Native American Flute Portal LIVE

I just got word that the Flute Portal, created by Jeff Ball and our very own Geoffrey Ellis is now online and open. Be sure to check out the flute raffle, and the free MP3 downloads. This is something that Jeff and Geoffrey have been working on since the INAFA convention and I know that it's taken a lot of work to get it up. I'd like to congratulate them for bringing this together.

If you have a flute circle, you can setup and manage your own flute circle page on the flute portal, making this an excellent way to market your flute circle and let folks find you.

I'll be adding an online Native American Flute Class area soon! So stay tuned...

Mary Youngblood concert on Dec 9th, Grass Valley

News is finally up about Mary Youngblood's concert in Grass Valley. Her last concert in Grass Valley sold out, so make sure that you get tickets early. We'll be sure to have some kind of get together before hand for dinner for NCFC members.

What: Mary Youngblood and Sisters of the Earth

When: Dec 9th, 8PM

Cost: $20

Where: The Center for the Arts, Grass Valley

Native American Flute Class Tuesday, Palo Alto

Just a reminder that there will be a Native American Flute Class this week on Tuesday 11/7 in Palo Alto, 5:30-7PM. Cost $15. For more information check out the NCFC website: http://www.naflute.com/MIkeclass2.html



Beginners are welcome! The topic this week is duets, and playing with others. I always bring some flutes for sale, currently I have flutes available from Stephen DeRuby and John Stillwell.

Also, since it's the holiday season, I have a few Kokopelli Christmas songbooks available for sale.




Note that there will NOT be class on 11/21 since it's Thanskgiving week and I'll be out of town. Normal class routine will resume in December.

31st Annual American Indian Film Festival

Producer: American Indian Film Institute

America's oldest showcase for American Indian films

When: Th/F/S, 11/9-11/11 2006, 7:30 PM
Where: Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco

Tickets range in price from $10-$15.

Advance tickets available by calling the American Indian Film Institute (415-554-0525). Tickets available at the door one hour prior to showtime.

Hearst hosts Native American Heritage events

http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2006/11/02_american%20indian.shtml

By Kathleen Maclay, Media Relations 02 November 2006

BERKELEY - The University of California, Berkeley's Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology will host a series of free lectures, tours, a film and performances during November to celebrate American Indian Heritage Month.
The lecture series will feature public talks by museum curators and scholars who utilize the museum's Native American collections. They will highlight the objects' immense value in teaching and research.
The Hearst museum is famous worldwide for its collection of California Indian artifacts and has some 300,000 catalogued items that range in size from full-sized tule reed canoes to miniature Pomo baskets. Some of these items are in a permanent exhibition called the Native Californian Cultures Gallery that opened at the museum in 2002.

The November programs will take place at the museum, which is located on campus near the intersection of Bancroft Way and College Avenue.

"The key thing is that the museum is really striving to foster good relations with the tribes and also wants the public to benefit from these outreach programs," said Kent Lightfoot, acting director of the museum and a UC Berkeley professor of archaeology.

On Thursday, Nov. 9, Parrish will discuss and narrate "Pomo Shaman," a documentary about his late mother, Essie Parrish, a Kashaya Pomo healer. The film was produced by Samuel Barrett, who earned the first Ph.D. in anthropology at UC Berkeley in 1908. Later in his life, Barrett worked on the American Indian Films Project, which was funded by the National Science Foundation. "Pomo Shaman," part of that project, will be shown at 7 p.m.

How museums represent native people will be the focus of a 7 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 16, presentation by Amy Lonetree, an assistant professor of anthropology at Portland State University and a 2004-2006 UC Berkeley Chancellor's Post-Doctoral Fellow. Lonetree is a member of the Ho-Chunk tribe.

"Indigenizing the Museum" will be the topic of a 7 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 30, lecture by Majel Boxer, a UC Berkeley doctoral candidate in ethnic studies. Boxer belongs to the Sisseton/Wahpeton Dakota tribe.

The Hearst Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday. For more information, call (510)643-7649 or visit the museum's Web site

StoryCorps - recording stories of America

This post is completely unrelated to Native American Flute or music for that matter, but I think that it's pretty cool, so I wanted to let you all know about it...

I was in NYC on business several weeks ago and I had the chance to visit the WTC site. (I am still working on a post about my experience there). At the WTC site there a perminate StoryCorps booth. I was really intrigued by the mission of StoryCorps to capture stories about everyday people, record them and archive them. In reality this is a national oral history project. This idea has become especially important to me as my parents are aging and I only have a few 'great' aunts and uncles left and my wife's grandmother is still going strong in her 80's.

StoryCorps provides a Do It Yourself guide, which includes a sample interview guide, as well as the opportunity to sponsor an outpost in your community or a Door-to-door project in your workplace or community.

