- 1:30 am – En route to Katonah, Doc corrects Roman’s “what our message is” to “our message,” reminding Roman of the horrors he experienced writing seventh grade papers.
- 12:00 noon – Roman wakes and feels less than healthy, even though he just got more sleep than any other night of the tour thus far.
- 3:00 pm – Band rehearsal at Billy & Joan’s. Time passes and tensions mount until the dam breaks and the rehearsal dissolves into the typical frenzy of eight voices struggling to form one thought. One Drum!
- 7:00 pm – David, Jahmes and Holly drive to NYC to meet with Shelia. The rest remain in Katonah, chillin’ with the kids (Evan & David) and watching movies.
- 11:16 pm – Jesse complains about not being on the website and within five minutes his name magically appears here.
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Jan
11
Jan
10
- 7:00 am – depart for NYC, bound for a WNYC radio interview and the Knitting Factory.
- 10:04 am – connect with Holly, Thacher and Jahmes via mobile phone.
- 10:55 am – stop by at Doc’s parents’ house en route to NYC. Roman logs in to upload the page you are viewing, and we all eat a lunch of egg salad, tuna, PB&J, and lemonade. Many thanks and praises to Lila and Warren for their hospitality.
- 12:39 pm – pull into NYC after encountering numerous disgruntled toll-booth workers.
- 1:30 pm – We witness a terrifying scene – line upon line of Muslim Americans waiting to “register” as part of a federal order, as a group of people chanted prayers through a small sound system in the back of a pickup truck. We fear that many of our Muslim friends who didn’t show up could be subject to arrest or imprisonment. We wonder if this was the first such perversion of American principles since we interred Japanese-Americans in WWII. In our depths of despair we spied an Earth flag, a bastion of hope. The Earth flag is not simply a banner of the Earth taken from outer space – imagine that someday, rather than witnessing a planet divided by borders, beliefs, and nationalities we would instead see a unified whole.
- 2:45 pm – Doc and Jahmes appear live on WNYC for an interview. Renowned producer John Schaeffer mistakenly called our group “One World,” which we thought was an hilarious hyperlink directly to our message. Listen to the interview (mp3, 1.67 MB)
- 4:37 pm – Waiting outside the Knitting Factory, Roman spots Mike Gordon of Phish crossing the street in front of the van.
- 6:30 pm – We discover that the amp that smoked at Rongo is definitely fried.
- 7:15 pm – Perform at the Knitting Factory. Numerous families attended. An excellent performance.
- 10:01 pm – We discover to our dismay that one of our speakers has disappeared. If you’ve seen an RCF powered speaker wandering the streets of NYC begging for spare change, tell him his sister misses him.
- 11:13 pm – Julio & Roman embark on a brief psychic trail investigation of the missing speaker, and somehow miss the rest of the gang who left for dinner. Walking around the freezing streets of NYC, Roman makes a phone call to Doc’s mobile phone while Julio waits with his skateboard. The conversation went as follows:
R: “Doc, where are you guys?”
D: “Why don’t you guys just follow our psychic footprints?”
R (freezing): “Shut the @#$! up and gimme directions!”- 11:31 pm – We dine at Mikata, a fine Japanese restaurant. Halfway through the appetizers Doc realizes that he ate at this exact restaurant with Ottmar Liebert after they played at Danceteria in 1982. Cecilio tries 10 different foods he has never had and we all experience waves of transcendental bliss eating wasabi-soaked sushi. We were joined by Sofia, Shaun Mader, Karen and Shelia. We couldn’t help but remark on Karen’s great dancing, sublime eyes and excellent muscle tone. All this from a white woman who is an RN. For dessert red bean and green tea ice cream flavors cascade in rivulets down our collective throats. Yum! Lastly, we use our chopsticks to play a bowls and water glasses Gamelan piece for the waitresses who just want us to leave so they can go home, but they are won over by the music in the end.
Jan
9
- 8:00 am – We arrive in Ithaca, NY. David has had little to no sleep at this point, while Thacher & Roman feel slightly rested with four or five hours. Cecilio, on the other hand, seems to sleep the most of anyone, and somehow remains more tired than the rest.
- 9:00 am – Breakfast, followed by…
- 10:15 am – Performances at Beverly J. Martin Elementary School. We have a great time. Here’s what the kids and teachers wrote about us…
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- 5:00 pm – Pick up Doc Green at the airport and make our way to the Rongovian Embassy, a bar in Trumansburg, NY.
- 9:30 pm – One Drum Quintet performs at Rongo. Highlights include an incredible medley: O Say Shalom -> Gahu -> Ala Wallee -> 365. Rich, a local lawyer, sat in for a few songs with his trumpet. It was cool! The downside of our show is the amplifier that started smoking and smelling of burned circuit board.
- 12:00 am – finish up our show with a rocking version of the Beatles’ Hello Goodbye sung in the capoeira style and crash in the 3rd floor apartment of Rongo, which reminds Roman of a warm, cozy pigeon roost complete with shower, and five mattresses. The attic is an immeasurable storehouse of abandoned musical junk, and we find a hammer, a broken banjo, some drum cases and other items of questionable function.
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Beverly J. Martin Elementary School
One Drum Song
Vibrations
Boooooom, boooooom.
Ssss, Ssss, Ssss
Cymbals.
Trumpet-black, skinny, long
goes too-ooot.
A turkey baster with water goes
woooop, woooop,
Up with your breath.
Dancing, jumping, swinging arms,
Knees up and down, up and down,
arms WAY in the air.
I danced with Kiki.
Miles did splits with Camille.
Latika danced with Mrs. Maynard.
Clothes with patterns like snakes-
green orange, purple, yellow.
Long shirts like short dresses.
Shirts from their countries, their cultures.
Smelling pretend fire, a banana cooking,
white ants, termites frying
in a big log.
Tasting coconuts, the salty water,
fried chicken with hot sauce
and mashed potatoes.
People bumping next to me, dancing, hot and sweaty,
feels good, like exercise.
Gives energy, makes you smile.
Let us work and play and work and play
together.by Mrs. Maynard’s 2nd Grade
Beverly J. Martin Elementary School
Ithaca, NY – January 9, 2003To One Drum,
Your spirits will remain in the hearts, halls and walls of BJM long after you have continued your journey – spreading the heart and drum beat of unity among people.Umoja and Imani,
Jackie Melton Scott
BJM Family Liaison