I remember many moments vividly but as they add up, they blur into a swirl of sweet smells and pure pastels, so many incredible vistas and views, incredible curries and fresh seafood stews. Most of all, though, I remember the people. 
We’ve made so many new, true friends from the moment we touched down. The energy of the kids at the Suva Civic Center concerts for the primary and secondary students was palpable and could never be expressed with words. At the evening show, I had a very spiritual experience listening to the incredible choir from the conservatory singing in the darkness of a blackout before we were once again blessed by power in the nick of time (just before we were about to cancel). The hairs on the back of my neck will stand up when I remember that moment of pure organic and acoustic harmonic discovery, so very alive and powerful. Music is a force to be reckoned with in Fiji. So deeply ingrained in everyone we’ve met. It’s as natural as breathing.
I remember jam sessions, trading musical phrases, throwing out a lick of vocal bebop melody only to have it returned with a delightful dash of reggae that flipped it over and sent it another direction, to be momentarily absorbed and returned with a new flavor, a constantly evolving volley of exploratory musical conversation.
There was an air of shyness at the beginning, but make no mistake, the students here have within them a wellspring of pure musical passion which would disarm anyone with one ear and a soul. I remember a long moment before I instinctively opened my mouth to move things along, hearing a sound kin to Miles’s Harmon mute blowing over a minor blues. It was a student instantly tapped into his imagination and set free, pursing his lips together and letting go of inhibition. We had found our new trumpet player. Much credit is due to Margaret Sotutu and her husband for their incredible work with these students. The choir sings with gloriously matched vowels and dynamics that are a thrill ride of emotion.
We jammed wth the local musicians of Suva with an esteemed audience that included U.S. Ambassador Steven McGann and Ambassador of Japan Yutaka Yoshizawa, both welcoming and full of humor, great to share a sunset and some stories with.
Liza (with an “I” and a hard “S”) sang Bobby Troupe’s classic Route 66. Ani sang the Gershwin’s Summertime.
Soudo shredded with his guitar on the blues and Jonathan, a newcomer to the island who was delighted to find a jam session, blew his trumpet into the open air with a joyful spirit and a “cat that caught the canary” grin as the sun set on our last night in Suva.I stayed up late into the night doing laundry as every scrap of clothing was soaked with sea-salty sweat. The next morning I laid in the back of the car and slept for some of the three-hour drive to Nadi (pronounced Nahn-dee).
I’ve heard of silent consonants but don’t often encounter “secret consonants.”Jone (pronounced Cho-nay) was kind enough to honor my request of stopping for a quick shot at the mahogany forest by not only stopping but taking Shana and me on a short side trip up an adjacent climbing dirt road with a great view of the trees. He had told us on the first drive that Fiji has the highest population of free-standing mahogany on the planet. It is privately owned and harvested but there is no sustainable harvesting plan.
It is protected by the government. We saw mahogany trees of various ages and sizes. We continued on to a full meal at Bounty, where the food is as good as you’ll find anywhere and I should know - I had most everything on the menu. Robert, the owner, gave this recommendation when I asked about two dishes: “Why not have both?” My kind of guy! I had both and more. (See "Rules of the Road 1" for more information.) We jammed at Bounty for a couple of hours with Danny playing brushes on a music stand. The musicians who joined us, after the trademark initial shyness, relaxed into an easy groove of songs both new and classic.Leo played guitar and sang his original, Save the Children, a heartfelt plea about flooding in both Fiji and Haiti. William sang a great rendition of Cat Stevens’s Where Do the Children Play? Joe did Tracy Chapman’s Baby, Can I Hold You Tonight? We also had a great vocalist join us with a request of Bridge Over Troubled Water, which I was just lucky enough to see earn Paul Simon the “Towering Song Award” by the Songwriters Hall of Fame this year at the Marriott Marquis in New York City.
Ngo joined us and played a gorgeous, joyful acoustic guitar melody over a playful 6/8 groove that is still dancing around my brain.
Brian’s double bass caused quite the stir in Fiji. The Martin Backpacker is invaluable on this trip and even preferred by the local musicians here. When it’s plugged into the system, it was a great tone that belies its small size and novel look.We closed out the night with a concert and jam session at the Radisson Resort on Nadi’s beachfront on the eve of Duwali, the Festival of Lights. William joined us with Wild World. Joe came back with Hero, and Vincent, who works at the Radisson, sat in on drums and vocals. He kept looking at me from the small balcony and pointing at Danny and then at himself. “You wanna sit in?” I asked. “One song,” he said. What happens when you combine Louis Armstrong, Phil Collins, Jerry Herman and Elvin Jones? One unique and fiery version of Hello Dolly. And the crowd went wild! What a way to close out Fiji!
I had to stay up all night from fear of oversleeping through our 5:30 AM lobby call.
Tired? Yes.
Grateful? You’d better believe it.
Many thanks to Ambassador McGann, Jone, Alena, Sue, Margaret, Arthur and all of our new friends in Fiji.
Twice we were treated to Isa Lei, a beautiful Fijian song with no literal English translation.
I asked Alena to come close. She said it was an explanation of sadness from a sense of loss, someone leaving or someone dying. One thing is certain. Before I die, I plan to return to the “Pearl of the South Pacific.” I am glad to know that in Fijian, there are no words for goodbye. So instead I say “Moce Manda” (pronounced mo-thay Mahn-da). Farewell for now.
P.S. Side note: $1 = $1.75 in Fijian currency. I was able to pay American dollars most everywhere. In fact, I never converted any cash. Interesting and worth a mention.
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