Best wishes to all for a fun-filled and prosperous 2014! Now I may be too broke to pay attention, but I can help with the fun part! There are three music festivals coming up in January and February in our area that are guaranteed to be fun! In the December issue of this fine magazine I wrote about The Jungle Jam music event in Jaco that happens Jan. 16th – 19th. Read my article about the festival and go to their website to listen to the bands that will be performing there – like this beautiful country, the line-up is very diverse. There is a jam band theme, but this year has some interesting new acts and it is in a beautiful setting at the Doce Lunas Resort.
The great Jamaican musician Bob Marley wrote a song back in the late 70’s about jamming. It was a celebration of sorts – an enthusiastic anthem for the Rastafari movement and an effort to take music outside of the socially deprived areas of Jamaica to an international audience and help foster regional peacefulness. He says the word jammin’ about 35 times in the song, but here are some of the other lyrics – “I wanna jam it wid you and I hope you like jammin’ too… Ain’t no rules, ain’t no vow, we can do it anyhow, I and I will see you through. ‘Cos every day we pay the price with a little sacrifice…”
When my godson Travis called and invited us to his wedding in Los Angeles, and asked me to play the violin for the ceremony, I was thrilled at the prospect of getting out of the relentless rain here and honored to be asked to play for his nuptials. After all, he asked Kate to marry him while on the beach in Dominical last year, after waiting 5 days for the perfect sunset! Both of them musicians, they even sat in with the Howlers one Wednesday night at Dos Locos! As an extra incentive to get me to California – like I needed one – he said the reception/party band was The Funk Brothers, and that after I played for the ceremony, surely I could sit in with them. And that there would be cool food trucks doing the catering. And that it would not rain.
