Mary Youngblood at Moaning Caverns

Mary Youngblood will be back at Moaning Caverns next month, and this is an event which you don't want to miss. I have been fortunate to accompany Mary on previous Moaning Cavern events and this is definitely one event you don't want to miss. One of my favorite all time group improvisations occurred at the Caverns concent a few years ago. Imagine playing with a dozen other musicians (led by Mary) in complete and utter darkness! We only had our ears to guide us, and it was a spiritual moment. I'll never forget it.


So don't miss your chance this year. This event WILL sell out, buy your tickets early.


What: Mary Youngblood at Moaning Caverns
When: Sept 10, 2011
Where: Moaning Cavern, 5350 Moaning Cave Road, Vallecito, CA 95251
Cost: $24.95 for bottom of main chamber, $19.95 top of main chamber
Contact: Call 209.736.2708 or toll free 866.762.2837 


Here's a video from one of the prior years events:

 

NCFC Calendar is Updated

Just a reminder that you can always find information about the regional flute circles and workshops in Northern California, along with information about other regional and national Native American Flute related (and world music related) events on the NCFC calendar.

If you are an artist, flute/drum circle leader or if you would like to post your event on the NCFC calendar, you simply need to join the NCFC GroupSite and you'll have the rights to update the calendar with your event.

All of regional Northern California Flute Circle (NCFC) clan leaders have access to, and regularly update this calendar with their events.

Yosemite World Music Camp Sept 23-25, 2011

If you're planning to attend this years Yosemite Flute Festival (or even if you can't make it to festival), be sure to check out the the first annual Yosemite World Music Camp taking place the three days prior to the festival.

The event features the following instructors:

Scott August: world flutes and musicianship

Randy Granger: flute, percussion and drumming

Annie Mathias: didgeridoo, Moyo drums, creative play

There will be classes offered each day and a special event each evening.

Cost: $325 for the three days (plus lodging)

Location: Sierra Sky Ranch, Oakhurst CA

To register: worldmusiccamp@gmail.com or call (559) 641-5980

Indigenous Peoples Days 2010

Mark your calendars because, once again you are invited to Indigenous Peoples Days 2010, in and around Nevada City, California, October 8-12, (Friday-Monday). You will not want to miss this year's family-friendly, four-day event as it will be an experience more worthwhile, educational, spiritual and healing than ever before.

The traditional “Calling Back the Salmon” ceremony begins on Saturday, October 9, with a sunrise ceremony at Parks Bar, on the south fork of the Yuba River. Traditional ‘spirit runners’ will carry a salmon seven miles upstream from Parks Bar to Bridgeport State Park. Midway, in the town of Smartsville, the runners will be honored by local residents. At Bridgeport, the runners will cross the river and honor the salmon in a simple, ancient riverside ceremony, followed by a salmon feast.

On Sunday the celebration shifts to Pata Panaka, the site of an ancient Maidu village, now the Maidu Active Cultural Center, just outside Nevada City. Descendants of famous native Americans, including Geronimo, Wovoka, and Sitting Bull, will join with the Inca, Maori, and Hopi healers in a series of descendants Circles. The all day celebration also includes traditional Hawaiian dancing, Native flute, women’s drum circles and other music, dance, and story telling. The Maori and Inca people will be offering healing ceremonies.

On Monday afternoon at Miners Foundry in downtown Nevada City, a mother drum will hold the stage as descendants, elders, youth and others discuss healing soul wounds, reviving the Maidu language, healing the earth of mercury and other remnants of the gold rush., and gaining federal recognition. The four day celebration ends with the Richard Prout Memorial Dinner, in honor of the past chair of the Colfax-Todds Valley Consolidated tribe.

The all volunteer, drug and alcohol free event is free and open to the public. Sunday and Monday will be broadcast live on KVMR, KFOK, and KZFR community radio stations. Contributions are requested. Guests are asked to bring table ware and seating to the outdoor events.

