clayross.com

February 18th to 28th

Guys, I’ve got to sum this up in one shot or I’ll never catch up. I just finished a play by play of the whole tour and that’s pretty much what I’ve been up to since I got home. Actually it’s great being back. It’s great to see Marie, Tyler, and to go hear music in the city. This week I’ve played with RJ Miller and Thomas Bramerie at BOOM. I did a gig with Eliano Braz Brazilian Band. Agora was reunited at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola. I was back at MOTO. I was with Ferenc Nemeth and Tal Ronen at BOOM. I had a fun session with Tim Keiper and Brian Marsalla. I’ve been out to hear Ben Monder, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Jim Black, Andrew D’Angelo, Chris Speed, John Ellis, Alan Ferber, Todd Sickafoose, Cyro Baptista, Greg Cohen, Shanir Blumenkranz, and Erik Freidlander. It’s great to be back in NYC!!! I’m working on tours down south with BTD and Ruby Rosa in the spring. Lots to look forward too.

February 17th

Today we were up at 4:30am and on an airplane by 7am. Looking back, the trip seemed to have happened so fast. We made many friends and connected through music. There are so many people that worked hard to make this tour seamless and effective. Although there are many that we did not even meet, I can say the Public Affairs Officers and Cultural Specialists truly made our job easy. Thank you Katherina, Sevil, Damaris, Hakan, Vassilis, Vassilis, Chad, Borka, Jeanne, Wendy, Larry, and Afrodita!!! I hope to see you all again soon.

February 16th

Today was free in Pristina. I slept late and took a walk around town to see some sights. Here is the Hotel Victory.

Because of his role in the Nato intervention of 1998, Bill Clinton is honored here as a hero. I spent some time walking down Bill Clinton Blvd.

I stumbled on a nice looking music store and ended up with yet another instrument. This time I bought the Albanian ciftile, a 2 stringed, fretted instrument with a slightly non-western tuning. It sounds amazing and I can’t wait to use it in NYC. I also saw a huge poster of some guys I know. The State Department knows how to promote a concert!

At 1pm I met with Nate, Scott, and Afrodita to take a tour out to the country side. The drive was beautiful.

In no time we arrived at our destination. We had asked to see some of the battle zones from the recent conflict. Afrodita took us to the native village of a founding member of the KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army). This army was formed to fight against the oppression of the Serbian forces under the leadership of Milosovich.
Serbian forces identified these homes as the residence of KLA members. They decended on the buildings with full military power, killing everyone in sight. This was the massacre that prompted NATO intervention. Now the site is a preserved memorial.

It was a shocking site.

We were all pretty shaken up after hearing the stories and witnessing the images. It’s hard for me to accept such realities in life. The realities of war, and the potential for human beings to destroy one another. I hope I never have live such hardships.
An eery silence had fallen on our group. It seemed the only thing to do was sing a verse from Monty Pythons: Life of Brian. “Always look on the bright side of life.”
Back in Pristina we were invited to one last amazing dinner. Tomorrow we catch a plane back home. Tonight we have to say goodbye to Larry, Afrodita, and Wendy. Hopefully we will see them all again soon.

February 15th

This morning we did a Workshop/Master class with professional Jazz musicians and Professors at the Faculty of Music.

There were great musicians in the room and we listened to them play some jazz standards. We offered constructive criticisms and thoughts on their performances.

The class was a lot of fun. At the end they treated us to a piece of albanian folk music in a jazz style.
Then, we took a car 1hr out of town to Prizren where we enjoyed a short walk around the old town. Prizren is a very picturesque old city in Kosovo.

We met at the hall for a quick sound check and were ready for our 5pm concert.

We had a great turnout for so early in the day and again we were greeted by a lot of really excited teens who wanted autographs after the show.

It was sad knowing that this would be our last show of the tour, but it was a great ending. We were very well recieved and enjoyed loads of praise.
After the concert we enjoyed a bite to eat with Wendy and Afrodita. Then we made a quick appearance at a local jazz jam session where we were recieved with honors. We played a couple of funky numbers and made our exit. It was another amazing evening of music.

February 14th

Happy Valentines Day. Today we were up early to do a workshop with High School Students in Gracanica. This is significant because we are reaching out to the minority Serbian community still in Kosovo. The remaining Serbians are often suffering the same descrimination that existed towards the Albanins only years before. Our workshop was a huge success. Although the room was without heat and very cold, it was obvious that we connected with the students.

