security types' (lots of brawny bald headed guys who look like leg breakers for God knows what organization. There are bathing beauties, shop owners, pasty guys just arrived, you hear a lot of Russian in the restaurants and cafes. It's very interesting and I'm aware that I feel quite alien from them.... maybe because we grew up with them as 'the enemy'.
The other day I was bobbing around in 3 feet of water when a Russian guy on a jet ski starts approaching the shore to pick up his rocket-body girlfriend. She was maybe 20 years old, tall blond Sharapova look-alike in a bikini who was walking out to meet the jet ski. He cut the engine and it drifted right over to where I was hanging out, so I put up my hands to keep it off me. 'Sorry' he said, I said 'no problem' and I held the craft steady while his girlfriend put on her life vest and climbed aboard. I would never stare at a gorgeous young Russian woman in a bikini, but hey, I was holding the jet ski and here she was. Damn! Oh yeah, life on the beach...
I'm just soaking up as much of the fun as I can, tearing it up at the open mike with the quartet, eating grilled tuna and drinking beers, playing music on the street late night again. Another Saturday night gig tomorrow, apparently a lot of folks are going to show up. We're adding material, getting tighter and therefore able to be looser, if ya know what I mean. I know what I mean. And what I mean is... this chapter in Sihanoukville has been awesome. 10 or so days to go... soak up the fun.Had two nights off from gigs, so what's there to do? Hell, make some music, I don't know what else to do at this point. Jelly and I ended up at the Irish bar where the owner kept our glasses filled and we entertained the regular crowd of drinkers, jokers and shmoozers. (is there an Irish word for that?... because God knows they do it). At one point, it seemed like the Italian guy at the neighboring bar turned his music up to drown us out, or was it a coincidence? We stopped for awhile. Started again and the asshole did it again. (no coincidence) I'm thinking to myself that there is a special place in hell for someone who would drown out live music and good cheer with recorded noise. (St Peter at the gate), 'Um Mario, what is this? Why were you killing the live music with that recorded crap? What's wrong with you, son? Rejected! Get outta here!'
Some guy asked if we could play Summertime and we did a nice version in C minor, people singing along. Apparently Mario is a Gershwin fan, because he kept the music off from then on. I had come very close to going over there and calmly telling him that it's a mistake to drown out live music, not in a hostile manner, but straight to his face anyway. Out of respect to Connor who owns the Irish bar, I managed to not go there, but the feeling was very strong. We need live music, people singing and celebrating in real time. It's life...To shut that down with canned noise hits me hard. I'm glad that he somehow figured it out.
Back gigging tonight and for the next 5 days. The only bummer is that the Miss Sihanoukville event where I was scheduled to play got moved back a week, and I'll have to miss it. Dang! I was looking forward to that one as the culminating event of the stay here. Oh well, they'll have to crown the new Miss Sihanoukville without me. I'll be in Oregon. Maybe I could play a Miss Springfield event? Uh, maybe not... In a week I head to Bangkok to catch a plane home. Yup, Oregon is still home.
Hey speaking of Russians, there are some really interesting characters here, and you never really know who it is that's walking down the beach. There are billionaires, business people, legal and otherwise, 'security types' (lots of brawny bald headed guys who look like leg breakers for God knows what organization. There are bathing beauties, shop owners, pasty guys just arrived, you hear a lot of Russian in the restaurants and cafes. It's very interesting and I'm aware that I feel quite alien from them.... maybe because we grew up with them as 'the enemy'.
The other day I was bobbing around in 3 feet of water when a Russian guy on a jet ski starts approaching the shore to pick up his rocket-body girlfriend. She was maybe 20 years old, tall blond Sharapova look-alike in a bikini who was walking out to meet the jet ski. He cut the engine and it drifted right over to where I was hanging out, so I put up my hands to keep it off me. 'Sorry' he said, I said 'no problem' and I held the craft steady while his girlfriend put on her life vest and climbed aboard. I would never stare at a gorgeous young Russian woman in a bikini, but hey, I was holding the jet ski and here she was. Damn! Oh yeah, life on the beach...
