Message: 1
Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2004 17:41:54 -0400
From: "Abdulai Aziz Ahamadu"
Subject: (unknown)

The Master Djembefola, Papa Ladji Camara, has made his transition to the ancestors on Saturday. He left peacefully in his sleep. Your prayers and blessings will be felt. He loved you all.

Baba Aziz Ahmadu

Message: 2
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 02:02:56 -0000
From: "HappyShel"
Subject: Papa Ladji Camara passes Oct 23

I've been notified by Baba Aziz, that Papa Ladji Camara, who brought the djembe to America, has passed on.

He made his transition in his sleep Saturday Oct 23rd. May Allah be pleased with him. may he have your prayers.

HappyShel

got a last minute call for another show with the Will McBride group last night, wasn't soing anything anyway so I loaded up the drums and headed down to Clayton. We played the Flipside, next to the CoffeeMill. I hadn't been there since the Flipside was opened (they used to put the musicians in the window of the coffeemill), and wow, what a great room! It's one of those vibes that hits you as soon as you walk in the place. Great feel, great sound, great owner/staff, great audience. We even played pretty well, ourselves! Soem rooms you don't feel like playing unless it's packed, others you would play all night to nobody but yourselves. This was one of those rooms. There were never more than 10 people in the room, but it felt great to play there, and I think those who were there could tell we enjoyed it, and they did too. One of those great experiences that makes this job worthwhile!

Well, we got through half of the last set before the rain hit, and when it hit, it HIT. Good for us, the staff was on-hand and ready with a tarp, draped the stage quickly, and we sat under it like a tent till the storm passed. Hopefully the conga heads will forgive me, and my carpet won't stink too bad for the water! My left hand got a workout (doing percussion duty w/ the left, drumset w/ the right) and doesn't want to type this morning, so that's it for now!

Bad blogger, halfway through the month and no update!

OK, so lots to catch up on, let's dive in!

Played two shows this week with the Raleigh Symphony (actually one show played twice), once at Meredith, then on the road to Troy, NC. It's tough playing the same music twice in a row, the second time often lacks the emotion of the first, and turns into more of a technical exercise, but at the same time, there's something nice about getting to do it again, hard to put into words, I guess. Anyway, lots of fun both times, very appreciative audiences, and I'm actually pretty happy with how I played, which hasn't happened in a while.

tonight, light jazz at a mall in Durham! I like playing with this group - I'm pretty much playing drumset with my right hand, percussion with my left, so it's a fun challenge, and I get to be pretty expressive in my playing. We also play a lot of standards, so I'm not struggling with learning the tunes, so I really get to PLAY on this one. I just hope the rain holds off so we can actually do it!

Been struggling with the motivation to actually sit down and work lately - I haven't been doing very much practice, and barely any writing at all. I read where Tchaikowsky said something about professional coposers not having the luxury of writing when they want to, they have to do it every day, no matter what. I'm still working towards that. On the positive side, though, I have been having lots of ideas, so if I can just get myself to focus and get to work, I should have plenty to work on!

Also holding me back on the productivity, I'm still trying to replace some of the gear that was stolen from my studio at Drum Lab over the summer. it's disheartening to know that even if I get something written, I won't be able to record it until I get my microphones replaced. Still struggling with the reality of the situation, just the fact that someone would take the means with which I make my living. With all the sacrifices I've made to get my collection of instruments, it really feals like a personal violation to know someone would take them from me! Oh well, life goes on. I really didn't need to eat this month, anyway...

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