Jost is one of those places I would normally never go to. I love to snorkel, but I'm not a beach person and Jost is made for the beach lovers. It is a small island located near Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. It's also very primitive, and only got electricity about 20 years ago. My cousin Krys wanted to celebrate her birthday there this past February, and I know how much Claire loves the beach so I agreed that we would go too. Of course I would bring a mandolin along just in case things got real boring, or if I could find a local jam.
The trip was long and involved planes, taxis, and ferryboats and took two days, with a stop on St. Johns. We stayed in a nice place overlooking the harbor, and enjoyed a visit to "The Quiet Mon" a Caribbean Irish Pub. I was hoping for a sessiun, but it wasn't that kind of pub. But I did wear my "Craobh Dugan" shirt for the outing to show my Irish colors.
The next day we took another Ferry to Jost, and it was all everyone said it was. Beautiful white sand beaches, and we rented on spectacular house overlooking White Bay. The view was unbelievable, and I have to admit, very relaxing. On the ride over I was jonesing to pick some and did noodle a bit on the ride, but soon was just stuck on the scenery. It was a lot to take in and I enjoyed every bit of the ferry ride.
When we arrived at our place (above is what we looked at every morning) I couldn't wait to get down to the beach and snorkel (which I did a fair amount of) and enjoy the water. But I really did have a hard time just sitting and doing nothing - so I spent some time up at the house picking and looking at the scenery. Something I could get real used to.
Above is the shady spot behing the house that I would hang out and pick at. But a few days of that and I was hoping to find someone to pick with. We also checked out the beach bars while there and I heard that a local musician - Reuben - played Thursdays at Ivan's Stress Free Bar, and welcomed visiting musicians. So I planned to break away from the group and take my mandolin over to Ivan's and sit in with Reuben.
When I showed up with the case Reuben gave me a not very friendly look. I don't think he sees many mandolins down there, and he plays a 12 string in a Calypso style, that I was not sure I could fit in with. I think he had a bit of altered tuning going on that day too, cause I could not read his hands very well. And, he was very good - playing rhythm with lot of little fills and runs, and the 12 string gave him a lot of support for his leads. But he gave me the OK nod and I joined him.
Reuben is one very, very laid back individual. Hardly spoke, and never told me what he was going to play. Just finished a tune, and then would pause and look around a little and start another. Took me a few seconds to find the key each time, and to figure a matching rhythm parts out, cause he played songs. But as most courteous folks do, on each song he played he would give me the nod and give me a break.
So after a few tunes I asked him how I was doing. "You not very cool, man" was the reply. "Relax and play, be cool" I was a bit taken back, but in a few seconds realized what he meant. I wasn't very cool, was trying too hard to fit in, and really was not getting the Island rhythm (that whole Island time thing). So I stopped trying to be perfect and match his rhythm and started playing how what I felt. He was also kind and switched into Country music selections, though I don't think Folsom Prison Blues has ever been played quite like that before. I had a ball.
I asked Reuben a few songs later if I was cool - his reply "Almost". On the last few I think I got it because he started taking breaks and letting me hold the rhythm - which was a groove that I guarantee Bill Monroe never played on the mandolin. Cool.
All in all we played about 7-8 songs together before he took a break, and most of the listeners were very kind to me and told me they enjoyed me playing along. One guy came up and said Reuben must have liked me because he let me stay up there the whole time.
And I think I learned maybe just a little about how to play "Cool".
Here's a bit of Reuben at Ivan's in his usual spot at Ivan's.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDPbUpmttfc
Went back to Ivan's one last time with Clarie - here's a shot of our last nite on the Island at the scene of the crime.
No comments:
Post a Comment