We played some music for them, and again asked them to participate. At the end of the program we had them teach us a tradtional serbian folk song in 7/8.

After the workshop we went straight to the venue to load in and sound check. The sound check took a particularly long time today, but in the end everything worked out fine. The hall is a beautiful large theatre in the round, decorated with huge red curtains. Just outside was another reminder of the recent conflict. A blown out old serbian military building.

The performance hosted a large audience and the entire event was being filmed for a regional television program.

It was an amazing room to perform in and a great audience. We invited a local Sax player to perform two songs. Arian did a great job on our arrangment of “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise.”

After the show we went out to eat with Larry and other PAO’s and ate an assortment of great local cuisine.

February 13th

We left Skopje at 9am this morning and took a car to Pristina Kosovo. There we checked into the hotel victory. The hotel was kind of funny, only because it had a small lady liberty on the roof. Otherwise, the Victory was great. After meeting Wendy and Afrodita, our local contacts, I had a little time to myself to walk around.

Kosovo is a pretty intense place, if only for the constant reminders of the recent bloodshed. Here is a fence that has pictures of still missing Albanians who were forced to leave Kosovo by the Serbian forces in the 1990’s.

After a short interview and photo shoot with a local paper we were ready to go out. Tonight we were invited to a dinner party hosted by Public Affairs Officer, Larry Corwin. The room was filled with amazing local musicians and incredible food.

After a great dinner and meeting everyone, we decided to rest up for our busy week in Kosovo.
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KOSOVO

February 13-17

During the medieval period, Kosovo was home to many important Serb religious sites, including many architecturally significant Serbian Orthodox monasteries. The Ottomans ruled Kosovo for more than four centuries, until Serbia reconquered the territory during the First Balkans War in 1912-13.
After World War II, Kosovo became a province of Serbia in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The 1974 Yugoslav Constitution gave Kosovo (along with Vojvodina) the status of an autonomous province with nearly equal voting rights as the six constituent Republics of Yugoslavia. Although the Albanian-majority province enjoyed significant autonomy, riots broke out in 1981 led by Kosovar Albanians who demanded that Kosovo be granted full Republic status.
In the late 1980s, Slobodan Milosevic propelled himself to power in Belgrade by exploiting the fears of the small Serbian minority in Kosovo. In 1989, he arranged the elimination of Kosovo’s autonomy in favor of more direct rule from Belgrade. Belgrade ordered the firing of large numbers of Albanian state employees, whose jobs were then taken by Serbs.
As a result of this oppression, Kosovo Albanian leaders led a peaceful resistance movement in the early 1990s and established a parallel government funded mainly by the Albanian diaspora. When this movement failed to yield results, an armed resistance emerged in 1997 in the form of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). The KLA’s main goal was to secure the independence of Kosovo.

Kosovo remains unresolved and has been administered by several thousand peacekeepers from the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) since 1999, with Kosovar Albanians overwhelmingly supporting and Serbian officials opposing Kosovo independence. The international community had agreed to begin a process to determine final status but contingency of solidifying multi-ethnic democracy in Kosovo has not been satisfied.
Kosovo is a cash (Euro) economy. There are a few operating ATMs and some large stores and hotels take credit cards. Not all ATMs are reliable and personnel should exercise normal ATM safety precautions. TDY personnel should bring sufficient cash or travelers’ checks to cover all hotel and other expenses and may exchange dollars for Euros from 9 to 1130 and 1-3 workdays (9-1130 only on Thursday) at the USOPcashier. Only USOP accepts travelers’ checks. Reverse accommodation is available at the end of the visit.
Security issues: The security situation in Kosovo is fluid and there is still risk from occasional episodes ofviolence; incidents of ethnic violence continue to occur.
Land mines remain in some outlying areas. Civil society institutions generally do not yet meet Western standards. There is criminal activity against internationals, including
purse snatching and residential break-ins and general precautions are recommended. KFOR is deployed throughout Kosovo.
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February 12th

We left Strumica at 10am to head back to Skopje, where we will perform tonight at the Youth Cultural Center. We checked back into the same hotel and had the afternoon to ourselves. I walked around town and took a few photos.

