David's Birthday Party @ Merlin's Rest Pub Jan 5, 2009, 6:00 PM Hosted by David and Anne http://www.socializr.com/event/478561124

I'm celebrating my 59th birthday on Monday, January 5, at Merlin's Rest Pub in Minneapolis! Come join us!

Last Monday I went through my various zurna reeds, looking for one that would work, so I could look into playing it on Robin's tune, "Berber", which we recorded a few weeks ago when we were doing basic tracks. I found a good one, and tried it out, and found that I could play the tune in its recorded key.

I brought it to the studio and spent most of the afternoon laying down zurna drones and melodies. Thanks to modern recording technology, we were able to multiply me several times and create a "wall of zurnas" to match Robin's "wall of drums". I'm eager to hear how it sounds when we finish mixing it.

Three great shows at the Walker Art Center, Cedar Cultural Center, and First Avenue. Kinsmen put two saxophonists together, one jazz, the other Carnatic, for an interesting combination of South Indian music and jazz. Ralph Stanley sang his great Bluegrass, but is not playing the banjo anymore. M.I.A. from Sri Lanka/London put on a very energetic show, complete with speaker climbing and crowd surfing. Great fun!

Last Friday I played with accordianist Mark Stillman and singer Francine Roche at the Times Bar and Restaurant. Over the years I've gotten to know a large part of Mark's repertoire, and it was fun playing with Francine and him again.

On one of our breaks, a gentleman approached, curious about my 5-string Barcus Berry fiddle. I showed it to him, and asked if he was a fiddle player.

"Yes" he said, and I handed it to him and heard him play a few virtuosic lines.

It turns out he is Adam Han-Gorski, who for a time was the concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra, then moved to Vienna, where he was also concertmaster, and has now moved back to Minnesota, where he teaches.

I went with my wife and daughter to see JPP on Saturday night, and Den Fule and Harv on Sunday night.

Also my daughter and I went to the fiddle workshop hosted by JPP, learned three tunes, and bought tune books.

The bands were great, and the highly percussive polskas Den Fule played were inspirational for our Boiled in Lead medley of polskas.