30. April 2010 by chuck.

I just returned from wild adventures in Morocco.  My brother, Paul, and I flew to Marrakech and immediately began to search deep in the old medina for a musician friend of mine.  I met Youseff 5 years ago as he worked in his tiny shop building exotic musical instruments.  He is a master gnawa musician.

The gnawa are an ethnic group of the sufi religious order, descended from slaves of the Sub-Sahara region of Africa.  Large groups of slaves were brought across the Sahara in the late 1500’s.Gnawa music is very powerful and is used in healing rituals and with trance dances.We found Youseff in his tiny shop, he was really happy and excited to see me.  I presented him with a Cd of his music from my previous visit.  He invited us to a special festival deep in the Atlas mountains.  The trip would last a week.  In a couple of days we met Youseff early one morning to start our journey. We took a local bus to the costal town of Essaouria.  Here we met other Gnawa musicians who invited us to stay in their house right on the walls of the medina next to the ocean.  One evening I recorded Youseff playing the Gimbri (a 3-stringed bass instrument… it’s a camel skin covered box with a wood poll for a neck.  The strings are made from Sheep gut).  The music was soulful and stimulating.

We continued our journey through Casablanca and on to Meknes.  I almost got arrested the second day while I filmed the medina wall and surroundings.  A man walked up to me and asked if I was “filming the secret police”.  He carried a gun and demanded to see the footage I had taken.  I complied and was eventually let go with a warning.

A few days later Youseff took us up into the mountains to the tiny village of Sidi Alit to witness the gnawa festival.  The streets were packed with locals in tribal dress.  We were the only westerners there.  Hundreds of villagers crammed the streets in a very festive atmosphere.  Strange religious icons were being sold including dried chameleons and other weird animal parts.   People visited a sacred mausoleum while women offered sacrifices in a gully below us (spilling the blood of sheep & chickens) to find a husband or increase their fertility! Huge groups of people were dancing in the streets and playing drums.  We took refuge in an outdoor cafe while a large group of people passed by dragging two goats to be sacrificed. They were playing loud music and dancing wildly. I took my camera out to film, but immediately a number of men pointed at me quite agitatedly to put the camera away.  The craziness continued late into the night.  Another wild adventure on my trip to Morocco.

Sonic Safari Music

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8. November 2009 by chuck.

  Last night I filmed a fantastic “Ramayana” music and dance performance… ritual music of Bali.  The costumes were just excellent.  It reminds me of another stellar performance I recorded called the Kecak (pronounced:  kay - chuck ) Monkey Dance. This is a part of the Ramayana story and tells of the kidnap and eventual rescue of Princess Sita by the monkey general Hanuman.  It is so much fun to watch this kind of performance in Indonesia.  Here is a video clip I found on You Tube: http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&source=hp&fkt=2759&fsdt=4456&q=kecak&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#hl=en&source=hp&fkt=2759&fsdt=4456&q=kecak&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv&start=50  If you want to bring this into your own home,  Check out my Cd  Kecak: http://sonicsafarimusic.com/music/kecak/

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14. October 2009 by chuck.

  Bamboo is used all over Asia for so many uses:  construction, furniture, flooring, buildings, and of course some great musical applications.  The amazing thing is that bamboo grows so fast and is very strong and resonant.  Bamboo in Indonesia comes in many forms and colors.  Some of the bamboo is very straight and has few nodes.  One such bamboo is used for the wonderful long 1.5 meter flutes called Gambuh.  I had two made for me on my last trip there.A very powerful sound comes from striking huge, long tubes of bamboo in Jegog music.  The first time I heard a recording of Jegog…I was hooked.  I have recorded several stellar Jegog groups.  Usually there are 20 or more members of the group playing sets of tunes bamboo tubes of varying length…from shorter to the gigantic 12 foot long bass tubes.  The musicians actually use two hands to wield the mallet to strike the tube hard enough to get a great sound.You can hear samples of this music here: http://www.sonicsafarimusic.com/music/jegogsaurasakti/

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28. September 2009 by chuck.

I was recently visiting Peru and got this shot standing in a trapezoidal door.  This is one of thousands found at different Inca and Pre-Inca sights.  These amazing doors have withstood thousands of years of earthquakes.  Peru is in a very seismic area with lots of devastating earthquakes. The stone work mastery is fantastic and the most advanced technology of its time.  I am working on a TV series based on my travels and music.  If you’d like to see some of these episodes, go here:  www.exoticworldstv.com and click on “episodes”.  I’m sure you’ll enjoy them and hopefully they will be aired on a network.

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25. September 2009 by chuck.

