Montreal Jazz Festival 2009

Can you distinguish the sound of 1,000 from that of 10,000 people? How about between 10,000 and 50,000? 50,000 and 100,000? 200,000 people? I can tell you this much, the roar from the audience in Montreal (estimated to be over 200,000) was beyond thundering, beyond explosive, into the realm of unfathomable! The cheers that Stevie elicited from the crowd from his mere presence shook my body to the core. And that was with my ear monitors in place! As far as I could see, people were crowed into the street that lay beyond the stage where we performed. We were supposed to start the show at 9:30, but were postponed by 30 minutes due to rain. Shortly after Stevie walked on stage, the rain subsided. Coincidence? Maybe…

We all poured our hearts in the 2.5 hour concert that night. The music of course included several of Stevie’s hit (Master Blaster, Higher Ground, Superstition, etc), but also included homage to Michael Jackson. The band performed “I Can’t Help It”, and grooved along while Michael’s recordings of a few hits (“The Way You Make Me Feel”, “Billie Jean”, etc.) were played over the PA. In a nod to the fact that we were performing for a Jazz Festival, we also performed “All Blues”, “Giant Steps” and “Spain”. The concert was a beautiful experience for all of us onstage, and most reviews and comments I’ve read online indicate that the massive crowd felt the same emotions that we performers did.

Milwaukee Summerfest 2009

For the first time since I’ve been touring with Stevie, we had an opening act tonight. John Legend performed a set with his full band. I decided to first do my make up and hair for the show, and then walked to an area next to the audience so I could watch John’s performance. He and his band sounded great! They performed a series of his hits, including his latest “Green Light”. But, I was waiting to hear “Ordinary People”, which came towards the end of the set. Satisfied, I returned to the dressing room to finish preparing for our show.

Another first: we started on time! Stevie spoke to the audience as we all entered the stage after him, and encouraged everyone to focus on the gift of Michael Jackson’s music, and to focus on love. Again, he started the show with “Love’s In Need”. Otherwise, the concert was a blend of the usual set list, spontaneous choices from Stevie’s catalog and Michael Jackson tunes. Stevie invited John Legend to come to the stage and sing several times during the night, including for “I Can’t Help It” and “Superstition”. Stevie also performed a more complete version of a song he’d debuted the night before, which he is dedicating to Michael and his family.

It was an extremely emotional night, with Stevie collapsing on his keyboard seat once during the concert. Aisha walked over to console him in his moment of obvious emotional pain. But Stevie pushed through the grief and gave a marvelous show. All of us on stage were affected by the shock of Michael’s death, and empathized with Stevie’s loss of a dear friend. I’m glad that we were all present to give Stevie our loving energy, along with that from the audience. What better balm for a grieving heart than love? None that I know!

As the parting note, the Michael Jackson montage that was played after the Kansas City concert was played again, with John joining all of us in a Michael Jackson dance jam. What a great show and what a lovely tribute!

Kansas City Blues

Last night, we performed in Kansas City, MO. This was the first show after the announcement of Michael Jackson’s death. We’d traveled to KS the day before, and upon landing, all of our cell phones received a deluge of text messages announcing the shocking news. We all wondered how Stevie was doing, given that Michael must have been like a little brother to him. At the venue, the Starlight Theater, the mood was melancholy in the oppressive heat, but not somber. We did our usual sound check, including several of Michael’s tunes, since we all guessed that Stevie would be performing at least a few of MJ’s hits. We started the show with “Love’s In Need”, instead of “All Blues”, which we’d been as the opening song since the 2008 Tour. The show flowed between Stevie songs and Michael songs. At one point, Stevie became overwrought with emotion and asked Keith John to sing the lead on “Never Can Say Goodbye”. At the end of the show, Stevie had the audio engineer play a montage of Michael Jackson hits as we all joined him at the front of the stage. This blog recounts the night’s events with photos:

Kansas City, MO

RIP MJ

As the plane landed, I turned on my cell phone and was inundated with a deluge of frantic text messages about the demise of the King of Pop. Surely, this isn't true! With the sudden fierceness of an unexpected storm, the entire plane was speaking in hushed tones about MJ: can you believe it?...Oh my God!...him too?... All of us traveling musicians were shocked. Surely, this isn't true!

