Summer Soltice drum circle in San Diego

hi all,

I write so much these days about tuning theory
that it seems i don't get to say much about actual
music. I had a great musical experience last night
and wanted to share it here.

There are several ongoing periodic drum circle events
in San Diego, and one of the best is the monthly
full-moon gathering at Black's Beach.

All the drum circles i know of are free and open to
anyone, as either a listener, dancer, or drummer.
But the one at Black's Beach only draws the hardcore
attendees, because of the difficult trail which connects
the parking area at the top of the cliff with the beach
360 feet below. I'm sure that the idea is that the
full moon illuminates the trail, but most of the time
there's a cloud cover so it's usually pretty dark as
well as steep and slippery.

A lot of the regulars who show up are Rainbow Family
people, and there's always a great spirit of love at
this drum circle.

Anyway, this particular one was very special, first of all
because the full moon fell exactly on the Summer Solstice,
and secondly because the weather was nice and warm and
there wasn't a cloud in the sky, so once the bright full
moon finally peeked over the edge of the cliff, it shone
down brightly on us happy participants all night long.

I got the opportunity to play for one long jam, and it
was the most awesome drum experience i've ever had in
my life, and indeed one of the greatest music jams i've
ever been in. Almost 24 hours later, i'm still on quite
a high from it.

-monz

Hi Monz and everyone,

Drum circles have been some of my most treasured experiences as well.
Have you heard of Burning Man? The first weekend of July saw a
regional Burn (in northern Vermont, called Firefly) that I had the
pleasure of performing at. The event was a true release from
usual "civilization," with everyone bringing their artistic, healing,
and other contributions but not a penny of currency being exchanged.
And needless to say, some awesome drum circles took place. Truly,
this is how life should be. Hundreds of pictures are available here:

http://bostonburners.org/gallery/2005

I'm going back to Vermont this weekend for a couple of gigs in
Burlington (at the Vermont Pub & Brewery). Friday night we're playing
bluegrass, and rumor has it that Jon Fishman of Phish will be sitting
in on drums! Saturday night it's Stretch (my "fusion" band). Then
lots more playing around Boston during the week . . .

Yeah, I've been busy! But I miss you all and wish we could interact
like magical creatures in the woods (perhaps as we were meant to)
instead of through the faceless ASCII medium . . .

Love,
Paul

--- In metatuning@yahoogroups.com, "monz" <monz@t...> wrote:
> hi all,
>
>
> I write so much these days about tuning theory
> that it seems i don't get to say much about actual
> music. I had a great musical experience last night
> and wanted to share it here.
>
> There are several ongoing periodic drum circle events
> in San Diego, and one of the best is the monthly
> full-moon gathering at Black's Beach.
>
> All the drum circles i know of are free and open to
> anyone, as either a listener, dancer, or drummer.
> But the one at Black's Beach only draws the hardcore
> attendees, because of the difficult trail which connects
> the parking area at the top of the cliff with the beach
> 360 feet below. I'm sure that the idea is that the
> full moon illuminates the trail, but most of the time
> there's a cloud cover so it's usually pretty dark as
> well as steep and slippery.
>
> A lot of the regulars who show up are Rainbow Family
> people, and there's always a great spirit of love at
> this drum circle.
>
> Anyway, this particular one was very special, first of all
> because the full moon fell exactly on the Summer Solstice,
> and secondly because the weather was nice and warm and
> there wasn't a cloud in the sky, so once the bright full
> moon finally peeked over the edge of the cliff, it shone
> down brightly on us happy participants all night long.
>
> I got the opportunity to play for one long jam, and it
> was the most awesome drum experience i've ever had in
> my life, and indeed one of the greatest music jams i've
> ever been in. Almost 24 hours later, i'm still on quite
> a high from it.
>
>
>
>
> -monz