Mud Man Across the Water

DAY 6: (Brian): An important part of our tour on The Rhythm Road is the cultural exchange aspect. In addition to concert performances, we give master classes and perform jam sessions with local musicians in each country. As any musician in the world will tell you, we all share a special bond with one another no matter what part of the world we are from or what kind of music we play. Indeed, this the essence of what The Rhythm Road program is about and this common bond was never more apparent to me than when we gave our master classes or held jam sessions in Fiji. The first was with a choir of music college-aged students. We started by performing a few songs for them but then we immediately involved them in an extended call and response jam on Ain't No Sunshine which is centered around the virtually universal A minor pentatonic scale. Johnny assigned the basses, tenors, altos and sopranos different parts to sing and before we knew it, we had full, four-part angelic choir accompaniment for the Johnny Rodgers Band – Johnny's wildest dream for backup vocals realized to its fullest! After some initial shyness (an endearing Fijian trait), we had them scat singing choruses and “trading 4's” like seasoned jazz cats. At the end of the workshop, they assembled themselves and sang us a traditional Fijian Farewell song and a more sincere and sublime sound was never heard by these jaded New Yorkers. There wasn't a dry eye in the Johnny Rodgers Band.After the session, they all seemed highly fascinated by me and my double bass, apparently something very rare, if non-existent, in Fiji and I was happy to oblige with some impromptu bass lessons and demos.

Our other jams and workshops were with some of the pro musicians that gig in the many resorts on the main island. They were also very shy and respectful and we had to repeatedly coax them into sitting in with us. Again the singers had a sweet and sincere approach to music, without any hint of the showy or florid pretense you might find elsewhere. This group was well versed in American pop and folk guitar styles and we were happy to accompany them in versions of Cat Stevens and Paul Simon tunes as well as American songbook classics like Route 66 and Summertime right up the Johnny Rodgers Band alley.

Despite our heavy schedule and lack of any chill time on the unbelievably beautiful beaches of Fiji, our time here was filled with warmth and magic, the natural wonders and beauty of this place only surpassed by the people of Fiji, themselves. We'll be back...