Damien Masterson

Hey Everybody!

Here’s the latest greatest:
———————————————————————————–

Once again, straight from the secret agent man:

Dear Friends:

On Friday December 12 at 7:00 pm, DME / the Damien Masterson Ensemble will again be appearing in concert, this time presented free to the public by the Sequoias of Portola Valley.  The recent premiere concerts were greeted by rave reviews from press and presenters (see quotes below).

If you missed last month’s performances, here’s a great opportunity to catch the group now and be part of the audience for the final live recording session for the planned new CD, which we hope to have available by Christmas.

The Sequoias is located at 501 Portola Road, Portola Valley, just a short drive off 280 west of Menlo Park: http://www.ncphs.org

Hope to see you there!
Ken Malucelli
http://www.princesf.com/damien (for sound clips, click “media”; for program, click “repertoire”)

“always interesting, and extraordinary when the layers of sound blended and wove together in triumph…‘Für Elise’ absolutely soared…‘Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix’ was crafted by angels.”   Jean Bartlett, Arts Critic, Pacitica Tribune

“delightful, entertaining and accessible…thoroughly enjoyed by the entire audience”  Carol Friedman, Exec. Dir., Dance Palace

“We all loved your arrangements…wonderful selections.  I think we must discuss having the group back for a return engagement!  Pacifica Performances

It’s the last DME concert of the year, come out if you can!
————————————————————————————
The 5 year plan.. (Not Revolutionary China, just my latest recording…)

My new CD is mixed and mastered… All it needs is artwork and manufacture, and the world will have some more cool music!
I’m not sure what to call it… I thought of “New Growth”, but that sounds too much like a tumor. Well. Something to do with growing and being happy…
Tell me what you guys think!!! There’s lots of beautiful originals and interesting covers…It is my best yet.

————————————————————————————

The Jazzschool Winter quarter starts the second week in January… My first harmonica classes should be on Saturday, January 17th. We’ve worked really hard to get these Classes where they are today, and the Jazzschool really is an anomaly in today’s economic environment, so please spread the word and support these special opportunities:

http://www.jazzschool.com/html/classes_harmonica.html

If you want to see how much fun it can be playing harmonica, or playing in a harmonica ensemble group, come see the Ensemble class concert
On Sunday, December 14th at 6:00 P.M… The concert will last a 1/2 an hour and feature students and teachers alike…Mike Peloquin, Winslow Yerxa and Steve Malerbi. It’s free, in the main hall of The Jazzschool.
————————————————————————————

I’m leaving for Dakar, Senegal on Monday, December 15th. I’ll be there for a month, but will have my laptop and be checking email daily.
My goal is to study and play as much music as possible, and to support and record with local projects. I’ve been brushing up on my French and studying Wolof with the incredible Paap Sow, sama jangalekat… (my teacher! Jërejëf!!)

Also, I’ve been communicating with Jimi Mbaye, who is Youssou N’Dour’s guitarist. He owns a nice studio and we are negotiating rates.
My dream is to record an instrumental, jazz-tinged tribute to Youssou N’Dour. I need to raise funds to do this, so if any of you are interested in investing
or giving an interest free loan to support this endeavor, please contact me. I think more Americans need to hear Youssou’s real Senegalese music, and Jazz musicians in general could benefit immensely from opening their ears to understand and play this music. If you just pulled all of your money out of the market
and are hiding it under your mattress, this could be a safer bet! Harmonica and Senegalese grooves! High interest yields! And nobody gets hurt!

Also, if you have any friends, family or even helpful enemies in Senegal, let me know. I’ll tell them nice things you said about them…

————————————————————————————

My new CD is mixed and mastered… All it needs is artwork and manufacture, and the world will have some more cool music!
I’m not sure what to call it… I thought of “New Growth”, but that sounds too much like a tumor. Well. Something to do with growing and being happy…
Tell me what you guys think!!!

D

Damien Masterson http://www.damienmasterson.com
or enter my name in any search engine
http://www.myspace.com/damienmastersonmusic
http://cdbaby.com/all/damienzm
415 305 7138 dzm@damienmasterson.com
Damien Endorses Hohner Harmonicas and Audix Microphones

This was posted on Saturday, January 24th, 2009 at 6:12 pm and is filed under Damien's Thoughts, Upcoming Engagements. Comments are open.