Peter Kater in Concert in San Jose, Dec 10

Just a note that Peter Kater will be in concert in San Jose at the Center for Spirtual Living on Sunday, December 10th. Peter Kater has become famous in the Native American flute world for his collaboration with R. Carlos Nakai over many CD's, but as a solo pianist Peter Kater has also been responsible for shaping the new age music market.

What: Peter Kater

Where: Center for Spiritual Living, San Jose, CA

When: Sunday, December 10th, 1:30PM-3PM, Sanctuary

Tonbak & Daf Classes in the bay area!

Private weekly Persian Percussion (Tonbak+Daf) classes will be beginning next week in the South Bay (Santa Clara).

Lessons are $20 per session\hr. Taught by Shirzad Sharif using the Ostad Bahman Rajabi school of Tonbak techniques and thought....

eMail shirzad AT shirzadsharif DOT com to RSVP.

Pictures from Taiko Camp 2006 posted

I just posted some pictures from Taiko Camp 2006, hosted by Grass Valley Taiko Dojo (where I am a member). This event took place on the weekend of Sept 22-24, 2006 and featured instruction from Grandmaster Seiichi Tanaka (San Francisco Taiko Dojo), Kenny Endo, Tiffany Tamaribuchi, Nosuke Akiyama, Russel Baba & Jeanne Mercer. It was a great weekend, full of instruction and great music. I look forward to 2008, when Grass Valley Taiko will again host the Taiko Camp for the 40th anniversary of Taiko in North America.

Here's the link to the web album: http://picasaweb.google.com/mike.oitzman

Flute Sale at Stellar Flutes!!!

I just got a message from Tom Stellar that they are planning a one day sale early new month (November). If you're not familiar with Stellar Flutes, then you're missing out on one of the premier flute makers. This may be a chance to own a Stellar flute at significant savings. Here's the contents of the message:

"Hello Flute Lovers,
In early November Stellar Flutes is having a one day super sale. Selected Standard and Drone flutes will be offered at significant savings. Sale flutes will be pictured on our website, with pictures uploaded the morning of the sale. To spice things up we are raffling a flute. Each flute purchase equals one raffle ticket. All tickets will be put into a hat and at the end of the sale and one name will be drawn.

Because savings will be substantial we will not be accepting Kokopelli Bucks. We also won’t reserve or set aside flutes in advance of the sale. Everyone will be on equal footing the morning of the sale. If you would like to be notified of this upcoming event please email us at support@stellarflutes.com and we will add your name to our contact list. In about a week the date and time of the sale will be announced on our website www.stellarflutes.com and via email for those who wish to be contacted. We hope to hear from you.

Mary Youngblood in Concert Nov 11th

Mary Youngblood will be one of the featured performers of the 2006 Sacremento State Music Departments Festival of New American Music.

I read the article in the Sacramento Bee's Ticket's + section this morning. This years festival takes place from Nov 2nd through the 12th at various locations on the Sacramento State campus. It's free, except for the concert on the 12th, which means this is one awesome opportunity to see Mary Youngblood free!!

What: Mary Youngblood in concert
Where: Cal State Sacramento
When: 3 PM, November 11th
Tickets: Free
Information: 916.278.5155
Web: http://www.csus.edu/music/fenam/index.htm

No Native American Flute Class this week...

October 31st will be the 5th Tuesday of the month, and we're only holding the classes on the first and third Tuesdays of the month. So there will not be a class this week.

Class will resume next week on Tuesday Nov 7th, 5:30 PM - 7 PM, followed by the Gentle Jam at Maxi's house in Palo Alto. For directions, check out the NCFC calendar.

News from Will Clipman

I just heard from Will Clipman that he released seven new records this last year and that these records h no fewer than ten entries on this year's GRAMMY Nominating Ballot Entry List:

Record of the Year
Red Painted Faces: Ananeah
Big Sky Sunrise: Gentle Thunder with Will Clipman & AmoChip Dabney

Album of the Year
Ananeah: Ananeah
Beyond Words: Gentle Thunder with Will Clipman & AmoChip Dabney

Best New Artist
Ananeah
Gentle Thunder

Best New Age Album
Ananeah: Ananeah
Beyond Words: Gentle Thunder with Will Clipman & AmoChip Dabney

Best Native American Music Album
Heart of the Wind: Robert Tree Cody & Will Clipman
My Heart & Soul: Randy Wood & Will Clipman

More information about the GRAMMY Nominating process, or about joining NARAS, can be found at http://www.grammy.com/.

