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northern lights on the move
purevsukh at mealody
ganbat looking forward to the festival he spearheaded
Today the snow has once again returned to Ulaanbaatar. This marks the definite end of Summertime! It snowed the second day we were in the capital, back in May, but since then we had become used to gloriously warm weather - until now. It's such a shock to feel the cold, even in our apartment (not helped by the broken window in our bedroom, or the fact that many of the windows don't close properly!). The mountains, however, look beautiful with their snowy-capped peaks, making me determined to visit the remaining three holy moutains (since we have visited Bogd Khan Uul several times already) as soon as possible.
Wed Sept 13th
The Giant Steppes of Jazz NGO is organizing the Giant Steppes International Jazz Festival again this year from Oct 4 – 7th. Thanks to the generous support of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Canada, the Northern Lights Quartet (Bruce Petherick - piano, Keith Smith - guitar, John Hyde - bass and Robin Tufts - drums) plus the vocalist Debra Rasmussen, will be attending.
When Ganbat went to Calgary last year, these are the musicians who played with him at the BEATNIQ Club and provided him with much support and friendship while he was there. They will be spending a week in Ulaanbaatar to play in the festival alongside the U-Bop Band. See the Jazz Mongolia website for full information on the 2006 festival and more besides.
This is all exciting stuff, and it is a real honour to be part of the small band of musicians bringing Jazz (and importantly, Jazz Education) to Mongolia. Who knows where all this will lead in the future? At the very least, watch this space!
Sat Sept 30th
The Mealody Jazz Club is still going strong, and last night's performance was no exception. One of my UB Jazz Academy piano students, Purevsukh, played a couple of tunes with the band, and we premiered (at least in Mongolia) some of my original compositions: Erasmus, Tuesday's Child and Ivory Coast, of which the latter is now ten years old! I wrote the tune while I was studying at Birmingham Conservatoire, and performed it regularly with some of the musicians I worked with there: Dave Smith (trumpet), Andy Bratt (drums) and Richard Young (drums/percussion), as well as with my latin/funk fusion-style band, Corcovado, which gigged a few times in and around the Midlands, featuring Holly Jones (flute), Phil King (bass) and Carl Hemmingsley (drums). I'd like to resurrect this band at some point in the future, since it never really got the publicity it deserved at that time.
The Giant Steppes Jazz Festival kicks off officially on Thursday night, October 5th, with a grand gala performance of all the bands taking part in the Festival at the State Opera and Ballet Theatre. Unofficially, it will be starting on Tuesday night (the 3rd), with a performance by the Northern Lights Quartet and the Steve Tromans U-Bop Band at Mealody Restaurant, and then a similar two-band performance at the MB Live Club, in the Bayangol District near the Gandan Monastery, on Wednesday night, followed by a jam-session at Mealody. Mealody Restaurant will function as an after-hours style hang out for the musicians in the Festival each night of their stay, and there should be some great Jazz played there during the coming week. It'll be so beneficial for my Academy students to hear (and watch) some high-quality Jazz. Hopefully they will start the autumn term inspired and 110% committed to exploring Jazz in its many styles and forms!