WHAT: Indigenous Peoples Days 2010

WHEN: October 8-12, 2010

WHERE: Grass Valley, Nevada City California

Can't attend? Listen the events live on the web to KVMR: www.kvmr.org

For more info visit www.indigenouspeoplesdays.org or call 530-477-0711.

Maidu Museum Opening Day

What: Maidu Museum Opening Day
When: Saturday, February 13th, 2010
Where: Maidu Museum & Historic Site
Address: 1970 Johnson Ranch Drive, Roseville, CA 95661
Phone: (916) 774–5934
Web: www.roseville.ca.us/indianmuseum

Details:
Opening Program: 9:30am
Guided Tours 10am & 1pm/Storytelling 11:30am & 2:30pm
New Exhibits Come Alive 12:00-1pm
Speaker: Dugan Aguilar
Deeper Than Gold 7:00pm

Project Pink Benefit Concert - The Don Baggett Theater

What: A benefit concert for the Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital Breast Imaging Center featuring Mary Youngblood.
When: 2:00 pm Suday May 31, 2009
Where: The Don Baggett Theater, 11645 Ridge Road, Grass Valley CA
Tickets: $20
Advanced tickets available at Citizens Bank, Briar Patch, Yabobo, The bookseller, SNM Hospital Breast Imaging Center, SNM Hospital Foundation and online here: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/63895

For more info:
Email: sbarrington@snmhf.com
Phone: 530 477-9700

Ticket sales will help purchase a new ultrasound machine dedicated for use in the Breast Imaging Center to aid in early cancer detection.

Potomac Native American Flute Festival

The sixth Potomac Native American Flute Festival, "Winds of Change,"
is a great opportunity to hear, learn about and play the beautiful
Native American flute.

The weekend features dual-track workshops and fantastic evening and
afternoon concerts. A free-entry vendor hall will feature more than
20 flute and fine Native craft vendors. The three main-stage concerts
are: Scott August and Autumn's Child featuring Mark Holland on Friday
night; and Mark "Thunderwalker" Camden and The Jeff Ball Band on
Saturday night. There will also be a 90 minute Saturday afternoon
concert featuring three artists: Jan Seiden and Jeff Kuhn, Jonny
Lipford, and the duo of David Landis and Diana Sunday (from the DC-
local group KIVA).

Workshops include beginning flute playing, intermediate flute
playing, Anasazi flute, drumming, flute making and more! Also, a
Flute Tasting, Flute Raffle, Private Lesson Bookings, Flute Makers
Competition and Open Mic.

Full registration is only $100 before March 8 and $125 after
(includes all concerts, snacks, lunches). Concert tickets also
available for advance and at-the-door purchase. PayPal option
available for all items. All details at:
http://www.potomacflutecircle.net

Indigenous Peoples Day 2008

Indigenous Peoples Day is happening again this year! Bigger and better in 2008. If you live near the foothills, then this is an event not to be missed.

WHEN: Friday, October 10, 2008 - Monday, October 13, 2008
WHERE: Various Sites around Nevada City, CA

Sunday and Monday's events will be live on KVMR Radio 89.5 RM and www.KVMR.org


Hosted by the Tsi-Akim Maidu Tribe

For more information: 530.274.7497
http://www.indigenouspeoplesdays.org/

Northern California Flute Circle Online Calendar

Be sure to check out the new Northern California Flute Circle calendar online at: http://ncfc.collectivex.com/calendar

All Northern California Flute Circle events, regional Pow Wows, festivals, workshops, retreats and other indigenous music events are posted there. It's the best place to discovery what's happening each week.

NAMA to be broadcast on Satellite TV

On Sunday, June 1st, at 2:00PM, the highly esteemed Native American Music Awards will be broadcast in over 18 million households as a featured two-hour televised special on CoLours TV. CoLours TV can be found in all 50 states in the top 100 TV markets through the EchoStar/Dish Network channel 9407 and on local cable affiliates, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A rebroadcast of the Awards program is scheduled for Sunday, June 8th from 2:00 to 4:00PM. The Awards program can also be viewed live through CoLours' online presence at www.colourstv.org.

