Tomorrow is, to my mind, the most important election of my lifetime.  It is an opportunity for Americans to, once again, show themselves as a great and honorable and just people committed to freedom, equality and human rights.  I am hoping for not just an Obama victory but a clear MANDATE.  Let us set upon righting the numerous wrongs of the past 8 years and regaining the trust of the world at large.  I am very excited. It has been a nearly a month since my return from China.  I've been laying low, doing a lot of club gigs and hanging out,  playing guitar, learning some new pieces, being the political junkie.  This is a beautiful time in Minnesota what with the leaves and all---yadda yadda but it really is beautiful. This coming weekend I will be performing solo as part of the Seward Arts Festival.  This annual event encompasses the entire Seward neighborhood of South Minneapolis.  I'll be over at the Birchwood Cafe on Saturday afternoon from 2PM, then popping over to El Meson for an evening show with cantaora Rachel and dancer Sachiko.  Makes for a nice weekend.... Did you happen to catch the Ralph Nader ad that came out on Halloween as his Night of the Living Dead op?  Really amazing!  Really weird!  I love it!  It's on youtube.  That man is hard to figure---brilliant, quirky,irrelevant...? PLEASE VOTE!  Be a part of these historic times.

The final days of our tour and we are in Beijing.  No shows scheduled here so we're chilling and doing things like---going to Starbuck's and Internet Cafes, swimming and sauna. I believe it was the third day when I suddenly realized I had fallen in love with this country.  The people: so genuine, focused, attentive, kind, polite, self-effacing.  Such a deep respect for the past.  And what an ancient, glorious past!  The Great Wall truly a marvel, but then everyone says that.  They are right.   The Jade Buddhist Temple in Anshan:  astonishing!  I don't normally do the tourist things, museums and all (there are exceptions like Reina Sofia in Madrid), but just walking around, getting something to eat, browsing the open air markets and second-hand stores---manuevering around this vast sea of humanity and gentility---it is consciousness-expanding, ultimately mind-blowing. The food:  I LOVE IT!  Every conceivable vegetable cooked in ingenious, delectable ways.  Seafood, chicken, duck---I don't eat beef, lamb or pork but plenty of that, too---great omelettes filled with something akin to spinach or chard.  Insane variety of regional cuisine.  A country of 1.4 billion people that love to eat.  Did I mention the baked goods or the lightly fried stuffed pancake, cream filled and not-too-sweet?  The stuffed dumplings?   Coffee not so good, hence my over reaction to the Starbucks.  The tea is, not surprisingly, very good;  their is plenty of good beer and I found an excellent, dirt-cheap and potent brandy. The Ensemble Espanyol (sic, I can't find the character to make the correct "n") gave 4 concerts, 2 in Shenyang and one each in Anshan and Qinghuandao.  All were totally soldout with lots of people standing and many turned away or listening outside the hall.  Tremendous, heartwarming response.  Working with the other musicians was inspiring---I learned a lot!  The 2 other guitarists, Panzekito and Paco Fonta (both sang really well, by the way), are superb musicians and it is an honor to be with them.  I need to correct my spelling of the violinist's name---he is Michael Gadzinski with an "i"---wonderful player.  Mick LaBriola's percussion solo never failed to light up the crowd. I have to mention something else I found extremely charming, as well as thought provoking.  That is the slogans that adorn roadsides.  Gems like:  Construct Harmonious Traffic with Kind Heart.  Or: Abandon Bad Habits--Embrace Civility.  Also: World Vision, Chinese Wisdom.  Then there's the ubiquitous slogan of the 2008 Olympics:  One World.  One Dream. Since living in India for 2 years in my early 20's I have always retained a deep respect and regard for that place---another benevolent sea of humanity, but plagued with poverty, disease and malnourishment.  Here in China I reconnect with those feelings while marveling at this society as it clothes, feeds and attends to the needs of nearly everyone.  I may well be wrong but this is how I see it.

A city of 7 1/2 million,  Shenyang is northeast of Beijing.  It is a world apart from the US and practically no one speaks English.  On the whole, the people are physically attractive, friendly and polite.  There are no fat people.  One sees hardly any pets.  The city is bustlingly busy by 7AM and bicycles are everywhere.  Predictably, the cab drivers maneuver their vehicles like madmen, observing no rules of the road that I can discern. The weather is warm, similar to Chicago, perhaps a little more humid. We are being hosted by Northeastern University of China.  There is a lovely campus here with 20 thousand students.  We'll be in concert tonight and tomorrow evening.  (As of actually posting this, our first concert already happened and was a huge success---we're like rock-stars here now....).  The concert hall is modern, spacious and very elegant.   Flowers are everywhere.  Both concerts sold out in an hour so expectations are high.  The Ensemble Espanyol (sic) is a good-looking bunch:  apart from the musicians (!) nearly everyone is young and beautiful.  As they also dance well,  we shouldn't disappoint...

