Greetings, One & All~
I don’t imagine anyone will boot up first thing this morning to see if the January issue of your A 440 Newsletter has arrived; but I’m up with the sun, my head full of lucid dreams, and I’m getting an early jump on 2016 to set the tone for a new year of timely timelessness. Happy New Year!
New Media
The feature article on my Myths & Masks workshop for Lifetime Arts Creative Aging is now published in the PBS omniblog Next Avenue. Read all about it–and other exciting LACA initiatives–at:
POP Goes CDL!
. . . and on the heels of our success with Myths & Masks, I’ve been invited back to Chandler Downtown Library to conduct my Planet of Percussion world music workshop in February and March. The five workshop sessions will be on Tuesdays February 9th, 16th, 23rd, March 1st & 8th from 9-11 AM; and the community showcase will be on Saturday March 12th from 11 AM-1 PM.
Enrollment is limited to twelve and there are only a few spots left.
Find out more about the program and free registration at:
www.chandlerlibrary.org or 480.782.2800
M&M at CTS
. . . but I’ve gotten ahead of myself. . . I suppose that’s better than getting behind! From January 25th through February 5th I’ll conduct my annual Myths & Masks Artist-in-Residency at Cheyenne Traditional School with students at the other end of the creative aging spectrum:
Studio News
‘Tis the season to make records, and I’ll begin the new year with three new recording projects: one with Trialogue (Sherry Finzer on flutes, Darin Mahoney on guitars, and yours truly on drums & percussion);
one with Temenos Quartet (To’Ree’Nee Wolf on lead vocals & guitar, Heidi Wilson on alto sax & harmony vocals, AmoChip Dabney on bass & harmony vocals, and yours truly on drums & percussion);
and one with the R. Carlos Nakai Quartet (R. Carlos Nakai on Native American & European flutes, trumpet & indigenous aerophones; AmoChip Dabney on keyboards & saxophones; Johnny Walker on bass; and yours truly on drums & percussion).
Needless to say, there will be an abundance of new music to share
in the coming year!
New Release
. . . but of course, you needn’t wait for these forthcoming releases to add some awesome new music to your library: Native American Flute Music for Yoga is available right now at:
This meditative collection features a veritable Who’s Who of Canyon Records artists, including R. Carlos Nakai, Robert Tree Cody, Aaron White, Kelvin Mockingbird and Tony Duncan, with subtle percussive pulsations provided by yours truly on multiple tracks.
In With The New
Shery snapped this shot of our New Year’s Eve fire last night: a perfect closing image for this New Year’s Day A 440 Newsletter. The wood we’re burning is a trunk section from a huge old palo verde that had been growing for at least fifty years between what is now the deep end of our pool and our greenhouse, its gnarled roots uplifting the more recent brickwork, reminding us that what humans construct is only temporarily overlaid on the deeper patterns of nature. The living tree provided us with cool summer shade; now, its wood provides us with winter warmth. And so it goes: out with the old, in with the new, in a never-ending cycle of ending and beginning. Enjoy it all in joy!
~Peace & Prosperity to One & All~