CoLours TV was created by Black Star Communications (BSC), a non-profit corporation organized to operate exclusively for civic, charitable, and educational purposes. The CoLours TV network has set out to be a voice of authority for America's multicultural community. Today, they are in over 18 million television households which accounts for more than 40 million viewers. CoLours' technical information is Satellite Intelsat Americas 13, Transponder 6.

The Ninth Annual Native American Music Awards show was recently held at the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel in Niagara Falls, New York, and taped in front of a live audience. This two hour broadcast program features award presentations, special guest appearances and live performances in all genres of music by leading artists of Native American heritage from North America. Featured performers include; Lifetime Achievement Award recipients Joanne Shenandoah and Bill Miller, South Dakota's Brule' & AIRO (Group of the Year), Buffalo's own Tonemah (Best Folk Recording), Upstate New York's Corn Bred (Best Blues Recording) Lumbee pop artist Jana (Best Pop Recording), Gary Small & the Coyote Bros (Best Rock Recording), Drum group Pipestone (Record of the Year), Nightshield with Maniac the Siouxpernatural (Best Rap Recording), the traditional Iroquois Dancers, nominees Digging Roots, and Jan Michael Looking Wolf with renowned Latin music producer, George Noriega. Other special guest presenters include; Beth Wray Webb (Daughter of the late Link Wray), Keith Secola, and Wayquay among others.

Founded a decade ago in May of 1998, the critically acclaimed Native American Music Awards is the country's leading membership based association consisting of music industry professionals directly involved in the recording and distribution of traditional and contemporary Native American music initiatives.

Support for the Ninth Annual Native American Music Awards' broadcast was received by the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel, the Seneca Nation of Indians (SNI), the Shokopee Mdewankaton Sioux Community and The Seminole Tribe of Florida. The Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel is a premiere entertainment destination and features the largest hotel in Western New York with breathtaking views of one of the most incredible natural sites in the world, Niagara Falls.

A DVD of the Ninth Annual Native American Music Awards is available for purchase on the Music Store Page at www.nativeamericanmusicawards.com .

Stanford Pow Wow May 9 -11, 2008

It's almost Mother's Day 2008, and that can only mean one thing: the 37th annual Stanford Pow Wow! (sorry mom). If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, then you have to attend the Standford Pow Wow. It's one of the biggest Pow Wow's on the west coast, and always has good representation from Flute Makers. I am not sure who's planning to attend this year.

Grand Entry is at 7 PM on Friday evening, but most of the dancing will be on Saturday and Sunday.

Here's the link to the poster: http://powwow.stanford.edu/documents/PosterColor2008.pdf

Join 8,000 drums worldwide on March 21, 2008

I encourage you to be a part of this worldwide drumming event. To help spread peace and heal mother earth.

"According to a Sacred Prophecy revealed at the Otomi Ceremonial Center by the Otomi Elder Sages as a Vision of our Venerable Ancestors, the day when the sounds of 8,000 Sacred Drums join together will be the beginning of the healing of Mother Earth"

WHEN: March 21, 2008

TIME: 10 AM - 12 PM (CST) / 8 AM - 10 AM (PST)

WHAT: Play your drums prayfully. Send your prayers for understanding, tolerance, healing and happiness to those around you.

For more information: http://www.indigenousuniversity.org/sacred_drums.htm

Azteca Mexica New Year Ceremony

Mark your calendars. The Azteca Mexica New Year Ceremony is planned for the weekend of March 15-16, 2008 @ the National Hispanic University in San Jose, CA. Xavier Quijas Yxayotl will be playing on Saturday at Noon. Every year, this is a specatular event. It's an opportunity to experience the culture of native Mexico, and a great opportunity to see Xavier perform.

