Jan Peters, Naked Hearts, Monday Night Project: News

I have returned to my roots as a performer for this Winter, 2011.  This puts me in Davis, CA, where I've many great friends and music compadres.  

I am taking some time to reconnect and network in these parts, as well as to study, write, and practice many of the things that have been piling up for me.  One major example would be the homework given to me by the great Lache Cercel, (www.lachecercel.com).  He is the Vancouver, BC based Romanian violinist who has given me special opportunities to feature with his amazing Roma Swing Ensemble, as well as given me a great deal of challenges to work on.

 

So, I plan on being back up in Bellingham zone by March to join Robert Blake for the annual Paddy Whackers St. Patricks Day Show at Boundary Bay Brewery.  And I'll be booking some other concerts/shows and will be letting everyone know ~ 

 

Thanks for reading ! 

Jan

Dear All, 

Some fun changes and developments are in the works....

The Naked Hearts have added a super wonderful percussionist who is new to our area, that being Steven Tate.  He has worked with my old friend and major inspiration Joe Craven, and is an exceptional cat.

AND, Although its been a wonderful time at the Honeymoon these last couple of years,

we are moving our March and April 

              THURSDAY EVENING SHOWS TO THE 

                          BLUE HORSE GALLERY

 

301 W. Holly on the corner of Holly and Bay in B~hamtown 

 

 

http://www.bluehorsegallery.com

We'll be playing an earlier set most Thursdays, from 7 ~ 9 pm, with the occasional 9 ~ 11 or weekend show.

I have been remiss in posting all the shows that have been happening, but am getting back on track with that. Just thought I'd say that.....

Also, I have a batch of new students that have been keeping me busy, mostly mandolin, but some singing and song coaching as well ~

Last Saturday Night, September 18,  at the Green Frog Acoustic Tavern, I had the pleasure of sitting in with Lache Cercel, and his Roma Swing Ensemble out of Van Couver, BC.

We had met at the String Band Jamboree this Summer, during the big jam at the end.  I was on piano, and he came up and took the jam into another direction entirely.  His set earlier at the Jamboree was intoxicatingly fantastic. 

A quote about Lache's music;

"Lache Cercel’s music is firmly rooted in Roma tradition, styled with Doina Klezmer, Middle Eastern and European sounds, and held together with jazz improvisation. He calls his fusion Roma Jazz or Roma Swing. In the tradition of Django Reinhardt and Stephen Grappelli, Cercel lays classical and improvisational jazz alongside traditional renderings, which makes for a phenomenal sound".

After the Jamboree jam, we hung out and talked about music and he invited me to come sit in with him soon.  I met him at the Wild Buffalo show a few weeks later, and that was fun.  Then he invited me to come the Green Frog show, and I emailed him and Stephen Nikleva, his wonderful and fantastic guitarist, some tunes I've written and arranged.  What happened at the Frog was absolutely one of the finest and funnest times of my life.  The tunes I sent went great and were too fun, and then I ended up trading improvisation with Lache and his violin on harmonica over this wicked Roma Jazz groove they play.  I don't think I'll ever be the same again.

I'll be visiting Lache and Stephen soon in Van Couver, and will post again about these extraordinary musicians and any more experiences I get to have with them.

Here is Lache's site;  http://www.lachecercel.com/about.html

Well, somethings just keep getting better and better,
and the String Band Jamboree is one of them ~ The wedding we
played the next day went great with happy people and band, and I am going to
be feeling the glow of the 10the annual Jamboree for weeks to come ~

The private events of the last couple months have included some very sweet times.  The 80th birthday patio party over looking the Bay was incredibly fun and lovely.  Also we played another wedding at the Lairmont Manor in South Bellingham.  They wanted a combination of the Monday Night Project with my sister Maggie singing with us, and the Naked Hearts.  It took some preparation, and was well worth it.  I'll soon be posting comments from various folks who have hired us ~

The Naked Hearts are playing a lot lately, and some private house concerts have been especially sweet. We are enjoying everything from performing as a trio, to a five or six piece with percussion and violin or soprano sax.

We did a show at the Swan Cafe with Brian Cunningham, the great and wonderful guitarist from the Monday Night Project that was a pure delight and a blast to boot. Its got me thinking of some ideas for some special shows down the road here....

More info available upon inquiry regarding ensemblege for your event ~

Well, I have been asked to be a part of an upcoming Idiom Theater Production, and I am psyched.

Mike Matthews of The Cody River Show fame, along with the wondrous, delightful and very talented Carolyn McCarthy, have created a show, a musical, based upon a handful of local songwriters songs !

They chose three of my songs, and a bunch of awesome material from other local songsters, and created a show called MUSIC BOX #1: SNOW GLOBE ~

It opens Thursday Dec. 10 at the Idiom, and runs through Saturday for two weeks. More info coming right up.....got to run.....

This show is so fun ! Don't Miss It !

