Ash Dargan in Concert Sunday and Monday

Don't forget that Ash Dargan is in concert in Northern California tonight and tomorrow.

Tonight (Sunday) Ash is appearing in Napa. He's also presenting a beginners didj workshop this afternoon, and there's still room for more! For details, check out the NCFC calendar.

Monday night, Ash is appearing in Marin at the Rock Morton theater.

Beginning Native American Flute Class, Tuesdays, Palo Alto

Just a reminder that I continue to teach a beginning Native American Flute Class on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of the month in Palo Alto, from 5:30 PM - 7 PM. Cost is $15 for drop in or $60 for a series of 6 classes.

We are nearing the end of the first 6 week session, and I haven't determined if we're going to reset the class back to the beginning or continue to grow the current students. I'll be asking students for their opinion on this at tomorrow evenings class. Regardless, anyone is invited to drop in for an evening.

Didj Workshop with Ash Dargan

I really want to encourage you to attend the didj workshop with Ash Dargan, coming up next Sunday afternoon. Especially if you have never played the didj before.

I first discovered the didj 2 years before I discovered the Native American flute. I made my first several didj's out of plastic PVC pipe, which is an affordable way to play. But once I discovered the flute, i found myself playing the didj less and less. That is until earlier this year, when I decided to purchase a brand new Ben Hicks didj from the Didjeridoo Store and I took a private lesson with Ash during the INAFA convention. WOW! In that one hour, Ash provided me with some tips and tricks for circular breathing and I am now 'over the edge' with my circular breathing. I have been performing on didj for one song with my Taiko Drumming group since two weeks after I returned from the INAFA convention in August, and I have played it at 4 performances since then.

So the bottom line is this: if you have the time and the interest, I highly encourage you to check out this workshop with Ash, it's a rare opportunity to learn from a true aboriginal and highly skilled and personable teacher.

For more information check out the NCFC Calendar.

Ash Dargan in Concert

There are two opportunities to see Ash Dargan in concert this coming week. This is Ash's first apprearance in Northern California since his appearance at the INAFA convention. Ash is an aboriginal didj player from Australian and he is an incredible showman and story teller. I think that Ash is one of the best story tellers that I heard in concert. He mixes his stories with didj playing.

The events on October 22 are hosting by the Valley Clan of the NCFC. If you can only make one of the two events, I highly encourage you to attend the Napa event, and support the Valley Clan!!

SUNDAY, October 22
Northern California Flute Circle (NCFC)
DIDGERIDOO/Ethnic, $50
DIdj WORKSHOP 2 - 4 p.m.
NCFC Clan c/o 220 Jefferson, Napa, CA 94559
Info & Registration at PH: 707-253-1325, or online: www.naflute.com

SUNDAY, October 22
Northern California Flute Circle (NCFC) presents: STORIES OF WIND, a live concert performance
7:30 p.m.Napa Valley Center for Spiritual Living
1249 Coombs,Napa, CA 94559
--Proceeds/Auction help to benefit "River School Music Program"
--For Concert tickets- PH: 707-253-1325, or send $25 check payable to:
"NCFC" c/o 220 Jefferson, Napa, CA 92559
online: www.naflute.com

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA:
Monday, October 23rd
San Francisco, Mill Valley The Rock Morton Theater
STORIES OF WIND CONCERT, "A LIVE MULTI-MEDIA PERFORMANCE"
8:00pm
142 Throckmorton Ave
Mill Valley, CA
Box Office:
Tue-Sat, 1-6pm
PH: 415-383-9600 or
Online at: www.throckmortontheater.com

Mary Youngblood in Concert, Oct 20th

Just a reminder that Mary Youngblood will be in concert on Friday Night, October 2oth, 8 PM in the First-Nations Women show. This event features: Rita Coolidge, Mary Youngblood, & Joanne Shenandoah. The show is at the Mondava Center at UC Davis, it's only a hour and half drive from the south bay. For more info and to order tickets follow this link: http://www.mondavicenter.com/events/event.cfm?event_id=281

Also, I hear that Dan Dicicco (Loping Wolf Clan) has a few extra tickets. So if you'd like to sit with some other fluties, contact Dan: flutecircle@lopingwolf.com

What Happens to the planets if Humans dissappeared?

Interesting article on TreeHugger about how long it'll take to erase the impact of humans on the planet if we all disappeared tomorrow.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/doom_1.php

Ash Dargan Concert in Napa

We are less than two weeks away from hosting Ash Dargan in concert in Napa! This event is sponsored by the Northern California Flute Circle and hosted by the NCFC Valley Clan.

Ash Dargan played at the 2006 INAFA convention, and when he said he was interested in coming back to Northern California, we wanted to setup an event for him. If you've ever wanted to learn to play the Didjeridoo, this is your chance! Ash is teaching a an afternoon workshop in Napa on Sunday October 22nd, from 2-4PM. Cost is $25. If you've never played before, loaner didj's will be available at the workshop.

