GIG #10 - Frolicking with the Spaniards in the Swamps

GIG #10 @ Little Bar Restaurant, Goodland, FL.  Select repertoire:
Fools I Love - Ward-Bergeman
Come Back - Ward-Bergeman
Orange Blossom Special - Rouse
Closed the show backing up Raiford Starke performing Orange Blossom Special.

GIG #9 - ESTA in Caracas

GIG #9 @ Joanie's Blue Crab Cafe, Ochopee, FL. Select repertoire:
Lena - Ward-Bergeman 
Hey Good Lookin' - Williams 
Under the Boardwalk - Young/Resnick
Strange Loop Improvisations

GIG #8 - Virgen Coromoto

GIG 8 @ the wedding ceremony of Miguel Angel Serrano Jacono and Liseth Yereli Laguado Iturrate, Caracas, Venezuela with vocalist Yulene Velasquez. Select repertoire: 
Bridal Chorus - Wagner
Wedding March - Mendelssohn
Ave Maria - Bach/Gounod

GIG #7 - Guitar God

GIG #7 @ Taima Pizzeria Cafe Concert, Caracas, Venezuela with Biella Da Costa and band. Select repertoire:
Candy from Strangers - Ward-Bergeman/Omar/Barrett
Mystery Train - Parker/Phillips
Think - Franklin/White
Little Wing - Hendrix
Band: Alvaro Falcón - guitar
Carlos "Nene" Quintero - percussion
Victor Mestas - keyboards
Miguel Antonio de Vincenzo - drums
Edwin Arellano - bass

GIG #6 - Blowing Up Balloons

GIG #6 @ Hospital Domingo Luciani, Caracas, Venezuela with vocalist Yulene Velasquez. Select repertoire:
Trenzinho do Caipira - Villa Lobos
Venezuela - Herrero/Armentero
Choo Choo Ch'Boogie - Darling/Horton/Gabler

GIG #5 - A Dose of Venezuela

GIG #5 @ Hogar Abuelos Virgen de Coromoto, Caracas, Venezuela with vocalist Yulene Velasquez. Select repertoire:
Federal - Ward-Bergeman
El viejo puente en La Pastora - Gerry Weil
Ingrid's journey towards opening up the house she grew up in to care for seniors began when her father became ill with Alzheimer's disease years ago.

GIG #4 - New Friends

GIG #4 @ Hogar Edad de Oro, Caracas, Venezuela with vocalist Yulene Velasquez. Select repertoire:
Y Tu Que Has Hecho? - Delfin
Flambee Montalbanaise - Viseur
Los Suenos - Piazzolla

GIG #3 - Pasta Shakers

GIG #3 @ Hogar Bambi, Caracas, Venezuela with vocalist Yulene Velásquez. Select repertoire:
Trenzinho do Caipira - Villa Lobos
Chamame Parisien - Barboza
Onde Estao os Tamborins - Caetano

Hogar Bambi, a non-profit private Venezuelan Civil Association, is focused on the total care of under nine year old children who are deprived of their family environment. Click here for more information. Donation information at the bottom of their page.

GIG #2 - One More Step

GIG #2 @ Santuario de Betania, Miranda, Venezuela with vocalist Yulene Velásquez. Select repertoire:
One More Step - Carter
Soy Yo - Piero
Yawheh, the Faithful One - Schutte
Nostalgia - Petit

GIG #1 - Welled Up

GIG #1 @ Corpus Christi Church, La Urbina, Caracas, Venezuela with vocalist Yulene Velásquez. Select repertoire:
Ave Maria - Bach/Gounod
Esta Bella Noche - Galián
Precious Lord - Dorsey/Allen
Venezuela - Herrero/Armentero

"Warm Up" GIG

MJWB performing Candy from Strangers on a "warm up" gig for GIG 365 at Hog Heaven Bar & Grill in Caracas, Venezuela, December 30, 2010.
Featuring the Biella da Costa band:
Alvaro Falcón - guitar
Carlos "Nene" Quintero - percussion
Victor Mestas - keyboards
Carlos Sanoja - bass
Miguel Antonio de Vincenzo - drums

Gig 365 Statement

Short is the little time which remains to thee of life. Live as on a mountain.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

The journey of creating music with people in a live setting is the closest I have come to experiencing a universal truth on a consistent basis. While the music usually has a personal meaning for each person involved in experiencing it, everyone shares in the witnessing of its creation through the act of collective listening.

I have reached a point in my life where it is time to take deeper and more mindful steps along the road I have been traveling since I first started creating and performing music as a child. For me, music has become a vehicle and facilitator in the search for a greater truth about ourselves.

Almost everybody walks around with a vast burden of imaginary limitations inside his head. While the burden remains, personal success is as difficult to achieve as the conquest of Everest with a sack of rocks tied to your back.
J. H. Brennan, author

So why 365 days?

24 hours is one day. A day represents one complete rotation of our planet earth on its axis. 365 days represent one complete revolution of the earth around the sun. We call this complete orbit a year. All of our lives are measured in years. The seasons, birthdays, and holidays come around every year, without fail. Perhaps we live in circles of 365 degrees, not 360?

I believe that we carry meaningful experiences within our flesh, our words, our actions. We carry meaningful people within our hearts. Creating music in diverse settings with people from a wide variety of backgrounds over 365 consecutive days will be a journey of discovery. The music will reflect the experiences and cumulative energy gathered over the year. My hope for the audience (whom I consider collaborators), other musicians who participate, and myself is that this journey will lead to an increased understanding of the nature of music, humanity, and individual identity.

It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.
Edmund Hillary (first to successfully climb Mount Everest in 1953)