Old Town School – On The Road
Dispatches from the road from our wayfaring travelers.
This Land is Your Land, Also
Oh man! What a couple of days. I have so much to write. But I do want to share this.
Long story short – we went to have dinner before we were going to attend a practice of some Rapper Dancers that Maria had met on her previous trip.
We stumbled into an Irish Session that wasn’t. Turns out the session was reschedule to make way for a Bob Dylan 70th birthday sing-a-long jam.
This is our new friend Tom.
Tom, host of the Bob Dylan 70th Birthday Celebration at The Cumberland Arms
This is us singing This Land is Your Land with him and some friends. He called the song as the first tune of the Bob Dylan sing-a-long.
This Land is Your Land – Cumberland Arms
My love of Bob Dylan in high school slowly but surely lead me to the Old Town School of Folk Music.
We also sang I Am a Pilgrim and You Ain’t Goin’ No Where. I think Maria has recordings of those.
Then we were off to the Rapper Dance rehearsal. There’s at least two other great stories from this one evening. Those will have to wait.
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Today was the official kick-off the The Hexham Gathering, although we’ll be checking it out for the first time tomorrow (Thursday). We’ve got 15 minutes on a bill with Hannah James on Friday. The days are going by quickly.
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Tomorrow (Thursday, May 26) is the Thursday Night Open Jam – 7:00 until 10:30 or so – every Thursday night at the Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N. Lincoln Ave. Go sing those songs!
JMac
Filed under: England,Newcastle,Notes from Jason by Jason | May 25, 2011 | Comments (2)
Traveling with an Old Friend
Hey everyone,
Our first moments outside of transportation stations on a blustery day in England.
We’ll be spending seven days in Newcastle Upon the Tyne in northern England; attending a music festival called The Hexham Gathering, with is produced by The Sage Gateshead, a huge organization that is home to a folk music school and three concert venues. Their web site says,
“The Hexham Gathering is perhaps the country’s leading folk festival aimed at providing performance opportunities for a host of hugely talented young singers, dancers and instrumentalists. Hundreds or performers converge on Hexham each year providing a vibrant kaleidoscope of music and spectacle throughout the town centre and at a variety of other venues across Tynedale.
I am thrilled to have this chance to travel to the Hexham Gathing with Maria. We became friends in 2002 when we were both teaching for an organization called Music House. It was my first teaching gig. We taught before-school violin and guitar classes to first through fifth graders at Decatur Elementary. Those where some early, cold mornings waiting for two buses to get to the school by 7:00am. We learned a lot together and I am very thankful that my first teaching experience was so positive.
We became fast friends and we were both soon teaching at The Old Town School of Folk Music. We schemed to get our guitar and fiddle classes to play together and I remember, in particular, one conversation very early in our tenure at OTSFM. We were sitting in the cafe at The Book Cellar, discussing our classes, until we realized the power that the song Pay Me My Money Down, could have in bringing musicians and singers of all abilities together.
That was a moment that lead, several years later, to The Gather-All and the Young Stracke All-Stars. Now, young musicians are learning to play together in several Kids Ensemble class and our teaching weeks are capped by an incredible full Saturday of teaching and jamming at the Armitage Building of the Old Town School of Folk Music. Our community has grown with us and we were able ask our community for help to make this trip possible. You can see the awesome pictures our our super-fun fundraising party here.
We’ve grown and found ourselves in the thick of the wonderful community of teaching-artists and students at The School. As we’ve grown, we’ve done stints in Paul Tyler’s Fantastic Toe-Tripper Orchestra, seen hundreds of concerts at The Old Town School of Folk Music, have met music legends like Roger McGuinn, and traveled north the play with Chirps Smith, south to visit with Old Town School of Folk Music founder Frank Hamilton and found a way to meet up in Cuernavaca, México to play with the wonderful Chucho Peredo Flores.
Jamming with Chucho Flores Cuernavaca, México, 2008.