Hello All,

Just to share the Naked Hearts are vibrating with some fresh material, and deepening in feeling and enjoyment of playing music together.

And, that we are planning TO PLAY NEW YEARS EVE AT THE HONEYMOON !

Yes, and I am really looking forward to bringing in the New Year with such good music and times.

We all need ever increasing authentic positive energy and community in these intense times, and I am grateful for what we share here in our area, musically, and in every way of becoming ever more human, together and each alone ~

Well, our beloved trumpet/flugal horn and cajon player Kevin Woods and his partner have made it to S. Korea and are doing well. Teaching English and getting into some musical endeavors for sure.

We are loving playing as a quartet with occasional featured/hired guests on percussion, violin, or horns. Some new material is really coming together, and I am more than please people are responding so well to my new song 'Spellbound' ~

The regular Thursday night shows at the Honey Moon here in Bellingham continue to grow in attendance and energy, and so wonderful private events do come of this also. And here and there, we play elsewhere in town like the Chuckanut Ridge Winery, or Boundary Bay Brewery.

The Naked Hearts and The Monday Night Project, including one show of a hybrid of the two bands, have been playing some wonderful private events sent from Music Heaven.

Concerts in acoustically wondrous living rooms, rock garden patios with coy ponds, spacious spots on Islands and on land in the Skagit Valley with people dancing and whirling about all free and joyful like.

This has been a blessed summer for us, even in the face of such intense times for us all with the economy and other immense concerns in this old world of ours. I guess people need music more than ever whether its on their property, down at the Honey Moon, Boundary Bay, Chuckanut Ridge Winery, or any other fine venue we are blessed to have in our area ~

See you out there,
Blessings,

Jan

Every Monday Night for June, the Monday Night Project returns to our origins, Boundary Bay Brewery. From 9 to 11, we'll be mixing it up outside in the beer garden, a wonderful venue indeed ~

Then in July, the Naked Hearts will take the stage there, same time, same place

Psyched ~

The Thursday Evening (8:30-11 pm)Naked Hearts Shows at The Honey Moon in Bellingham are developing in every way. The expanding and returning audience are keeping us motivated to bring in new material.

We finally learned the tango Dan the accordion man has been patiently waiting for us to get together. Majun has brought a new swing-rag that rocks. I've brought in a jig I wrote years ago that sounds great with this group, and is a blast to play. Kevin has shared a new waltz he composed with us, and its very beautiful. There is more, but this is just a quick update, and thanks to all new and returning fans, you all make it a fantastic time for us there ~

Jan

I Can't Get Over It -

After almost nine years and several incarnations, now soon to be released is the Monday Night Project recording at last. I brought some of these songs with me from my days back in Davis, Ca, where I was a full time musician for many years. A couple come from my travels and times as I headed North from there, and the rest are from my life here in Bellingham, WA.

Most essentially I want to thank and acknowledge all the wonderful musicians who have been a part of this band.

The whole thing started back in 200? with Robert Sarazen Blake and myself looking for a weekly gig in town. Boundary Bay Brewery said “sure, how about Monday nights?” which were pretty quiet at the time. Long story short, it became so popular time came to start an actual band. Robert took off to go on tour, I asked Stell Newsome to come in, and we ended up with a bunch that jammed hard and well enough that folks started moving tables and dancing. The Monday Night Project was born with me singing and on mandolin, Stell Newsome on guitar and singing, Josh Brahinshy on bass, Noa Patterson drumming, and my sister Maggie singing wondrous harmonies with Stell and me. We had a packed and dancing scene for four plus years.

Over the course of things came to this band Phil Sottile, Warren Palken, Steve Foucher, Andy Simmons, Keith Juddleman, Kevin Nelson, Russel Gores, Brian Cunningham, Julian MacDonough, Jim Linquist, and most recently, Tom Anastasio.

The current renditions of these songs are touched and colored by all these great players and, in the last few years, fully honed and crafted by those who are on this recording.

I truly can't get over the excellence and beauty of each of the parts these players has come up with for these songs. Also, I can never say enough about Brian Cunningham's dedication to the project as recording engineer and guitar parts man extraordinaire.

People have danced to this body of material for years, we've given some fine concerts, and many weddings have we helped to celebrate. Still, I never could have imagined what we now finally have here to share (the CD will be out within the next few weeks).

I can't get over it.

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/entertainmentnews/story/794711.html#none

FINALLY, THE LONG AWAITED RECORDING FROM THE MONDAY NIGHT PROJECT. 11 CUTS FEATURING THE SONGS OF JAN PETERS, HARMONIES OF SISTER MAGGIE KAVANAGH, GUITAR WORK OF BRIAN CUNNINGHAM, DRUMMING OF JULIAN MACDONOUGH, AND BASSIN' OF JIMMY LINDQUIST, AND TOM ANASTASIO ~ AN ECLECTIC MIX OF SONGS RANGING FROM BLUE GRASS, SOKA-LYPSO, FUNK, BLUES, AND OTHER INFLUENCES ~