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It’s that time of year again, time for the Annual WAA Conference!  On Ensemble will be featured in three affiliated showcases:

Affiliated Showcase Schedule 2008
Seattle Sheraton Hotel
Douglas Room
Tuesday, Sept 2nd, 8:40pm
Tuesday, Sept 2nd, 10:20pm
Wednesday, Sept 3rd, 10:20pm

On Ensemble is represented by:
Rachel Cohen
Cadence Arts Network, Inc
Booth: 231

We’ll also be making a presentation at the “World Music & Jazz” Discovery Session on Thursday, Sept 4th, at 8:30am.  We’re looking forward to seeing all of our WAA colleagues again and meeting new ones!

One of my greatest dreams is to build my own home.  Hiro and I have been designing and collecting ideas and photographs for the past 5 or 6 years.  We’ve been using our various apartments as test grounds for different storage and furniture ideas.  And we take monthly overnight trips by bike and train to explore towns along the Metro rail to better know where we might want to live.

But despite all this work, the dream home feels far, far away.  Financially, building a home anywhere near Los Angeles will be a stretch.  Despite experience with basic woodworking and a few welding classes, the skills required to build our home still feel out of my league.  And we still don’t know what’s important to us in picking a place to live.

But two weeks ago, I had a breakthrough!!!

I’m going to build a mobile home!

Trailer home design concept

(more…)

Holy freakin’ cow, I just had one of the most amazing days ever! I performed as one of the “Drums of Unity” with Stevie Wonder and Take 6 at the Democratic National Convention. I can’t even believe it. Stevie Wonder and Take 6… Between the two that’s like 36 Grammys, 6 of the most amazing vocalists I’ve ever heard and ONE MUSIC GOD. DemConvention has posted this video as well as many others on YouTube. I had to watch it twice just to believe it actually happened.

Being a part of the “Drums of Unity” was very special. Munyungo Jackson on cajon, Fausto Cuevas on congas, Steve Haney on snare and tambourine, and Glen Ahhaitty and Mark Makai on Native American drums. I feel so humbled to have had the chance to share the stage with all of these amazing artists.

The atmosphere of the convention was absolutely phenomenal. 75,000 people is definitely the largest audience I’ve ever played for! Looking out from my drums into a sea of people was quite a moment.

After the performance I made my way onto the floor of Invesco Field to watch Obama’s speech. It was amazing to be a part of. A historic moment and Obama gave the most inspirational political speech I’ve ever heard. I’m filled a hope and optimism about our country that I’ve never felt before. This is definitely a day I’ll be telling my grandchildren about. “I was there when President Obama gave the speech that defined a generation… really… no really…” Finally a leader that seeks to inspire us to a higher purpose rather than speak down to us like a bunch of idiots.

Sometimes it’s hard for me to believe all of the places this art form has taken me. I’d like to thank Stevie Wonder and Munyungo Jackson for this amazing day and amazing opportunity!

Ever considered running your own web server?  As On Ensemble finishes upgrading our system, I thought I’d share my thoughts on the subject, and a few links to get you started in the world of Free Software!

For about 7 years now, OnEnsemble.org has been hosted on modest computers running in the various apartments I’ve inhabited.  The server hums away 24/7, serving On Ensemble’s website to visitors around the world.  Although it’s required quite a bit of study and a few late nights, I’ve very much enjoyed managing the server.  It feels good to be a part of the internet infrastructure.  I’m a big believer in the power of the internet to distribute control and power from centralized authority, to little musicians like us.  It’s also quite handy to be able to create unlimited email addresses on the fly.  There are no storage limitations, and no expenses above and beyond what I’d already spend for DSL service.

And it’s fun!

But it’s probably not for everyone.  (more…)

Flew into Denver this morning for the DNC gig. There is a ton of activity everywhere and the excitement is infectious. Today we had a sound check today at Invesco field and I am looking forward to tomorrow! It’s an amazing honor to play with a music god like Stevie Wonder at such a historic event. I totally have Obama fever, this is the most excited I’ve ever been about a presidential race and that’s saying something because I usually get pretty worked up. More later!

We’ve been promising it for months and now OnEnsemble.org is all new! Please take a look around and let us know your thoughts (feedback at OnEnsemble dot org). Find a broken link or typo and we’ll send you some love.

With this upgrade, we’re hoping to achieve a number of improvements:

• clearer organization
• updated On Ensemble information
• new audio and video content
• aesthetically-pleasing design
• regular updates from all On Ensemble members much easier — powered by WordPress!

One of the most exciting new features to OnEnsemble.org is the opportunity for us to interact more with our audience. Leave us a comment on any of the posts and we’ll comment back! Hopefully this will be a great way to interact more with all of our OnEnsemble.org readers.

Another big change is that all four On Ensemble members will be making posts on a much larger range of topics. Along with the regular updates each member will have his own blog area on the site, the idea being that we’ll have more freedom to post on a much larger range of subjects.

Thanks, and enjoy the site!

Thank you everyone who has provided feedback about our new site. We’ve received lots of positive support and some great suggestions! As we switch the new design over to our standard address, OnEnsemble.org, we will likely have broken links here and there. Please help us track them down if you’ve got a moment!

NEW WEBSITE FEEDBACK

Very catchy design!

Great background!

I like the simple layout, with only 5 menus at top…

About page: Maybe some kind of secondary navigation for all of your h3 headings would be useful. That way, I can tell right away that this page also contains performance, outreach, workshop, etc. info, and can access that info directly without scrolling. -RESPECTFULLY PASS (more…)

It’s not everyday you get a call in the morning to perform with Stevie Wonder at the Democratic National Convention and by the end of the day find yourself at Wonderland Studios rehearsing with the legend. Crazy… I need to pinch myself.

Anyways… I don’t want to give away too much, but I’ll be heading to Denver next week for the Democratic National Convention! Woohoo!

Back in 2004 I got to go to the Boston convention with Hiroshima got stuck in an underground parking lot for three hours and we all know how that election turned out. It was also the tour that I lost my job as primary navigator… Heading back to the hotel from dinner I missed the hotel exit four times in a row and the worst part about it was that every time I missed the exit we had to pay a toll! That was the last time I got to be band navigator. Now we have a GPS instead.

Maybe in 2012 On Ensemble will be famous enough to get invited to perform at a DNC! We’ll have to win a grammy first, so there is still work to be done, but we might as well aim high! More later…