Alas, it is true. I can only imagine the pain my boss, Mr. Morris, is feeling. Michael must have been like a little brother to him. I can't help it, but I feel overwhelmed with grief at the loss. I realize that grief is just Human Nature, but I'm surprised at my reaction, given that I'd never met the man and only know him through his extraordinary music catalog. I will always Remember The Time I first heard Ben as a girl. I fell in love with the voice of the Man In The Mirror immediately. I'm listening to his songs tonight. I have to prepare myself to perform his songs in tribute, telling myself Don't Stop Till You Get Enough, and really have internalized these songs.

And now he's Gone Too Soon. And I never had the chance to see him perform.

He will be missed...

Working Weekend

I performed again in Danville last night, and in Burlingame this morning, both times playing piano/keyboard and singing. I've been working on adding more songs to my repertoire, just recently added a Billy Joel song (And So It Goes) and Lauren Hill's version of Can't Take My Eye Off of You. Both were received well by my audiences. I tried "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz last night, but I need to find a better key. The original key is too low for me.

This afternoon, I accompanied 3 wonderfully talented young people. I participated in a youth scholarship program, accompanying a singer, a clarinetist and a saxophonist. On the program were 2 other singers and 2 pianists. It was great! Most of the students are also studying in UC Berkeley's Young Musicians Program, of which I'm an alum, so it was a challenge for me to keep it together watching and accompanying those beautiful young faces!

Few things in life make me more jubilant (or emotional) than watching young people pursue their dreams with dedication and determination. Very often, I'm moved to tears by their efforts! This is a huge reason why I'm addicted to my favorite TV show of ALL TIME: So You Think You Can Dance. Some of you know that dance is my secondary passion (behind music) and that I still look forward to one day dancing in a senior citizen dance company! lol Once I'm at the point that I no longer need to earn a living, I'm so all about the dance...and piano...and singing...and language...and science...and philanthropy...and food...and ok ok, I know I do too much! But I can't help it! Anyway, sorry to digress...watching the young dancers on that show takes my breath away! As someone who is highly disciplined, determined and passionate, and who has a tremendous work ethic, seeing those traits personified in the dancers on the show is utterly thrilling! So far I've only seen the first 2 episodes on TIVO (I NEVER have time to watch TV live), so please DON'T TELL ME ANYTHING about what's happened in the past 3 weeks. During the past 4 seasons, it's been heartbreaking to see any of the dancers voted off. My equally addicted friend Alexsandra tells me that this year is worse than ever because everyone is so talented. Yikes!!! Don't judge my one vice in life!! I love love love that show! ; >

That's what friends are for...

I started the day by attending the funeral of my friend Tommie Bradford's mother. I don't think I ever met her, but I consider both of her sons, Tommie and Dontay, to be friends, and I wanted to be present as they honored their mother. It was a beautiful service, and tears came to my eyes more than once. The church was filled with family, friends, and people like me who only knew of her through her family, and it was much more of a celebration of an obviously beautiful life than it was a sorrowful goodbye.

After teaching a few students, I treated myself to a massage at my cousin's spa, Skin by Maisha. Maisha has been my aesthetician for many years (note my lovely, youthful, glowing skin!) and now offers massage therapy. I've been treated by both therapists in her spa, Katy and Thomas, and every time it's been a fantastic experience. Thanks to my habit of overbooking myself, I really, really, really needed my shoulders worked on (my typical area of stress accumulation). One day, I'm going to get massages on a weekly basis...ah...

