JRB: 07/08/13

Danny; Tomsk Siberia, 6/7/13
I'm writing this from backstage at our outdoor concert on the banks of the Tom river in Tomsk Siberia.

The first photo is from the movie Dr Zhivago which was filmed partially on the Trans Siberian line. Set just before and in the years following the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, the film follows the life of Zhivago as he marries, raises a family, has his life totally disrupted by first World War One, and then by the Revolution.
This was my Mothers favorite film and the image most American people had of Russia and Siberia, including me.
A lot of you know that I lost my mother in a car crash this past Christmas. It's hard for me not to think of her during this tour knowing how exited she was for me to come here to Russia. Every time Dr. Zhivago was on, she would watch the film and I would wonder what was it's appeal.
Some years ago I sat down and watched this epic film that was adapted from the novel by the Russian born Moscovite Boris Pasternak. I was amazed at the drama and struggle of the characters in the story. Love, loss, struggle romance, war, it had all the strife of the human condition. This was my impression of what Russia must be like especially Siberia and I always thought it would be a very exotic place in which to travel.
There are many preconceptions about Siberia and many people think it is just a desolate region for outcasts. It's a vast and varied ecosystem and that makes up most north Northeast Asia.
This 3,000,000 square mile territory is some of the most beautiful and fertile land on earth. You can read more about it here;
http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/Siberia
In the 16th century the Siberian Huns controlled Tomsk whom had taken it from the Tatars. Before that, this area was habited by indigenous tribes.
Russian explorers came to this region to make maps and see what was beyond the abyss. The Huns were very aggressive and wars broke out between Moscow and Tartaria. Russians came over sea and river to try to conquer the area.

Muscovite warrior

These outfits were worn as late as the 19th century. The Shaman was considered the strongest and his drum or buben would be slit or burned when he died to release all the powerful spirits.

Tomsk was finally taken by Boris Godunov in the late 1600's

From early merchant, to 19th century merchant in Siberia. The longer the sleeves, the more important.

Some old player pianos and music box etc in the merchants home.

The home of a more typical person. The small home was built around the stove and you would center all activities around it, including sleeping on its upper shelves.

Here are some images from our concert yesterday. There were two other Russian Jazz groups on the bill, a Trad jazz and a vocal jazz group.

We had such a great time performing in this beautiful open air setting. We were interviewed by Siberian TV and newspaper about our music and impressions of Tomsk.

When we first arrived it looked like it was snowing these big flakes, but it was actually tree pollen called, Puh.

We played at the summer camp for English immersion and we had each section greet us in a special rhyme in English. We played a song and then the students joined us on a song they had prepared; John Lennon's Imagine. It was such a wonderful experience to play along with these Russian children singing in English.
They had said that there was a small keyboard, a couple if little amps and a virtual drum set. They had meant that the keyboard had a couple of buttons that could generate a beat or two;)
I raided there arts and crafts/music room looking for something that I could play for the set. I found this;