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March 5, 2010 The Soloist The Story of A Real McCoy  March On, 2010 Toys Is It Bigger Than A Breadbox? February 19, 2010 Automobiliology A History on (Mostly) Four Wheels Jan-U-Wary 10, 2010 Dewey or Don't He? Only This Audience Knows for Sure! January 6, 2010 Sometimes A Guitar Is Just A Guitar ...Except When It's Not! June 26, 2009 Remembering Miss Ina April Fools Day The Adventure of Samurai Bean Man An Island Tail |
Mayday, 2006 Last December, the night before New Year's Eve, Tamboura was playing its annual end-of-the-year gig at The Lion's Den in Stockbridge, MA and as per usual was having a grand time. Sitting in that night was Rich Hommel, the white-hot (and often quirky) lead guitarist/bassist from Renssalaer, NY and he and Miss Mary were enjoying a particularly grand time of improvisational dialogue, much to the delight of the Den's many patrons who were groovin' to Tamboura's 'Key West Comes North' sound. Suddenly appearing before the band in the front row as if transported by the spirit of Bob Marley was local singer/songwriter and rastamon Ras Moon, grinning and keeping time on the tabletop. As it happens, Mr. Moon had showed up at several of Lee-Boy's informal Sunday afternoon jams during which diverse and disparate members of the Berkshires' musical community (including members of Tamboura and TuTu Much) engaged in songswapping and experimenting with odd instruments, etc. There were enough members of Tamboura familiar with Ras Moon's Cape Verdean-flavored reggae from the jam sessions that David invited him to take the stage and sing some of his songs. Putting down his acoustic guitar and picking up Rich's bass, David stepped back from the mic as Miss Mary yielded some floor space on the Den's tiny, already crowded stage so that Ras Moon could do his thing. Within seconds of launching into his song "Africa/Uhuru", Ras Moon, with his long dreads flying, took instant control of the room. His singing, chanting, dancing and percussion playing held the audience spellbound. . .at least those who weren't already dancing. His effect upon the room and the band were electrifying and he held forth for the remainder of the show. Afterwards while relaxing over tea (OK, it was beer.) it was discussed amongst several of Tamboura's members that we should "do something" about what had happened that night; we should repeat it! Ras Moon was consulted and he, too, noticed how good it felt and sounded that night and agreed that he wanted to start a band. He wanted a tight, solid rhythm section that would showcase his lyrical and inspriational reggae songs. A few weeks later, we met do figure out what to do and how to do it. He wanted Rich to play skankin' 'n screamin' lead guitar, Samster to set a righteous groove on drums and David to lay down a phat, dub-wise bottom on bass. This rhythm section would augment his rootsy keyboard/guitar/percussion playing and provide the backdrop to his empassioned, often improvised, vocals. Ras Moon & Monsoon was born. And since its first days of rehearsal, the band "catch a-fiyeh", gathers more songs and books more and more gigs. The word is out! | |||||
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