I'm just soaking up as much of the fun as I can, tearing it up at the open mike with the quartet, eating grilled tuna and drinking beers, playing music on the street late night again. Another Saturday night gig tomorrow, apparently a lot of folks are going to show up. We're adding material, getting tighter and therefore able to be looser, if ya know what I mean. I know what I mean. And what I mean is... this chapter in Sihanoukville has been awesome. 10 or so days to go... soak up the fun.Had two nights off from gigs, so what's there to do? Hell, make some music, I don't know what else to do at this point. Jelly and I ended up at the Irish bar where the owner kept our glasses filled and we entertained the regular crowd of drinkers, jokers and shmoozers. (is there an Irish word for that?... because God knows they do it). At one point, it seemed like the Italian guy at the neighboring bar turned his music up to drown us out, or was it a coincidence? We stopped for awhile. Started again and the asshole did it again. (no coincidence) I'm thinking to myself that there is a special place in hell for someone who would drown out live music and good cheer with recorded noise. (St Peter at the gate), 'Um Mario, what is this? Why were you killing the live music with that recorded crap? What's wrong with you, son? Rejected! Get outta here!'
Some guy asked if we could play Summertime and we did a nice version in C minor, people singing along. Apparently Mario is a Gershwin fan, because he kept the music off from then on. I had come very close to going over there and calmly telling him that it's a mistake to drown out live music, not in a hostile manner, but straight to his face anyway. Out of respect to Connor who owns the Irish bar, I managed to not go there, but the feeling was very strong. We need live music, people singing and celebrating in real time. It's life...To shut that down with canned noise hits me hard. I'm glad that he somehow figured it out.
Back gigging tonight and for the next 5 days. The only bummer is that the Miss Sihanoukville event where I was scheduled to play got moved back a week, and I'll have to miss it. Dang! I was looking forward to that one as the culminating event of the stay here. Oh well, they'll have to crown the new Miss Sihanoukville without me. I'll be in Oregon. Maybe I could play a Miss Springfield event? Uh, maybe not... In a week I head to Bangkok to catch a plane home. Yup, Oregon is still home.
A day in the life and some great gigs...
A day in the life... up by 8am, hit the
internet. The young guy says, 'Hot coffee, sir?' I answer, 'Yes sir'.
He runs off to grab my coffee. Write a little something something about
yesterday, hit the beach. Stretch and swim, back by 11 to teach the
daily lesson with Bo. He's doing fantastically well, learning a year's
worth of stuff in a couple of weeks. 'What else do I have to do here?',
he says. Grab some local food from one
of the places across the street. Rehearse with Simon and Jelly for
hours in the afternoon. We have about 20 tunes ready to go (6 or 7
Glauber originals in the bunch). Hit the beach, stretch and swim. I
can put my nose on my knee in a forward stretch these days. It helps
that I'm stretching in the downhill wet sand at the water's edge.
Heavenly... forget the yoga mat, I have sand that shifts and adjusts
with the water and the deepening stretch. Grab a little food for
dinner, most likely some grilled fish that was just caught. Can't get
enough of that. Play music at night in one venue or another. Tonight
is a little gathering at the music store, tomorrow an open mic at Led
Zephyr bar, next night a Valentine's day gig on Victory Hill. A heck of
a nice way to spend February. No wonder I'm feeling happy. Only three
weeks to go... got my first pang of 'short timer's disease')
----------------------------------------------
Epic night in Sihanoukville... Wednesday is the open mike night at Led Zephyr, nice venue with a great stage and PA. During the day, we met Pyotr, who is a Moscow based trumpet player, classically trained, and now a fiendishly gifted soulful horn player (and a wild man as well). He came and jammed on a couple of songs during rehearsal, and yeah, can you play some tonight? He showed up and tore it up. But that was only half of it. At sundown, Simon and I were drinking a coffee, talking about music, when the guy at the next table chimes in that 'he's a professional drummer' based in London. As we talked more, it turned out that he has played with McCartney, Tina Turner, Kate Moss, recorded on maybe a hundred albums, appeared in videos etc. Name of Preston Heyman, (yup he's all over Google, you can read about him). Anyhow, I would never invite a drummer I've never heard before to a gig, but in this case, I had a pretty good sense that he was the real deal. He was.
I also invited seven or eight folks I had met in the past days, and they showed up too, so the venue had some extra juice when we hit the stage for a five song set. The drummer hadn't made it, I wasn't surprised as it wasn't a done deal, so we kicked off Same Same as a quartet. People started grabbing their cameras and hitting record. There were three or four going which was gratifying, as this seemed like a special set. And as the opening song is coming to a close, suddenly there is a solid drum beat behind me and Preston is in on the tune. We followed that with 'Happy Finnish Girls' (swing), Bhang Lassi (reggae), 'Boom Boom' (cajun rock) and ended with 'End of the Night' which is a jazz blues closer. It was fantastic, everyone played well, the people loved it, the general manager came over to set up some gigs, it was a perfect audition. But mostly it was fun and satisfying. Just a great feeling to draw in great players and put it out on the stage. A couple of ringers on top of our rehearsed trio, and wow, nirvana in 5 songs. We're hired for Saturday night, decent pay, food and drink tab, a nice gig. If it goes well, there will be more.