I imagine that Skopje is very beautiful in the spring when the trees come alive.
At 5:30 we left to load in and sound check at the Cultural Center. The venue had the most amazing seats I’ve every seen.

Again, our opener for the evening was Tung Tung. They played a short set and we went on after some brief announcements from the Embassy.

Again, we had people singing and dancing in the isles. The energy in the room was especially hyped by the kids from our workshop, who set up camp in the balcony. They were screaming, clapping, and standing up dancing for most of our set. It was great!

Tonight felt like it must have been the best performance of the tour. The kids brought the show a new life and the band was full of energy. Afterwards we greeted everyone in the lobby. Here we are with the opening band Tung Tung.

We left the venue and went out for one last meal with Jeanne and Borka, our wonderful hosts in Macedonia.

February 11th

We checked out of the Hotel in Skopje and hit the road for Strumica. We were accompanied by Jeanne, her 2 children, her nanny, Borka, and our driver. We did a few little sing alongs in the car, but mostly we just enjoyed the incredible scenery as we drove through the mountains.
In Strumica we checked into the Hotel Sirius where I shot this herd of sheep walking outside of my window.

I spent the afternoon walking around downtown Strumica with Borka.

We had a great lunch and saw Roma Brass bands playing in the street beside the central monuments.

Borka gave me a little history lesson about Maceodonia and their role in the recent Yugoslavian conflict. Many of the Ethnic Albanians who fled Kosovo during the 90’s were turned away by the Macedonians. It was a sticky political issue. On the right people the Macedonians didn’t want these new comers taking over their land, on the left they wanted to help these troubled people in this desperate time of need. It’s still a point of conflict.
We walked around all afternoon until it was time for the show. We walked on stage to the applause of a beautiful audience.

Here I am working the guitar face again.

Again, the people loved it when we took the music around the hall.

Another great show for the Agora Quartet.

Afterwards, we were invited to eat with the mayor, the presenter of the concert, and friends. We had a great meal and tryed a fried meat sandwich that sounded like it was pronounced “Biaatch.” Very heavy, but very good.
We then went out to a crazy night club in the heart of town. We started out with Gene, Borka, and Scott, but soon it was just Nate and I. We stayed out for a couple more drinks and made friends with some Strumica locals. Again the music was techno terrible, but the people were super nice.
Nate and I came in sometime before dawn and got a few hours of sleep before the departure back to Skopje.

February 10th

We started early with a continental breakfast in the lobby before leaving for our master class at the Music High School of Skopje. This turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip. The students couldn’t have been more excited about our being there.

We had everyone stand up and clap out some rhythms. We showed them the difference between swing and straight eight notes and we invited them up to play.

They were so responsive and interested. After the workshop everyone wanted a photo or an autograph. We spent an extra 45 minutes there after we were supposed to have left.

The teenage girls were especially impressed. This is probably the closest I’ll ever come to Beatlemania.

Here I am with a super talented young guitarist named Alexander. He’s on his way to greatness.

After the workshop we did a short radio interview with a regional station. All four of us packed into the tiny studio booth to answer questions. Then we took the bus 1hr out of town to the city of Tetovo. We spent a little time stuck in traffic due to more protests over the cartoon, but we made it to our destination in time.
In Tetovo, we did a quick set up and sound check and went to the greenroom to rest. It was like a kindergarden classroom with caracatures all over the walls. All we missed were the juice boxes.

We had a local band opening for us called Tung Tung. They warmed up the crowd and we were greeted by a large, responsive audience.

We played all the Agora hits (that noone had ever heard before) and enjoyed a great sound on stage.

After the show there was a nice reception hosted by the Ambassador and the Mayor. We made friends with a local artist. He gave Scott and I two beautiful paintings to take home.

February 9th

At 9am we were picked up from our hotel in Thessaloniki by an obscenely large tour bus. We were 6 people including a driver riding in a 50+ seat bus.

I slept most of the drive in the back seat. We were in Skopje, Macedonia in no time. We checked into the Holiday Inn, met with our local hosts, and said goodbye to Chad. Unfortunately even Jazz Fantasy Camp has to end sometime.

After meeting with Jeanne and Borka in the hotel lobby, they took us for a walk around the downtown area and through the local markets. We ate another huge bread and meat sandwich and I bought some bootleg CDs. There are no enforcable copy right laws here in Macedonia and bootleg CD shops are the standard.
After our shopping spree we were invited to a dinner at the home of an Embassy official. Michael and Jann were excellent hosts and we enjoyed a nice quiet evening in a beautiful home.