For more info on the workshop contact Brian Revheim at 707-253-1325.

In the evening of Sunday, October 22nd, Ash will be presenting his "Stories of the Wind" program at the Napa Valley Center for Spiritual Living, in Napa. If you missed Ash at the INAFA convention (or even if you had the chance to see him) this is your chance to hear one of the best (in my opinion) Aboriginal story tellers. Ash will have you enthralled, laughing and amazed as he tells stories from the outback. It's an evening not to be missed.

The concert starts at 7:30 PM, cost is $25 per ticket. A portion of the profits will go to the River School Music program.

This event is a fundraising event to buy music equipment for the River School Music Program. We will be having an auction during the event, and all proceeds from the auction will go to the school.

For more information here's a link with complete details: http://www.naflute.com/Concert-flyer-pspcolorNapa2.jpg

Tuvan Thout Singing in Berkeley

Don't miss this chance to see the Tuvan Throut singing group Huun Huur Tu in concert in Berkeley.

Website: http://www.huunhuurtu.com

Where: Ashkenaz, Berkeley, CA http://www.ashkenaz.com/html/list_next.php#1232

When: October 10th, 7:30 PM

Tickets: $15

Interesting idea to protect your flutes while traveling

I found this idea online, and thought that I might be an interesting way to protect your flutes during air travel. The article basically presents the idea that the TSA has to lock any baggage which includes a firearm while it's enroute. AND they provide extra tracking to ensure that the baggage arrives!! Most interesting is the fact that a starter pistol (the kind used to start track meets, are also considered firearms. For those of you opposed to owning weapons, (or even for those of you who do own weapons, but don't want to bring them along) this might be a viable alternative.

So the next time that you have to travel via air to a flute event, and you have to check your flute bag, you might consider this idea. Here's the link for the article.

Fall 2006 Voice of the Circle Submission Deadline

We need to publish the Fall "Voice of the Circle" newsletter for the Northern California Flute Circle in mid-October. The submission deadline for any news or event information for events happening Oct through Dec is: October 6th (a week from Friday).

Send any news to: ncfc AT naflute DOT com

Back in the Blog Saddle

I apologize for the long period of quiet here on the blog. I just realized that it's been almost two weeks since my last post. BUT - I am back at it. There is some information about upcoming events which I want to tell you about, so look forward to several posts in the coming week.

I also have received photo discs from several folks with INAFA pictures. I want to post some of my favorites from these collections as INAFA memories.

Ash Dargan back in the Bay Area

Just a heads up that Ash Dargan returns to the Bay Area on Monday night October 23rd for a concert in Marin. More details will be posted as they become available., but save the evening in your calendar!

We're also actively working to schedule a Didge workshop and event with the NCFC on Sunday night, October 22nd.

New Book

I received an announcement for this book. I have not read it, but it looks interesting. Here's the details:

CHILDREN LEFT BEHIND
The Dark Legacy of Indian Mission Boarding Schools By Tim Giago
Illustrations by Denise Giago
1574160869
17 black-and-white illustrations, 18 historic photos, 176 pages, 6 x 9, $14.95
Order on line


“Children Left Behind: The Dark Legacy of Indian Mission Boarding Schools is a must read. Tim Giago, who spent his childhood at one of these schools, examines the unholy alliance between church and state that tried to destroy the culture and spirituality of generations of Indian children. Provocative, riveting, chilling, persuasive, and original, this book leaves the reader overwhelmed. Describing almost inexpressible cruelties and triumphs, Giago pulls us into the boarding school experience. He challenges Indian Country to co-exist with the truth of what actually happened at these schools. Only then can we heal and avoid acquiescence to a system that has crushed so many souls. The book is a triumph, and a major event in Indian education.” (Ryan Wilson, Oglala Lakota, President, National Indian Education Association)

Beginning Native American Flute class tomorrow night

Tomorrow evening is the second class of my new Beginning Native American Flute class series.
If you missed the first evening, you are still invited to drop in on any given class. For more details, check here: http://www.naflute.com/MIkeclass2.html

First Nations Women Concert Tickets on sale now

Just a reminder that Mary Youngblood will be in concert with Rita Coolidge and Joanne Shenandoah on October 20th at the Mondavi Center at UC Davis.

For more information or to order tickets go here: http://www.mondavicenter.com/events/event.cfm?event_id=281

Friday Fun

While I was researching Ash Dargan's record label, I found a very cool, online music creation tool that let's you create various didj sounds through your computer. There is no direct link (that I can find) but here's how to get to this didj sound generator:

Here's the link for Indigenous Australia: http://www.indig.com/

Click on "Cool Stuff" link from the navigation bar at the top of the website

Then, click "Virtual Corroboree"

Play around with the various button and have fun!! See if you can jam along with the flute.

NAF Playing TIp #26: Jamming with the Blues

If you love the blues and and you love the Native American Flute, then this weeks playing tip is for you. Even if you've never played the blues, I hope that you find this weeks tip a fun challenge to expand your playing skills.

