False Starts, Corporate Hearts, and Outdoor Arts

Written by Greg Whitt Saturday, 30 October 2010 00:00

As it gets dark earlier, I'm always inspired to hunker down and take a deeper look at rhythm.  This is the season when I really want to focus on learning and expanding my skills and knowledge about music from around the planet.  I had some great exposure to all kinds of rhythm at this year's Raleigh International Festival.  This really set the stage for my upcoming school residencies. 

Early in October several drummers got together with friends Angela and Natalia, owners of Dos Taquitos Centro, as they celebrated the restaurant's third anniversary.  Bus drivers were rocking as they were caught by the light.  Heads on suits were swiveling and nodding in time from passing cars headed home from work.  Passersby dodged the drums in the middle of the sidewalk and lightly danced through our groove.  It was a great evening with the BEST LATIN FOOD IN TOWN!  About a week later I got a call from someone identifying themselves as an attorney and stating he had recorded us from the street.  I could only begin to imagine what kind of trouble we were in!  Turns out he wanted to use the recording as the soundtrack for an iPhone App!  Check out COIN JAR!

Also in October I drummed for the Wake Forest Autumn Arts Festival.  Drumming at Saint Anne's Chapel in Tarboro was GREAT!  Pics are in my gallery - just click here.  AND I was invited to sit in with One Tribe Rhythms for the Cooke Street Carnival.  On top of those great events, I sold a bunch of drums to make room for five new djembes from Ghana that are now part of my drum fleet headed into schools like the RidgeWoodStock festival thrown by Follow the Child Montessori School.

Drums SOLD to make new room for djembes from Ghana

This month I got a very special invitation:  Drum buddy Ken and I, along with Robin and Rachel from Happybeat Drumming, joined old friend Taylor Traversari's band Airiel Down on-stage at Lincoln Theater!  We had a total comedy of errors getting onto the stage that involved two of us bleeding, two women in banana suits, and a gorilla.  The whole experience was over in about six minutes and left us wondering "WHAT JUST HAPPENED HERE???"  Click to see the video!  

The most fun, however, was playing drums with 150 or so of my newest friends!  Fellow HealthRHYTHMS facilitator Summer Mason came out to support a CORPORATE ENERGIZER with the annual WIC Conference held by the NC Department of Health and Human Services.  The event was so much fun that I had to make a little video of all the festivities!  Singing, dancing, drumming, and stories..... Click HERE to see the highlights.

And today, thanks to a special invitation from the Town of Cary's Parks and Recreation Department along with Cary Visual Arts, I was able to drum with folks at the dedication for "Arts Alfresco" by sculptor Brad Spencer.  Brad told me he plays a little percussion, guitar and mandolin.  His vision for this installation was how people might come together in the park and have an impromptu jam.  

At Brad Spencer's Arts Alfresco" in Cary, NC

These are the stories that truly make this the best job in the world.  I meet interesting and exciting people everywhere I go simply because the drum is a great tool for connecting and building relationships.  Rhythm is the common denominator.  Though we sometimes forget, we all have it.  We first felt it in our mother's heartbeat before we ever left the womb.  When I stay connected to the rhythms of the planet, to the days and seasons and tides, and to the people who surround me, I'm a much more balanced person.  I'm also able to see and trust the universal connections that tie us all.  Here's an inspirational story that illustrates a bit of what I'm talking about.

Coming in November:  Gratitude Circles for Thanksgiving, more corporate teambuilding, and International Education Week at St Augustine's College.  Woohoo!

In rhythm,

-G ;^)