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Macedonia

February 9-13

Throughout its history, the present-day territory of Macedonia has been a crossroads for both traders and conquerors moving between the European continent and Asia Minor. Each of these transiting powers left its mark upon the region, giving rise to a rich and varied cultural and historical tradition.
Since the end of the Second World War, Macedonia’s population has grown steadily, with the greatest increases occurring in the ethnic Albanian community. From 1953 through the time of the latest official census in 2002 (initial official results were released December 2003), the percentage of Albanians living in Macedonia rose 313%. The western part of the country, where most ethnic Albanians live, is the
most heavily populated, with approximately 40% of the total population. Due to population growth and as part of former communist industrial policy, more people have moved into the cities in search of employment. Macedonia also experienced sustained high rates of emigration.
Macedonia gained its independence peacefully from Yugoslavia in 1991 and was the only republic of the former Yugoslavia whose secession was not clouded by ethnic or other armed conflict, although the ethnic Albanian population declined to participate in the referendum on independence.
The United States and Macedonia have enjoyed good bilateral relations since Macedonia gained its independence in 1991. The United States formally recognized Macedonia on February 8, 1994, and the two countries established full diplomatic relations on September 13, 1995. The U.S. Liaison Office was upgraded to an Embassy in February 1996, and the first U.S. Ambassador to Skopje arrived in July 1996. The development of political relations between the United States and Macedonia has ushered in a whole host of other contacts between the two states.
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February 8th

I was truly sad to have to say goodbye the the Grande Bretagne today. How will I go on without you Grande Bretage? You and all your many ammeneties.
So I pryed myself away and we left Athens for Thessaloniki at around noon. At 4:30 we were greeted at the airport by the local consulate.

We drove straight to the venue to load in and sound check. The venue for this performance is quite unique: Egli, a former Ottomon bath that has been converted into a club-type facility, owned and operated by the municipality of Thessaloniki. With a capacity 300 it had the feeling of a club in a concert hall. It was beautiful and we could see that the show had been well promoted.

We left to check in at the hotel, but not before Chad had his “Jazz Fantasy Camp” drum lesson.

At 10:30pm it was time to hit the stage. The room was full to capacity with people eager to hear some music.

It was so amazing to be playing in a Hamam. The sound was bouncing off of every corner imaginable, but the visual perspective was phenomenal.

Between sets we had a photo op. with the promoters for the concert.

After a short break we were back to work with set two.

The show was a great success. We got lots of great feedback and made many new friends. Here are some local musicians who really enjoyed the show.

Back at the hotel by 2am, Chad and I went out for one last drink and to find a bite to eat. We found an open bar, had a drink, and retired to our rooms. It will be sad to leave Chad tomorrow. He’s been great to us and I know he’s been having fun at Jazz Fantasy Camp.

February 7th

We had a 9am lobby call to leave Corfu. It was sad to have to leave such a beautiful place so soon. I hope to come back and at least have a look around on a sunny day.

Back in Athens we went straight to the venue to load in and sound check. The performance tonight is at the auditorium of the Hellenic American Union (HAU), in collaboration with the HAU and the HAU American Corner.

Here’s Nate happy again to find another grand piano waiting.

After soundcheck we had a bite to eat and checked back into the Grand Bretagne. Oh Bretagne, how will my life ever be the same after you? You are so truly Grand. I offically found my inner diva today. I had then change my room when instead of a king size bed I was first in a room with two doubles. Let’s see if I can get away with that on the next BTD tour.
I spent the afternoon mining the depths of the Bretagne and it’s many wonders. The spa has 3, count ‘em 3 different flavors of steam bath. I spent an hour or so in the Amethest Grotto and graduated to the hydrodic foot massage. Needless to say I was well pampered for the gig.

Here’s Scott working the crowd.

We played our hearts out and got some love from the audience.

Afterwards there was a great reception hosted by the Ambassador and the president of the HAU.

From there we were invited to a dinner by the President of the HAU, Chris.

Chris is an extremely good host, charismatic and entertaining. He told a great story about the tradition of the worry beads in Greece and why at any point in time you really only have 2 things to worry about.

