The Love Boat

Danny: Yaraslovl, 6/28/13

Last night after a 4 hr train ride to Yaraslavl, we arrived at the Jazz cruise sponsored by the towns Jazz center. As we walked to the boat we could hear the strains of Dixieland music in the air.

When we got on the boat, we were surprised how many people sign up for these Jazz cruises that happen once a month.

There were two levels on the boat, the bottom level was filled with tables full of people and their smorgasbords.
The top level was where we were playing our set and then had a Jam session with some fantastic players and singers from the Jazz Center.

We stopped along the Volga river to have a picnic barbecue and were serenaded by the Dixie band. I was able to sit in on a number and they called All of Me. I had so much fun playing with them and watching the people dance along the river bank.

We got to hangout and enjoy the evening with all the musicians and other wonderful music fans. Music, dancing, food and new friends. There are no boundaries or borders, just a sharing of life and it's bounty.

While the guys were resting before the Jazz Cruise (we had only had a few hrs rest before our 5 am departure), I went out to see the town and go to the local art museum. I saw so many weddings, it is a very popular spot on a weekend in June.
Here are some of the things I saw that day.

Painting Red Square

Danny; Moscow to Kaluga to Moscow, 6/28-29/13

We are on the train from Yaroslavl to Moscow this morning, a four hour trip heading back to perform an outdoor concert with the Moscow Symphony. We are returning from an overnight stay in Yaroslavl where we played on a Jazz cruise that took us down the Volga river towards the Caspian Sea. I'll be writing about that a little later, in the mean time let's get back to Red Square.

We walked from the Bolshoi towards the Kremlin and Red Square. You can see the old KGB building at the end of the street in the previous picture.

The Parliament building

the walls of the Kremlin and the portal into Red Square

One of the many beautiful churches the we have seen, this one by the Red Square.

One of the great Marshals that is a hero and instrumental in defeating Napoleon in the war if 1812

The guys walking along the lined parade route towards one of the recognizable buildings in the world.
It was built during the reign of Ivan the Terrible and when it was completed, he thought it the most beautiful of all buildings. He had the eyes of the architect gouged out so that it could never be duplicated anywhere else.

We also saw Lennin's tomb and the eternal flame.

I really felt like a tourist here in the same way I feel when I visit Washington D.C. There are many similarities between the Mall and Red square, but even more between the people who visit both places.

a grotto built using parts from earlier walls and antiquities of the area.

The beautiful gardens near the Kremlin. Russians love flowers.

Moscow at night is stunning and beautiful, we walked on into the night and reveled in all it's magnificence and wonder.

White Knights

Danny; Moscow, 6/27/13 Evening:
After our rehearsal my percussion student and friend from Mannes College the New School for Music, met us at our hotel and drove us into the center of Moscow. Andrey gave us a tour of some great and famous cultural locations.

This is Moscow Conservatory that produced some of the greatest composers and musicians in the world. Tchaikovsky is immortalized in this statue outside the school.

Andrey has been studying percussion here as well as attending Mannes. He is going to San Francisco conservatory this Fall.

We ran into a trio of his conservatory friends playing some great folk tunes outside a cafe on the promenade near the Bolshoi Theater.

Bolshoi means big in Russian and that's an understatement for the size of the famous theater that is the home to probably the finest ballet company in the world, the Bolshoi Ballet. This whole area has so many theaters and cultural institutions that are legends here and internationally. In my first blog I this trip I mentioned that one I the reasons the US sent out Dizzy's 18 piece band on the first Jazz Cultural Diplomacy tour was because we could not compete with classical groups like the Bolshoi.

Some skaters showing off their skills outside the theater.

A fluid shot of Cotton Eye Joe Ravo.
the whole area reminds me of Lincoln Center an the Fountain except on a much grander scale.

The "small theater" next to the Bolshoi.

The fountain an one of the great Moscow hotels in the background.

One of the smaller theaters that housed the Russian Orchestra Festival this year.

Andrey and my fellow comrades headed of the see Red Square and the Kremlin.

War and Peace

Danny; Moscow, 6/27/13

Yesterday was such and amazing day, packed with great music, friends and sights. We are eight hrs ahead of EST, so we are in the future, can't wait to tell you what happens, for now I'll just tell you what's been happening;)
We started our second day here in Russia at a rehearsal with the Moscow Symphony at what has been dubbed "Russian Hollywood". Built in 1927, this complex now houses ten independent studios, 13 sound stages and a new state of the art recording studio. This 13,000 square meter wonder has produced over 3,000 films and soundtracks including movies such as War and Peace.

My set up and the orchestra in one of Mosfilm's many sound stages.

Johnny and Maestro Andre checking a part.

The orchestra rehearsing a piece by
Aram Khachaturian a great Russian classical composer who also wrote for great films such a s Spartacus.

What a pleasure to be working with this great conductor and these fantastic musicians. It was the first time we got to hear any of the orchestral arrangements for our original songs. Getting to play and hear a song I co wrote with Johnny called Bound Together, with full orchestra was beyond cool;) Richard Maslove arranger. Denise Mei Yan Hoffman, a friend and composition student at Mannes, penned a great string arrangement for the song Georgia that we are performing.
Another great thrill was to play the original orchestral arrangement of Singing in the Rain.

The Moscow Radio Symphony had a rehearsal after us. Moscow has so many great orchestras and symphonies. The players were so welcoming and seemed to really enjoy playing the Jazz an Rock stuff with us. They were moving and dancing around when we played You Can Leave Your Hat on;)
Music, Art, Film and Dance have no borders. Their language is universal.
Here are some more images from Mosfilm;

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