Back from New Orleans!

Dear friends,

We've been back a few weeks from my action-packed residency in New Orleans and I'm thrilled to report it was a great success! This was my first artist residency and feel tremendously honored to have been invited by Julian Mutter and his wonderful organization, the Church of Arts & Sciences. Here's some of what went on while we were there...

• Concert and recording session at Marigny Studios - really cool spot, formerly a famous dance hall in the area. We had candle lit tables and dimly lit, mysterious vibes for my presentation of raag Malkauns; a late night raga and favorite of the djinns. Vidhi opened the performance with a spoken-word piece that I wrote to invoke the mood. Attendees to the concert will receive the recording in their email (provided they wrote legibly on the sign up sheet) and it will also be available through my patronage hub on Bandcamp.
• Explored and heard music every night of the week, we were so close to Frenchmen street. The highlight were the brass bands playing on the streets.
• Sat in as a guest "lecturer" in a kids tabla class: Andrew McLean and Prashant Minocha were gracious enough to combine their classes and we presented a great mini lesson and demonstration on jhaptaal, the ten beat cycle most popularly used in South Asian musics.
• Met some longtime connections and taught a few lessons to area musicians interested in either learning to play Hindustani music or authentically incorporating some of the musical concepts into their own music.
• Recorded an interview with the radio program Music Inside Out, hosted by Gwen Thompkins, formerly of NPR. This will be uploaded and made available through my various channels. Gwen is a great interviewer, we got to talk about my roots as a fan of Rage Against the Machine and what that's got to do with the music I play today.
• Performed a concert at the New Marigny Theater. Despite a last minute date change that resulted in minimal production and promotion, I'm proud to have drawn over 50 people...on a weeknight...in a city I've never even visited before! For me, that's a huge win and it adds crucial fuel to the fire: traditional music and authentic practitioners pull audiences wherever we go because the music is ALIVE. As it spoke to those who have gone before, it speaks to our present moment as well. 
• Made new friends and connections! A huge thank you to all who came and introduced themselves and made me feel so welcome in New Orleans. It seems like I will be back...

All the very best to you and yours,

Joel 'Veena' Eisenkramer