The good news is that the minor blues scale simply adds one more note to the basic pentatonic minor scale. This is the basic scale found on most modern Native American Flutes. The scale shown in the illustration below is the basic blues scale. The note in the middle of the illustration is the additional note which turns the basic pentatonic minor scale into the 'blues scale'.

Another great link for this scale is on Flutetree.

What is the 'blues scale' you might ask? Well if you've ever heard any blues music or even some modern rock or pop music, it's likely that you've heard the blues scale. It's simply the primary collection of notes used to create the melody lines in a blues song. The basic idea is that once you know this scale, you can mix these notes in any order and they'll all sound good together, and they'll sound like the blues.

Now if you are unfamiliar with basic blues progression, I found some MP3 music tracks online that you can download and play to hear the guitar, bass guitar and drums playing several blues progressions. Listen to these tracks a couple of times and then use the blues scale to try to play along with the backing instruments.Here are the MP3 files which you can download and play in as backing tracks:

Use an Em or Am flute for this song: Blues Shuffle in Em

Use an Am or an Em flute for this song: Funky Blues in Am

Use a Gm flute for this song: Jazzy Blues in Gm

To view the webpage and related music for these tracks follow this link.

It gets even more fun if you can find a guitarist or piano player who can play some basic blues. If the other musician can tell what fundamental chord progression they are playing in, you should be able to select an appropriate flute. Or conversely, if you have a Gm flute, then ask the musicians to play a blues riff in Gm.

Experiment and have fun with this. Please post a comment if you found this fun, or if you happen to find other, similar free blues tracks on the internet.

This Playing Tip is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License

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Memories of Dr Richard Payne

One of my favorite workshops/sessions at INAFA 2006 was the panel discussion about Dr Richard Payne and his flute collection. The panel for this workshop included the following folks (L to R in the first picture):

• Michael Graham Allen (Coyote Oldman)
• Peter Phippen
• Julia Gatliff
• Robert Gatliff (Flute Tree)
• Jan Rice
• Jeff Calavan (Oregon Flute Store)

The awesome element to this workshop was that these 6 folks had a personal relationship with Dr. Richard Payne and they recounted some of their favorite memories about Doc Payne for those of us who didn't get the chance to met him while he was alive. If you're not familiar with Doc Payne and his contribution to the preservation of the Native American style flute, then I highly recommend that you get a copy of either "Songkeepers" or the "Toubat" video. The songkeepers video is a standard part of all of my Beginners Classes. Doc Payne had the most extensive collection of World flutes, including the largest collection of Native American style flutes. When he passed away, his collection was sold at auction and this is where our story starts:

Michael Graham Allen recounted his memories of Doc Payne and the painstaking measurements of which he took of some of Doc's historical flutes. Michael had a replica of the "Pima flute" in Doc's collection and he pulled it out to show the audience. It was then that our very own Frankie Sierra pulled out the orignal Pima flute which Frankie had purchased at the auction. Here's a picture of Michael playing the replica Pima flute:

Peter Phippen then got up and recounted his first meeting with Doc Payne and the relationship which he had with Doc over the following years. Peter told stories of Doc challenging Peter to play the different flutes in his collection and the gifting of a Anasazi flute from Doc to Peter. Peter was clearly emotional about remembering and retelling these stories, but we were all tounched by them.

Julia and Robert Gatliff then talked about some of their experiences at Doc's house. They were fortunate to live in the same town as Doc Payne, so they had one of the closest relationships to Doc. They told about the estate sale and how Robert rescued an important flute from the "pity pile" of inexpensive flutes. They were also present at the flute auction, and talked about how this brought closure for them on Doc's passing.

Finally, Jeff Calavan recounted his story of meeting Doc Payne for the first time and Jeff's filming of the Toubat video, which is a story of Doc life. Jeff says that a DVD version is coming out some with additional footage not on the original video.

Everyone recounted the colorful personality which was Doc Payne, his flutes and his influence on the Native American Flute today.

I hope that these folks and others will continue to have this panel discussion about Doc Payne at every future INAFA event. Doc's flutes are all over the world now, hopefully being played and passed around. I hope that we get to see many of them in the future.

REMINDER: Mary Youngblood in Concert this Friday

Mary Youngblood and Sisters of the Earth, will present a concert this Friday evening, Aug 18th in Roseville, CA. Sisters of the Earth is Mary's 'all female' band.

Here are the details:

7-8:30PM
Timber Creek Ballroom
7050 Del Webb Blvd.
Roseville, CA
Contact- Dodie Robeck
916-774-3877

It's posted on Mary's Website, the NCFC website and the Loping Wolf Website.

REMINDER: Beginner Class Starts tomorrow

Just a reminder that my beginner class in Palo Alto starts tomorrow evening, Tuesday August 15th. It's a drop-in class, so come when you can. Class starts promptly at 5:30 PM. For more details: http://www.naflute.com/MIkeclass2.html