sʃʃıɥ ǝɥʇ ɹoɟ pǝpɐǝɥ

After a very long day aboard various airplanes I am finally home, safe and sound. I spent the weekend in Philadelphia and New York City seeing my friends Rob Paine, Summer Joy, Willyum, Andrew, Solid, Gabriel, Michael, Deana, Peter, Stagg, Steven, Ilana, Liz, Davey, Moonbeam, Monique, Jenifa, Rueben, and more… Piles of people crowded into the warehouse for the Shakedown in Philadelphia, it was so hot in there no one knew what was gonna happen. Fire, bass, energy, and pure joy. So spectacular. Brings it right back to the foundation in a filthy warehouse. Dinner with my son on the sultry sidewalks of Philly, sharing a meal with Moonbeam, driving up the New Jersey Turnpike with Deana, stopping for cheap sunglasses which changed the world, but broke before I had them on my face for even 24 hours (tears for my woebegone fashion sense,) laughing in the King Street offices, kissing a very handsome, but skeptical Alex on the cheek, threatening to run off to Paris with Hoshiko, talking seriously with Hisa, and Peter, submitting my remixes on time, catching up with a well rested Steven and bright eyed Ilana, dancing, singing, laughing, having dinner with my cousin Jason and Deana, waiting for a Steven who never appeared, asking the French woman if I could please buy a coffee bowl from Le Gamin, and she said “Pourquoi pas simplement le voler?” So I did.

More than anything else, I am astounded and delighted with the magic and power of Monique Bingham and Jenifa Mayanja. I can’t believe that I actually forgot what the power of improvisation, creativity, fearless collaboration, and the beauty of voice can do in a room full of people. How could I forget something like that? I sing, and play and perform almost every week now somewhere in the world. But somehow I forgot just how profoundly moving and elevating it can be when there are more than one or two people involved.

Sunday Soul NYC completely blew me away this week. At last I have hope, and feel inspired and delighted. From Deana and the staff at love working over time to make sure that everything was working, and everyone was welcome, to Rueben’s technical brilliance, Carlo’s calm hands making the inter-web work just right, the forum we thought wasn’t going to happen at all but ended up being a really powerful conversation, Liz’s masterful lights, Davey’s huge grin, bold moves and affection for 80’s top ten hits, to the dancers who came, danced, delighted, trusted us, cheered us on, and stayed… cheering and demanding more, more, more! prompting another hour of classics after the broadcast was over.

But more than anything else it was Monique and Jenifa joining me in voice. Mixing, dubbing, flowing together. I’m gushing, it’s true, but I can’t express how beautifully they performed, how magical it was in that room. There is an archive, I recorded the entire thing. I am uploading it now.

I’ll follow up soon with a link so you can either hear it for yourself, or relive it if you were there, or listening.

Thank you so much for the much needed inspiration, and fires of creativity and love in my soul today.