Native Rhythms Festival 2012 - More photos! (Melbourne, FL)

DAY 1 IN MELBOURNE, FL
Left Top: Approaching the festival grounds.
Left Center: Rehearsing in our hotel room.
Left Bottom: The stage at sunset.
Right Top: Tee-Pee!
Right Bottom: A guitar three-some.

COMMENCEMENT
Left: Wind Dancer!
Top Right: Gopher Tortoise. Aww.
Bottom Right: Peopling holding hands.

Nam @ Winter NAMM 2013, Day 1

The day before departing for the 2013 Winter NAMM show was a part of a bitter string of cold days. The wind was blowing so hard that tears streamed down my eyes during my morning run. The air was so cold that the tears froze. Within two minutes, I turned around to get more weather-appropriate running gear, particularly, something that would cover my entire face and shield it from the elements. 

I bring this up to provide contrast to the "chilly" 71 degree weather that greeted us in Arizona and the shivering 74 degree weather in Los Angeles. Yes, in this part of the country, cold is such a foreign notion that there are snow-themed restaurants right across other fantasies to live such as Medieval Times.

Top Left: Philadelphia International Airport
Top Right: Arizona
Bottom Left: Los Angeles
Bottom Right: Nelson smiling at the sight of palm trees.

The show hasn't even officially kicked-off, but things are lively in Anaheim. I'm pooped from traveling. Actually, I'm pooped from traveling after staying up too late packing because of a late work night and procrastination. We'll see what adventures await tomorrow!

Top Left: Packing the poor car.
Top Right: Eating (AKA orgasmic devouring) at Tito's Tacos, a NAMM tradition.
Left Center: The kitchen in our suite.
Left Bottom: Performing musicians surrounded by drunk musicians.
Bottom Right: The Anaheim Convention Center in its full NAMM glory.

Jan Seiden & the Rhythm Grooves: Live performance clips from Steel City Coffee House show

Click here for the YouTube playlist.

This past fall, I had the opportunity to perform with NAMMY-nominated ethnic flutist, Jan Seiden in an ambitious project melding various flute from around the world with guitar and a wide array of percussion instruments. We only had 3 practices to get the material together. I chipped-in a few of my originals, but most of the compositions were Jan's.

Backing us up on percussion were Nelson Rios (Santana, Gloria Estefan & the Miami Sound Machine) and Butch Armstrong (the Stylistics). The clips were filmed at Steel City Coffee House in Phoenixville, PA. 

You can check out Jan and her music at www.janseiden.com.