I write this a few hours prior to boarding the plane for Newark and, ultimately, Beijing then on to Shenyang.  The two other guitarists that are going on the tour are in the other room yelling at each other as they prepare a "puchero" and the place is filled with steam and loud laughter.  They are Panzekito (son of the legendary singer Pansequito) and Paco Fonta;  both are great guitarists and we are all great friends.  Mick LaBriola, percussionist par excellence, and Michael Gadzinsky, classical violinist, complete the intrepid group of guest artists that are accompanying the 16 dancers that comprise Ensemble Español. The Ensemble has been invited to tour 3 or 4 cities of China as a "Cultural Exchange Tour" between Northeastern Illinois University and it's sister school in Shenyang.  The Ensemble is in residence at Northeastern (in Chicago).  I have been an invited guest artist off and on since 1989---I've been with them to Puerto Rico and Poland.  They are an incredible mix of talented dancers and musicos, mostly from Latin America and are under the directorship of Dame Libby Komaiko.  I truly relish my time with Ensemble Español and working with them has been a continous learning experience.  This trip promises to be no exception! So we're staying at the first dancer's condo in the Uptown district of Chicago, on the shores of Lake Michigan.  We just completed 3 days of rehearsal including an open one that was attended by 300-plus patrons and well-wishers.  We are quite happy with the show and the music we put together for it.  Everyone is very upbeat! I hope to have the opportunity to continue blogging during our tour---I really know almost nothing about modern-day China and what to expect.  Everything will be a fresh adventure.

The Republicans have come and gone from the Minnesota landscape. Less than 60 days to go before we elect the new Agent of Change---I thought that was Obama's message but it seems McCain has stolen a page from the Obama playbook.... Notwithstanding.... I am very happy and satisfied and content with the outcome of our gigs for the RNC-affiliated parties. The World Music Collective, as I called it, had two successful and fun nights of parties at Solera Restaurant in downtown Minneapolis. The Collective consisted of 12 musicians and 8 dancers and featured continuous performance of Argentine tango, North-African Rai as well as Spanish flamenco. All the members stepped up and delivered great shows. The audiences were enthusiastic and, without exception, well....nice! So much for the Culture Wars. I was dismayed to hear Sarah Palin's attempts to re-ignite the fires of divisiveness (division?) just when it was starting to seem that both parties had tacitly agreed not to do that this time around. And, since when is "Community Organizer" a dirty word? Not only that--- I love big cities.  Hate hockey.  And hunting. Then, a great thing happened to me: I was invited to accompany the Ensemble Espanol Spanish Dance Theater as guest guitarist on their upcoming tour of China. How very exciting! I am honored. But this is the subject of a separate post.

The Republican National Convention comes to Minnesota the first week in September.  Regardless of one's political allegiance---conventions are all about partying! I have assembled a new group I am calling the World Music Collective.  They will perform at two separate parties to be held at Solera Restaurant (900 Hennepin Ave in downtown Minneapolis).  I combined Mandragora Tango plus 4 tango dancers with Touareg (Middle-eastern and Rai music) plus 2 dancers along with Flamenco Mateo plus 2 flamenco dancers.  In all, we have 12 musicians and 8 dancers who will present continuous music and dance as a huge multi-cultural extravaganza. I hope to find as well as create many other opportunities to present this talented collective of artists in performance.  For the moment, I am consumed with these first two dates---it is very exciting, exhilarating, and a little daunting....

I recently returned from a very exciting and eventful tour of several East coast cities---I went with Mandragora Tango...and, tango or no tango, we partied like rock stars.  My 12 years with the Rogues tearing across the US and Canada playing every conceivable type of rock venue gave me a taste for the road which, I learned, hasn't gone away. I left on June 16th and drove a car loaded with PA equipment, meeting up with the rest of the band in Philadelphia the following evening.  The drive was significant in that I used the time behind the wheel to psychically access certain musicians I admire and have master classes with them.  I even took notes!  Remarkable stuff---I'd greatly appreciate any feedback from readers of this post as to their experience and opinions of this sort of cosmic exercise. The tour's first date was in Northampton,  Massachusetts on Wednesday the 18th and this kicked off a whirlwind week of 7 shows in 7 nights in 7 cities.  Most of the shows were milongas---tango dances hosted by the local community of tango dancers.  We also played a lovely outdoor wedding in Bethlehem, PA.  Mandragora's aim is to be a first-rate tango dance band as well as concert performers.  As such, we play in "tandas," groupings of 3-4 tangos, waltzes or milongas that have continuity for those dancing.  We also play music of the great dance orchestras of old.  We do our share of Piazzolla.  This is food for a musician's soul....And we're doing some post-Piazzolla, as well, what is referred to as "tango nuevo." We had great response everywhere and dancers seemed particularly delighted so this was a huge high for all of us.  We performed in Woodstock, NY and Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley, Washington,DC and Richmond, VA.  In Richmond we hooked up with "El Pulpo," the Argentine dancer of repute, and did two demos with him that can be found on youtube.com.  His new partner, Stephanie, is a lovely dancer as well as a lovely person. Read more about the specifics of the tour on Bob's blog at mandragoratango.com. This month we have a concert at Pope Art---a gallery of fine and performing arts---in Terrace, MN on Saturday, July 20th at 7:30PM.  More info at www.popeart.org.  I hear it is an exceptional acoustic so we are looking forward to this show.  Mandragora Tango performs almost every Sunday evening at the Loring Pasta Bar in Dinkytown, Minneapolis, MN.  This is a long-standing tango dance (milonga) that begins at 6PM and draws a lot of dancers of all ages.  Good food and wine---makes me happy....