Here's a complete agenda for the event:

Saturday March 15

• 6AM - Sunrise Ceremony
• 10 AM - Ohlone Nation
• 11 AM - Zuni Nation
• 12 noon - Danza Azteca, Naming Ceremony, Guest Flute Player Xavier Quijas Yxayotl
• 10 AM - 5 PM: Arts & Crafts Vendors, Children's Activities, Community Resource Booths
• 6 - 8 PM: Silent Auction for the Peace & Dignity Journey: Winner Announcements

Sunday: March 16

• Official Schedule still being confirmed
• More Danza Azteca
• Danza Maya de la Yucatan
• More to be confirmed...
• 10 AM - 5 PM: Arts & Crafts Vendors, Children's Activities, Community Resource Booths

For more information contact:

Yei Tochtli Mitlalpilli

Calpulli Tonalehqueh

408.510.1377: cell

Yosemite Flute and Art Festival, September 26 - 28

Mark your calendars! The First Annual Yosemite Flute and Art Festival is scheduled for September 26 - 28, 2008, in the town of Oakhurst, CA.

This event is being presented by our friends in the Yosemite Flute Circle. The Northern California Flute Circle is going to help sponsor this event, and everyone is invited to come enjoy the music surrounded by the beauty of Yosemite.

Details are still in the works, but you can count on some great live music, excellent flutes for sale, unique arts and craft, brilliant workshops and beautiful surroundings. Plan on staying for the weekend to get the full experience. This is the first year of the event, but this will grow into an annual event at Yosemite.

For more detail about the event, contact Rick Dunlap at: yosemitefluteandartfestival@gmail.com

Special Thanks to Loping Wolf

Wow. I can't believe that the week is half over and I haven't had a chance yet to post a HUGE THANK YOU to Dan, Sheree and the rest of the Loping Wolf crew for pulling together such a wonderful event last weekend!

The day started early and slow with folks starting to trickle into the event starting with vendors before 9 AM. There were lot's things to look at. Fairyring Mushroom, Brian Revheim and Lew Price all had flutes for sale. Robin and Ricardo had some wonderful jewelry and handmade arrows and Dave the Drum maker had a selection of Ashikos and Djembes.

Mike and Alex set up the sound system early and a few brave souls serenaded the early arrivals. Things kicked off a little after 10 am with Ricardo presenting an opening blessing. This was followed by Doc who danced and told us some wonderful stories. Food was served around 11 AM and following this there were some wonderful open mic performances until the workshops started a little after noon.

I presented an "Absolute Beginners Workshop" to a wonderful group of 17 newbies, who all tried every exercise I asked them to and exceeded my expectation (Great Job!).

Dan R presented the next workshop along with his recording partner Pat who played the piano keyboard. The focus of this workshop was on playing with other instruments. Dan and Par have just completed the recording of a new CD with piano music which is designed to easily play along with on your pentatonic tuned flutes. Dad demonstrated several songs and Pat played live while the students all had the chance to experiment with the song. The students all left with a copy of the CD.

Finally Mary Youngblood presented a workshop on Ornamentation to an excited group of folks. Lots of wonderful sounds came from the workshop room during this workshop. Mary was there all day selling CD's, songbooks and generally greeting everyone who wanted to chat.

We were amazed with the view of a wonderful sunset from the Lake of the Pines clubhouse with the lake in the background and the colors of the sunset painting the water a memorable hue.

Once again a fun event all around. Thank you Loping Wolf!

Mary Youngblood - More Moaning Caverns Pictures

A special thanks to Norma Swain for sending me these pictures from the Moaning Cavern event with Mary Youngblood last month. In the first picture, you see Mary playing from the audience's perspective (rather than the perspective of those of use in the musician's "cage").

Here are several folks from the Loping Wolf clan warming up prior to heading down to the cavern (LtoR: Alex, Dan, Francesca, Mike, Mary, Mike)

Here's a picture of Mary relaxing before the event. (Doesn't she look relaxed!). It was a fun afternoon with Mary prior to the adventure into the cavern. We all had a chance to relax, eat and play flutes together and with Mary as we prepared for the evenings' event.

