JRB - US Embassy Highlights from Jordan

Jordan Hospitality

Danny; Yesterday we drove from Amman to Irbid, which is a town up in the north of Jordan. This northern town is about 20 klm from the Syrian border. On the way we saw Bedouins with their sheep and goats, olive groves and beautiful vistas.

When we arrived at the Princess Basma Youth Center, which is partially funded by UNICEF, we were taken to the directors office. She sat and spoke with us about her university time in the States and the youth center. They have a computer lab and a mini studio where they teach photo shop and some music programs.

As we loaded our equipment to the classroom/lab, we saw that the children had made welcome signs and created collages from JRB photos that they had found on he web.

We set up our gear and played our first song, when we finished, the students started requesting songs from our recordings. They asked for She and then for The Best of You in me. Jailhouse Rock and Whole Lot of Shakin Goin on, were big favorites also. We had the students play along on some songs with us, they had Doumbeks,
Violins, Guitars and Keyboard. We played a blues with them and then they played and sang some traditional Arabic songs for us. We all joined in and played with them and you could just sense the joy in the music and their faces.

The programming of the outreach events and concert , were surperbly planned by Karin Ehlert and her staff from the US embassy cultural affairs office. The Musical Overtures program is often jokingly refered to as the Rocky Rhythm Road, but so far this trip has been smooth sailing. Emad, our new friend from the embassy staff, acted as our tour guide, rodie, driver, interpreter and facilitator. We made so many new friends in Jordan and hope you all get a chance to travel there some day. It was one of the most hospitable places I have ever been and we were welcomed with open hearts wherever we went.

Here are some of our amazing food adventures and assorted pics;

Rosemary

Hooka Grove and Hubbly Bubbly forest;)

Amazing restaurant

Bread baked on stones

Heavenly hummus etc

Mmmmmmmm!!!!!

Hey buddy, I ain't on the menu;)

Jordan Times review - JRB Entertains Amman

Johnny Rodgers Band Entertains in Amman
By Jean-Claude Elias

AMMAN - Johnny Rodgers Band played an exquisite blend of jazz, soul and classic rock music to a delighted crowd Sunday night in Amman. There was even some country mood now and then in a programme that showcased most of the components that make American music what it is today. There was not a dull moment in the fast-paced concert that took place at Al Hussein Cultural Centre...More

Danny; Last night we played a concert at the Al Hussein Cultural Center. We always enjoy playing concert halls when we are overseas,
because the sound is so good and usually there is a nice piano. We had 400 RSVP's on Facebook, before we even arrived in the country.

Before the concert, we had a press conference with some local and national journalists. We all agreed that cultural exchange was an important part of diplomacy and creating understanding between all people.

After the press conference, we were invited to a small reception where we were introduced to Ambassador Jones.

Jordan

Danny: Amman Jordan

This morning we were wisked off to the UNRWA school in Wehdat, a Palestinian refugee camp in Amman Jordan. While we were driving through the settlement, we saw stalls and open air shops full of live chickens, housewares and even Sponge Bob posters. He seems to be an international star.

As soon as we pulled up to the school, we were greeted by smiling faces, which of course, made us smile too :)

It was rare to have the boys and the girls, interact in the same room. They were dancing and singing together.
We were very moved by their sincerity and enthusiasm for the music and for us.

When I saw the children smiling, laughing and dancing, I thought, this is why we came on this tour. This is the power of music and art, to cross language and cultural boundaries. To build bridges between all of us.

It's funny, because the boy on the right is actually mimicking a cue that Johnny uses to signal the band to go into a cool solo section on one of our tunes;)

In this shot you can see the stick bag that my grandfather gave me 37 years ago. How blessed I feel to carry it with me to all these places in this wonderful world.

Princess Basma Center

Day 2

Watch "The Johnny Rodgers Band" on YouTube