In addition, Maria has been to The Sage Gateshead before. You can read and watch some videos about her previous adventure, here.
Maria is now Chair of the Kids’ Fiddle Program at The School and I and so proud of the work she has done to grow the program. Her patience, dedication and enthusiasm are one-of-a-kind.
Recently, Maria was also incredibly supportive in helping me and the Old Town School Community produce the School’s inaugural Family Barn Dance where dozens of young musicians provided the music as their families do-se-doed and shashayed to the kids’ wonderful melodies. Her work, her musicianship and her friendship have been the inspiration for so much and I am very glad to know that we’ll keep playing and teaching and growing our musical friendship for many, many years to come.
To me this trip feels like a “next step” in our journey. We’re visiting The Sage Gateshead at the invitation of Chris Pentney, who programs many of the concerts at The Sage Gateshead, hoping to glean some tunes, some teaching styles and some of Northumberland’s great folk music energy. I’m very glad to be sharing this experience with Maria.
As Maria often says, “That’s all.”
Filed under: England,Newcastle,Notes from Jason,Uncategorized by Jason | May 24, 2011 | Comments (3)
Jason Regresó a Cuernavaca para Continuar Estudiando Español.
Hola amigos,
Just wanted to write a quick note and say “Hola”.
I’m in the town of Cuernavaca during the two week that the Old Town School takes off from classes.
I’m here studying español at a school called Universidad Internacional. It’s a great place. I studied there for three weeks in 2008 and now I’m back to study for two more weeks.
I’m concentrating on español for this trip, but if you know me, you know that music follows me close behind.
Ismael y Jason cantando boleros en la calles de Cuernavaca.
Thanks for reading. If you want to follow my further travels, please visit my blog at jasonmcinnesmusic.com.
Hasta luego, amigos.
Filed under: Mexico,Notes from Jason by Jason | August 15, 2010 | Comments (0)
Jason’s Visit with Frank and Mary Hamilton
Hello friends,
Maybe you already know, but I’m down in Georgia visiting with Frank and Mary Hamilton. I’ve been down here since Sunday and I go back tomorrow. It’s been an incredible visit.
I’d post some stuff here, but I’m using my personal blog for now. If you’re interested I have some pictures, a couple of videos and a recording or two. You can see them at jasonplaystunes.blogspot.com. Look for titles that include the phrase “My Visit with Frank and Mary Hamilton.
Filed under: A visit to Frank Hamilton,Notes from Jason,Uncategorized by Jason | April 1, 2010 | Comments (0)
Música con Maestro Sergio y el niños de el Jardín de Niños – Solecito
You never know who you’re going to meet when you open up the banjo case.
Like I wrote, I met Maestro Sergio when I was playing my banjo in el Jardín de Rosas one afternoon.
He’s the music teacher at the Jardín de Niños – Solecito, which is a pre-school just down the street from where we stayed.
Maestro Sergio invited me to come play some music and I grabbed Shana to come along with me. Shana and I got up early on this day and walked over. I thought we’d just play a few tunes, but we ended up playing about 30 minutes worth of music! I had a blast.
Sergio showed us all around the school and we met some of the teachers and the kids. The kids were very curious. I was surprised by how much English they knew.
Shana, who teaches Wiggleworms en Español at the Old Town School was gearin’ to go and played a wonderful set. Here’s an example. This is a video of Shana, Maestro Sergio and I playing María Isabel.
Filed under: Mexico,Notes from Jason by Jason | February 16, 2009 | Comments (1)
Why Authentic La Bamba?
I woke up this morning in Veracruz, Veracruz, México; the land of La Bamba. We played music and danced all night with some kids in the zocalo, and frankly I feel like I was run over. What a night it was.
I keep thinking about La Bamba. I can remember the first time I ever heard La Bamba. I was in the back seat of my mom’s car and I was 9-years-old. La Bamba came on the radio and I remember thinking it was just so cool. Of coarse this was 1987 and it was the Los Lobos cover of the Richie Valens version.
