Greetings, One & All~
Summer Solstice is one of my two favorite times in Sonora (the other being Winter Solstice–but more on that in December). The intensity of the summer sky and landscape here in The Singing Desert–augmented by the departure of seasonal inhabitants human and otherwise–creates a spacious stillness and silence I love. I trust you’ll enjoy a resonance of this rarified atmosphere in the June issue of your A 440 Newsletter!
TONIGHT!
“Patio brews and chews with mountain views and dancin’ shoes!”
Ambient Funk returns to Noble Hops TONIGHT Thursday June 1st from 7-10 PM for the first of “Three Thrilling Thursdays” this summer (hint: the other two are Thursday July 13th and Thursday August 3rd). “Never a cover, so bring your lover!”
Ambient Funk
Will Clipman Johnny Walker AmoChip Dabney
NEWS FLASH: THIS JUST IN!
Internationally-renowned Jazzmenco guitarist Gabriel Ayala is taking a short break from his never-ending world tour to pop by the Hops and sit in with Ambient Funk TONIGHT! DO NOT miss this rare opportunity to catch Gabe in Tucson with Ambient accompaniment from three of his favorite hometown Funksters!
more info at
www.noblehops.com
And the Award Goes to. . .
The Zone Music Reporter Awards were announced in New Orleans on May 13th, and Trialogue: Sherry Finzer, Darin Mahoney & Will Clipman (Heart Dance Records) received the award for Best Acoustic Instrumental Album. Many thanks to all the radio programmers and music writers around the world who voted for us and continue to play and support our music, and to all who’ve listened and enjoyed it: we do it for you!
Trialogue may be previewed and purchased at
Candid Coinman Camera
Legendary Tucson singer/songwriter John Coinman snapped this impromptu shot of yours truly laying a track for John’s new album at A Writer’s Room Studio, where he is recording a brilliant batch of new songs. Everyone is pretty jazzed about the grooves we’ve gotten down so far, and I for one am looking forward to our next session.
The hand is quicker than the lens!
Summer Solstice Myths & Masks
On Tuesday June 20th I’ll travel to Sedona to present my Myths & Masks performance of original mask art, mythopoetic storytelling and world music for an intimate audience at the world-renowned destination spa Mii amo. Then on Wednesday June 21st I’ll celebrate the Summer Solstice with a maskmaking workshop at Mii amo, in which participants will create their own original mask art. Note: attendees for both events must be registered guests of either Mii amo spa or Enchantment resort.
more information and spa or resort guest registration at
http://www.miiamo.com/i/downloads/Summer_Solstice.pdf
Fine Music at CasaBella Fine Art
I’m delighted to announce the placement of an exclusive selection of four CDs and one DVD at CasaBella Fine Art, Tucson’s premiere gallery for Southwestern art. While these offerings will no doubt add a distinctly Old Pueblo accent to the atmosphere at CasaBella, the amazing artwork on display will richly reward a visit in and of itself!
These five titles will now be available for purchase at CasaBella Fine Art:
more info at
www.casabellafineart.com
Sizzlin’ Summer Drum Sale
Parting is such sweet sorrow! Alas, the time has come for me to part with my custom Gretsch drumkit. This gorgeous instrument features a natural wood grain piano black finish over birch shells, and all the toms are extended-shell (equal depth and diameter) and RIMS-mounted (including the floor tom) for an exceptionally resonant and penetrating timbre. The kick drum is undrilled so there is absolutely no sympathetic vibration within the kit. I’m including well-traveled flight cases for all the drums, an anvil cymbal safe and a heavy-duty rolling trap case, plus a free-standing rack for the ride toms. Need further enticement? I’m also including a Gretsch maple snare drum with a natural wood grain blonde finish to complete “that great Gretsch sound”. $5K for all to a good home!
the entire touring kit with cases and rack
a closer look at the tower o’ toms with kick and snare
this angle reveals the beauty of the natural grain piano black finish
Poem of the Month
More often than not, language fails us when we try to express the immensity of world events that seem beyond our control; yet by using it carefully to explore the inner truth of things while focusing on the essence of our own immediate experience, language can sometimes bring us insight, understanding and some small measure of comfort. I trust you will find these qualities in reading your June Poem of the Month, as I did in writing it.
Aleppo Respite
How unlikely yet how fitting
this great tree should flourish here
on a rocky hilltop in Sonora,
grow fifty feet tall and bigger around
than my outstretched arms can reach;
and how welcome its canopy will be
against the merciless blue of June,
its ancient roots deep in Syria
where centuries of blood
engendered in its ancestors
resistance to the desert’s cruelty.
You take your mid-day meal of sliced apples and cheese
on a weathered wooden bench beneath its spring-green boughs,
your auburn hair tossed lightly by an April breeze,
enjoy a rare mild day before the serious heat sets in,
having spent the early morning coolness
sweeping up a carpet of dead needles
blown down from winter’s growth.
They say an itinerant carpenter
wandering in the wilderness
once wept beneath just such an Aleppo
in gratitude for its unlikely gift of shade
and–watered with his tears–they say
it grew into the first Yule tree.
They say mercy still exists in the world.
Though I couldn’t prove it by the headlines,
I love that you believe it’s true.
© Will Clipman 2017
~In summer stillness
savor the space between words
and the silence between notes~
One giant step toward spiritual realization
is to accept without judgment
that not everyone is following your particular path.
~Guillaume Henri
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Will Clipman
musician • poet • performing & recording artist • maskmaker • storyteller • educator
phone: 520.591.0776
fax: 520.743.0650
email: williamclipman@aol.com
website: www.willclipman.com
facebook: www.facebook.com/willclipman
