Hurricane Relief Concert

[Guest guest]

In Mill Valley last Sunday from 4 to 7, the Marin satsang and the MA

Center community held a fundraising dinner concert and celebration

for hurricane survivors and evacuees. Some local talent including

some with national reputations performed and a delicious dinner was

provided.

 

Lakshmi Devi, who is singer/songwriter who accompanies herself on

acoustic guitar, opened the program with her delicate soulful voice.

I personally didn't especially care for her lyrics but her voice was

pleasant.

 

Well-known blues vocalist Fred Hughes and his electric band

featuring outstanding guitarist Rich Kirk who had played with John

Lee Hooker were up next. The sound system gave some problems in

their first two numbers during which the bassist continually

upstaged the star singer by demanding that his playback speaker be

made louder. By the end of their set, however, after we'd been able

to hear them all play and sing with such energy and skill, the band

had earned some serious fans. Fre Hughes will always be remembered

by me for his patience and good humour as well as his singing.

 

Country Joe McDonald, his guitar and harmonica came next. He sang

two new songs. One dealt with Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.

The refrain was "We waited and waited and waited and waited. We

waited and waited and help came too late." The other was inspired

by Cindy Sheehan and the parents who had lost children in the Iraq

War.

 

This event had some guests of honor among the full house of

attendees. Brahmachari Dayamrita had returned from Europe to attend

and support the event. He said a few words and distributed bouquets

of roses to each of the other guests of honor. They included Cheri

Ivey, the principal of Fruitvale Elementary School in Oakland. That

school has 53 new students whose families were evacuated from New

Orleans due to the hurricane. Ms. Ivey planned a clothing giveaway

at the school that received so many donations that she opened it up

to all hurricane evacuees in Oakland. MA Center community members

helped at that event. We have also supported a Halloween Party and

Thanksgiving basket event at the school for hurricane evacuees.

Besides Ms Ivey, there were adults and teenagers who are among the

new residents of Oakland, California, brought to the SF. Bay Area by

the hurricane disaster. They all happily accepted their rose

bouquets from Dayamritaswamy. When we first met these people and

helped them find clothes that fit them, they were still taumatized

and in shock. It was really wonderful to see them looking calm,

poised and, well, loved. They looked great!

 

Thanks to all the changes in sound setup throughout, it was 7 PM by

this time. Everyone was hungry and the fragrance of the wonderful

Indian meal prepared by devotees under direction of India Village

restaurant had filled the hall. Happily, Stephen Kent, the

dijeridoo player extraordinaire, agreed to play as we ate. I wish I

knew the name of the amazing man who played with him. This other

man was an acoustic ensemble in one body. He played bongos,

occasionally playing them it seemed as if they were tablas, but not

always. He had two kinds of seed-pod rattles wrapped around each

ankle which he sounded by stomping his feet and then he would

occasionally pick up another type of similar rattle and shake it at

appropriate moments. Stephen, not to be outdone, also played gourd

and basket rattles which were arranged on a table next to him. The

dijeridoo is an Australian instrument, a long hollowed out log.

Stephen's instruments of various lengths were decorated with

incising by their aboriginal creators. The dijeridoo requires that

it's player be able to inhale at the same time he is exhaling

andvocalizing into the instrument, quite a challenging thing to

master. The sound of it, if you have never heard one, is other

worldly on one hand and on the other appears to give your chakras a

thorough energy massage. So as we were all eating yummy Indian

Village food and desert, Stephen and his amazing accompanist

assisted our enjoyment and digestion with music from Down Under.

 

After the music stopped, we were able to say hello to MA Center

friends and also the guests of honor many of whom we had seen

through their amazing transition. Ms. Ivey and several of the

evacuees to whom I spoke said that they hoped to meet Amma when she

visits next week.

 

Aikya