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presidential praise for the arts council mongolia
hannah's delicious homemade lasagne!
woodpecker alert
First of all, not Italy but Mongolia again. The Arts Council of Mongolia has been recognised by Enkhbayar, the Mongolian President, for their tireless work as the country's best NGO. To read an article about this award last November, go to: Mongolia Web ACM article. The lady who is standing the 3rd from the left in the photo (the President being in the centre) is Ariunna, the director of the ACM who was personally responsible for putting me in touch with Ganbat shortly after my arrival in Mongolia back in 2006. ACM is a glowing example of how an arts body can mediate between artists for the common good without any hidden agendas or endless paper-heavy procedures. And the staff regularly came down to Mealody Jazz Club and cheered the band too!
Despite being extremely happy in Carpi, Italy, and glad to be in a land over-brimming with culture, I am still, a month down the line, woefully planted firmly at the foot of the ladder regarding making that all-important first contact with the local improvised scene. My experiences in Mongolia bear heavy testament to the importance of connecting with open-minded and pro-active arts bodies as soon as possible, although the fact that it was a period of 41 days from our initial entry into Mongolia to the first email from the Arts Council Mongolia gives me hope that it's still early days in Carpi at 31 so far and counting! My fingers are itching to touch a piano in concert again and I'm keen to discover what a new year and a new environment will mean for my improvisational workings.
On a non-musical note, Hannah's culinary skills have risen to even dizzier heights of perfection with the arrival of "Hannah's Homemade Lasagne" (see left for the mouth-watering photographic evidence). The picture was taken in our kitchen (nice to have one after the bedsit in Dubai and the shared one in Oman) which is the venue for our evening discussion on many topics. Italian English students are wonderfully talkative on the whole and this has a beneficial effect on us post-work. We have always been able to talk at length rather than sitting glued to the goggle-box for hours without so much as a whimper as is disappointingly symptomatic of evening activity in the UK, and our penchant for debate reaches its zenith on Wednesday evenings after the 9-10pm "Happy English" open-forum sessions at work.
Speaking of talkative students, we where invited out by three of mine last night to a great little family-run restaurant just on the outskirts of the city limits. We were able to sample the traditional Carpese dishes of Tortellini in Brodo (in broth), Tortellini con Zucco (with pumpkin) and a few bottles of Lambrusco Rosso Frizzante (sparkling red wine) that is synonomous with the region of Italy that we are living in. If I can only find a way into the local music scene, then I believe this could be the best setting for our plans since Mongolia and all that that incredible country had to (and did) offer.
And one last Mongolia reference: today is the first day of the Mongolian New Year, so a heart-felt "amar bain uu?" to our Mongolian friends and we look forward to the next meeting under Ikh Tenger, whether it be this year, the next, or further into the future.
Sun 17th February 2008
One thing that it's impossible to ignore in Carpi is the amount of birdsong one hears. Because it's generally so quiet here, on my walk to and back from work, whilst reading at home with the windows open, or whilst waking up to the dawn chorus (not always a highlight!), the air is filled with the sound of birdsong. Today we were walking around town and heard a perculiar knocking sound coming from up one of the many trees. Looking up the trunk led our eyes to a particularly busy woodpecker, pecking its heart out. I've never seen one before, so it was something of a highlight for sure!
The other day I was attempting to record some melodica improvisations at home, but was constantly hindered by the sound of birds singing in the trees outside the apartment. After some initial frustration, I started to see a positive outcome to the situation after I remembered the importance of ambient environment in the recording of my album, "Melodica Travels: Al-Azaiba" - recorded on the beach at Al-Azaiba in Muscat, Oman last summer. The idea came to me to record a follow-up album here in Carpi, featuring birdsong recorded in and around town. I intend to follow through on this idea, and will as usual post up further information as and when, plus the album details on completion. I am pleased to be able to continue the melodica series, since the instrument has been so incredibly useful to me during our travels since the UK, and not least here in Italy, where I've still not got my hands on a piano.