It's hard to believe that in a few days, I'll be leaving with the band to travel to North Africa and the Middle East. We are going to Jordan, Djibouti, UAE, Sudan, Bahrain and Egypt, with the Dept. of State's Musical Overtures program. You can read more about these countries and history of the Dept. of State's tours on our blog site; http://myjrb.blogspot.com.
Last year, we were invited to go to six countries in South East Asia with another Dept. if State tour, in conjunction with Jazz at Lincoln center. I'm sure I speak for the rest of the band, when I say that I feel blessed and honored to be able to bring American music abroad to so many countries and make friends with all the wonderful people we meet. When I was fourteen years old and started to get serious about drumming, my grandfather gave me a leather stick bag. I never realized that this little bag of sticks would take me to such exotic lands around the world and to so many beautiful parts of our own country.
Last year, we were invited to go to six countries in South East Asia with another Dept. if State tour, in conjunction with Jazz at Lincoln center. I'm sure I speak for the rest of the band, when I say that I feel blessed and honored to be able to bring American music abroad to so many countries and make friends with all the wonderful people we meet. When I was fourteen years old and started to get serious about drumming, my grandfather gave me a leather stick bag. I never realized that this little bag of sticks would take me to such exotic lands around the world and to so many beautiful parts of our own country.
I have spent most hours of the past few days on a sort of treasure hunt, gathering things I need for the trip; drum gear, shots, medicines, appropriate clothes, extra passports, sim cards, phone unlocks, bug repellent, cases, sticks, etc., etc. It's always hard to leave friends and family for so long, especially when you travel to places that are far and foreign to most people. Almost everyone I tell about our travel to North Africa and the Middle East are very exited to hear about our trip and only a few people express their concern. What I learned from our last tour to SE Asia, is that people are the same all over he world and that the children sing the same songs and play the same games (with some variation) that we all did when we were growing up. We are all human and have the same needs, desires in life. Because music is a universal language, it is easy to see the effect that it has on people from all lands and walks of life. It unites us all and speaks to us on a deeper level, beyond mind, beyond ego. Peace lives in the stillness from which music arises and returns. Love, beauty, joy, artistic expression all arise from a place of no mind and this is the place where we can know we are all one.
Before we go on stage, no matter where we are performing, we try to keep open hearts and minds in order to channel love from the universe into our music. We hope the audience can keep their hearts and mids open, so that they can receive that love through the vibrations of our music. We would love for you to follow us on our journey here on our blog. You can subscribe to our rss feed by clicking the social media the links on our the myjrb.blogspot.com page.
Peace & blessings,
Danny
Before we go on stage, no matter where we are performing, we try to keep open hearts and minds in order to channel love from the universe into our music. We hope the audience can keep their hearts and mids open, so that they can receive that love through the vibrations of our music. We would love for you to follow us on our journey here on our blog. You can subscribe to our rss feed by clicking the social media the links on our the myjrb.blogspot.com page.
Peace & blessings,
Danny
