Indian-Jazz Fusion Project in the Studio Now

Hello Everyone,

I have been slacking on the blog here, no doubt.

The news with the Yoginis is that we’re finally back in the recording studio, finishing the Jazz/Indian fusion album.

I am also finally finishing the mixing and mastering of the first Yoginis album Songbird, from which the samples on myspace were pulled. But alas, I had the hard drive mailed up from the original engineer who is now based in LA, and it seems there’s some problem accessing the files. So I have let a friend who is a retired computer forensics expert have a cursory look and tell me if the data is intact and if it is easily recoverable.

On the business side, it has finally come down to contract signing time with the non-profit organization that produced the Dalai Lama Renaissance documentary, which has been doing quite well at film festivals worldwide. Contract negotiating is not my favorite part of the biz, as you can probably understand, but it’s necessary so we have to do it.

A complicating factor is that my music was already copyrighted by me before we decided to submit it to the film’s producers and director. Normally, compositions are commissioned for a film beforehand, and the composer produces what is called a "work for hire” in which the producers own the rights to the music, and the composer is paid either a one-time fee or entitled to some royalty on the film sales.

But since I already had the India/Jazz project underway, with my own plans to promote it worldwide, and I already owned the copyrights, I stand in a different relation to the film.

So we have to find a contract agreement that allows them to use the music in the film, but doesn’t surrender my copyrights. It can be done of course, it will just take a little longer since it is a non-standard agreement falling outside the usual “work-for-hire” arrangement.

Ahh, Legalese – ain’t it great?

Jams and Gigs, Sept - Oct 2007

Hey folks,

I have some jams and gigs as sideman and in small combos of some of the Yoginis family of musicians (there's about 20 all told, both here and in Asia).

I am no longer a musical orphan, now having been adopted into the Ugly Mug Family of Musicians. The Ugly Mug is this really great little coffee joint where a bunch of jazzers meet every Sunday. This Sunday I'm hosting the jam with bassist Burt Boice.

Yogi, Burt and Friends Jam
Sunday Sept 30^th and Oct 14^th 6:30 – 9:30pm
The Ugly Mug Café
11425 Rainier Ave S Seattle, WA 98178
(206) 772-3751 - no cover

Also I have my first show with singer Lita Page at Serafina's this Fri Oct 5th - pulling from songbooks of bossas, boleros, and more. She sings beautifully in Spanish, Portuguese, and English. Mixed up with a few Yogi instrumentals, of course.

Yogi With Lita Page
Friday, Fri Oct 5^th -9pm-12am
Serafina’s Italian Restaurant
2043 Eastlake Ave E Seattle, WA 98102
(206) 323-0807 - no cover
http://www.serafinaseattle.com/

I will be playing originals at Crowne Plaza Hotel in their Regatta Bar and Grille Oct 12th and 13th. This will be a Yoginis Quartet configuration of Yogi, Burt Boice, and Bob Antolin, with percussionists Ricardo Guity on Friday and Johnny Conga on Saturday.

Yoginis Quartet
Fri – Sat Oct 12^th -13th 9:30pm
Crowne Plaza Regatta Grille
1113 6th Ave, Seattle, Washington 98101 - no cover

My birthday party will be held at Jai Thai Restaurant on Friday 26th Oct (courtesy Paula Maya!). Everyone come and play music, or party - whatever! No cover, just do us all a favor and buy some drinks and some of their great Thai Food.

Yogi’s Birthday Party
Friday, Oct 26^th 7:30 – 10:30
Jai Thai Capitol Hill
235 Broadway Ave. East Seattle WA 98103 – no cover
http://www.jaithai.com/broadway.htm

See ya!

Jazz Fusion TV - the Muthaload of prog-jazz vids!

Hello Everyone,

OK, here's the muthaload of prog-jazz videos. I was going to upload a series of them, but as things are going these days, someone else has already thought the whole thing through and designed a cool site that covers the turf even better. Check it out:

Jazz Fusion TV

And they have an audio page if you like listening with no video too (the way we used to do when we were teenagers - remember those days?)

Have hours of fun. You can download the videos too, they are in FLV files (Flash video). If you don't have a player for them already (hint: the default windows media player in xp doesn't read flv files), here's a free one:

http://applian.com/flvplayer/

and here's the always handy You Tube Downloader:

http://www.youtube-d.com/

All free, all legal, no adware, spyware, or viruses.

Have fun!

Ultra-cool music vids

Hi everyone,

I want to depart from my usual plugging of gigs to bring you some of what I think are the coolest prog-jazz vids on YouTube and MySpaceTV. These vids will also give you a good idea of what I was digging during those transformative early teenager years we all experience where we wake up to the wide world around us.

Well, I was living in Berlin, Germany in 1971, age 12, as my dad was stationed there with the US Army. Here's a video of what SOME people were doing in Berlin at the time (namely Joe Zawinul - may he rest in peace! - and Wayne Shorter). After just having left Miles Davis legendary "Bitches Brew" cadre of musicians, they were forming a nascient band that people had not heard of before with a weird name - Weather Report.