Then, like a lot of things in life when you’re nine-years-old, I kind of just left it.
But the song stuck with me. I didn’t know the cultural background, or what the song was about.
“Weird” Al did a parody of it called Lasagna (all about Italian food), and I liked that almost as much.
Over the years I stayed curious about México and it’s music, but that was mostly because I had become a fan of Los Lobos. Eventually I found the Old Town School and Victor, Juan, Maria and Yahvi, and found that I could play this music myself. And now here I am, speaking and singing in Spanish, en La Tierra de La Bamba.
I wonder what would have happened if someone had told me that the Los Lobos La Bamba, which I loved so much, wasn’t “authentic’; that it wasn’t real. What’s “real” to a nine-year-old kid?
Filed under: Mexico,Notes from Jason,Uncategorized by Jason | January 28, 2009 | Comments (2)
Clase de Guitarra a Casa de Música
This is a guitar class at Casa de Música in México D.F. (México City). How beautiful! El Casa de Música focuses on teaching popular and traditional music of México. The focused learning that happens at this school is incredible. All the students have a basic understanding of music theory, they can all read music and they can all play by ear. But, beyond those specifics, the musical energy in the air this night was absolutely incredible.
It’s kind of hard to tell from the video, but there’s three rows of students in this class. The front row are the most advanced students. The second row is a mix and they’re playing a counterpoint to the first row. The third row is the beginners! The beginners are in the room! They’re focusing on laying down the chords and they’re contribution is an excepted part of the ensemble. What a feeling that must be! And how about the bass player in the guitar class!
It became very clear from the first class we looked in on, a class of early mariachi music, that Casa de Música attracts students and teachers who love music with a deep passion. It was great to witness this culture of support where students were very curious about what was going on in the room next door. Teacher and students were popping in and out of rooms and hallways all over the place. And so much about that was created because the way the space was set up. In addition, it was also incredible to see students and teachers interact not only as teachers and pupils, but interact as musicians. I just can’t say it enough – the air in Casa de Músic was electric with music.
You can’t quite see them in this video, but my amigos nuevo, David and Daniel are in the second row. I met them in about the first two seconds we walked in the door of la esquela. I must admit, I stereotyped them immediately. They’re about 14-years-old and there they were with their funky black baseball caps and “heavy metal” t-shirsts. I thought, “Oh. I bet these guys are studying some pretty heavy rock music. Well, that’s cool. I’m sure there’s some folk music going down, too.” David, Daniel and I hit it off right away, but the “Old Town School tour” was beginning and they had to get to class. I had a million questions so we left it saying we’d meet up again later.
How surprised was I when I entered this guitar class and there were David and Daniel playing a very beautiful piece of composed folk music and without a power chord in sight. As we travel, I continue to be impressed with the intensity, openness and studiousness they, and the rest of class, had.
David and Daniel and I talked for a long time after the class. It turns out they have two bands (one folk the other rock) and a theater group. I sure wish I would have been that together when I was 14. I wish I could see one of their productions. I bet they’re great.
Thinking about it, this story illustrates one of my favorite things about the visit to La Casa de Música. Because of the open culture of the school, it was very easy to find a way to “leave the tour” and go talk to the students. We haven’t been able to do much of that at the other schools, and I think that’s to our detriment. I understand, of coarse, that it’s important to talk to the people who put it all together and Maestro Jorge, the director of Casa de Músic, is a wealth of experience, passion and information. But I feel very luck to have met at least 15 students from age one-year to 75-years, and I feel that’s where the culture of the school truly lies. As always, the students have so much to teach the teachers.
I can’t wait until I find a way to get back to Casa de Música.
Filed under: Mexico,Notes from Jason by Jason | January 28, 2009 | Comments (4)
I Think Queen Lili`uokalani Would Think This is “Super Chido”.
Here’s a video of Lani and I tocando música en Jardin de las Rosas yesterday. This song is called He Ala Nei E Mapu Mai Nei.
