Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer

First of all, what a combination I must say!

It was a tough day, full day of work and then a two hour drive to Davis, CA to see this magical trio performing some of the loveliest compositions. Luckily we have a friend who now lives in Davis and recommended a pre-concert dinner place, that too one of my favorite cuisines :). Cafe Italia is one of those family owned, small town, almost 50 year old place,serving mainly Italian food. I ordered my favorite Baked Eggplant Parmesan and a Minestrone soup. It was nice, combined with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, it was almost a perfect meal for me.

Anyways, coming back to point, once we reached the concert hall, it was clear we were in for a treat. They played the likes of Babar and Out Of The Blue from The Melody Of Rhythm. Note that the title should have been Bahar instead of Babar apparently!

There were some magical moments and some dull as well, but they were short lived. We came back home at 1am, but it was totally worth it. Next time we will be looking forward for more of this trio in Bay Area.

Jake Shimabukuro - Live in Concert

For those of you who don't know who Jake Shimabukuro is (don't worry I recently found out about him as well), here is what wikipedia says about him:

Jake Shimabukuro is a ukulele virtuoso known for his complex finger work.

When they mention "complex" they really really mean it. We decided to attend the concert and see how a solo ukulele concert sounds like!

He played a lot of tracks from his recent album "Peace Love Ukulele" including "143", "Boy Meets Girl", "Go For Broke" (awesome track by the way), "Trapped", "Five Dollars Unleaded" and believe it or not "Bohemian Rhapsody".

He also played a song that is called "Blue Roses Falling" and was the most amazing track I feel. He told am story behind each of the tracks he played and quite honestly I think he has a good voice as an RJ :)

Here is a picture from the concert (not that good considering it was from phone camera):

I have a couple of more concerts to go to next month including concerts of great musicians like Bela Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer and Amjad Ali Khan (with his sons Amaan and Ayaan Ali Khan) and can't wait to attend and enjoy them :)

Euphoria Live in Concert

With hits like "Dhoom Pichak Dhoom" and Mairi they don't need any introduction. The concert was packed and super energetic. Palash is a true rock star and he made sure everybody was jumping and dancing with him (yes, for all the three hours he was jumping and dancing!!!)

I must admit that although I didn't hear a lot of songs from them (only the ones that got really popular), but the way Palash sang the songs and kept the audience with him, it was really amazing. He also managed to squeeze in some Bollywood hits like "Dil Se", "Masti Ki Pathshala" and "Pichle Saat Dinon Mein" among others.

Overall it was a great show and I enjoyed a lot.

Indian Ocean - Live in Concert

This band does not need any introduction and they have proved it once again today. According to Wikipedia (Indian Ocean):

Indian Ocean is a contemporary fusion music band from Delhi, India. Some music critics describe its music as "Indo-rock fusion with jazz-spiced rhythms that integrates shlokas, sufism, environmentalism, mythology and revolution".

I believe every word of it, they played some amazing music with incredible variety. First concert for me but considering they come to Bay Area almost every year now, there will be more opportunities for me to listen to them :)

Zakir Hussain's Masters of Percussion - Pure Bliss

It was a long and tiring day at work but I was motivated. It was time to experience the magic again. After full day of work, and almost one and half hours of driving, I was in for a treat. Zakir was performing at Herbst Theater in San Francsico downtown.

http://www.sfjazz.org/concerts/2010/spring/artists/hussain.php

Artist Personnel:

Zakir Hussain: Tabla
Ganesh: Violin
Kumaresh: Violin
Sabir Khan: Sarangi (he could not make it due to Visa issues unfortunately)
Sridar Parthasarathy: Mridangam
Navin Sharma: Dholak
Taufiq Qureshi: Percussion

Featuring the Motilal Dhakis of Bengal
Gokul Chandra Das: Processional drums
Ranjan De: Processional drums
Sankar Das: Processional drums

I have been fortunate enough to attend many concerts by Zakir bhai, and he always brings so much new and different to each of his shows. This show was no different. Taufiq started out with an amazing piece by calling "breathing as a form of rhythm", and what a rhythm it was! He used sound of his breath along with a tambourine and creating rhythm, it was amazing.

Zakir bhai came in next and he created magic with his hands on tabla. It was a long and beautiful piece. Taufiq and Zakir played for a bit after the solo performances.

Gokul Chandra Das, Ranjan De and Sankar Das (from Motilal Dhakis of Bengal) came to the stage with big Dhols (similar to the ones you usually see in Indian weddings, processional drums) and they played folk music, it was good. People started thinking there may be one or two more pieces and the show will be over, but show just got started after almost an hour of amazing percussion magic.