-------------------------------------------------------------
I've done many gigs in my time, but tonight's ought to be unique. There is a place in Sihanoukville called Victory Hill, and among its attractions is the so-called 'Boom Boom Street', a block-long stretch of bars with lots of ladies sitting there waiting for a 'date'. I hear that many of the women are paid to just hang out there and entice the guys to come and drink, while others will go back to your room with you. In the middle of Boom Boom street is the 'V Lounge' which is hosting tonight's 'Valentine's Day' Beauty Pageant, a precursor to the Miss Sihanoukville competition later this month. I was invited to be the live entertainment for both events. I think the organizer wants a variety of theme music to help the contestants sashay around the stage, show off their charm and their outfits. No bikinis or nudity, I believe it's about the dress and the poise and the audience reaction. There are 4 judges, including my buddy Simon, who somehow got one of the slots (he's very excited:-)
I was hoping to do the gig on piano but apparently there isn't room for one in a tight venue, so it will be me and a guitar playing through a nice PA system while the ladies bask in the applause and appreciation. Let's see, what to play? Wonderful Tonight, You're Beautiful, Ain't She Sweet... yeah I got this... (In case I gave the wrong impression, I think the contestants are 'good girls', not professionals, though sometimes the lines can get blurred). Should be quite a scene up there, and something tells me there will be a little material for tomorrow's post. It sure beats a dozen roses and a date at Applebee's. Happy Valentine's Day, everybody.
----------------------------------------------
Epic night in Sihanoukville... Wednesday is the open mike night at Led Zephyr, nice venue with a great stage and PA. During the day, we met Pyotr, who is a Moscow based trumpet player, classically trained, and now a fiendishly gifted soulful horn player (and a wild man as well). He came and jammed on a couple of songs during rehearsal, and yeah, can you play some tonight? He showed up and tore it up. But that was only half of it. At sundown, Simon and I were drinking a coffee, talking about music, when the guy at the next table chimes in that 'he's a professional drummer' based in London. As we talked more, it turned out that he has played with McCartney, Tina Turner, Kate Moss, recorded on maybe a hundred albums, appeared in videos etc. Name of Preston Heyman, (yup he's all over Google, you can read about him). Anyhow, I would never invite a drummer I've never heard before to a gig, but in this case, I had a pretty good sense that he was the real deal. He was.
I also invited seven or eight folks I had met in the past days, and they showed up too, so the venue had some extra juice when we hit the stage for a five song set. The drummer hadn't made it, I wasn't surprised as it wasn't a done deal, so we kicked off Same Same as a quartet. People started grabbing their cameras and hitting record. There were three or four going which was gratifying, as this seemed like a special set. And as the opening song is coming to a close, suddenly there is a solid drum beat behind me and Preston is in on the tune. We followed that with 'Happy Finnish Girls' (swing), Bhang Lassi (reggae), 'Boom Boom' (cajun rock) and ended with 'End of the Night' which is a jazz blues closer. It was fantastic, everyone played well, the people loved it, the general manager came over to set up some gigs, it was a perfect audition. But mostly it was fun and satisfying. Just a great feeling to draw in great players and put it out on the stage. A couple of ringers on top of our rehearsed trio, and wow, nirvana in 5 songs. We're hired for Saturday night, decent pay, food and drink tab, a nice gig. If it goes well, there will be more.
-------------------------------------------------------------
I've done many gigs in my time, but tonight's ought to be unique. There is a place in Sihanoukville called Victory Hill, and among its attractions is the so-called 'Boom Boom Street', a block-long stretch of bars with lots of ladies sitting there waiting for a 'date'. I hear that many of the women are paid to just hang out there and entice the guys to come and drink, while others will go back to your room with you. In the middle of Boom Boom street is the 'V Lounge' which is hosting tonight's 'Valentine's Day' Beauty Pageant, a precursor to the Miss Sihanoukville competition later this month. I was invited to be the live entertainment for both events. I think the organizer wants a variety of theme music to help the contestants sashay around the stage, show off their charm and their outfits. No bikinis or nudity, I believe it's about the dress and the poise and the audience reaction. There are 4 judges, including my buddy Simon, who somehow got one of the slots (he's very excited:-)
I was hoping to do the gig on piano but apparently there isn't room for one in a tight venue, so it will be me and a guitar playing through a nice PA system while the ladies bask in the applause and appreciation. Let's see, what to play? Wonderful Tonight, You're Beautiful, Ain't She Sweet... yeah I got this... (In case I gave the wrong impression, I think the contestants are 'good girls', not professionals, though sometimes the lines can get blurred). Should be quite a scene up there, and something tells me there will be a little material for tomorrow's post. It sure beats a dozen roses and a date at Applebee's. Happy Valentine's Day, everybody.
