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Now there are so many blog posts in this category, I’ve decided to index them for you, to make it easier for you to find what you’re looking for. Here you go: (1) Eating out
Enjoy a curry at the ‘Namastae India’ restaurant. A great choice of tasty meals at the ‘Broadway Café.’ Over 30 flavours of icecream at “Icecream”. Tasty snacks and good prices at Le Nid. (2) Days out (in the city)
Climb the ‘Africa Tower’ (Tour d’Afrique). Visit the Luna Park (at your own risk!!) Take a boat trip on the Niger River. The Parc National du Mali – a lovely place to visit! Ten Pin Bowling at the Byblos! Visit the ‘Jardin du Cinquantenaire’ (NB Won’t take long!) (3) Days out (near the city)
Have a picnic on a rock near the Segou Road. The monument of a man on a horse. “Waspy Waterfall” a few miles out of town (flows best from August – October). Another relazing walk by the canal. (4) Shopping:
Oh My God! Yes, that’s the title of my third song of the year. The aim is to reinstate the phrase to its original meaning of awe and wonder at our mighty, omnipotent creator. As you know, the phrase has become misused as an expletive in recent times, so this song aims to redress the balance once again. This one has a bit of a funky Latin beat with hints of acid jazz; not something you often hear in church! Also, the repeated chord sequence of I, II, V in a minor key has never (to my knowledge) been used in Christian worship music before (but please correct me if you know otherwise!) Here you go: Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Chorus: Verse 1: Every step that I take He guides me This whole church is the Lord’s own body * If you want it to sound ‘posh’ then play A7b9 instead of A7 if you know it (C#dim would work too). Here’s the second of my ‘fifty songs in 2012′. I hope you like it! The words are inspired by Psalm 42, Romans 8:28, Rudyard Kipling and other Biblical themes. The melody only uses an octave of the C major scale (no accidentals), but the harmonies are more adventurous. It’s got a slightly 80s or even Elton John/Disney feel to it in places. Here you go: Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Still I will Praise Him __C__________G Chorus: In life and in death In sickness and in health So, here’s Song Number One: I’ve gone for a pseudo-celtic, neo-hymn (which partly breaks my rule no.5 already). But, hey, the Townend/Getty ones have gone down well and it’s still different from most other worship songs today! Hope you like it – I’ve gone for a very ‘safe’ song first time round, but shall endeavour for something more radical next time! (PS Sorry, I’m recovering from a cold, so my voice is not that great). Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. ______C_____Am______Em It’s hard to love your enemies Take away all bitterness Yes, my New Year’s Resolution for 2012 is to compose – and post on this blog – a new worship song every week!
Ambitious? Yes! A bit crazy? Probably! Well, I’m pledging to do fifty songs, so that I get a week or two off at least. The thing is, I’ve been composing for over two decades and I get tunes and ideas in my head all the time. So, all I have to do is note them down and share them with you. (i) No Christian jargon! (ii) No more clichés, please! (iii) Make use of vocabulary currently in the media (iv) Use new or different harmonies (v) Draw musical inspiration from the secular world There is no ‘church music’, there is just music used (or not) in church. Any style can – and should – be used. So, if you’re writing a new song, try not to get your influences from other worship song writers; this will only perpetuate the ‘inbred-ness’ of these. Why not listen to some current pop, rock, reggae, jazz, latin, R & B music and use those styles? These needn’t be overly complicated, but at least we will have a balanced musical diet in church. (vi) Tied to Scripture Now, I know I will fail at the above, but I can at least try (and you should too!) If you could make it your New Year’s resolution to try out at least one of the fifty songs in your church at some point this year, that would be wonderful (and when you do, let me know how it goes!) Some of the songs will be quite good, others less so. This is a kind of experiment. I figure that even if one person reads one song and is touched by it, I will have served a purpose. I’m also happy for you to send your opinions or suggestions about the songs.
It’s been a good – and busy – year, with plenty of travelling! Here are fourteen highlights from the year – just click on the titles below to see the posts: (i) Rob does research in Bozo country (including a 19 hour trip on the Niger river, on the roof of a boat which broke down four times in the middle of the night). (ii) Song-writing workshop in Dogon Country. (iii) Seeing a troop of wild baboons running across the road in Western Mali. (iv) Bamako gets an 8 lane bowling alley! (vi) Teaching ‘Music and the Arts’ in Jos, Nigeria. (viii) Finding a white Hummer stretch limousine in Bamako (why, I mean, why?!?) (ix) Bamako gets its first decent icecream parlour. (xi) Vacation in the Gambia (3 days’ drive each way!) (xii) Bamako gets a third brige (almost a mile long!) (xiii) Rob attends and teaches on the Arts in Missions conference in the UK. (xiv) Chilling out at the Hotel Woloni in Selingué. (xv) Conducting “Handel’s Messiah” in Bamako Cathedral (December). No post, but here’s a picture for you:
Well, belated Merry Christmas to all my readers and all the best for 2012! My kitchen looks like this:
I recently painted the cupboards red and white, ready for Christmas (and because they were dark brown and dreary before that). Bit different from your average Western kitchen I guess, but also very different from the average African one too! Weevils in our flour:
It’s a big problem in Africa, and you can really taste it in any cake, cookie or pizza made with weevil-infested four! I’m pretty sure that ingesting a few of the wee beasties (especially when cooked) would not be harmful, but it’s a bit disgusting! Look again at the picture and you can see the larve too, which were wriggling around in the flour when I took the picture! If you have a good sieve, you can probably get rid of them, but the taste is likely to remain. Best way is to find a supplier who’s flour doesn’t usually have weevils in. There you go! Most of Africa is plagued with slow, smokey, dodgy-looking lorries, crawling up hills and (sometimes) falling off them! However, one positive side is the many artistic designs you see on their backs or mudflaps:
You’ll notice that the top right lorry has a painting of the Tour d’Afrique – for some reason a very common choice here!) Now, as an ethnomusicology consultant and arts worker, I’m always on the lookout for new artistic expressions (like the bogolon cloth or pottery videos already blogged about). So it’s great to see this artwork, which has nothing but a purely aesthetic purpose! Another common sight is proverbs and other sayings on the back of lorries (watch this space…)
The local dustman with his donkey-drawn dustcart, collecting our rubbish:
He comes about three times a week, rain or shine (more of the latter, of course) and does a great job for just 2000cfa a month (or about £2.80, but with lots of houses, I guess the money adds up). Our previous guy had a tractor, but then it broke down for several weeks. So in some ways, a donkey is better! |
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