Playing From the Heart

Prop's to Scott August for an excellent series of posts on his website about playing from the heart. Scott has put together a class which he just presented at the Zion Flute Festival. The posts include content from his class. To check it out, follow these links:

Playing from the Heart Part 1
Playing from the Heart Part 2

While you're there, be sure to check out Scott's music, he's one of the best composers (still) living on the planet (in my honest opinion)...

Also, be sure to read Scott's Blog.

Knot resource

This post is completely unmusical related, but it's totaly awesome resource for those of you who need to tie a knot. The website is called Animated Knots, and it shows simple video animations of how to tie different types of knots.

International Taiko Festival, Nov 18, 2006

I wanted to get the word out about an awesome upcoming Taiko event in the bay area. If you see only one live show this year, this has got to be it. You will not be disappointed by this event, featuring some of the best taiko performances on the west coast.

Here are pictures from the 2003 event.

International Taiko Festival
When: Saturday November 18, 2006 7:00pm
Where: Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley

Featuring

Grand Master Seiichi Tanaka & the San Francisco Taiko Dojo
Sacramento Taiko Dan

Special Guests:

• Pak Poe Traditional Korean Music


• Koji Nakamura Shumei Taiko
  with Akemi Iwase & James Hoskins

Special Guests from Japan

• Kiyonari Tosha Tsuzumi Master


• Hiro Asanuma Hachijo Taiko

Tickets
$46.00, $38.00 & 32.00
Discounts available
Cal Performances 510-642-9988 http://www.calperfs.berkeley.edu/

Elysium Calling in Concert this weekend

Another great opportunity to hear some great music this weekend, if you happen to be close to Sonora, then check our good friends Garth and Kenneth of Elysium Calling in concert:

Come on out this Friday night for a great acoustic set of music with Elysium Calling and the guest guitarist Vincent Zorn of Last Caravan. GREAT FOOD....GREAT MUSIC!! Meet you at the Old Stan in downtown Sonora at 7:00pm

For more detail check out the Elysium Calling Website.

Also, Elysium Calling is hosting Last Caravan on Saturday night:

Last Caravan plays "Original American Gypsy Music" which is a rockin blend of Flamenco, Jazz, Middle Eastern, Soul, and Reggae music....but mostly it just makes you want to get out there and shakeyour groove thing!!

For all you Alma Melodiosa fans out there, Nicholas Lefler will be cuttin' it up with us on percussion. Sky Kaufman the premier electric guitar player of Tuolumne County will also be joining us...we go way back!!

**Performing Saturday October 28th!!!! at the Water Wheel Saloon at8:30 pm

**Located in Columbia at 22265 Parrots Ferry Rd (used to be the Gold Mine Winery)

LAST CARAVAN is BACK!!!!
Belly Dancers in costume are invited in free of charge!!
Costumes are welcome!!
DONT MISS THE LAST CARAVAN EXPERIENCE!!!!!!!

Upcoming Bay Clan Flute Circle

There is also a flute circle happening in the Bay Area this weekend:

EVENT: October Bay Clan Flute Circleand Halloween Flute Costume Parade
DATE: Sunday, October 29th, 2006
TIME: 3 to 5 pm
LOCATION: San Jose (Please contact Frankie Sierra for details)
HOSTS: Martin Belef and Cheryl Valdin
ORGANIZER: Frankie Sierra 1-408-242-6464, f dot sierra at comcast dot net

SCHEDULE:
3:00 PM: Flute costume showcase and open mic.
4:00 PM: BBQ, or Potluck if rainy, plus more fluting

NEW FOR THIS MEETING:
1. Flute costume showcase (be creative and dressup a flute with a favorite theme of yours).Got a favorite tune? Dress up your flute with the theme of that tune! Or do you have a favorite show, or character? Then this is a good opportunity to learn a new tune to play with your flute in costume.

WHAT TO BRING: At least one flute in costume (no need for player to dress up unless you really want to). Plan to bring some side dish for the BBQ, if it looks like it may rain the we switch to Potluck instead and bring some dish to share.

THINGS TO TALK ABOUT:
Holiday season approaching. Last year we performed some caroling at the Children's hospital. It is time to start thinking asimilar activity for this year.

DIRECTIONS:
Contact Frankie for directions.

Upcoming Loping Wolf Drum and Flute Circle

Just got the info on the upcoming Drum and Flute Circles from Dan DiCicco:

Once again, the combined Drum and Flute Circles will be October 29 at The Bear River Campground just west of Colfax California, Planet Earth, 11:00 AM until the cows come home.

BRING -

"Everything but the kitchen sink", and Drums, Flutes, Rattles, Stories, drinks (stay sober), blankets for the ground, folding tables, chairs and FOOD to share (Actually, almost EVERYTHING ends up being shared....)

Also, bring EVERYBODY you can muster - Elders, Stan Padilla, Mary Youngblood, Aunts, Uncles, Parents, Kids, ANYBODY! Feel free to pass this information on to all beings....

