the Hanoi jam sessions

As I walked along Hang Gai street weaving in and around t-shirt hawkers, fruit sellers, guys hanging out in front of their stores having tea,  trying to avoid getting hit by traffic I came across a music store. I think the owner's name is Hom, but I was too embarassed to ask him to pronounce it again. Neither of us spoke very much of the other's language. After enough awkward pronunciation and a mime act that would have gotten me thrown out of any self respecting busking festival, I made him understand I wanted to jam. He has everything in this shop, if it has a string on it, he's got it : exotic traditional instruments, drums, bells, shakers, bamboo flutes, instruments that I had no idea how to sound.
I asked him to play the dan bao, a single stringed instrument that, when skilfully played, can carry a melody as gracefully as the Vietnamese market women carry their yokes packed with fruit. The sound of one lonely string seemed to block out the din from the street; it was a heavy, almost sad sound, but sweet and graceful as well. I picked up a terrible guitar, completely off tune and tried to find some way to accompany him fearing I would miss the moment. A few chords later, we actually had cobbled together a melody, a phrase, incomplete, but satisfying nonetheless. I knew momentarily where he was going and he was gracious enough to take me along for the ride. We stared at each other as the last notes rang. He gave me a little nod, which I returned, respectfully.
Cool, I thought...
He gave me a case to go with the dan bao, and  a book to explain how to play it. Now all I have to do is learn Vietnamese...

Charlie Don't Surf

With our bass player lost in the giddy confusion and chaos of Hanoi...his thoughts bring back those memories from many years ago when two of the future Children (at that time, members of a previous incarnation known as Seven Peckered Muskox) set out on a bike trip from Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) heading south around the Mekong delta...many great adventures ensued...run-ins with the authorities, long, hot days of biking, hookers aplenty, friendly and curious people, extraordinary trips by boat on the waterways of the delta...and now, while Kevin explores North Vitenam...we are into the home stretch with the recording. In the studio again last night...Reg tweaking the mix, testing a few things, making adjustments, adding a part here and there. Spencer arrives today for the intensive weekend of mix down and mastering the new Cd...Stereo Bang Bang is close to arrival!

so in the midst of creation of the cd, I made this little trip to Hanoi...

I know the guys back home are busy at the finishing touches on the CD, getting it ready for launch and making sure its all we can make it to be. And I take off for Hanoi. I did feel bad about leaving them for a while, but then I thought that's just ego speaking. So I decided to go to Hanoi and tap some of that tropical mystery.
Hanoi is a strange and wonderful place, its not all pretty and not all ugly, it has an allure that is beyond the physical. Its like meeting that girl in junior high that makes your whole body vibrate but you don't know exactly why. She not the prom queen or the sex kitten but my god she turns your particular crank in a way that you have never experienced before. You don't know quite what to say but you know you have to try.

Caught a jazz act in Minh's jazz club tonight. All Vietnamese jazz players, and they have great chops. It makes perfect sense though. Look at the way they live. To the naked eye it looks like confusion on the streets but there is order, just not the kind we are used to. They freestyle on the roads and on the sidewalks, there are lanes, kind of, but not every one feels compelled to follow the crowd so you get freestylers everywhere. While I like to play jazz, they live jazz, every day.
Thus day one comes to rest. Amd I am stoked, can't wait to meet her again tomorrow. We are meeting right after breakfast...