Nothing too exciting to report, but here are some highlights:
1) Tomorrow I'm meeting with Tabou, the singer / guitarist I performed with on Saturday, so that we can discuss potentially rehearsing / performing more together. (YAY!)
2) I'm meeting an Embassy person on Friday to finalize the paperwork necessary to obtain my visa and also to get a clearance badge, which will give me access to the bank, the mail room, the cafeteria, etc. without having to ask for an official escort.
3) I went to WARC (West African Research Center) yesterday and spoke briefly with the director about my project. I asked him for any help he could give in putting me in touch with FESMAN III organizers. He called an artist, Kalidou Kasse, who's on the Festival organizing committee, and told him about me and my project. Mr. Kasse told him to tell me to call back in 15 minutes, which I did, and then he told me to call tomorrow morning (meaning today) at 9:30am, which I did. But I was never able to reach him, so I had to just leave a message. So, thus constitutes my Fulbright research so far.
4) I practiced - Tom Waits ("Little Man"), Sammy Fain ("Secret Love"), Cesaria Evora ("Ess Pais"). Some of the music I played on Saturday night with Tabou was Cape Verdean (we played "Soldade," which Cesaria Evora sings), so I want to practice more improvising over these chords / forms.
Here's Run helping me practice:
Run posing with my first big Dakar purchase, a cell phone:
Some reading to keep my chin up (thank you, Geoff and Kia, for the book loan!):
I am so impressed! You say nothing too exciting to report and to me it sounds like a lot's going on musically at least! Way to go! As for the research part, just keep persisting and maybe you can make contact with that person. Meanwhile, there's still the archives, right?
ReplyDeleteGood luck with everything and congrats on the cell phone!
Hope you're liking the book!
ReplyDelete