We will have some flutes you can use (or buy) and some T-shirts you can buy. (As of "press time", it does not look like JP Gomez's 2nd order of "A" flutes will be here, but we can always "put it out there", and it just may happen. One of our stories may include how we "put it out there" last Saturday, with startling results....)

WEATHER ? The campground is outside, so dress appropriately. (If the weather is really rotten, there are these GREAT concrete toilet rooms....)

DIRECTIONS -
[ ] From Auburn CA, take I-80 East toward Colfax about 14 miles.
[ ] Take the CANYON WAY exit - EXIT 133. (If you hit Colfax proper and the Hwy 174 turnoff, you went too far.)
[ ] Turn LEFT onto CANYON WAY, and go less than .1 mile to "ILLINOISTOWN ROAD"? (That's what Mapquest says, but it's the road that turns left up back over the freeway.)
[ ] On the other side of the freeway, turn LEFT onto PLACER HILLS ROAD (or S. Auburn Street?)
[ ] Keep going PAST the Westbound Freeway o nramp, (do NOT take it, unless you want to go back to Auburn) and continue on along a slightly winding road for a little over a half mile and cross under the railroad tracks through a ridiculously narrow and short tunnel.
[ ] Just through the sorry excuse for a tunnel, turn LEFT to stay on PLACER HILLS ROAD and go about .7 mile.
[ ] You will come along to parallel the railroad tracks on your left, and a sign that says "Bear River Campground" that points down PLUMTREE ROAD. If you hit Cedar Valley Road or Mount Hood Road while you are still on Placer Hills Road, you went too far.
[ ] OK, traveling down Plumtree Road and/or Campground Road, after about 1.3 miles, you will come to the picnic grounds on your left. We will be another .3 mile at the camping part, also on your left. LOOK FOR THE LOPING WOLF BANNER.

If you get lost, call Dan on his cell (see below). He will not know where you are, but you will be able to hear us....

Now, you can Google a map for yourself, or go to Mapquest for a STUPID list of everything BUT Bear River Campground near Colfax CA. Dan had to settle for "Bear River Canal: Colfax CA US, which will get you very very near the campground.

Let Dan & Sherree know if you want a ride, and they will try to hook you up with somebody. Contact: -Dan & Sheree DiCicco of Loping Wolf Clan
(530) 613-4197 cell
www.lopingwolf.com

Ash Dargan in Concert in Marin TONIGHT

Just a reminder:

MILL VALLEY in Marin County, nearby SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA:
Monday, October 23rd
San Francisco,
Mill Valley
The Rock Morton Theater
STORIES OF WIND CONCERT, "A LIVE MULTI-MEDIA PERFORMANCE"
8:00p.m., tickets available at the door arrive 45 minutes BEFORE!!!
142 Throckmorton Ave Mill Valley, CA
Box Office: Tue-Sat, 1-6pm
PH: 415-383-9600 or
Online at: www.142throckmortontheater.com

"...a superb blend of two of the worlds oldest wind instruments, the Native American flute, and the Australian didgeridoo... Ash is a bridge between the entire world music sound of this century and what is happening here in Indigenous Australia. Ash as a composer has an ear for what we all want to hear."-- Gavin Jones, Editor of Deadly Vibe. Australia's national indigenous magazine

ASH DARGAN, an Australian indigenous recording artist world renowned for his mastery on the Didgeridoo has been pushing the boundaries of contemporary world music for the last eight years. His distinct blend of Australian indigenous and contemporary world music captures the essence of one of the oldest cultures on earth and with it transcends the boundaries of time. His music has been described as the soul of the Australian Dreamtime landscape with a timeless quality reflecting a deep connection and reverence for the spiritual wisdom of his ancestry.A family member of the Larrakia Nation, the traditional land owners of Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia, Ash is an ambassador of his culture through his music, storytelling and live performances. Ash was classically trained in music from the age of eight on trumpet and came back to his cultural roots at the age of twenty two. His grandmother and great uncle, both traditional elders of the Larrakia people were instrumental in his musical adoption of the Didgeridoo and its deeper cultural significance. Through them he came to know of the Didgeridoo's unlimited potential for the expression of rhythm and its ability to represent the power of the natural and spiritual worlds. The vocal harmonies used in traditional corroboree's (ceremonies) and the natural voice of Australia's native song birds have also had a great influence on his musical compositions.
For Bookings Events
Nancy Hansen Zuschlag
ASH DARGAN EVENTS
Green Triangle International
Aurora, CO 80013 USA
303.766.0184 Fax: 303.699.1538, #223
GTI: Partnering Communities and Cultures
nhzgreentri@hotmail.com
www.ashdargan.com