Last Saturday night I had a great time playing music at a party with an amazing group of musicians. The band included:
Mama C, a jazz singer with an extraordinary sultry voice
David, our awesome Umoja guitar teacher
Ray, David’s son, who is one of my violin students and a really creative improviser
A hot rhythm section (bass and drum)
Danielle, my wonderful colleague, on piano
me on violin and reggae piano
We played jazz and blues standards, some of Mama C’s originals, Tanzanian music, and reggae! Some of you know that I played keyboards in a reggae band in the 90’s. Well, as soon as the band started into reggae Saturday night I headed straight for the piano. It has been many years, but my fingers remembered. I had missed it! If there are more opportunities to play reggae this year in Arusha, I’m there!
One of the great things about jamming with skilled musicians is that you can make it work even without rehearsing There’s something about jamming together; you get inside each others’ minds, you read each others’ body language; hearing becomes more acute and you find yourself responding to other musicians without even thinking about it. It is one of the most profound and exhilarating experiences of community I know of.
Here are some pictures of the band in action:
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