Zakir and Taufiq were accompanied by Ganesh and Kumaresh (both on Violin) and Sridar Parthasarathy (on Mridangam). They played Raag Janaranjani and then Raag Kalyani. Zakir and Taufiq were playing along. Violin is one of those instruments that soothes the whole environment, and along with tabla and Mridangam it created such a momentum that audience was in awe of talent on the stage.

The last addition was Navin Sharma on Dholak, who also gave a nice solo performance. The show was ended with a long and beautiful jugalbandi and a combination taal.

It is time to sleep and relax now, the sound of Ustad's tabla will be ringing in my ears for sometime now :)

Pigeon Point Light Station

Image: Copyright (c) 2009, Ashish Garg.

Perched on a cliff on the central California coast, 50 miles south of San Francisco, the 115-foot Pigeon Point Lighthouse, one of the tallest lighthouses in America, has been guiding mariners since 1872. Its five-wick lard oil lamp, and first-order Fresnel lens, comprised of 1,008 prisms, was first lit at sunset, November 15, 1872. The lens stands 16 feet tall, 6 feet in diameter, and weighs 8,000 pounds. It sits in a lantern room that had been constructed at the Lighthouse Service's general depot in New York before being shipped around the Horn. Although the original Fresnel lens is no longer in use, the lighthouse is still an active U.S. Coast Guard aid to navigation using a 24 inch Aero Beacon.

Reference: http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=533

The Uncomparable SFO

"Cool fog. Hot restaurants. Neighborhoods to explore. Cultures to experience. Always more to discover...Only in San Francisco." is what the official visitor website says and they are not wrong.

San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the fourteenth-most populous in the United States, with a 2006 estimated population of 744,041. Personally I also think it is one of the most beautiful city in the world. Every time I visit SFO, it offers something new and something different. This is great city to stroll around and enjoy one of the best sea food in the world, especially sushi (if you like fish that is).

Mark Twain once said: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.", so true. It can get really very cold in the city even with a very high temperature just south of the city. Never ever be without a jacket in the city.

One of the best places to hang out in the city is probably Pier 39, very nice shops, great sunset view of Alcatraz and Golden Gate bridge. You can spot many people showing their music and arts talent in terms of live bands playing (not the greatest ones but they are still good), and some street shows to entertain you. You should definitely take the cruise ride which starts from Pier 39 and goes under the Golden Gate bridge and around the Alcatraz.

Another place to see would be the Presidio of San Francisco and across the Golden Gate bridge Golden Gate National Recreational Area. From the Golden Gate National Recreational Area, you can see unimaginably beautiful views of the bay and the city.

Here are some pictures of the city I took sometime back:

17 Mile Drive, Pebble Beach and Carmel-by-the-Sea (California)

Pebble beach is about an hour drive from South Bay and a nice place to drive to and relax. Highway-1 itself is so scenic and once you enter 17 Mile Drive (or Pebble Beach area) you will be welcomed with some breathtaking views of Pacific Ocean, fantastic golf courses as well as beautiful houses (don't even think about buying one here, they are goddamn expensive).

It will cost you $9 to enter the drive and it is totally worth it. The pebble beach is not as great as the one in Nice (France) I have been to, but still a gorgeous area to walk around or swim (if you can withstand the pacific cold water). Another nice area is the Poppy Hills golf course which is beautiful. Spanish bay is not to be missed. It provides cool view of the pebble beach. The lone cypress comes almost at the end of your journey but worth a stop. The lone cypress tress are the official symbol of Pebble Beach. Don't forget to go down to the actual vista point to get closer to get a terrific view of the ocean and rocks again.

Another place to visit within about 5 miles to 17 mile drive is Carmel-by-the-Sea, a small town worthy of an hour stroll for its aesthetics, art galleries and coffee shops. If you drive down to 17 mile drive, stop by this place and you will be happy you did :)

Here are some pictures from my trip. Others can be seen in my photographs on Flickr.

Beautiful Napa Valley, California

Just 80 miles north of the South Bay is the world famous treasure called "Napa Valley". Home of one of the best Cabernet Sauvignon (one of my favorites by the way) , Napa Valley offers much more than just good wines. Good spas, Golf courses, Bike tours (yes they do exist there)

Cabernet Sauvignon originated from the Bordeaux region in France and became popular throughout the world. One of the best Cabernet to try will have to be "Silver Oaks", they do not make anything but Cabernet. There is a $10 entry for testing rather expensive wine (starting $100 or so for the low end bottle). You get their imprinted wine glass as a souvenir.

As always, here are some pictures from my trip: