48 today!

Today's my birthday, and I'm 48! It's been a wonderful day, starting with my kids giving me scented candles in glass holders (for those long, lazy baths!) and my Significant Other taking a run down to my place (4km?) to say hi and give me a gift.

At school, my colleagues have fussed over me all day, giving me cards, flowers, a fantastic Brazilian CD from Waseefa (Samba Bossa Nova) and a wonderful book from Jacques(In The Land Of Invisible Women, by Qanta A. Ahmed, MD). I was also given a HUGE chocolate cake for my family and a sweet little cupcake for moi. To top it all, my boss (bless his dear soul!) said I could go home early!!! And so, with one or two more tasks to complete, I bid adieu!

I'm off to have a very happy birthday! The sun's shining brilliantly, my cellphone's Inbox is filled with beautiful wishes, and I feel absolutely loved and appreciated.

The pic attached was taken a few minutes ago by my colleague, Anthea.

Thanks to all my friends and family who called, sent sms's and e-mails, and for the hugs and kisses and wishes today.

My gift to myself today - ENJOY being the birthday girl!!!!

E-mail: Rushin & Bosch duo gig

Hi!

This Saturday, the fabulous WAYNE BOSCH and I team up once again to entertain you for three hours, upstairs at The Food Lover's Market, in Claremont (cnr Vineyard & Dreyer Streets).

From 7 to 10pm, we play music to make you smile , doing evergreens from the jazz and swing genres, with lots of lovely bossanovas, as well as a selection of originals. Wayne is my guitar teacher at Jazz Workshop, and the synergy we've developed in class translates into great energy on the bandstand. He is both skillful and sensitive as a guitarist and accompanist, which is any vocalist's dream! Having had constructive input into some of my original compositions, he has a working knowledge of my songs, and his interpretation is always spot-on.

The Food Lover's Market boasts an amazing Saturday menu special, to beat those recession blues: a 3-course meal + glass of wine, for only R95!
PLUS......No cover charge for the live music means you score again!

Give it a try this weekend - you might just join the growing number of Saturday night regulars! Thanks again to family and friends who came to listen last Saturday. Also really nice to meet new music lovers, out to have fun.

* Check out my blog: http://alwaysrushin.blogspot.com

* PLEASE PASS THIS E-MAIL ALONG TO (AT LEAST) TWO PEOPLE, TO HELP ME SPREAD THE WORD. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Every day of my life, I'll give myself a gift that money can't buy. Trudy Rushin

Peace
Trudy

Reflecting, on a Sunday night (06/09/09)

Last night, I gigged with Alvin Dyers at The Food Lover’s Market, and for the first time in years, recorded part of the gig (on my mom’s little cassette recorder!). For most of the night, I hadn’t felt on form, so the gig felt like really hard work. It felt like something was missing – can’t quite explain. The sound somehow wasn’t as warm as I wanted it to be, so I felt shrill. The restaurant was packed, and the people responded well to what we played, but still I felt a bit odd. At the same time, the evening went quite fast, and I hung around afterwards with my best friend, Tracy, my Significant Other and a friend of his. We sat chatting and I had something to eat, at about 10:30pm, realizing for the first time how hungry I was, and that I’d last eaten at 1:30pm! I suppose that had also contributed to my feeling out of sorts.

Today I listened to the recording and went from being mortified to being “fairly ok” with the results. Actually, the songs on Side B (the third set) sound quite good. Alvin’s a highly accomplished musician, with years of performing experience, and he adds a cool touch to my performance; there’s a lot I can learn from him. We had an interesting chat about quoting for different types of gig, and I gained new insight into that whole issue.

The past ten weeks that I’ve been performing there have been very interesting, to say the least. The restaurant owners originally decided to add live music to attract clients on Saturdays, their quiet nights. Every week that I’ve played there, I’ve seen a steady increase in the numbers. I’ve upped my own multi-faceted marketing system. In addition, I set myself the target of adding 10 new addresses every week of September, and last week I already added 17! Seeing people pitch up in response to my advertising is extremely gratifying. It spurs me on to do more, to push myself beyond my previous limits.

