Originally Posted by Keri Chryst on October 6, 2011 at 9:50 PM
Day 4 - Friday October 7, 2011
Another full schedule, and an again an early start. For me the day starts with a facebook post from my "little" sister Meghan, back in Ohio, passing on some info from my mom who's attention was peaked by a piece on NPR that day. Seems that PRI's "The World" has a roving reporter trotting around Swaziland "preaching the gospel" of American Jazz and Soul music. "Cool! I wonder if I'll get the chance to meet him..." I post back, and then head off to breakfast.F
We arrive at the "Jamming House" relatively on schedule, but unfortunately whoever has the keys doesn't. So we and several of Swaziland's prominent young soul/pop singers wait around and chit chat outside for a bit.
Eventually we make it inside, and given the venue and the audience, I decide to lead a short session on basic vocal technique for the singers, as well as a lesson in techniques for a successful soundcheck. Jeff's input for the girls proves invaluable on the latter subject since he's spent time on both sides of the board and definitely knows what he's talking about. We emphasize clarity of communication and "diplomatic relations" with your sound engineer who, as Jeff says "can be your best friend, or your worst enemy... and that's largely up to you".
After maybe 90 minutes of this, it's obvious that we're all itching to put both the vocal and mic technique to the test make some music! But first a quick break - where I get introduced to this young man who's been running around with a microphone and earphones all morning " Hi, I'm Alex Gallefant from PRI's "The World"". This is the guy my sister Meghan was talking about! I didn't even have to seek him out, he came to us! What a small world. Break's over - and I ask Jeff to launch into Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools", a song I figure will be easy to follow, whether they know it or not. And I'm only mildly surprised when these 5 young ladies chime right in in instant 4-part harmony to do the backing vocals with no need for explanation. The band gets into the groove, and by the time we've jammed on that for awhile, I'm ready to take these girls on the road with me! It strikes me that this is probably the first time (in my life?) that I've had the privilege of being backed up by such a rich classic vocal sound - I mean, who can ever afford 5 backup singers these days? What fun! Then, of course, it's their turn to strut their stuff, and they launch into a couple of different songs "Chigalele" ("Turn, Turn") , "Pata-Pata" ("Touch, Touch") as well as a nice balad, and I jump in where I can (if the words are simple enough ;-) ). Jeff holds his own with the band through all of this - the spontaneity of the situation even has him giving a shot at this Southern African finger-picking style of playing for a change. It's all great fun, but sooner or later we need to head off for lunch and what will probably be our only real opportunity to do a little bit of touristy shopping for souvenirs. The PRI reporter is invited to tag along as we head out into the countryside to the "Swazi Candles" complex. We learn along the way that Alex is a closet jazz/pop/soul drummer and plays the trumpet (though he's left it at home this time). Jeff and I start to get some ideas for the big gig at "House On Fire" that evening...
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