Jammin

Joe and I had a really nice rehearsal tonight at our place. K, who is both a great accordion player and an all-around great guy, came with his wife, who was so kind as to bring over some delicious Indian food that she prepared herself. What a meal!

Mike the drummer also came over. He is amazingly talented, and because I’m pretty sure he doesn’t read this blog, I feel alright about admitting that I’ve got a bit of a crush on him. What can I say, he’s a redhead. No, he’s not the redhead mentioned here!

We’ve been meeting weekly to gear up for Balkan Night, but he and Joe also use the time to prepare for their regular gig at Café Apollonia in Roslindale. Joe’s been learning a classical Arabic piece called Lamma Bada Yatathanna, an example of something called a “muwashshah,” which is a form that developed in Muslim Spain in the 12th century, after which it spread to North Africa and from there to the Middle East. It’s quite lovely.

After everyone had left, our housemate D mentioned that he thought we sounded really good, which made me very happy.