It’s been a while since my last post on the Field Band Foundation, so an update is definitely in order…
Lately I’ve been focusing on the bands from Cullinan, Daveyton, and Dobsonville, all in the Johannesburg/Pretoria area. I usually work with the drummers for about an hour and then observe the full band rehearsal to see how things are coming along. I’m happy to say that I’m seeing some nice progress all around. The national championships are just two months away, so attendance is improving and things are getting a bit more serious as everyone prepares for the competition.
I’ve included some clips from a recent rehearsal in Cullinan in the video below. It features a drum cadence I’ve been working on with my students and some footage from their full band rehearsal as well. Keep an eye out for my friend and colleague, Thomas, as he makes his debut “lemon curry” cameo. Thomas also taught the drummers in Cullinan for several months as part of the Norwegian Peace Corps program that assists the Field Band Foundation. Sadly, the six Norwegians from the group just went back home and the next group won’t arrive until October, so I will be without Norwegian buddies for a while.
Also included in the video are some clips from a recent performance I organized for my students from Cullinan. The Public Affairs Officer from the US Consulate in Johannesburg asked me if I could put a presentation together about my work for a group of American teachers traveling through the country. So, I assembled some videos for a short seminar and got the guys from Cullinan to come to Soweto (the biggest township in South Africa) to perform for the group. The clips feature some of the warm-ups and cadences I’ve been teaching them as well as a segment from their drum solo from last year’s championships. I hope you will be as impressed with them as I am. They are really coming along! We’re going to be putting this year’s solo together over the next few weeks, which should be a lot of fun. That’s when they get to use all of the fancy stick tricks and showy movements, like in the movie, Drumline. I will surely have a post about it once we get a little closer to the championships.
In other news, I am working on a video on the Field Band tour to Norway, which I attended several weeks ago. It was an absolutely incredible experience and I hope the video will do it justice. Look out for a post in the next couple of weeks. I’m also working on some songs for an album I’m going to be recording with a musician friend I met here several months ago, named Bham. The idea is to combine African styles with rock drumming and other international flavors. Hopefully it will be finished by November. I’m also planning some big trips for the coming months. I’m going to Zimbabwe next week and will be traveling to several other southern African countries in October/November. I’ve also got tentative plans to go to Tanzania and the Republic of the Congo. We’ll see how that all pans out. In the meantime, check out the video below and let me know what you think. My blog is now open for commenting, so please comment!
