Eldad Tarmu – Vibraphone – Born August 26, 1960 in California
Today we are babysitting our grandson, Oliver and so far so good. He has been in a good mood, ate his breakfast and we just went for a long walk at the end of which he fell asleep!!
This morning, I decided that I was going to listen to some music when we went on our walk and for the soundtrack I thought about making it some jazz, possibly someone new whose birthday is today!!
Many times when I review the jazz birthdays I look for musicians who play an instrument that I love and today the instrument that was prevalent was the vibraphone with three musician’s sharing today as the day of their birth. The first was Eldad Tarmu, then Patricia Franceschy and finally Peter Appleyard. I chose to listen to Eldad Tarmu
. When I went to Spotify to check out Eldad’s music the first album that popped up was Songs for the Queen of Bohemia. Okay. I said to myself, I have listened to this album before and liked it. When I went to Eldad’s website I immediately remembered the picture of him. I thought maybe I have previously written a post about him, so I searched my posts and with no results!
I guess he is one of the many musicians, I have listened to and never written about! So let’s do it now…..
About Eldad Tarmu
from his website biography……
Eldad Tarmu was born in Los Angeles, California, (August 26, 1960) where he started studying drums and percussion. After graduating from Tel Aviv University in Israel, he returned to the US and started touring and holding jazz clinics with various jazz ensembles, mainly in Europe and Asia.
In 2005 he got his Master’s degree in Afro-Latin Music, from California State University Los Angeles. The same year he was appointed Head of the Jazz Department at “Richard Oschanitzky” Jazz School of Tibiscus University in Timisoara, Romania, following a fruitful collaboration with Romanian bassist and violinist Johnny Bota, one of the school founders.
In 2009 he relocated to the US again, in order to continue his education at Stony Brook University, where he got a second Master’s degree, in Classical Composition. He is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts in Jazz Performance from the same school, degree pursued under the guidance of Ray Anderson.
He is a professor of World Music Studies, Intro to Music and African-American Music at Hudson County Community College in Jersey City. He has recently developed a Latin American Music Studies course for the College. He has also been teaching summer music classes (MUS101, MUS308) at SUNY Stony Brook Manhattan, as well as MUS568 Jazz Combo and MUS309 Music After 1900, as a teaching assistant at Stony Brook University. Read More
About Songs for the Queen of Bohemia
Songs for the Queen of Bohemia was recorded by the Eldad Tarmu Jazz Chamber Ensemble. Here’s some information about the Ensemble….From Sonicbids
The Eldad Tarmu Chamber Ensemble began as a septet formed in 2006 in Timisoara, Romania, where the band leader, American vibraphonist and composer Eldad Tarmu, taught Jazz Studies for four years.
The initial members of the septet were Romanian bass player Johnny Bota, Israeli drummer Yoni Halevy and Tabac String Quartet. In September 2006, after their first tour, they recorded Tarmu’s compositions under the album name Songs for the Queen of Bohemia, which was released in March 2007 in Romania and in June 2009 in the US. This rare formation, comprised of vibraphone, bass and drums in the rhythm section, augmented by a string quartet (two violins, viola and cello), create the ideal palette for the musical styles blended in Tarmu’s compositions. Middle-Eastern melodies and grooves mix with jazz and classical harmonies to make a distinctive cutting edge world jazz chamber sound. Read More
Final Thoughts
Songs for the Queen of Bohemia was the perfect album for a leisurely stroller walk around the streets of the Billingsport section of Paulsboro this morning. I enjoyed both Oliver and Eldad on the walk. So Happy Birthday Eldad – Hope you have a great day!
Links for the Further Explorations of the Music of Eldad Tarmu…..
Here is the Eldad Tarmu Jazz Ensemble performing the Improvisation parts and ending of “Traveling Alone”. Composition: Eldad Tarmu John Lenis – bass, Michael Winnicki – drums
Kundalini to Master Your Domain – Music Feather, Stone & Light – R Carlos Nakai
This morning has been a kind of throwback Tuesday. It all started when I used one of my all-time favorite R. Carlos Nakai albums Feather, Stone and Lightas the soundtrack for my morning yoga routine. If it wasn’t the first R Carlos Nakai album that I bought it was certainly among the first and it has been a favorite since the first time I brought it home! The album features the string work of Will Eaton and the percussion of Will Clipman along with R. Carlos wonderful Native American flute artistry.