More Moaning Caverns Photos

Thanks to everyone who took pictures at the Moaning Caverns event this last weekend. I just received notice from Rocky that he is posting some of his photos online. You can check out his awesome photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jrockla/

NOTE: Rocky is using a photo service called Flickr, I am planning to setup an NCFC Flicker Pool for everyone to post their photos from NCFC events. I hope to get that online in the next couple days.

Memories from Moaning Caverns with Mary Youngblood

Wow, what a wonderful day we had on Saturday with Mary Youngblood and the Northern California Flute Circle. The event took place at Moaning Caverns in central California, near Angels Camp. The NCFC members who were playing with Mary that night, arrived early in the afternoon, to practice, eat and have some fun before the event.

Here's a picture of Mary practicing and warming up on her guitar before the event:

During the flute circle before hand several foks jammed and warmed up. Here's a picture of (RtoL) Alex, Dan and Francesca.

The trip down into the cavern was pretty treacherous for the first 90 steps, especially when you were carrying an armful of instruments. Here's some NCFC members entering the cavern.

It was an amazing event (from my perspective). We started the show by turning out all of the lights and playing in the pitch black at the bottom of the cavern. Folks were sitting on the floor of the cavern, on the stairs and at the landing at the top of the cavern. For the first song (in the pitch black), David Blonski started with the didj (wow!), then the rest of the NCFC member came in with percussion, followed by the flutes. I've played my flute in the dark many times but this was the first time that I have played and improvized with other folks in the dark. It was a spiritual experience for me to listen and play without my vision. The experience is still difficult to describe. But we all sensed the end of the song intuitively and ended beautifully. The rest of the concert featured Mary on flute and guitar. We backed her up on percussion and a few folks played either with Mary or on their own.

At the end, Mary played a happy birthday rendition for folks celebrating their birthdays that night. Here's a photo of Mary serenading the birthday folks:

I am posting all of the pictures on the NCFC website here: http://www.naflute.com/moaning2007.html

Check the website and blog often this week as I'll post more pictures as I receive them. If you have some pictures to be featured, please send them my way: mike DOT oitzman AT gmail DOT com

Native American Music Awards Voting now open

Don't forget that voting is now open for the Ninth Annual Native American Music Awards. The show is taking place on Saturday, October 6th, 2007 at the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel in Niagara Falls, NY. Special guests at this years event include Native American flute players: Mary Youngblood, Michael Searching Bear and Jeff Ball.

On the site you can listen to clips of music which have been nominated for awards. Or you can click here to popup the standalone music player in your browser

Of course our very own Mary Youngblood has been nominated this year for Artist of the Year and Record of the Year with "Dance with the Wind". Dance with the Wind is Mary's best work to date and I think that it should easily take Record of the Year awards. Mary continues to push herself to new places and this record illustrates her musical ability, both as a composer and a musician.

For flutist of the year I would highly recommend Evren Ozan or Robert Tree Cody.

For Best New Age Recording I would recommend either “Ananeah” Arvel Bird, William Eaton, Mary Redhouse, Will Clipman or “Heart of the Wind” Robert Tree Cody & Will Clipman

And for Best Male Vocalist and/or Best Pop Recording, you have to listen to Michael Jacobs. I just love his songwriting and composition.

To vote, goto the NAMMY Voting Site you don't need to log-in, you can simply vote, but only once on any given computer. Once you complete the voting for a category, you'll be able to see the results immediately.

San Francisco Free Folk Festival

I know that many of you enjoy music of all types. I learned that there is an interesting event this weekend in San Francisco. It's dedicated to folk music. There will be workshops, concerts and the like all day Saturday and Sunday.

Here's the link: http://www.sffolkfest.org/2007/index.html

What: San Francisco Free Folk Festival
When: Sat 6/16 - Sun 6/17/2007
Cost: Free