Clap hands

My 11-month son Otto is a keen percussionist. Last week, he discovered the fine art of hand clapping. He tends to work on his timing while changing nappies and sometimes while listening to music. Hardly metronomic, he compensates for this with rich washes of enthusiasm. That goes a long way, at least if you are a proud father.

Very interesting developments on the IB side of things. Stressful Panta Rei compositions sound good despite enourmous pressure on Mats and people not doing what they were supposed to do. The Threepenny Opera sessions will recommence in early April followed by the IB Expo appearance at Gouveia on April 21.

Speaking of IB Expo, planning for IB Expo 07 is proceeding and I am currently working on the line-up. Once more, it will be an unforgettable evening, I can assure you.

I was saddened to hear about a musician friend who seems to have writer's cramp and also a rough financial patch. If I only were Bill Gates, or at least Ingvar Kamprad...

At Jazz i Malmö, I am trying to get the bookings done for three summer dates and the autumn season. Unexpectedly, I ran into some problems that can affect the booking in a serious way. The bottom line of this was that someone I thought was on my side turned out to look after his own interests exclusively, which turned him and his club over to the other side (ie the representative of the artists' side). Luckily, offers come in heaps. Unfortunately, the money doesn't.

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"Clap Hands", from Tom Waits' Rain Dogs is an intriguing tune. Take away the vocals, and you have an almost ambient background with a very nice and basic percussion based texture. Add Waits' stream-of-consciousness-nursery-rhyme-lyrics and you have sometheing truly unique. Add to that Marc Ribot's dirty guitar licks and Michael Blair's well-suited percussion playing. The man himself is one of a kind. And "Clap Hands" is a really good tune.