I have been lucky enough to have visited a number of rainforests around the world.  I have been to parts of the Amazon in Peru, Colombia and Brazil and to many forests in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia and other places I can’t think of at the moment.  I am fascinated by the myriad sounds coming out of the jungle at different times of the day and night….and in different seasons.Some of the most striking sounds are from the amazing howler monkeys.  These animals sound like wild cats or jaguars.  I once was walking along the beach in Costa Rica just outside the rainforest when a girl came running out thinking a jaguar was after her.  She described the sound and I quickly reassured her that is was a harmless monkey up in the trees.You can hear some of these on my recording  ”Costa Rica Rainforest”. Here’s the link to the Cd:  http://sonicsafarimusic.com/music/costaricanrainforest/

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13. September 2009 by chuck.

I lived in Peru for 2 years…..quite a long time ago.   I was always fascinated with the cultures.  On the coast is the Afro-Peruvian culture which has produced some fantastic music and in the mountain region is the remnants of the great Inca empire.Cusco at one time was the Inca capital.  it has become quite a tourist destination but it still retains the spirit of the ancient peoples.  There is fantastic Inca stonework everywhere and if you go out into the country-side, there are many ruins and archeological sites.  You could spend months there and not find it all.  Here is a photo of me on a hill above the main plaza in Cusco.  If you get the chance be sure and visit.

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7. September 2009 by chuck.

My first trip to India was a real eye-opener in many ways.  I was fascinated by the culture…the smells, the food, the exotic sounds of intriguing music.  There are so many interesting aspects and levels to Indian music.  I returned home a subsequently went to see Ravi Shankar perform.  I was a superb concert and it was there that I met Hari Har Rao.  He is a master teacher and player who had spent many years with Ravi Shankar.  He was living in Pasadena, so I started studying with him.I studied the sitar and also some tabla.  There are some very interesting things you can do with sitar that you can’t do with guitar.  I started looking for someone to collaborate on a hybrid instrument.  I found a great luthier Scott Hackleman who had studied sitar building in India.  We had many meetings and came up with a design for an acoustic guitar/sitar with 17 strings.  5 main playing strings and 10 sympathetic strings.  This is an inspired instrument that almost plays itself.  You can hear some examples on my Guitar Sitar CD. http://sonicsafarimusic.com/music/guitarsitar/

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4. September 2009 by chuck.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time in various jungles and rainforests on my Sonic Safari expeditions.  It is really amazing to see such an ecosystem that is full of vegetation of life.  Night is amazing as many of the animals and insects come out.  The sounds are fantastic. I have recorded sounds in Costa Rica, Thailand, the Amazon (Peru, Colombia, Brazil), Mexico, Guatemala… and a few other great places in Indonesia.  Each record is unique.  I have 2 CDs of just pure jungle sounds… Amazon Nights and Costa Rican Rainforest. Here is a tune from the “Jungle Drums” Cd called Mozambique.  Wild African drums blended in with jungle sounds I recorded.  Talk about paying dues for my work….I can recall many times standing perfectly still during a recording while being attacked by mosquitos… and not being able to do anything to disturb the record.  Oh well, its been worth it. Click Here to download the free MP3 of the cut Mozambuique from the Jungle Drums CD.

If you like the free MP3, here is the link to the Jungle Drums CD:  http://sonicsafarimusic.com/music/jungledrums/

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27. August 2009 by chuck.

Two weekends ago I went to see a good friend of mine… Ed Perry.  I met Ed years ago when he owned a studio in Hollywood (”Music Box studios”) .  He owned that studio for about 15 years.  He got tired of that and sold it.  He tried a few other professions, like construction, plumbing, electrical work and wasn’t quite satisfied. He spent some time in Tijuana Mexico and decided to dedicate his life to a great cause.  He started and now runs an Orphanage called “Los Angelitos”.  I went down to see him and the 27 kids he is caring for.  I was really touched by his work and fell in love with the great kids he has there.  The kids range from 2 years - 18.  All have come from pretty tough circumstances.  The kids were so upbeat and loving.  It was a joy to spend a couple of days with them. If you want to help a wonderful cause… please check out his web site:  www.losangelitos.org. He depends entirely on donations from people in the US.  I certainly plan to return soon and to help support such a great work.

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24. August 2009 by chuck.

I’m really fascinated with some of the musical instruments I’ve seen on my trips.  Years ago I spent 2 years in Peru and was amazed at the wonderful sounds of the charrango.  This is a tiny mandolin type instrument used in the highlands of the Andes.  It has 10 strings…..5 sets of doubled strings.  Sometimes the body of the instrument is the shell of the armadillo.  The better instruments these days are made of wood.  It really adds a shimmering effect and is an essential part of the music.Add the quena….a bamboo or wood flute and the zamponia…several tuned bamboo tubes and you have a great Peruvian sound.There’s lots of charango in this recording I did….  ”Andean Highlands”.  It is really happy mountain music.   Here’s the link to listen to some examples: http://sonicsafarimusic.com/music/andeanhighlands/

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