This evening, I performed again at Marcello's and had the pleasure of several friends coming out to hear me and have dinner. Thanks to Sandi, Steve, Tony, Mary, Chris and the many regular patrons (whose names escape me as I write this at 1am) for coming out and for being so supportive! And thanks to Sandi and Chris for sharing their gorgeous voices! : >

Victoria Theodore June Performances

“And let them pass, as they will too soon,
With the bean-flowers' boon,
And the blackbird's tune,
And May, and June!”
- Robert Browning


Hello friends,

I am safely returned home from my beautiful trip to Morocco. Stevie Wonder performed at the annual MAWAZINE Festival in Rabat (Morocco's capital city) and brought along the full band. Not only that, despite only 1 performance, he gave us the full week there! God bless him! : > I wrote in my blog all about the trip, the concert (with 70,000 adoring Wonder fans projecting their love onto the stage), and how I spent my day in Morocco alone, after everyone else had left for home!

Here are some of my upcoming performances:

May 2009
Sun, May 31
5pm
Oakland Public Conservatory Chamber Orchestra
Sandra I. Noriega, Music Director
Performing the works of Aaron Copeland and William Grant Still with Victoria Theodore, piano

By Donation
Skyline Community Church
12540 Skyline Boulevard Oakland, CA 94619 | 510.531.8212

June 2009
Sat, Jun 6
8:30pm - 11:30pm
Marcello's Restaurant & Piano Bar
Open mic! Come sing! Bring your instrument! Play a song or two with me!
515 San Ramon Valley Boulevard Danville, CA 94526 | 925.838.8144

Sat, Jun 13
8:30pm - 11:30pm
Marcello's Restaurant & Piano Bar
Open mic! Come sing! Bring your instrument! Play a song or two with me!
515 San Ramon Valley Boulevard Danville, CA 94526 | 925.838.8144

Wed, Jun 24
8pm
Stevie Wonder
2009 Tour
Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park
2200 Encore Parkway Alpharetta, GA 30009 | 404.733.5010

Fri, Jun 26
8pm
Stevie Wonder
2009 Tour
Starlight Theatre
4600 Starlight Drive Kansas City, KS 64132 | 816.363.7827

Sun, Jun 28
8pm
Stevie Wonder
2009 Tour
Marcus Amphitheatre
200 N Harbor Dr Milwaukee, WI 53202 | 414.273.2680

Tue, Jun 30
8pm
Stevie Wonder
2009 Tour
Montreal Jazz Festival
175 Rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest Montreal, QC, Canada | 888.515.0515


Please check out my web site to see a full, up-to-date listing of when and where I'm performing. I'd love to see you at one of my performances. Please come say hello!

Just click on one of the links and then click the button that says "SHOWS".

Have a wonderful month! I hope to see you soon!

A Walk on the Classical Side!

Tonight I performed with an orchestra for the first time in ages! I was the pianist with the Oakland Public Conservatory Chamber Orchestra in performance of Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland and Dismal Swamp by William Grant Still. Both pieces have substantial, beautiful (and somewhat technically challenging) piano parts and I had a great time performing the works.

First, we performed Appalachia Spring, which starts slowly and gently, evoking a sunrise, gradually building into a raucous folk music inflected “hillbilly ho-down”. The piano part is filled with octave leaps, parallel intervals, and towards the end, exceptionally fast scalular patterns which don’t leave much room for error. Additionally, there are frequent time changes (alternating between 3/8, 4/4 and 5/8 and sometimes 1/2), which require constant focus and counting to ensure keeping one’s place in the music. Despite the challenge, it is such beautiful music! I’ve always been a fan of this particular Copland piece.

Dismal Swamp is a gorgeous piece of music from a composer whose work I’ve been familiar with for many years. My piano teacher from my teen years, Eugene Gash, had exposed me to several African American composers of music, including some of Still’s works. His work “Out of the Silence” is one of my favorite pieces in my repertoire. “Dismal Swamp” piece reads like a mini-concerto, with the piano receiving solo treatment as well as being used for texture within the orchestra. I had a few occasions to be expressive as a soloist within the work, which I truly enjoyed! Despite limited rehearsal time, I think the overall performances went well!

Many thanks to our conductor, Sandra Noriega, and to all of the orchestra players for a great job, and for making me feel a welcome member of the ensemble, and thanks to Owen for coming to the concert! Now, I feel inspired to learn and perform a concerto. I already own the scores for the Grieg, Rach #3 , Liszt #1 and Shostakovish #2 ….hmmm…maybe one day…

Morocco: An Extra Day!

