Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 57 of 58

Lee Hyeon Cheol gives me a lesson in Janggu

Friday, March 5th

Learning Moment: Seoul, Korea

Today was my last day of leading workshops on this 8-week trip. We completed an excellent session of Managing at KT. I really enjoyed the interaction with the Korea business team.

After the session, Angie and I went to Central Seould to watch Miso, a musical featuring traditional dance performances. The show started at 8pm, but I arrived at 7pm for a janggu lesson with Mr. Lee.

The lesson was a lot of fun. Mr. Lee walked me through the basic rhythms of the janggu and taught me some of the terminology. He was assisted by Carina, who acted as an excellent translator and a darn good photographer as well.

The show itself was great. I really enjoyed the music.

Tomorrow we return to California. As always, my feelings are mixed.

It'll be nice to sleep in our own bed and get back to some normal rhythms. On the other hand, I'll miss the food, the forays into different cultures, and - of course - all our friends, old and new.

Le Grand Tour D'Asia: Day 47 of 58

Drumming with the Dancers at Korea House

Tuesday, February 23rd

Learning Moment: Seoul, Korea

Korea House is one of my favorite places on the planet. Great music, pounding drums, beautiful women, energetic dances, colorful costumes, and great food; that's tough to beat.

We never make a trip to Seoul without visiting Korea House, and this one would be no different. They've redesigned the stage and the program since we last visited. I loved the changes. The stage is more dramatic, and the new dances are still brilliant.

The legendary fan dance

The fan dance is always a highlight, as are the 'drumming dances'. But, the highlight of tonight - for me, anyway - was when I was invited on stage. When they invited me (along with a few other foreign guests), I started to say no. Then I realized that they didn't want me to dance, they wanted me to drum. I couldn't pass up that opportunity.

So, up I went. At the end of the song, they gave us all souvenir drum sticks, which was pretty cool. And I have to show a picture of Angie with our dinner. Do you think we got enough food?

Radio Hues Now Broadcasting

1st Rule of Rock: Bigger is Louder and Louder is (always) Better

Over the past week, I've been 'facebooking' with some old friends. 

Those old friends know me better as a musician than as a teacher.

Sometimes, I think that the stage has changed but the song remains the same.

It's all about communication, storytelling, and audience participation.

I'm never too far from music. 

I collect music from around the world. I collect musical instruments from around the world.

And I try to get in an occasional jam session with local musicians.

The shot above came from the Japan Drum Museum - very cool place.

Anyway, today I set up a music page on my website. 

You can hear 10 of my songs at huesmusic.