'Outre' at Outres Market
Once again, the gig at Outres Market was a
little 'outre'. OK, I get it, that venue isn't for me. There were
sound problems, power outages, lots of clipping in the speakers, some
guy wanted to jam along on tenor sax and he was bad, let's see, what
else, the guys got a case of nerves or something, didn't play at their
best, missed cues, occasional 'deer in the headlights' stares, a
'headliner' with an attitude, a druggy
vibe in the venue itself (not that there's anything wrong with that),
and just like last time, I was anxious to get out of there soon after
the set was done. I didn't want to be around for the descent into
further bacchanalia when booze is abused, pipes are rife and words are
slurred. So I grabbed a tuktuk with Jelly and this guy Mitch and headed
back to town.
Mitch reported that there was some kind of music jam at 'Snooky's' where there is a piano and a PA. He said that we should go and support James (piano player) because he's been supportive of us. So we popped in. I had a bass and guitar with me so I ended up sitting in and backing up some of the musicians. I played a few of my SE Asia tunes and they were extremely well received by the largely older farang crowd. Hell, the tunes are about them, right....
'You see them walking down the avenue
She's twenty five, he's sixty two
And though it seems like they don't belong
There's something pulling and it's mighty strong
Same Same, everybody's in the game.
Same same, like a moth to the flame
He needs that honey, she needs that money
Same same....
I got to jam on piano, which I hadn't touched in the two months I've been on the road, and that was GREAT! And it turns out that Snooky's is the place where the Miss Sihanoukville event takes place in late March, so I got a head start on that gig, met the owner, saw the layout, asked a few questions. That one is gonna be a blast! Yep, I'm the new kid (ahem) in town and people are really happy to have something different happening... The way I see it, most musicians try really hard... too hard, as if the idea was to knock the audience out with rhythm or speed or volume. It feels like an assault more often than not, and I believe it is based on a faulty premise... that you're supposed to impress folks with a barrage. I think it's the opposite, leave space, play quietly at times, change things up, make stuff up on the fly, be open to surprises. Like Frank Sinatra says... 'Ya gotta swing, baby'.
Interestingly, after I had played some keys at Snooky's, the 'headliner with an attitude' from the other venue came up to me all respectful and nice. 'Nice to finally meet you, mate' (he's Aussie, good singer and entertainer, notoriously mean to musicians he doesn't respect). I had heard lots of tales of him being a total arrogant dick to a number of folks, including friends of mine. I think he was impressed that I could swing on the keyboard. interesting... Does this mean I can be an arrogant dick too?
(don't answer, it's a rhetorical question)
Sorry for the lack of video or other documentation. (maybe I've just been making up all this crap ho ho ho). I have a feeling the right situation will open up and we'll roll some tape and upload. In the meantime, another open mike tonight, more rehearsal today, a swim and a stretch this morning, life is pretty sweet. Happy Year of the Snake. (my year, in fact) sssssssss
Mitch reported that there was some kind of music jam at 'Snooky's' where there is a piano and a PA. He said that we should go and support James (piano player) because he's been supportive of us. So we popped in. I had a bass and guitar with me so I ended up sitting in and backing up some of the musicians. I played a few of my SE Asia tunes and they were extremely well received by the largely older farang crowd. Hell, the tunes are about them, right....
'You see them walking down the avenue
She's twenty five, he's sixty two
And though it seems like they don't belong
There's something pulling and it's mighty strong
Same Same, everybody's in the game.
Same same, like a moth to the flame
He needs that honey, she needs that money
Same same....
I got to jam on piano, which I hadn't touched in the two months I've been on the road, and that was GREAT! And it turns out that Snooky's is the place where the Miss Sihanoukville event takes place in late March, so I got a head start on that gig, met the owner, saw the layout, asked a few questions. That one is gonna be a blast! Yep, I'm the new kid (ahem) in town and people are really happy to have something different happening... The way I see it, most musicians try really hard... too hard, as if the idea was to knock the audience out with rhythm or speed or volume. It feels like an assault more often than not, and I believe it is based on a faulty premise... that you're supposed to impress folks with a barrage. I think it's the opposite, leave space, play quietly at times, change things up, make stuff up on the fly, be open to surprises. Like Frank Sinatra says... 'Ya gotta swing, baby'.