I woke up early, and headed down to the lobby a full 30 minutes before the call time. I’ve taught myself to be particularly early on departure dates to be absolutely certain that I don’t get left behind. Once we all boarded the van, we were driven 90 minutes away to the Casablanca Airport. On the way, we were able to see more of the Moroccan landscape, including Casablanca in the distance. None of us could help but notice the difference in interaction between pedestrians and vehicles here: people walking within inches of swiftly moving vehicles, people lingering in the street as traffic passes by, but most shocking: people walking on the freeway! There was even a couple, both dressed in fine business clothing, standing on the freeway, as if awaiting a ride. I’d never seen anything like it.

Driving to the airport:


























Once we arrived at the airport, we each checked in, handing over passports and luggage. Well, then it was my turn. Suddenly, the check-in agent became cold and abrupt: “You have missed your flight and must go to the ticket agent”. Of course, this information struck me as being spurious and inaccurate. I once again checked my cell phone (where I stored the email message outlining my flight information, reference number, etc.), and showed the printed itinerary I’d been given, which confirmed me on the 9:40am flight, to the check-in agent. She was not moved. “This information is incorrect. You must go to the ticket agent.” Ok. Fine.

So, as the other members of our group looked on with curiosity and growing concern, I walked to the ticket agent, explained the situation and received an even more shocking response: “You were booked on the 7am flight, and you missed it. You now have 2 choices: you can fly to Paris today and spend the night in Paris, or stay another day in Morocco and fly tomorrow morning at 7am. What do want to do?” Apparently, the flight had been overbooked, and the agents refused to acknowledge that their airline had made an error. There was no waiting list, no standby possibility, etc. I was officially stuck in Morocco…alone. After trying to get something to happen for an hour or so, with an agent who was even more rude than the first agent, I finally told my lovely band mates to go ahead and catch their flight. They were very kind in waiting with me to resolve the situation. I hugged them all goodbye and considered my two options. I decided it would be best to stay another day in Morocco, as I didn’t have any way to contact my friends in Paris to set up accommodations for myself (my cell phone doesn’t work outside of the USA). Thankfully, the driver who had delivered us to the airport had not left, and he allowed me to use his cell phone to call our hostess and tour guide, Wissal, who contacted the resort and arranged for me to return to my hotel room for another night. The driver, who spoke no English at all, grabbed my luggage and returned me to the hotel, 90 minutes back in the other direction.

Driving back to the hotel:












Upon my return to the hotel, I immediately headed to the breakfast restaurant to eat. I’d be awake since 5am and was desperately hungry. On Saturday, I’d met a couple of ladies who were in Morocco vacationing, and who are the friends of a Wonder staff person. One of the ladies, Daphne, happened to be in the restaurant having breakfast at that very moment, and invited me to join her. Daphne and her friend Tiffany instantly took me in as a friend and I spent much of the day with them, a beautiful example of serendipity. Later in the day, we went to dinner in the resident Moroccan restaurant, enjoying a delicious traditional Moroccan meal. I had a sampling of Moroccan salads, my favorite being the smoked eggplant salad, which I ate with the whole grain bread that was brought to our table. Yummy! After dinner, I went back to my room and occupied myself with various tasks, deciding it would be better not to fall asleep, given my 3am call time.

My new friends, Daphne, Tiffany and Abdallah:










At 3am, I went to the lobby, and as expected, my driver was there, ready to again take me to the airport. This time, he was driving a fancy Mercedes sedan, which allowed him to move much faster. This trip only took an hour’s time. We arrived at the Casablanca Airport 30 minutes before the check-in agents arrived, and as before, the driver (whose name I didn’t get) waited with me. Apparently, whoever this man was, he wasn’t simply a driver. Once I had my ticket, he attached a fancy badge to his jacket and the security people virtually genuflected in his presence, as we sailed through customs and security with ease. He pulled my computer case and carry-on bag to the Gate, confirming that I was in the right place at the right time before departing. He was utterly gracious, and despite my awful French and Arabic, seemed to understand my sincere expressions of gratitude.