Believe it or not, banjo is not a traditional part of Hawaiian music. Maybe it should be.
Filed under: Mexico,Notes from Jason by Jason | January 27, 2009 | Comments (2)
¿El Mundo Está Muy Pequeño, Verdad?
This is Gerardo, Lani and I. Here is the awesome story about how we met him.
Monday took us to two meetings with cultural representatives in Morelia. The second was with Dr. Javier of the Conservatio de Rosa, which is a concert music school. It had already been a hectic day, with Shana and I playing for the pre-school, then rushing to another meeting and then rushing to the meeting at El Conservatorio.
So when Lani and I sat down in Jardin de Rosa, we were quite ready just to kamikapila (that’s “hang loose”). And that’s what we were doing.
Remember how I was talking about the idea of putting it music out there and just seeing what comes back. Well, about 10 minutes after we recorded the video from my post about the Hawaiian song Lani taught me, this gentleman sat down across from Lani and I. He was listening very intently to what we were playing. I noticed that he had some sheet music in his hand and I asked if he was a musician. He said he plays viola and he came over to join us.
After about 15 minutes of playing and talking (his English is excellent) he asked about he school we work at. Then he paused and said, “Wait. Do you know Victor Pichardo?”
Of coarse I was quite surprised and said, “Yeah! He’s my teacher of Méxican music.”
It turns out that Gerardo is the son of one of Victor’s friends and his whole family plays Son Jarocho.
In case you don’t know him. Victor Pichardo teaches the Mariachi and Son Jarocho classes at the Old Town School. He’s also the Musical Director of the wonder group based in Chicago, Sones de México.
How about that, huh? Of all the people in Morelia we bump into Gerardo.
We wanted to make some music together in the evening, but there was just too much going on. We had a 6:00 meeting at a school called Casa de Cultura (which is an awesome school) and then Anacron and I had a 10:00 appointment to be interviewed and play some music on an internet radio school. Then this morning (Tuesday – martes we had to leave the hotel at 7:00 am to catch the bus back to D.F.
But I certainly think we’ll be crossing paths with Gerardo again. Maybe someday I’ll be sitting out on the front porch in Chicago and he’ll walk by. Wouldn’t that be something. You never know what’s going to happen when you’re sitting on the front porch.
P.S.
This is a video of Gerardo and Herman, who is studying singing at the concervatory, playing a song called La Flor Canela. Neither of them had ever played ukele or banjo before this afternoon. ¿Está padre, no?
Filed under: Mexico,Notes from Jason by Jason | January 27, 2009 | Comments (3)
Estamos en Morelia
Hola amigos,
Pardon a me para no escribendo mucho. It’s been a crazy couple of days and it’s been challenging to find a working internet connection.
Anyway, Morelia is awesome! The joy on the faces of people that play música here is astounding.
So much has happened since I last wrote, I don’t know where to begin. How about I begin in the future.
I sat in the Jardin de Rosa for a couple hours today, playing music and meeting other musicians. If I were to move to México I would want to be as close to Jardin de Rosa as possible. It’s very comfortable there.
I meet many interesting people, some of them muscians, as I sat and played. I met a two young men named Johnny and Emerson. We traded “metal” licks on the banjo. Estuve supre chido.
I also met a gentleman named Sergio, who was painting in the jardin as I played (Jardin de Rosa is a jardin for selling paintings). He is a music teacher for a nursery school, El Jardin de Niños, just down the street from the hotel. He invited me to play for his class tomorrow, so Shana and I are going to go play at 8:00 in the morning. I can’t wait! How do you say “Ti-de-Oh” en español?
Again, the lesson I’ve learned over and over from so many afternoons sitting on the front porch playing music. You’ve got to put it out here. If you don’t, how are people supposed to know you’re down with the music scene. Put it into the world and the world will take care of the rest.
Buenas noches amigos,
Jason
Filed under: Mexico,Notes from Jason by Jason | January 26, 2009 | Comments (2)
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