The Morning Workout – Master Your Domain
The yoga routine that I did today was a Kundalini kriya to Master Your Domain. The kriya is my favorite among the kriyas that I did routinely several years ago. It is the only one that I still try to do on a regular basis. I don’t know if it’s all mental or not, but it seems that every time I do this kriya I fly through the rest of the day, more focused and consequently I’m able to get more done!!
After I finished the kriya, I wondered, if there was anywhere on the Internet, where the kriya is described. Silly me! What I found was the following video and a whole lot more at the Spirit Voyage Music Channel
Kundalini Yoga Video : Master Your Domain with Anne Novak
Now I will say that Feather, Stone and Light may not be the best album for meditating, worked well for me.
This kriya has a 5-minute meditation to end the kriya, I extended that meditation another 13 minutes and loved every minute of it.
So after watching the video of this kriya and knowing that there are similar videos for other kriyas, I think that I will start to do more Kundalini yoga
.This may work out well because it was when I was doing the Kundalini yoga before that I became a vegetarian. So if I want my diet to veer that way, eating less and less meat, Kundalini may help move me in that direction……Sat siri akal!
Music From Feather, Stone & Light
Here is the title track from Feather, Stone & Light…..and I’m off to the store to get the final ingredients to make Vegetarian Mousaka! Wish Me Luck!!
So yesterday I babysat my five month old granddaughter Zoe. I watched her from 12:30 until my son Peter got home around 5 o’clock. When I first got to their apartment, my daughter-in-law Melissa was holding, said Zoe was a cranky baby, who wouldn’t nap! So I thought I was going to be in for a tough afternoon with a cranky baby!! After Missy left I laid Zoe down on her playmate and much to my surprise she did not fuss and cry. Instead she laid there and played very nicely!!
SShortly after laying her down I took this picture and tweeted it to my wife…. Her response was “LOL she doesn’t look cranky to me” and she wasn’t! I read to her for a bit, then we watched “Baby Einstein on the Farm” and “Wheels on the bus” and before long it was two o’clock and time for her bottle. I still don’t have this bottle thing down, four kids and it took me until I was 63 to give a child a bottle! Anyway, Zoe drank about 2/3 of the bottle and then fell asleep. She stayed asleep until after 4:30.When she got up, I read to her again and she sat and played with some toys, – by herself! Before long Dad was home and granddad was on his way home!!
Here’s the way see spent most of the afternoon! Oh what a difference five months makes. Here’s a composite video of my grandson Oliver Edward Karn taken over the last month or so. In the first part, he is doing a little home redecorating and later he is rocking out to “Uptown Funk” Of course, Mr. Oliver has ALWAYS been a little more active than Miss Zoe!
Anyway it was a nice afternoon, with a very non-cranky, good napping little girl ……LOL! Now with that said, next week may be a whole new ballgame!!
On the way over to babysit Zoe, the new album Blackbirdsfrom Gretchen Peters was the soundtrack for the ride and on the way home it was a great new blues album from Brandon Santini. I will try to write something about both albums at Me,Myself, Music, and Mysteries later tonight or tomorrow I will post a link when the posts are done!!
Yes, I know that February doesn’t start until Sunday, but I thought I’d get a jump on things, because anything that I’m reading now won’t be finished until February anyway! So here are my February Reads….
This book is the only book that I didn’t complete from my planned January reads!! I am actually about half-way through it, so I guess that’s too bad. It’s a fairly long book that is kinds hard to follow at times, but I am enjoying it!!
I chose this book as part of my Non-Fiction challenge. It is actually a great story about how an idea from one ordinary person can have a real impact on our world! Hopefully, I can put some of Adam’s ideas into practice!
I don’t think I’ve ever read a current Young Adult novel, so I thought I’d try one and see what all the fuss is about! So far so good, I also have Crown of Midnight checked out of the library in case I really like the adventures of the kick-ass assassin Celeana Sardothien! Counts toward my unknown Science and Fantasy Challenge!
I really didn’t plan on reading this book, but I spotted it on one of my TBR shelves, started it and already I’m laughing my head off! This one counts toward my TBR Reading Challenge and the unknown Science and Fantasy Challenge!