On a somber note, this morning, I turned on my computer to check the reviews of the concert and was stunned to learn of the terrible stampede that had taken place. Apparently, Moroccan star, Abdelaziz Stati performed after us, and following his concert, as the crowd was leaving, a fence collapsed and 11 people died in the ensuing haos. I extend my deepest condolences to the families of those who died.

Overall, my first trip to Africa was a rousing success. I did thoroughly enjoy myself, fiasco notwithstanding, and was duly impressed by the hospitality of our tireless hosts, Wissal and Amr, our various servers, including Abdallah and Hanane, and the entire staff of L’Amphitrite Palace Resort & Spa.

Amr:





Wissal:








Finally, many thanks to King Mohammed VI, for his exceptional generosity towards all of us during our stay, and to his staff for making sure I was taken care of after my flight SNAFU. I am left with a beautiful impression of the Moroccan people, and look forward to returning one day to see more of the country! Shukran and Barak Allah Ufik!

Photos from my last day in Morocco:

Morocco: Shopping!

Again, I woke up late, missed another chance to run on the beach, and missed breakfast. Oh well! At 1pm, we drove back into Rabat to visit the Medina shopping area once again. On the way, we passed the party castle, which is just as stunning in daylight as at night. We stopped by TGI Friday in Rabat for lunch, where our new friends, restaurant managers Noura and Richard, once again enthusiastically greeted us. Life in Morocco runs at a very different pace. Every meal lasted 2 hours or more, rather than the standard cursory 20-30 minutes in the USA. TGI Friday was no different. We sat, talked, waited, talked, waited, talked, and were at the breaking point when food finally arrived!

After lunch, we hit the Medina. I bought a few more trinkets, for friends and family, but for myself as well, and had a great time walking around with the group. I am not an experienced haggler, and felt a bit ambivalent about the prospect of talking down a price that already seemed absurdly low, but apparently, negotiation is not only expected, it’s cultural, so I partook. Some fellow Americans, who now live in Morocco, suggested that I negotiate the initial price down by 2/3, but I felt too guilty of being an “ugly American” to do that. For the most part, I was pleased when I achieved a 30-40% discount.












We returned to the hotel, and went to dinner…another 2 hour experience…and then headed into the cigar lounge. Even I, the anti-smoker, sat in the room with everyone for a little while. Smoking is permitted virtually everywhere in Morocco, so I had to acclimate myself to continual sniffles and irritated eyes while there. In the resort, however, the filtration system was adequate so that I didn’t feel inundated to an intolerable degree by cigarette and cigar smoke. Once I’d had enough of being exposed to the smoke, I headed to my room, packed and slept for about 5 hours.

Morocco: Stevie Wonder Concert

This morning, I had one thing on my mind: PRACTICE! Over the past 2 days of rehearsal, Stevie has randomly called upon the band to rehearse songs that we either had never played before or had rarely played. I spent the entire morning, reviewing as much music as I could in a few hours. I ate a pear and drank some water, but otherwise had nothing to eat. At 3pm, we all loaded into the shuttle busses to head to the venue, this time without hassle, as the crowd had yet to appear and the Royal Family wouldn’t be arriving for several hours. Unfortunately, the weather was taking a turn towards cold, which is not good for an outdoor concert…especially for someone like me, who gets cold easily!

Driving to the venue:




















From the stage:









Me & Phil, keyboard tech










Kyle on guitar








After running about half of the show, we all took a break, and I, starving as I was, was first in line for dinner. Dinner included some fantastically delicious examples of Moroccan cuisine, including vegetables cooked in a Tagine (my favorite Moroccan dish), broiled lobster and yummy chicken Pastilla. Shortly after I made my plate, I was told by our stage manager, Tony, that Stevie had arrived and wanted everyone on stage ASAP. Not one to leave a plate of delicious food behind, I grabbed a napkin, a fork and toted my plate along with me onto the stage! While Stevie tweaked the settings on his keyboard, I surreptitiously took little bites of food, swiftly consuming the entire plate of food before the end of sound check. We spent about another hour in sound check, and, well, by then, I was hungry again! So, I put together another plate of food. Hey! A girl’s gotta eat, right? Lol

After my second plate of dinner, I returned to my dressing room. For the first time, I had my own dressing room, which was slightly isolating, but good for intense music study. I listened to more Stevie tunes on my iPod as I donned my stage outfit. 30 minutes later, we hit the stage (on time!!) with great energy. For the most part, everything fell into place, and the audience loved every moment. I was told later that the Queen watched the show from a vantage point directly in front of me in the audience.

