jamming and drinking

wow, today was just amazing! i went down to park slope, brooklyn in the late afternoon to play music with david and his friend bruno. they taught me an arabic tune--it felt so good to play that kind of music though it was totally knew to my fingers. it felt immediately accessable, likley due to the endless hours of persian music my father listened to when i was growing up. then bruno and david played some moroccan and arabic stuff for awhile, violin and dumbek/rik (egyptian frame drum). it was really beautiful. bruno has very little classical training but lots of passion, and david is just solid and peaceful on the percussion.

we drank almond tea and ate goat cheese and apples. eventually, they wanted to hear some klez tunes and after that we just started jamming on any/everything--klez, old-time, bluegrass, swing, rags........you name it. bruno has a great funky style, and can play along with anything. we smoked a joint and i transmorgraphed to planet elation as the jam got further and further out there. our rendition of "somewhere over the rainbow" had an extened and zany breakdown...at some point i wasn't sure who was following who, and the chord progression was there only in theory.

after we finished playing, i walked over to zilli's, a new turkish bar also in park slope. carmine's turkish ensemble (oud, violin, dumbek) was playing there. the bartender welcomed me with open arms and started giving me free drinks/shots, so i proceeded to get drunk and bond with the people around me. it was very relaxed and silly. i hung out at the bar all night, drinking turkish beer and doing girly shots (at my request). now i'm trying to come down in preparation for aaron's arrival tomorrow.