jams in Belgium

I stuck around in Belgium for a little while after Sven's Sidi Caravan gig in Gent. Alan was over from New Zealand and had arranged a full moon gathering at our friend Thrine's farmhouse out in the country near Geel, so he, Sven and I got the train out there, met Inge and Dominique and proceeded to have a few very chilled days cooking, eating, jamming and enjoying each other's company in an uncharacteristically quiet and peaceful corner of Flanders. I recorded quite a lot of saz-and-mandolin jams with Inge, some with Sven and/or Alan playing percussion, some with Sven playing a bit of guitar. There was a wonderful and hilarious few minutes where we were all jamming on Alan's two-chord reggae anthem "Golden Bay Association Football Club" (who he's played for in NZ — including shoutouts to everyone on the team, plus the youth squad, the women's team...), Sven singing harmony on the choruses, but that didn't get recorded (typically).

   

Alan and I eventually headed back to Wolvertem near Brussels to meet his new (half-Malian) half-brother Joske and have a little jam (Joske playing some percussion along with us and Alan's dad) before I headed back across (actually *under*) the Channel.

I was back in Belgium a week-and-a-half later for more saz-and-mandolin magic with Inge at Funkey's birthday gathering in Sint-Niklaas. He seemed beyond delighted to have Inge and I there as musicians, and surprised me by talking about our recording sessions there years ago in such glowing terms. He made an amazing spread of food, local friends came over, unexpected friends from elsewhere turned up late, we jammed into the night. Beautiful. I had to take off in the morning, but it was worth going over just for that party (thanks, Sarah, for the Eurostar discount!). I now have about five hours of jams with Inge to edit down for another compilation, to be posted here in due course. That may take a few weeks, but it will happen.

   

During the in-between time that I was back in Britain I'd finished the book I've been working on for over three years, got it off to the printers, headed to Bristol on the coach and spent a night at the Evil Usses HQ just outside the city (a lovely spot, and a shared house where people just wander from room to room or sit in the garden practicing instruments). Dan Inzani was busy on his laptop doing BLOOM collective promo stuff and putting together the album art for a vinyl release of the debut Spindle Ensemble album Bea. Rosy was visiting Leon with her new cats Athena and Nanouk who'd quickly become centres of attention, enjoying climbing trees in the garden, etc. The next day, Rosy, the cats and I drove in her van Evangeline down to South Pool in Devon, hung out for a couple of days pottering in her garden, listening to vinyl, etc. then had a lovely trip up to Dartmoor (brought the cats, parked the van near Hay Tor, explored, played weird, wizardly psychedelic-guitar-and-saz jams through the night, listened to Hillage's Rainbow Dome Musick, stayed up til sunrise.

I then wandered down to Widdecombe to be picked up by Joel who then took me via his-and-Sarah's new place in Chagford to Batcombe in Somerset (their old place) and then — long drive into the night — on to the Lammas community in Pembrokeshire. This was for the possibly-to-become-annual gathering which came off the back of the surprise 50th birthday part staged for Stef last summer. It was another precious weekend gathering of lovely old friends, SO much amazing music being played at such a high level — Scandinavian folk tunes, African songs, Welsh trad, old Dongas material... Ruth was down from Scotland with her nickelharpa, Jo and Mikey from Sussex with box and fiddle...lots of pipes, strings, voices... sensitivity, listening, just pure musical love... Unfortunately I had sudden, very painful sinusitis (which I took to be toothache), so ended up on painkillers clutching my jaw, feeling dreadful and not managing much more than a bit of shaky egg shaking. My saz didn't even come out of its case : ( So, not the greatest time from my point-of-view, but lovely to see Stef, Peni, Peni's daughters and friends, Stevie P, Mandy, Fraggle and the whole crew.