This is some very rare, very early stuff from a composition that would be on the very first Weather Report release, self-titled in Europe and titled "Milky Way" in the US. I am surprised to find that even a number of Weather Report Fans don't even know this was their first album.

Anyway, there's a small subset of us that was digging Weather Report long before "Birdland", and we LOVE this early far-out stuff. Zawinul's appoach to the keys and composition are strikingly non-traditional, and a very young Miroslav Vitous and John Surman are also in these sessions. You've gotta stretch to appreciate this stuff, but if you're willing to drop your old ideas about "songs" and other traditional ideas, you will be rewarded with a glimpse into the genius of every one of these players. Sure, Zawinul is the group leader here, but each of these musicians is amazing in their own right. Check it out:

If the video doesn't load, use this link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=6ucVEWbwsWk

Yogi's gigs at Crowne Plaza and Jubilante and a new picture

Hi Everyone,

I have a couple of more gigs coming up in the Yoginis Trio Configuration. These are on the Yoginis Myspace Site, and will shortly be posted on the Yogi's Music World weblog

Sat Sept 15th, 9:30pm
Regatta Bar and Grill
Crowne Plaza Hotel
1113 6th Ave
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 340-1617
no cover

Yoginis Trio: Samba, Bossa, Jazz and exotic grooves for your dining and listening pleasure in the Crowne Plaza’s plush Regatta Bar and Grille. Expect a cool and refreshing lounge experience. Yogi will be with first-call bassist Burt Boice and World Percussionist maestro George Sadak

Jubilante Dinner Club

Tuesdays, 4 and 11 Sept 7pm
305 Burnett Ave S
Renton, WA 98057
(425) 226-1544
no cover

Weekly Dinner set and jam at Jubilante, Renton's hidden gem.
We play the first set, and have guests on the second set. Often trumpeter Harv Leonard joins us and recent guests include David Keys, editor of NW Jazz Profiles magazine, singer Hilary Harris, and others.

Here's a recent promo shot of the full six-piece Yoginis band (photo by Michelle Smith-Lewis):

L to R: Bob Antolin (Flute, Saxes), Yogi (Keys, Composing), Burt Boice (Bass, Composing)

Samia Panni (Vocals, percussion), Ed Mays (drumsets) Johnny Conga (Latin Percussion)

--Yogi's Sites:

The Yoginis band is www.theyoginis.com
MySpace site is www.myspace.com/yoginis
Music newsletter is www.yogismusic.blogspot.com

Pix from the Nagar Family Concert

Hello,

I posted up some pix of the Sunday Indian Classical Concert over at another blog.

The latest blog entry is here.

Check it out.

Cheers,

Yogi

Yogis gigs at Hempfest, Jubilante and with Jack Becker Blues

Hey Everyone,

I've been busy trying to get my lazy you-know-what out there and get some exposure! So here's the cookin's over the next two weeks:

Yogi's trio at Hempfest with Mike Deasy on Sax! Sunday at 4pm at the Hemposium Stage
That's right - Mike is back with that big Saxy sound of his! We hope he'll be doing more with us too! We found out after I made the promo poster, so you heard it here!

Yogi's Trio + Mike Deasy
Hempfest Hemposium Stage
Sunday, August 19th, 4pm
Myrtle Edwards Park
3199 Alaskan Way
Seattle WA 98121

Hempfest, is as you know, one of Seattle's largest festivals, with Founder Vivian McPeak building it up from the Seattle "grass" roots (no pun intended!) since 1995. Twelve years of celebrating hemp and protesting against the marijuana laws! Can you believe it? Even Norm Stamper, the former chief of Seattle Police is a featured speaker there. Watch an interview with former Chief Stamper at www.hempfest.org

Here's the poster:




MORE GREAT SHOWS! Read on...

Yogi plays the Blues!

Many of you have seen me playing the blues here and there too. I am now proud to be appearing with The Jack Becker Blues Band in TWO big shows! One in Kirkland, and one in Seattle's Pioneer Square! Jack's band also features veteran Texas Blues Rock drummer Ed Mays and veteran Bay-Area R&B Bass Meister Tim Romain.

Jack rocks hard, and we played a really successful gig for the Harley Davidson enthusiasts up in Skagit Valley a couple of weeks ago. Come on down on two different beautiful summer evenings. All in the name of a little enjoyment, right?

Yogi with the Jack Becker Blues Band

Wednesday, August 22nd, 2007
The Central- Kirkland
Jack Becker Band - 9 p.m.
Downtown Kirkland Waterfront
21 Central Way
Kirkland WA 98033
425-827-0808
Price: 0.00

Saturday, August 25th, 2007
The New Orleans Cafe
114 First Ave S
Seattle WA 98104
Price: cover at door
(Pioneer Square Joint Cover).
9pm-1 am

Come out and hear what it's all about!