Every now and then it occurs to me that most of what I need in life, I already have access to – all I need to do is find the path. I started sms-ing people in my cellphone contact list, and getting their e-mail addresses. I was amazed at how many of my friends’ e-mail addresses I didn’t have! This week I’ll try to add another 10. Also, I’ve decided, based on a principle used in network marketing (aaaaargh!!!!), that if everyone who received my weekly gig e-mail sent it to just two people, that would be an interesting way to spread the word.

Yesterday morning I woke up and made a resolution:
Every day of my life, for as long as I live, I will give myself a gift that money can’t buy.

Yesterday’s gift was forgiveness. It’s so easy for me to forgive others, but I’m so hard on myself, seldom letting myself off the hook, hypercritical. Today, really critical of myself after last night’s performance, I decided I needed the same gift as yesterday! When I hit on the idea, yesterday, I immediately sat down and wrote a list of gifts that money can’t buy, and I was excited at how many possibilities there were. And nothing stops me from giving myself the same gift more than once, like I did this weekend!

As I said to my best friend, Tracy: the next logical step is to treat everyone else like I do myself – give everyone I encounter some kind of gift that money can’t buy. If I concentrated on that, imagine how bright my days would become! What a lovely way to walk the journey of life.

Kids asleep, and all’s right with my world. And now, to end this beautiful day with a delicious soak in a hot bath! And then, to sleep……perchance to dream.

Saturdays/September/Spring/Silence

Autumn sunset, as seen from my garden, August 2009.

Wow! It's been a month since my last blog! (Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.) Life's been as interesting as ever. My mother always says, "You certainly can't say you lead a boring life, my dear!" Indeed!

During the last week of August, I got the great news that I had the Food Lover's Market gig for September, as well. Same time-slot: Saturdays, 7-10pm.

This is the line-up:
Sat. 5 Sept: Alvin Dyers and I
Sat. 12, 19 & 26 Sept: Wayne Bosch and I

On the one hand, it's hard to believe this weekly gig has entered its third consecutive month, and on the other hand, I have to say: Mind Power works!(believe it!)

I'm having a ball, with this gig! I advertise wherever free advertising is possible, and at every one of the 9 gigs so far, there've been friends and family who've pitched up to listen. It's so cool!!! And it's proof that some people do read e-mails, some even forward them to their friends, and others even arrange their weekends around the info I send out! THANK YOU! DANKIE! ENKOSI! MERCI! DANKE! GRACIAS! OBRIGADA!

On a more personal note, I'm using these performing opportunities to stretch myself, musically. I set challenges for myself every week, and along my own journey I'm breaking new ground. I started playing guitar in 1978, 31 years ago, and it's been one helluva love affair! Going back to lessons in January 2008 made me realise just how much there was to learn, and the way I feel now, I never want the process to end. Juggling my family obligations and my day job with my music is an ongoing challenge, but one I rise to with all the excitement of a child in an ice-cream shop! I'm insatiable, when it comes to my music. I love performing, and the opportunity to go out in public and make music is one of the things that "make me tick". Getting to the end of a week in my very interesting day job (at an English language school for foreigners), I'm delighted at the prospect of the other part of me having its turn to step out and get an airing.

I've always liked being involved in different things at the same time. Many years ago, I taught at a primary school by day and studied at UWC by night. And that went on for years! At the same time, I was involved with aerobics and road running, as well as singing in a band at restaurants and clubs! And at the same time I managed to have a relationship. (In fact, quite a few - one at a time, though!)

And life goes on. I'm feeling stressed by driving 20km in two directions every day in horrendous Cape Town peak-hour traffic. But once I'm in the city centre, I love the vibe, I love working right in the middle of town. Actually, the drive itself is quite scenic, if I take the M3 freeway, with its hills and trees. Staggeringly beautiful in the rain! Even Hospital Bend, with its major construction works, is not as bad as we all imagined it would be. Have you seen those people who are employed to wave the warning flags? How boring is that?! I want to put this into a song one day: "Things could be a lot worse, my friend - you could be waving a flag on Hospital Bend."

Moving along with so many of my goals, achieving big and little successes along the way - such an interesting journey I'm on!

Doing a lot of introspection around areas of my life that work better than others, about how much longer I can fly my flag at half-mast, about freedom and its implications, about commitment, about perceptions, about motherhood, about rest, about time, about money, about tomorrow, about passion, about music, about silence.

