Entry No.48; December 2011: Inspiration, Move Me Brightly

After seeing the outstanding Larry Campbell along with his effervescent wife, Teresa Williams performing the Rev. Gary Davis' classic "Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning" twice, (once with Furthur at the Garden and again with Hot Tuna at the Beacon) I just had to add it to my repertoire. Last year a great friend gifted me Larry's instructional DVD (part of Happy Traum's Homespun Video collection) making it easy for me to learn. I'll be breaking it out at some of my upcoming gigs.

I've also been learning to play a bunch of great songs with my brilliant mandolin teacher, Barry Mitterhoff of Hot Tuna, including a fiddle piece he learned from Jay Ungar called "Muddy Roads", as well as "Goodnight Tessa" and "Julia Delaney". The fiddle patterns are mind-blowing and learning these tunes on the mandolin is a challenge for me. Certainly not as easy as the guitar.

Some of the fantastic recordings I enjoy listening to lately include the Yo Yo Ma, Chris Thile, Edgar Meyer and Stuart Duncan collaboration, "The Goat Rodeo", Margot Leverett and The Klezmer Mountain Boys eponymous 2003 release and the incomparable David Bromberg's latest collection, "Use Me". Check 'em out.

Entry No.47; August 2011: Yigit Yazici Painted Topsail on the Sloop Woody Guthrie

It all came to me in like a waking dream. A couple years ago I was wandering around an Istanbul neighborhood where fisherman sell their daily catch to the fish-mongers who in turn sell it to restaurants. After riding ferries and boats from one section of the city to the other for almost two weeks, as I gazed out at the Istanbul Harbor that morning, I imagined my home on the majestic Hudson River which also once over-flowed with a flotilla of great sloops. I was reminded of my friends at the Beacon Sloop Club who have welcomed me into their fold many times over the years. I wanted to give something back, something other than volunteering my music or my time.

H. Yigit Yazici is a wonderful artist I met in Turkey who's beautiful hand-painted sails grace many of the ships in the Istanbul Harbor. He and his lovely wife Idil and I made a wonderful connection and when I returned to the states I spoke with Pete Seeger about the possibility of having Yigit paint a sail. Pete loved the idea and generously suggested the Sloop Woody Guthrie.

Yigit did an incredible job painting the topsail for the Sloop Woody Guthrie. It was hoisted for the first time on July 22, 2011 at it's home in Beacon, NY and according to Captain Ben, "performed beautifully in light wind and looked very colorful against the blue sky and tanbark mainsail."

Hooray! It's here! Please visit the Beacon Sloop Club for a FREE sail and ask 'em to hoist Yigit's Topsail!!
beaconsloop.org
yigityazici.com

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