Interestingly, after I had played some keys at Snooky's, the 'headliner with an attitude' from the other venue came up to me all respectful and nice. 'Nice to finally meet you, mate' (he's Aussie, good singer and entertainer, notoriously mean to musicians he doesn't respect). I had heard lots of tales of him being a total arrogant dick to a number of folks, including friends of mine. I think he was impressed that I could swing on the keyboard. interesting... Does this mean I can be an arrogant dick too?
(don't answer, it's a rhetorical question)
Sorry for the lack of video or other documentation. (maybe I've just been making up all this crap ho ho ho). I have a feeling the right situation will open up and we'll roll some tape and upload. In the meantime, another open mike tonight, more rehearsal today, a swim and a stretch this morning, life is pretty sweet. Happy Year of the Snake. (my year, in fact) sssssssss
As ye sow....
As ye sow, so shall ye reap, and we done
reaped us many bushels of great vibes and music this evening. I believe
that we spent 7 consecutive days of fairly serious rehearsal leading up
to tonight's 'Live Music Night' at Cafe Noir, on the beach. We were
the featured act this evening, played two sets with a break in between,
and it came off GREAT! People stayed, listened, danced, applauded and smiled at what we were laying down. They even threw a bunch of money in the hat when we were done... (more on that later).
It was really satisfying to be rewarded for the hard work that we put in, and the reward wasn't the cash, it was the music. We were swinging, we were loose, having big fun on stage, and grooving well. And it didn't come easy. I'm the 'musical director', quite a task master during rehearsals because I just can't stand it if it's not the way I want to hear it. Jelly and Simon are less experienced than me in this type of Latin, Cajun, Jazzy stew that we put together, and they are very open to what I was offering, so I would show Simon what the bass would do in a swing tune, would help Jelly find the right notes for the lines he was playing, work on flexible arrangements that we could vary on the bandstand depending on what was happening with the crowd. At times I went a little overboard with the critique, and I definitely came up against that part of myself that needs to control stuff. The guys would goof on me, and occasionally get ruffled, and I would sometimes get frustrated at being in the role I was in... but we got through it quite well, all things considered. Friends and co-creators. And to have it come together so great tonight... what a treat! and now we've got something.
Earlier in the day, while visiting Mike at the music store, I met the famous Bianco, who is an Italian sax/flute player, very good musician, and quite the character. Bianco is about my age, has long hair, looks like a bloated Guillermo Vilas ( the famous Argentinian tennis player from the 70s). He spent many years in South America, speaks Spanish, plays great, and we hit it off musically and otherwise. He was busking while we were playing our first set, but then he came and sat in on our second one.... fantastic!. By the time we were done, they were applauding a lot and I said, 'Isn't this the time we pass the hat or something' and in a flash, Bianco was in the crowd with his hat and he pulled in twenty five dollars to split with the band. And afterwards we got talking and he and I are going to busk together on Monday evening... work the string of restaurants, three songs in each, like a bunch of mariachis, pass the hat, on to the next place. Bianco is broke at the moment after buying a computer so he has to hustle (and he's been doing it for decades this way, so I'll get a little in-service training on how to busk). I never had the personality for it, never was that hungry where I had to do it, but it sounds like a lot of fun, especially alongside a great sax player. We're gonna play two songs, then I'll play the third one while he passes the hat, 'I'm good at it' he says.
And I was offered a really interesting gig for Valentine's Day, which is on Thursday. There is some Miss Sihanoukville competition and they need a musician to play live music for the ladies to move to, model their gowns to, keep the show running. I said, if there's a piano, that would be perfect, so they may try to rent one, but I could do it on guitar if I had to. A pretty good payday, free food and drink, but the best part will be to see the girls, their proud parents, the lecherous Farangs, the whole scene. I'm guessing it will be 'blog-worthy'. Stay tuned.