Yes Yes!  Having spent the entire winter in Minnesota this year,  I am out of my mind with ebullience as the days have suddenly...just suddenly...turned gorgeous.  The garden here at the "commune,"  as my abode is frequently referred to due to my open-door policy regarding friends and lovers, is out of control spewing apple and pear and magnolia blossoms everywhere.  Plants are screaming their delight and freely giving themselves up to the sunshine and warmth.  We just put up a decadent pagoda-styled gazebo that has already hosted 2 borracheras this week and it is only Thursday. What a luxury to sit amongst all this glory and play guitar!  Glass of malbec/bonarda/sangria/rioja/ribera del duero---it is all good---at hand and platos de ceviche, pulpo ala gallego y lo que sea covering the table---friends dropping by unannounced---I realized last evening that such an environment is the ultimate stress-buster. Memorial Day weekend nearly at hand when Minneapolis empties out vast numbers of nerdly types who go fishing or to their cabin "up north" to spend their free time working on their dock or whatever.  Minneapolis suddenly becomes for the Minneapolitans.  And there is a great Latin music festival happening this "puente" at Harriet Island  called VIVE MINNESOTA .  It is free admission and I'll be playing there with Mandragora Tango at 3PM on Monday the 25th.  Promise.  I'll be there. Speaking of Mandragora, we're attempting to finish up the recording of our latest CD which will have a trilogy of Piazzolla temas from Maria de Buenos Aires among loads of other cool stuff.  And I am getting jazzed about our East coast tour which opens June 18th in Northhampton, Mass and ends in Richmond, VA on the 24th of June.  We'll be playing in Philly and DC and Woodstock and even Bethlehem.  I love the road---twelve years of touring with my rock band (The Rogues) in a past life gave me a unquenchable taste for the adventures and debaucheries therein.  And, though Mandragora Tango is a relatively well-behaved and cultured, well-mannered group of exemplary individuals---well, there is still hope for them. Today's ceviche is made---there remains the sangria to assemble (see my posted recipe for same)---it is time to seriously kick back.  Hasta prontito!

My good friend, Tomas de Utrera, recently sent me info about a really interesting film that is on youtube.com, showing in 10 parts, each 8 to 10 minutes long.  It is called "Flamenco: A Personal Journey" and is made by Tao Ruspoli.  He's a young American who goes to Sevilla in the late 1990's to study guitar and chronicles his adventures.  It is very charming and has great footage of some of the gone or soon to be gone oldtime flamencos. Most notable is the great footage of Paco Valdepeñas dancing, singing and just being his utterly original, incredibly charming self.  In some odd way, he reminded me of my own father, who was born in 1920 and passed in 1998.  Paco Valdepeñas was born in 1922 and is shown dancing and carrying on in 1998---he then passed in the year 2000.  This added a special poignancy to an already deeply engaging film. The conversation that most sticks in my head is when several of the guys are in a church and gazing at a crucifix that has Jesus' image modeled after that of a prominent flamenco.  One of the young gitanos states that one needs to play the guitar with the same heaviness that Jesus felt carrying the cross.   Now, I am not at all a religious man, but I loved that analogy---that sense of peso--of weight---is so important in the toque.  I just never heard it expressed in that way and I love the metaphor. I highly recommend this film!

I am excited to announce that Mandragora Tango will host their 2nd Tango Groove Party, again at Candelabra Studios (1517 Central Ave in NE Minneapolis).  Music starts at 10PM and continues until 3AM---lots of sultry, jammy tangos, milongas and Argentine waltzes.  The cover is $10---there will be snacks, wine, beer and lots of music, live and DJed.  Mandragora is:  Bob Barnes (bandoneon), Laura Harada (violin), Rahn Yannes (bass), and Scott Mateo (guitar). Don't miss it!  Come early.  Stay late.