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You only have 2 things to worry about…
Either your Healty or you Sick.
If your Sick, you only have 2 things to worry about…
Either you get well or you die.
If you die, you only have 2 things to worry about…
Either you go up, or you go down.
If you go down…
You’ll be too busy shaking hands with old friends to worry about anything.

THE MORAL OF THE STORY: DON’T WORRY!
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We ended the night back at Bar Guru. As late as people in Athens stay out, they don’t do it every night. Tuesday night was kind of thin at around 3am so we walked back to the Hotel.

February 6th

We met in the Hotel lobby at 7am to check out and drive to the airport. We arrived in Corfu at around 10am. Corfu is the northerly of the Ionian Islands group and lies at the entrance of the Adriatic Sea in front of Albania.

It reminded me of Charleston, not just because it’s a total beach town, but because of the architecture. It is influenced by several west civilizations that occupied the Island at different times such as the Sicilians, the Venetians, the French, and the British.

After we checked into our hotel we set up for a master class with University students. The Ionian University’s music department is considered the best in Greece.

The students had a ton of talent and a little bit of experience playing jazz.

We listened to them play and offered constructive criticims and demonstrations.

We had them play specific examples while promoting the concepts of authority and conviction. They all sounded great, especially the drummer.

We went out for a quick lunch and then I took a short nap at the hotel. The concert started at 8pm with a short set by the Ionian University Jazz Band. The group sounded great. They played a nice mix of well arranged standards and some original compositions. There was a comfortable energy in the room when we took the stage.

We had the director of the Ionian University Jazz Dept, Dimos Dimitriadis, sit in with us. He blew an amazing solo on “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise.”

At the end of the show we had the students from the workshop and from the University band join us on stage. We were all amazed to later discover that the vocalist, Penelope, is also an incredible classical pianist. There are always more layers to the onion.

After the concert we were treated by the University president to one of the best Italian meals I’ve ever had in my life. Seriously!

Polished off with a little bit of Lemon Liqour. Here I am with Vassilis. No not that Vassilis, another Vassilis. It’s a popular name here in Greece.

We walked back to the hotel in the temperate sea air, full of food, wine, and merriment.

February 5th

We had the entire day to ourselves today. Everyone decided to move at their own pace. At around noon I took off for a 20 minute walk torwards the Acropolis. The Acropolis hill, so called the “Sacred Rock” of Athens, is the most important site of the city. It was a beautiful day and a nice walk uphill towards the Parthenon.

The Parthenon is the most important and characteristic monument of the ancient Greek civilization and still remains its international symbol. It was dedicated to Athena Parthenos, the patron goddess of Athens. It was built between 447 and 438 B.C. and its sculptural decoration was completed in 432 B.C.

The Erechtheion was built in ca. 420 B.C. The main temple was divided into two sections, dedicated to the worship of the two principal gods of Attica, Athena and Poseidon-Erechtheus.

Being in the midst of these ancient ruins of a once great civilization left me in a pensive mood. Is this where we’re headed, and how long until we get there?

As I walked back down the hill I said a little prayer and smiled to myself. How could this day get any better? I stumbled upon a group of guys around my age, sitting on a rock, having a Powwow. I looked on with curiosity and they motioned for me to join. It was a true united nations as I sat and conversed with two Iranians, one Polack, and one Russian. We talked about the world, all the tensions, differences, and similarities between people. After about an hour it was time to go, but not before taking a picture.

Floating down the hill now, after meeting my new friends, I wound up in a huge open space at the bottom.

The sun felt warm on my face and the freedoms of travel and new experience filled me with confidence. I walked on towards “Plaka,” a neighborhood with an open air market.

The scene flooded my senses. I was enchanted. Today Athens secures its place among my favorite cities. I walked into a music store, spent 2 hours looking for just the right bazooki cd, and wandered off to appease my hunger.

Tonight I will relax in my room and get some sleep. Tomorrow we leave for Corfu at 7am.

February 4th

I had a moment this morning to take a short walk outside the hotel.

In Athens, the taxis are Mercedes. That’s Right.

One of the Foreign Service Agents living in Greece is also a guitar player interested in learning jazz. I went back the the hotel to have a little one on one guitar talk with Barry before we left for our workshop at the Nakas Conservatory.

At around noon we went to the Conservatory and set up for the workshop. This is a shot that I took before we started. By the time we were set up the room was filled with students. It was a great turnout for a Saturday afternoon.