It was really satisfying to be rewarded for the hard work that we put in, and the reward wasn't the cash, it was the music. We were swinging, we were loose, having big fun on stage, and grooving well. And it didn't come easy. I'm the 'musical director', quite a task master during rehearsals because I just can't stand it if it's not the way I want to hear it. Jelly and Simon are less experienced than me in this type of Latin, Cajun, Jazzy stew that we put together, and they are very open to what I was offering, so I would show Simon what the bass would do in a swing tune, would help Jelly find the right notes for the lines he was playing, work on flexible arrangements that we could vary on the bandstand depending on what was happening with the crowd. At times I went a little overboard with the critique, and I definitely came up against that part of myself that needs to control stuff. The guys would goof on me, and occasionally get ruffled, and I would sometimes get frustrated at being in the role I was in... but we got through it quite well, all things considered. Friends and co-creators. And to have it come together so great tonight... what a treat! and now we've got something.
Earlier in the day, while visiting Mike at the music store, I met the famous Bianco, who is an Italian sax/flute player, very good musician, and quite the character. Bianco is about my age, has long hair, looks like a bloated Guillermo Vilas ( the famous Argentinian tennis player from the 70s). He spent many years in South America, speaks Spanish, plays great, and we hit it off musically and otherwise. He was busking while we were playing our first set, but then he came and sat in on our second one.... fantastic!. By the time we were done, they were applauding a lot and I said, 'Isn't this the time we pass the hat or something' and in a flash, Bianco was in the crowd with his hat and he pulled in twenty five dollars to split with the band. And afterwards we got talking and he and I are going to busk together on Monday evening... work the string of restaurants, three songs in each, like a bunch of mariachis, pass the hat, on to the next place. Bianco is broke at the moment after buying a computer so he has to hustle (and he's been doing it for decades this way, so I'll get a little in-service training on how to busk). I never had the personality for it, never was that hungry where I had to do it, but it sounds like a lot of fun, especially alongside a great sax player. We're gonna play two songs, then I'll play the third one while he passes the hat, 'I'm good at it' he says.
And I was offered a really interesting gig for Valentine's Day, which is on Thursday. There is some Miss Sihanoukville competition and they need a musician to play live music for the ladies to move to, model their gowns to, keep the show running. I said, if there's a piano, that would be perfect, so they may try to rent one, but I could do it on guitar if I had to. A pretty good payday, free food and drink, but the best part will be to see the girls, their proud parents, the lecherous Farangs, the whole scene. I'm guessing it will be 'blog-worthy'. Stay tuned.
Beach town scenes...
For my non-Facebook friends, I'll pull a few entries that I've posted this week.
Hanging with Jelly...he's my Irish friend from Chiang Mai who is wintering here in Sihanoukville (like I seem to be doing as well). Everybody loves this guy, he's got that knack for making people smile. He's fifty something, quick with a quip, genuinely nice and caring. Even before I met him in Chiang Mai, I had heard about him, always with the highest regard, and I understand why. Like this evening, we were sitting in an outdoor place with Simon, and Jelly pulls out his whistle and starts playing My Heart Will Go On, from Titanic. I look at the owner of the place... she is smiling. I look at the overweight Swedes at the next table, they're smiling. At the place next door the locals are smiling. He stops and people applaud. It's not the music, it's the 'chi', the life force. I asked Jelly where his name comes from. I thought maybe his name was Jerry and since the Thais would say that 'Jelly', maybe he adopted that as his name. 'Well, Richard, that's just one of those mysteries' was his answer.
He's teaching me Irish songs, I'm teaching him music structure, and we're starting to make stuff up together. He's the kind of guy that makes up little tunes, and I'm the kind of guy who knows what chords go with his melodies, so it's a revelation for Jelly. Instead of having a cute song to play on the harmonica, suddenly it's a song with chords and a back beat, here comes the guitar solo, and we're off making music. It's kind of a thrilling process, emerging out of a guy and his harmonica, evolving into an ensemble piece. That's right people, just another day at Ghetto Studio, Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
A lovely story is unfolding across the street at the little boutique next to the Çosmopolitan', the little place where I drink iced coffee. The owner of the boutique is a cute 30-something Ukranian woman named Victoria, and I noticed that there is this young Khmer guy who spends a lot of time there, hanging out, running errands etc. Victoria is friendly, intense, talks a lot, but her content is interesting. When I asked about the young guy, she said, 'he's with me'. Apparently he had some kind of terrible early childhood, I don't know the particulars, but at 4 he was adopted, or at least taken in by an older westerner who cared for him, gave him a home, bought him stuff, got him off the street. 4 years ago, Victoria got into a relationship with the guy so the young man 'Abro' became part of her family. Recently the relationship ended, and Abro decided he wanted to stay with her, rather than live with his dad. (he's seventeen). So she has set up a little spot in the back of the store where he sleeps, and she is starting to involve him in her business... at first having him watch the shop for an hour while she ran some errands, and today he worked a 5 hour shift so she could take care of some things.
