Physical Graffiti

Danny; Minsk Belarus 

Last night we were invited to play a set at

the Grafitti club in downtown Minsk. The place was packed and the audience was easily convinced to join us in breaking down the wall that usually divides performer and listener.

We got a chance to hang out with some of the fans after the show and talk about some of our musical influences.

The club had a big screen that was playing videos of some of the Giants in the Jazz world. 

  

Here are some more shots from the club;

Today we leave for Grodno where we'll be tonight's headliners at the Jazz Festival.

Bound Together

Danny; Minsk Belarus 

Of all the things besides music that tie us together as humans, the culinary arts often top the list. We all delight in sharing favorite recipes, pics of food and drink.

 Here are some pics of my local shopping adventure with Brian this morning. 

All the stuff in my basket cost about $4.00. That's about 60,000 Belarusian rubles. 15,000 rubles equals one U.S. dollar. Below is one my favorite dishes, a cold beet soup and a potato, egg, carrots and pea salad. This is  traditional

fare here.

This evening we played a concert at the Belarus Philharmonic Hall. Our good friend US Charge d'affaires to Belarus Scott Roland,  introduced us to a packed house. The concert was so much fun and the audience gave us two standing ovations and encores. We had the pleasure of meeting the Brittish ambassador as well as the UN ambassador to Belarus.

 

I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy

Danny; Minsk, Belarus  The Johnny Rodgers Band was honored to play today at the U.S. Embassy's 

Independence Day celebration in Minsk, Belarus. Afterwards did a TV interview at ONT second national TV.

The event was held in the Belarusian president's former residence. It's very similar in design to the US ambassadors residence in Moscow. This cool American flag cake was one of many Fourth of July decorations for the event today.

Pictured below is our wonderful friend Scott Rauland the chargé d'affaires and his wife Fran greeting all the guests at the reception line. Scott has been our champion in bringing us here and to Malaysia multiple times.

A shot of the band before leaving for the television station to preface a morning show.

These are they same drums I'll be playing tomorrow night as a guest of the Belarus Philharmonic at their beautiful hall here in Minsk.

Some more party scenes, a demonstration of a 3D printer and some American cultural books on display.

Here are some shots of us getting ready for our interview at the  ONT second national TV station.

 after we all got our makeup done We sat down with our wonderful hosts to talk about our concerts and our mission here in Belarus. 

We hung out by the Svisloch river and  Yanka Kupala Park which is named after one of the great Belarusian poets. (Janka Kupala – was the pen name of Ivan Daminikavich Lutsevich, a Belarusian poet and writer.)

 

Brian and I went out to explore the city and had some wonderful local beer. I was getting some funny looks from the bartender and after I went to the restroom I realized  rain and I hadn't taken off our makeup from the TV station;)

Here are some more shots from our outing.

Well it's getting late and we have a long walk home;) spokoynoy nochi (good night)

Fly Me to the Moon

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It's hard to believe that we are embarking on our sixth international trip as cultural ambassadors bringing American music abroad. Today we are on our way to Minsk Belarus where we will be playing at the U.S. Embassy's Independance Day celebration, as well as the Philharmonic hall, the Grodno Jazz festival, a jazz club and some local outreach for the students.

 Our flight to Minsk takes us from NYC - Warsaw Poland and finally to Belarus where we'll have the rest of the day off after a security briefing. You can see that Belarus is nestled in Eastern Europe,  surrounded by Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia and Ukraine. 

After some long lines and an 8 hr flight, we made it to Warsaw and scored some great spinach pirogies!

    Putting the Apple Watch through the paces during this tour. It's been very useful so far!;)

  

   The international terminal at JFK this afternoon was quite a scene to say the least. 

    Brian and I playing with the remote camera app on the Apple Watch.

   

Travel has come a long way since the old days when Joe first started flying;)

Next stop is Minsk, Belarus, It's about a one hr flight. Looks a little chilly;)

See you on the other side,

Peace!