The workshop was specific to the Rhythm section and we talked about using Brazilian rhythms in a jazz context. Of course, we warmed up with a little playing.

The students seemed really engaged and had tons of questions. We shared perspectives on note choices, dialoge, and soloist support. The workshop was a success. Afterwards, we decided to walk back to the hotel and take a look around Athens.

There was a big issue over a danish paper publishing a controversial cartoon. The cartoon depicted Allah in a disrespectful way. Many people died in violent protests around the world. We saw this protest that was fortunately non-violent. Still, we didn’t stick around too long.

I went back to the hotel to rest a little before the late night show at Bar Guru. This will be our first and only Jazz Club performance of the tour.
We went to Guru at around 7pm to load in and soundcheck. We were pleased with the atmosphere and excited to be playing in a youthful club environment. We were then treated to an excellent Thai dinner in the downstairs restaurant.

When we started the club was full of people. There were lots of embassy officals there, including the Ambassador. There were also lots of young Jazz fans that seemed excited to hear us play.

We broke the night into two sets and were able to add a new number and really stretch out on the old stuff.

I felt like the band really reached a high point tonight. There were moments where we were able to let go and really dig into some spontanious music. The energy was high.

The show was a success and we were treated to lots of great feedback from the crowd. The club owner also really enjoyed it and invited us to come back. That’s always a good sign. Guru is a really cool club with 3 levels. After the show we went down to the bottom level where they had a great DJ spinning hip hop classics. We made some friends and danced.

Here is Chad confering with Nate over a Lemon Vodka.

Lots of nice people in Athens.

I’ve got to get out of here before I get into trouble.

Time to go Home!
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GREECE
FEB. 3 – 9TH
Greece was inhabited as early as the Paleolithic period and by 3000 BC had become home, in the Cycladic Islands, to a culture whose art remains among the most evocative in world history. In the second millennium BC, the island of Crete nurtured the maritime empire of the Minoans, whose trade reached from Egypt to Sicily. The Minoans were supplanted by the Mycenaeans of the Greek mainland, who spoke a dialect of ancient Greek. During the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Empires (1st-19th centuries), Greece’s ethnic composition became more diverse. Since independence in 1830 and an exchange of populations with Turkey in 1923, Greece has forged a national state that claims roots reaching back 3,000 years. The Greek language dates back at least 3,500 years, and modern Greek preserves many elements of its classical predecessor. Eastern Orthodox Christianity is the dominant religion in Greece and receives state funding.
Greece achieved its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1829. During the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, it gradually added neighboring islands and territories, most with Greek-speaking populations. In World War II, Greece was first invaded by Italy (1940) and subsequently occupied by Germany (1941-44); fighting endured in a protracted civil war between royalist supporters of the king and communist rebels. Following the latter’s defeat in 1949, Greece was able to join NATO in 1952. A military dictatorship, which in 1967 suspended many political liberties and forced the king to flee the country, lasted seven years. The 1974 democratic elections and a referendum created a parliamentary republic and abolished the monarchy. Greece joined the European Community or EC in 1981 (which became the EU in 1992); it became the 12th member of the euro zone in 2001.
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February 3rd

We were able to sleep late at the Sheraton in Ankara. It helped to fight the jet lag and lack of sleep. At the airport we had to say goodbye to our closest associates and new friends in Turkey. Sevil, Damaris, and Hakan treated us so well that it was really hard to leave. Unfortunately they couldn’t come with us to Athens, but I certainly hope we will be back soon.

We were greeted at the Athens airport by Chad and Vassilis. Chad being the American Embassy Rep. and Vassilis being the cultural specialist (Greek Native working for the Embassy). Right away they seemed like super cool guys, ready to get the job done, but have a good time doing it. We were taken the the most amazing hotel I’ve ever visited. The Grande Bretagne.

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I walked into our temporary home. I wore my excitment on my face…

After we settled in, Chad and Vassilis took us out for a traditional Greek meal just down the street. Here we are with Vassilis.

We enjoyed some amazing salads, fish, and meats. There was a traditional singer accompanied by a pianist. The music was beautiful. We noticed a song that we had heard in Turkey. A song that we were told is Turkish. Vassilis disagreed and thus gave us our first taste of the very real political and cultural tensions between the Greeks and the Turks. Meanwhile, the band was getting along great. Here’s a shot of Nate and I enjoying a moment together.