After the show, Stevie called the band into his dressing room, fed us more delicious Moroccan cuisine, and praised our efforts in his loving, familial way. Duly stuffed, we then headed to the castle for another after party. This time, as we arrived much later (nearly 2am), there weren’t as many people, the music was far more subdued and there wasn’t much food left … not that any of us needed any more food. A few of us walked around and engaged the Morocco people present in lively conversation. I met a few rather interesting people, including a Moroccan artist named Elam Jay. Stevie had an early flight, so we left the party around 3am, and headed back to the hotel. I was able to get to bed just around 4:30am.

After party photos:

Morocco: Alicia Keys Concert

This morning, I woke up late again. I still haven’t had the chance to go for a run on the beach or have breakfast. Lobby call for rehearsal was 1pm, so having woken up just before noon, I had just enough to get dressed and take off. At rehearsal, we went over a few songs before Stevie arrived, which was good to do considering that we hadn’t performed in concert together since November of last year. The band is as tight as ever and a continual source of joy for me. As a musician, it just doesn’t get better than this! Stevie joined us about an hour into the rehearsal, and at one point, he called me over to the piano to learn 2 of his newly composed songs. He showed me the song on the piano, and then moved over to another bench, allowing me to play his piano while he sang right next to me. Just me and him. Those are my favorite moments. All I can do is just play, soak it all in and grin like a kid in a candy store!

After the rehearsal, we all returned to the hotel to get ready to attend Alicia Keys' performance at the Mawazine Festival.
At 8:30pm, we packed into a duo of shuttle busses and drove to the venue. Apparently, part of the royal family was arriving at the same time as our group, and security was intense. We were led backstage and taken to an area where we could stand and watch a rear projection image of the stage. We arrived just in time for the final few songs of Alicia’s opening act, her background singer Jermaine Paul. Unfortunately, the audio backstage was less than ideal, and it was difficult to hear Jermaine, but the audience out front seemed to enjoy his performance. Once Jermaine left the stage, we were led out into the crowd, however, most of us stopped short of the designated area, preferring to have the option of returning backstage. Alicia came on stage and sang a series of lively songs from her latest release, as well as some inventive arrangements of her hits. Most of us stayed in the crowd watching the show for about 30 minutes before returning backstage to watch the remainder of her performance on the rear projection screens. I, for one, am not a crowd person. I love performing for a crowd, but do not enjoy standing in a crowd. Probably because I’m at a slight disadvantage given my small stature. I can never see anything! Lol









I’d seen Alicia perform once before several years ago. I’ve always been a fan of her music, but more than anything else, I’m grateful for the impact she has made on music education, especially on little girls. She is such a wonderful inspiration for girls to learn to play piano and sing. This time in concert, she was again impressive. She has a great connection with the audience and sings with wonderful expression. I had a great time!

After the concert, we were whisked away to a Roman castle high on a hill for a VIP after party. The lighting, décor, and landscape of the castle was fully romantic and beautiful, and inside the main party area, was filled with all manner of Moroccan delicacies. While at the party, I met the Somalia born artist K’Naan and his band, all lovely fellows, whose show I wasn’t able to attend. Since our show is tomorrow night, we all ate food, and called it a night by 2am, early by Wonder-time standards!

Oops!

