Yuri Honing Wired Paradise is invited to play to concerts in Portugal. The Goethe Jazz Festival and in the Hot Club de Portugal. We will keep you updated on the concerts.

Our concert in the “Pierre Abou-Khater” auditorium was great. The day before the concert the hall was already sold out. Still many people from all parts of Lebanon tried to get tickets the night of the concert. Since they traveled so far the organiser offered some of them free entrance when they would sit on the stairs of the auditorium. The room was over packed. Around 600 people in total. It was a hot summer day and the air conditioning was shut off so Rima wouldn’t be bothered by it. The temperature in the hall must have risen to over 35 degrees celsius. We were all sweating on stage and so was the audience. But none of this withheld both the musicians and the audience to enjoy a 2 hour concert without a break. An unusual quiet and concentrated audience listened to a whole new set of music. All new arrangements, many new songs.

The reactions were heartwarming and although we could have played better we were very satisfied with the result. Unfortunately we only had one concert. A second or a third concert would have given us some more freedom and relaxation. Rima had worked hard for weeks, organising the concert, the video clip and all publicity. Luckily she has a great group of friends around her who support her in every possible way.

After the show I went for 2 days to Damascus to enjoy some free time with my girlfriend. Damascus is a wonderful city, the centre of the Arab culture. It was great to be back. And we spent hours wandering trought the old town and the Souk.

When we returned to Beirut we met up with Rima, she showed me the roughs of the video clip and we had a nice dinner at the sea side in Beirut. The video clip is great! It’s a very stylish and arty clip with great lighting and composition of image. I hope we will have it on our website soon. We will keep you updated.

Today Rima recorded here videoclip for our CD Falak, which will be released in Beirut this week. One of the songs, Haflet Taraf, on the cd is a rather political song about the situation here in Lebanon. It criticizes the fact that people are just talking and discussing while bombs fall and the country falls apart.

The scene is set in an old deserted parking house in Beirut. A dusty smelly place which is a good reflection of the situation that is sang about in the song. It is really great to see it and even be in it. Because I came a few days earlier and the shooting of the clip was delayed some days I even got a little role in it. Not playing, that would have been nice if the whole band could have been there, but as sort of an actor carrying around a basscase. My first job as an actor! (after my infamous version of Joseph in the Christmas play in Primary school) It was great to do and I am so happy to be part of this great achievement for Rima. Her first real video clip! As soon as the result is ready I will try to post it on the website.

This morning, at 3 am, my girlfriend and I arrived in Beirut. It has been a long awaited tour which was postponed several times. But now I am finally here! The rest of the musicians of the group of Rima Khcheich, Yuri, Joost and Maarten van der Grinten, Will arrive in 2 days. I had always wanted to bring my girlfriend to Beirut and I took this oppurunity to visit my favourite country in this part of the world.

I feel right at home. There is something about this country that I really love. It’s my home away from home. Maybe it is because of my close friendship with Rima and some of her close friends, maybe it is the culture, a very open and friendly version of the Arab world, the music, the food, the people… I just love being here.

Beirut is a wonderful city, the Paris of the Middle east as they call it. It has a charme and flair which is really appealing. Despite of all the political tensions here.

Our Hotel Cavelier is in the Hamra Street. One of the main shopping streets in Beirut. People are flandring throught the streets, enjoying the weather and the relatively peacefulness. it is hard to believe that only 2 weeks ago this street was the scene of the street riots which almost resulted in a new civil war. People were fighting with guns, rockets, tanks just here in the streets. Now it all seems forgotten. People of all possible orientations are browsing through the shops again, looking for summerclothes, shoes, hats. As if nothing happened. Maybe this is typically Lebanese, the ability to go on and continue to enjoy life. After al the wars and fights the last 25 years they still seem to know how to how to get past these difficult times.

The concerts in Lebanon with Rima Khcheich are postponed due to the tensions and agression recently. Unfortunately we have to delay the concerts until the situation is a bit more stable. We will keep you informed about the situation in Beirut.

A couple of days ago other upsetting news reached us as well. Jaipur, the city in Radjastan, India, where we recently had a beautiful concert with local musicians was shoken up by bomb attacks, killing 80 people. Only weeks ago we walked around in this city.

Only a couple of months ago we were in China where now tens of thousands of people were killed by earth quakes. Exactly in the area where we were.

At these moments the news which usually is not more than a distant reality comes frightenly close. At these moments you realise that we live in a turbulent time. Full of changes in climate, politics, leaders and views.