It was already 1am, but we were soon to find out that in Athens this is early. While some went back to the room, I stayed out with Chad and Vassilis and did a little club hopping. There, I found out just how easy it is to stay out until 5am in Athens.

After seeing everyone else go home, I decided I better get some sleep.

February 2nd

On to our Morning Master class at Ankara State Conservatory in Hacettepe University. Guess who’s picture that is on the wall behind me.

We started off with a little demonstration, then Scott lead us through some call and response clapping excercises.

Before long the students really started to warm up. We had them break out their instruments and we lead them through some call and response improvisation.

Before long we had the place rocking out. The energy was so high that Nate broke out into a little dance.

Solomon was helping a student to refine some auxilary percussion parts.

The workshop was a success. The students didn’t want us to leave and seemed really inspired and excited about music. Again it felt great to participate in the exchange. We stuck around a little longer and they showed us an amazing Turkish folk song in 9/8 time. The complexity of their folk music is scary. More amazing is how natural they make it feel. It was definately a learning experience for us as well.
Afterwards, Damaris took us out for lunch.

We ate wonderful yogurts, breads, salads, and meats. It was one of the best meals of the tour. It put me in the perfect mindset to go back to the hotel for a nap. I didn’t wake up until it was time to join Nate for another Hamam session.

This Hamam was a much different experience than in Istanbul. First of all it was full of people and had a decidedly sweatly odor. I assumed this was a much more authentic experience and after submitting myself, I emerged completely relaxed. “My body is yours, My bones are mine!”
Back at the Hotel we were invited to a jam session in the lobby jazz bar. We were all a little tired from travel and activity. I think you can see it on Scotts face in this shot.

The jam turned out to be a lot of fun. We were joined by an 80 year old American Expat who’s spent the last 15 years working the Ankara music scene. He came over for a gig and 15 years went by. After my experience in Turkey, I understand how easily that could happen.

February 1st

We woke up at 7am to do a National Television morning show broadcast from Ankara. It’s the Turkish equivalent of something like Good Morning America. First we stopped at one of the wonderful pastry shops for a little breakfast. The picture on the wall behind Sevil is of Ataturk. “Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic and its first President, stands as a towering figure of the 20th Century. Among the great leaders of history, few have achieved so much in so short period, transformed the life of a nation as decisively, and given such profound inspiration to the world at large.” – ___From Ataturk.com___ The people of Turkey love this man and his picture is everywhere, even in the pastry shops.

At the TV studio we set up our instruments and adjusted to the bright lights.

The show started with a short song.

Then we took a few questions from our host. He ask us about our tour, about our name, and where I got my Turkish Flag T-Shirt. Hakan was on hand to translate.

During the show we were able to play 3 whole tunes and spoke with our host between numbers. He had the most hillarious way of introducing the next piece. He would say with a climbing inflection, “Let’s make music…together!!!” I thought it was great. Afterwards we took a commemorative group photo.

After the TV shoot we decided to buy some supplies at the grocery store. We were all feeling the burn of the recent spending sprees and were hoping to be a little thrifty, if only for a day. We bought a few supplies for the next couple days in Ankara and went back to the Hotel for some rest.
That afternoon at the soundcheck we were excited to find a beautiful large hall with a wonderful grand piano.

I took this shot of Nate warming up the Keys before the show. This concert in Ankara was looking to be one of the best yet. The soundmen were super professional and they even had a light show!

At 8pm we took the stage to find a packed house and the largest audience yet of tour. The sound onstage was perfect and the music flowed with ease.

The audience responded with enthusiastic applause as we shared some impressions of Turkey.

Again, for our encore, we took the music into the audience and lead a processional back onto the stage. The place was full of people eager to participate.

After the show we were treated to a reception hosted by Ambassador Ross Wilson.

We all really bonded with Damaris and Sevil. We were all lovingly calling Damaris “Mom” by this point.

Nate was greeting by the founding members of the “Nate Shaw Fan Club – Turkish Division.”

Nate, Scott, and I still hadn’t had enought. We went out for one more beer at a smokey club down the street. I felt like I was in Charleston again for a second. The band was playing classic rock covers.

Smoked out of our hole, we retreated to the hotel to sleep._______________________________