Ok, I like to consider myself a rather athletic, sure-footed type of person. Well, today in the gym, I had a wee bit of an accident. I finished a brief workout, and, as is my habit, I wanted to end the workout with a handstand. However, there was no clear wall for me to kick up next to. I can do a freestanding handstand, but I have a psychological fear of falling over, so I prefer to kick up next to a wall...just in case! So, there was this marble pillar in the gym, and I thought "hm, I can kick up against that pillar and I'll be fine". So, upside down I went! However, I started feeling a little wobbly, and reached to place my toe on the pillar to support my balance. However, this marble pillar was really slick and my toe just slid right off of it, and over I went...feet first, upside down into a backbend. Bam! I'm used to coming out of head and hand stands gently, so I didn't fall as hard as I could have, but it was certainly more abrupt than I would have preferred, given that it was completely unplanned! I stayed in the backbend for only about 2 seconds, and lowered myself to the ground in a bit of shock. I didn't have any pain at the time, and actually was impressed with the fact that I can perform a handstand and lower into a backbend. However, now, 15 hours later, I'm feeling quite sore. I bruised and scraped my elbow (which is now slightly swollen) and my forearms and trapezius muscles are aching.

Anyway, undaunted, I immediately got up from the floor, found a small sliver of wall to kick up against. Just like fall off of a horse or bicycle, I did another handstand to be sure I don't lose my love of that particular exercise. And I'll do it again tomorrow....just not the fall! I think I'll start training to do a graceful INTENTIONAL backwards walk over. I've always wanted to learn to do one, and now I see that I'm not that far from my goal!

As for music, we had rehearsal today with Stevie. It was fun, the usual musical journey that has virtually nothing to do with what we'll perform on Saturday. Oh well! We're all used to it, and love it and him anyway! ; >

Morocco: Sight-seeing in Rabat

This morning I woke up at 7am, stressing about not having my luggage. So, as is my tendency, I decided to use this bit of adversity to my advantage, and meditated on being at peace, despite the annoyance of not having my personal items, keyboard, clothes, etc. I dozed in and out of sleep for the following 3 hours, and finally decided to get up at 10am. I had no appetite, but went downstairs and made myself consume a glass of orange juice and a small cookie, as I waited for my band mate, Ryan, whose luggage was also lost, to meet me for a ride to a local grocery store to purchase personal items. I’ve had a great time using my very poor French around town, and occasionally getting up the nerve to use the Classical Arabic that I learned on the flight here, and had an opportunity to impress the storekeeper with my efforts after making my purchase.

Once we returned to the hotel, I decided to sit down for a formal lunch while waiting for the hour to pass before our scheduled tour of Rabat. At 1pm, everyone met in the lobby, and our tour guide, Wisal, showed us to the most famous mosque in Rabat, the beach, and a marketplace called Medina. I found a few trinkets to return home with, beautiful, small items which are sure to bring smiles to my loved ones. We spent the bulk of the day touring around, each of us variably sight-seeing and occasionally napping in the tour bus while driving, stopping for dinner at the local TGIF restaurant, and then heading back to the hotel. I only had a bowl of soup at TGIF, as I was still rather full from my lunch of pasta with tomatoes and basil, and bread with butter, and so back at the hotel, I was famished. But before I could think about food, I was informed that my luggage had been delivered! I was thrilled! What a relief to see my belongings! Fully pleased with the turn of events, my attention returned to the subject of food. Several of us met at one of the hotel restaurants and literally shut the place down with good food, good humor, and good conversation. Fun day!

Driving in Rabat









The oldest and most famous mosque in Rabat, Hassan Mosque, started in the 12th century but never completed



























Musée de Oudaïa






Walking through town, passing beautiful doors








The guys can't resist performing








The beach

Arriving in Morocco!

I'm elated, and disappointed: I have arrived in Morocco! But, alas my luggage is missing. Sigh. I’m working hard to maintain a positive attitude despite the incredible irritation of having nothing to wear, no toiletries, no cute shoes, no pajamas, no portable keyboard, etc. After all, I’m in Africa! I’m going to be performing in front of thousands and thousands of people! Hopefully, my luggage will arrive by the morning so that I can change clothes and get around town.

Here are a few photos of what I saw today:

Approaching the airport







Driving to the hotel







A road sign on the way to the hotel







Sunset







Sunset