Next week is the official date for the presentation of our new CD Falak from Rima Khcheich. The concerts are to be held in Beirut, Lebanon. As you might have heard in the news the violence started again in the streets of beirut. Gunshots, explosions, fighting, burning cars and buildings are once again part of the streets of Beirut. Rima called me yesterday, in panic. “they started again! I hear gunshots and explosions!”. Rima was born and raised in the civil war of Beirut, was under attack of Israel nearly two years ago and now she, and everyone else in Lebanon, have to face the violence again. This beautiful, friendly and exciting country with the best music, food and wine from the middle east is torn to pieces again. Indecisive weak politicians, extremists, America, Israel, Syria, they all play a part in the faith of this great country. Does this ever end? I am feeling sad today that my friends over there have to endure war again.

For me these kind of things; war, violence and death were all very far away. On television, stories from the second world war from my grandparents and parents, but never this close and personal. Please watch this documentary from 2 years ago and feel what it is like to be a singer, and artist and live in a war…… again.

The second concert in this minitour is 350 km to the west of Neuburg. On a beautiful spring day we follow the river Donau until we get to Villingen. A nice little German town where the Jazzclub is as small as the town is. The fully packed concerthall in the cellar of an old building in the historic centre of Villingen gives room to around 60 real jazzfans. This is one of the old Jazz clubs in Germany with a history of 35 years of Jazz. Pictures on the wall and arches tell a rich history of German Jazz life. Most of the fans seem to have been a frequent customer ever since the beginning of the club. An almost distinct sort of jazz lovers including beards, pipes and curdoroy pants that I only know from the German jazz scene is still alive and kicking. With a good knowledge of Jazz history they keep an open mind to all forms of modern jazz. But also some younger people are present and the atmosphere of the club is like in the old days. A nice and steaming concert, dry acoustics, and an enthousiastic warm response of the audience. It’s great to be here. I play so strong on my poor bass guitar that I end up with a blood blisters on my fingers. Playing bass guitar is quite different from playing acoustic bass, using other muscles and other part of fingers. I need at least a few concerts to really adapt again.

Sunday we are driving back home. 10 hours straight. Luckily it’s a sunday and the highways are wide open. Back home and a nice suprise on my doorstep. Filmmaker Jonathan Herman finally send me a dvd of the video clip I made for him in 1998. Worth watching.

We left this morning for Neuburg an der Donau. A 700 km trip by car. We left early leaving enough time to travel. But never underestimate the German highways. They seem to be working on them all year around and German traffic is even more hectic and busy than Dutch traffic. After a few mild traffic jams we were still not really worried until we hit Wurzburg… We spent two hours in the car watching the pavement not moving an inch. It was five now and we were suppose to play at 8.30. Still plenty of time. But suddenly now it’s seven and the German radio is giving no signs of a relieve. The road is blocked. We slowly start to panic. We call Frank Mobus the other guitar player who is traveling by train and who will be there in time. He’s at the club and they are getting worried now. We still have 200 km to go. We manage to get of the highway and take the national roads. Through little villages and also under heavy traffic. We really start to worry now and actually count on missing the concert. The last time that happened to us was 12 years ago, when we were traveling through Norway by camper. After 2 days of heavy snow and slipsliding the roads of Norway and Sweden we had a car accident 2 hours before the concert was supposed to start. When we arrive, 30 minutes late and still trembling from the shock of the accident, the organizer walks out and tells us that he already sent the audience home, which wasn’t that much work because there were only four people….. With this story in the back of our heads we are desperately pushing Joost’s old car to it’s limits. After eight o’clock most of the traffic is gone and we step on it. We finally arrive at 10 o’clock 2 hours late. Luckily the audience is still there and we promised them a cd each for waiting. People clap when we walk in and after 20 minutes of building up we start playing, no dinner, no drinks. Still we manage to play a good set with even a very nice encore. But what a day, after 12 hours of driving without a break playing a concert is something else. But at least we made it

Tomorrow morning early we are leaving for Germany for 2 concerts in the south. I just finished programming Yuri’s new site. (http://www.jazzinmotion.com/). I am pretty wasted. I think I spend more time behind the computer than behind my bass these days. I am happy to tour and do some concerts. Before I’ll go to bed I will study some bass guitar. I need to be in shape to play those fast lines.

We will play our first concerts with the new ‘Meet your Demons’ repertoire. It will be a blast. Great music. For me quite a change to playing acoustic and jazz. Many repetitive lines, no impro’s. More like a zen meditation.

Our video’s are now on line. check it out!

The rehearsals

The concert