I said it sounds like you're his mom, and she said, 'that's what he says'. The way she talks about him, wanting to teach him about how to be smart with money, how to be able to say 'no' to people trying to take advantage of him, how to look into the future, not just think about today. I was touched by their relationship, and impressed as well. Here's a kid who is making his way in the world with the help of a giving and thoughtful adult. She is paying for his school, ($1.25/day) and she said that for his 18th birthday in a few months, she will buy him a motorbike that he can add to the two he has going now. He's making a little money renting them out, and another bike will help his business. More chicken soup for the soul... I hope it works out for them both.
To the unhappy (and still inebriated) Aussie dude who was just relieved of $600 from a 'working girl' last night. Hey my man, let me get this straight. You get very drunk, bring someone back to your room... boom boom.... fall asleep. What exactly do you think is going to happen? I've heard this story re re re repeatedly. (No, I'm not the Australian dude)
On the beach.... I'm walking the length of the 2 mile long beach when I come upon three boys, about five years old, who are doing cartwheels in the shallow water. Two of the kids are naked, the third one is wearing a bathing suit. When I say 'cartwheels', that's not really accurate, as their legs didn't get more than a foot or so off the ground, but that's what they were going for. Then they start sparring, pretending to be kung fu fighting with the kicks and poses and pretend punches. As I pass by on my walk, they look at me, and I do my own fake kung fu pose, which pleases them greatly. Now the three of them are coming at me in a mock battle, and I pretend to be scared. We play acted for about 30 seconds then I waved good bye. Very cute.
Back at the more populated spot closer to town, two boys are having a loud argument. They are connected to some of the women who set up a little food spot where they sell bowls of soup or grilled meats, and when the boys raise their voices, one of the moms is telling them to knock it off... or leave each other alone. But it escalated... the older boy was about 17 and very angry at the 12 year old kid, might have been his brother. He yells, makes a fist as if he's going to deck him, but doesn't throw down. Now the women are raising their voices, intervening more, at least verbally. Eventually the big kid slaps the little one hard across the chest and the little one starts crying... and he's really furious. He grabs a knife that the women use to cut the fruit and he starts going after the big kid. I don't think he really wanted to cut him, but he definitely wanted to scare him (which he did). The 17 year old grabs him and tries to wrestle the knife away, it's getting very dangerous and there is some biting and screaming going on. I thought for a minute about intervening, but nope, too dangerous... 'not my business' as they say. Everyone within thirty yards is watching the drama, and I moved along, feeling dismayed at the scene. Nobody got hurt, thank God. It could have ended much worse.
An hour later, drinking a cafe americano at the beach-side cafe, I heard some live music coming near. A blind man (in his 60s) is walking and playing one of those Chinese stringed instruments. He's being guided along the beach by a woman who is holding a plastic tip jar for donations. The two are tethered together, so that their hands can be free. Tethered behind the man is a boy of about 7. I'm not sure what his role is, but the three of them made quite a group. I had no cash, but I borrowed a thousand riel note (25 cents) from the guy I was drinking coffee with and gave it to the woman. I sang a little snippet from the melody the guy was playing to let him know that I liked the music and thank you. (he's blind you see, I wanted to let him know that I heard what he was playing). He smiled and they moved off down the beach.
Hanging with Jelly...he's my Irish friend from Chiang Mai who is wintering here in Sihanoukville (like I seem to be doing as well). Everybody loves this guy, he's got that knack for making people smile. He's fifty something, quick with a quip, genuinely nice and caring. Even before I met him in Chiang Mai, I had heard about him, always with the highest regard, and I understand why. Like this evening, we were sitting in an outdoor place with Simon, and Jelly pulls out his whistle and starts playing My Heart Will Go On, from Titanic. I look at the owner of the place... she is smiling. I look at the overweight Swedes at the next table, they're smiling. At the place next door the locals are smiling. He stops and people applaud. It's not the music, it's the 'chi', the life force. I asked Jelly where his name comes from. I thought maybe his name was Jerry and since the Thais would say that 'Jelly', maybe he adopted that as his name. 'Well, Richard, that's just one of those mysteries' was his answer.