Templar – P.C.. Doherty
From Goodreads: The Templars exploded onto the public conciousness with Dan Brown‘s THE DA VINCI CODE, now journey with Paul Doherty to 1095 and experience the founding of the Templar Order in all its epic and brutal detail. 1095 and crusading fervour has swept Europe. Christ’s fief of Jerusalem has been seized by the Infidels. The Frankish Knights of the West are to march east to liberate the Holy City.
I picked up this book yesterday at the library to go to read as part of my Historical Fiction Challenge. The rating at Goodreads is only three stars and I see lots of 1s in the reviews, so we’ll see!
You can check out my progress on my reading challenge update page. Overall, January was a good month! I finished 4 out of the 5 books I planned to read and I’m halfway through the 5th one! I have also started 3 out of the above February reads!! Not Bad!!
On July 15th of 1966, US forces began “Operation Hastings” an operation to drive North Vietnamese forces from the demilitarized zone between North and South Vietnam. From Wikipedia….
Operation Hastings was an American military operation in the Vietnam War. The operation was a qualified success in that it pushed the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) forces back across the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). As the NVA clearly did not feel constrained by the Operation Hastings was an American military operation in the Vietnam War. The operation was a qualified success in that it pushed the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) forces back across the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). As the NVA clearly did not feel constrained by the “demilitarized” nature of the DMZ, US military leadership ordered a steady build-up of U.S. Marines near the DMZ from 1966 to 1968.
I was 15 in 1966 and on the cusp of caring about what was happening in Vietnam, but over the next few years, as I approached draft age, my concern would obviously, grow. Eventually, I ended up on the side that thought the war was wrong, and wanted to bring our troops home.
When I think about this period of my life, the musician who comes to mind is Country Joe McDonald….”and it’s 1, 2, 3 What are we fighting for….” No really, it’s Phil Ochs and the song that comes to mind and really sums up for me, why we were destined to fail in Vietnam, and with a change in colors Iraq, is “White Boots Marching in a Yellow Land”….
PS – You know just because we were against the war, it doesn’t mean we were not for the men who fought the war. What everyone wanted more than anything was for those men to come home and no more to be sent there to die in what had become a senseless war. There’s a scene in the classic show Taxi .
When Tony angrily confronts Jim with the bitter accusation that he fought in Vietnam so that burnouts like him could stay home and get loaded at protest rallies, the philosophical Ignatowski can only stammer a heartfelt, and utterly sincere, “Thank you.” Read More
and while I did not get loaded at Protest Rallies I also say – Thank You!
So I just finished a four mile run, when actually maybe a one mile jog to almost fast walk, I hate the hot weather! Anyway, after I was finished, I collapsed in my chair here in front of the computer and almost fell asleep, I did manage to get up and take a shower. As I was getting out of the shower I was trying to think of what to eat, something maybe quick and light and decided on a fried egg sandwich. That means two eggs on toast….., which in turn leads my mind to “Well, it’s two eggs up on whiskey toast……” and Jerry Jeff ….
Yesterday, we went to Surf City for the traditional July 4th potluck picnic with my wife’s mother’s side of the family. It had been canceled from July 4th, because of the weather. This was the first time in many years, that most of my children could attend, well, all could have attended on Friday, unfortunately my oldest son Nick couldn’t make it on Saturday because of his work schedule. But the young man that everyone wanted to meet Oliver,could make it, and he didn’t disappoint. My wife took a series of pictures of Oliver with her Uncle James Browne. Thinking about it, Jim is really the only one of our aunts and uncles except for Kathy’s Uncle Roy, who lives in California. So here is Oliver with his grand Uncle……
Yes, Oliver flirted with several of the women, but he was entranced by only one thing……. the iPhone…..
That’s his Dad holding Oliver, as he stares happily at my iPhone!!
As I was looking for these pictures that my wife had posted on my Facebook page, I came across these pictures of my daughter Elizabeth and my wife’s mother (and Jim’s sister) I knew there was a strong resemblance between the two but I didn’t realize, how strong it was……..
One of the biggest – hell “I only wish thats” of my life – was that my children would have been able to know my wife’s parents, Bob and Ruth Clarke, who were two wonderful people, that could have had a very positive impact on my family! I know that their spirit has actually been passed on to our kids, by my wife, but still, it would have been nice, if they could have done it themselves!
My wife’s mother Ruth Browne Clarke died at the age of 48 in 1981 from breast cancer, and her father Robert Nelson Clarke died of a heart attack in 1993 at the age of 60. Damn!