Saturday 8th August - gig with ALVIN DYERS

The only constant in life is change.

So,... this Saturday, 8 August, I will be doing the Food Lover's Market gig, not with Wayne Bosch, but with guitarist, Alvin Dyers. Alvin was my teacher during two phases of my music journey, the second as recent as the first half of 2008. He's an accomplished musician, well-liked in local circles, and he's the guitarist who played on my demo CD, "At Last", recorded in November 1997, where I did four of my originals with a jazz band. In January 1998, I did a set at the Jazzathon, at the V&A Waterfront, appearing with the same band. I guess flexibiity is a good thing, no matter what field you're in, and I'm looking forward to working with Alvin at this gig.

I'll be updating my gig ad on a weekly basis, announcing my duo partner for each of the Saturdays in August. On the 22nd, though, I'll definitely be appearing with Wayne.

If you're in the mood, and you want to catch us from 7 - 10pm, to quote a local jazz singer I went to listen to recently, "stiek yt".

Wayne and I at Food Lover's Market, 8, 15, 22 and 29 August!!!

Last night I got confirmation that the duo gig at The Food Lover's Market (FLM) was ours for every Saturday night in August, and today I checked with Wayne re his availabilty. To my delight, he's happy to do the four nights: the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th.

Interesting how some people perceive a regular gig: the restaurant owner expressed his concern that people would become bored with the same band. My response is that that takes a long time to happen, and definitely longer than 4 or 8 sessions. More than that, Wayne and I consciously vary our repertoire, so that we do a fresh performance every time, with only some favourites of ours cropping up more regularly. I like the way we respond to requests - when we have the song in our repertoire, we do it immediately; otherwise, we make sure we've learnt it by the next gig. The staff at FLM love our music, and they usually request songs they like.

Last Saturday, I stretched myself beyond my usual playing capacity, doing a guitar solo in one song and a walking bass line in another. The most important result of stepping out like that, was that I realised how much more focussed I need to be, as a guitarist. Somebody once said, "An essential ingredient of success, is failure". There's nothing like playing really badly in front of an audience to spur you on to work extra hard, so that you can redeem yourself the next time! Haha!

To recap: this coming Saturday, 1 August, it's me with John Russell, lovely guy, lovely guitarist; the next four Saturdays, I'll be working with Wayne Bosch again.

I'm excited about what September holds. I've gone back to the record label I started recording with in 2006, and have started negotiations to put closure on that project. I've also started exploring a whole new recording project..... Watch this space!!!!!

Gigging with guitarists Wayne Bosch (25 July) and John Russell (1 Aug)

I'll be gigging at the Food Lover's Market for at least the next two Saturdays, with all my MIND POWER focussed on the rest of August (and September, October, November and December) as well. This Saturday, 25 July, I'll be working with Wayne again, adding some new stuff that will force me out of my ohsocosy comfort zone and stretch me as a musician (isn't that the whole point?!). Quite a few of my friends will be there (Yay for Payday!!!), and I'm so excited about them hearing us. I'm fascinated by the different elements of ourselves that emerge when we allow them to. I absolutely love working with Wayne, because it's a fresh combination and because he's not only very talented but a really nice guy, a warm, generous-spirited musician, with a huge heart and a sense of professionalism way beyond his years.

The following Saturday, 1 August, I'll pair up with another guitarist, John Russell, whom I met and worked with last year. A completely different individual, quite young, very talented, also a music teacher. I'd love my friends and family to come and hear us, as well. I think one of the great seductions for performers, is that fluidity, that ever-changing, yielding space that allows you to be whoever you choose to be for that particular performance. I could never get enough of that.

So, before I start waxing lyrical about all the other aspects of live performance that lure me, let me remember that this started off as an information-sharing article/post, advertising my gigs!

This Saturday, 7 - 10pm, Wayne Bosch and I
Next Sat. (01/08), 7 - 10pm, John Russell and I
Upstairs at The Food Lover's Market, Claremont, Cape Town

Hey, I almost forgot!!! There's a brand new SATURDAY SPECIAL: 3-COURSE MEAL + A GLASS OF WINE, FOR ONLY R95. But that's not all..... NO COVER CHARGE FOR THE SUPERB LIVE JAZZ!!!!!!