He's teaching me Irish songs, I'm teaching him music structure, and we're starting to make stuff up together. He's the kind of guy that makes up little tunes, and I'm the kind of guy who knows what chords go with his melodies, so it's a revelation for Jelly. Instead of having a cute song to play on the harmonica, suddenly it's a song with chords and a back beat, here comes the guitar solo, and we're off making music. It's kind of a thrilling process, emerging out of a guy and his harmonica, evolving into an ensemble piece. That's right people, just another day at Ghetto Studio, Sihanoukville, Cambodia.
A lovely story is unfolding across the street at the little boutique next to the Çosmopolitan', the little place where I drink iced coffee. The owner of the boutique is a cute 30-something Ukranian woman named Victoria, and I noticed that there is this young Khmer guy who spends a lot of time there, hanging out, running errands etc. Victoria is friendly, intense, talks a lot, but her content is interesting. When I asked about the young guy, she said, 'he's with me'. Apparently he had some kind of terrible early childhood, I don't know the particulars, but at 4 he was adopted, or at least taken in by an older westerner who cared for him, gave him a home, bought him stuff, got him off the street. 4 years ago, Victoria got into a relationship with the guy so the young man 'Abro' became part of her family. Recently the relationship ended, and Abro decided he wanted to stay with her, rather than live with his dad. (he's seventeen). So she has set up a little spot in the back of the store where he sleeps, and she is starting to involve him in her business... at first having him watch the shop for an hour while she ran some errands, and today he worked a 5 hour shift so she could take care of some things.
I said it sounds like you're his mom, and she said, 'that's what he says'. The way she talks about him, wanting to teach him about how to be smart with money, how to be able to say 'no' to people trying to take advantage of him, how to look into the future, not just think about today. I was touched by their relationship, and impressed as well. Here's a kid who is making his way in the world with the help of a giving and thoughtful adult. She is paying for his school, ($1.25/day) and she said that for his 18th birthday in a few months, she will buy him a motorbike that he can add to the two he has going now. He's making a little money renting them out, and another bike will help his business. More chicken soup for the soul... I hope it works out for them both.
To the unhappy (and still inebriated) Aussie dude who was just relieved of $600 from a 'working girl' last night. Hey my man, let me get this straight. You get very drunk, bring someone back to your room... boom boom.... fall asleep. What exactly do you think is going to happen? I've heard this story re re re repeatedly. (No, I'm not the Australian dude)
On the beach.... I'm walking the length of the 2 mile long beach when I come upon three boys, about five years old, who are doing cartwheels in the shallow water. Two of the kids are naked, the third one is wearing a bathing suit. When I say 'cartwheels', that's not really accurate, as their legs didn't get more than a foot or so off the ground, but that's what they were going for. Then they start sparring, pretending to be kung fu fighting with the kicks and poses and pretend punches. As I pass by on my walk, they look at me, and I do my own fake kung fu pose, which pleases them greatly. Now the three of them are coming at me in a mock battle, and I pretend to be scared. We play acted for about 30 seconds then I waved good bye. Very cute.
Back at the more populated spot closer to town, two boys are having a loud argument. They are connected to some of the women who set up a little food spot where they sell bowls of soup or grilled meats, and when the boys raise their voices, one of the moms is telling them to knock it off... or leave each other alone. But it escalated... the older boy was about 17 and very angry at the 12 year old kid, might have been his brother. He yells, makes a fist as if he's going to deck him, but doesn't throw down. Now the women are raising their voices, intervening more, at least verbally. Eventually the big kid slaps the little one hard across the chest and the little one starts crying... and he's really furious. He grabs a knife that the women use to cut the fruit and he starts going after the big kid. I don't think he really wanted to cut him, but he definitely wanted to scare him (which he did). The 17 year old grabs him and tries to wrestle the knife away, it's getting very dangerous and there is some biting and screaming going on. I thought for a minute about intervening, but nope, too dangerous... 'not my business' as they say. Everyone within thirty yards is watching the drama, and I moved along, feeling dismayed at the scene. Nobody got hurt, thank God. It could have ended much worse.
An hour later, drinking a cafe americano at the beach-side cafe, I heard some live music coming near. A blind man (in his 60s) is walking and playing one of those Chinese stringed instruments. He's being guided along the beach by a woman who is holding a plastic tip jar for donations. The two are tethered together, so that their hands can be free. Tethered behind the man is a boy of about 7. I'm not sure what his role is, but the three of them made quite a group. I had no cash, but I borrowed a thousand riel note (25 cents) from the guy I was drinking coffee with and gave it to the woman. I sang a little snippet from the melody the guy was playing to let him know that I liked the music and thank you. (he's blind you see, I wanted to let him know that I heard what he was playing). He smiled and they moved off down the beach.
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