Bolivia

In 1986 I again travelled to Bolivia, to experience more about the music and culture. It was on this visit that I met Juan Vera. He taught me the art of making quena (vertical flute) and zamponia (pan flute) and showed great generosity and sharing in his knowledge. His influence, his spirit, has continued with me since that time.

I also met Mr. Hermosa, of the group Los Kjarkas and this meeting also inspired me to love Bolivian music. He built me a beautiful set of malta (smaller pan pipes) and toyo (the very largest of all bass pan pipes).

Those two people, along with the music of Savia Andina, Lucho and Ernesto Cavour, Fernando Jiminez and the Argentine musician Una Ramos, have been some of my greatest inspirations.

I will now return to Bolivia to collaborate with local musicians to create new music and networks for future projects.

I will live in Bolivia for a minimum of three months and seek musicians who are open to the idea of collaboration and the creation of some 'new' music...... the meaning of 'new' music may span from traditional influences through to experimental music.... and beyond.

If you are a musician from Bolivia, or someone who would like to become involved in this project, please contact me in the Your Information page or via email: pete@panpeople.com.au

I look forward to hearing from you!

With the completion of the first major part of the project, here is my...

Firstly, I would like to thank the many people who made my experience in Bolivia such an inspired, creative and eventful time. Thank you to you all (see: Bolivia concert invitation)

The aims of my time in Bolivia were:

• to collaborate with local musicians to create new, pan pipe influenced music

• to record and perform this music

• to film and document the process of collaboration

• to take lessons on the pan pipe, from the best teachers

• to gather contacts, information and resources for future projects

The process has involved:

• upon arriving in La Paz, I bought and read newspapers, books, visited museums, music schools, the university, conservatorium. I would see, and film, many live performances, looking for musicians with particular qualities, and especially for those pan pipe players doing something new. In the first three weeks I saw concerts by Rijchariy, Carlos Ponce Jazz, Alaxpacha, Renovacion Wara, Bolivian Jazz, Grupo Alba, Ayar, Kalamarka and Parafonista.

• I then started to interview (for the documentary as well as to learn more of the characters involved) the individual musicians and instrument makers, including Carlos Ponce, Felix Rodriguez, Fernando Jimenez, Jeanette Rojas, Ivan Mamani, Hiroyaku Okada, Juan Vera, Josua Cordoba, Takashi, Rodolfo Choque, Hector Quispe Lopez and his one hundred pan pipe students, Andres Gmelin, Mario Conde, Andres Mamani, Hiroaki Miyahara and many others.

• meeting (by chance and coincidence) Mario Conde and Jorge Martinez, both excellent Bolivian musicians with experience living and working in Australia

• going on to radio, talking about the project and process and playing songs from the Tok Pan Tok CD (including Radio Pachamama, Radio Coroico and Radio Illimani)

• meeting the Australian Consul, Snr. Carlos Fernandez to discuss my project, and the consulate's possible involvement

• visiting over fourteen prospective recording studios and talking with recording engineers so as to choose the eventual place to record.

• taking pan pipe lessons with Carlos Ponce, the most innovative and inspiring pan pipe player I had seen in Bolivia. I also took piano lessons from Prof. Avelino Vargas twice a week and maintained a daily schedule for personal practice and composition time at the Helios School of Music.

• many 'jam' sessions with different musicians, getting to know them musically and then personally, as well as being able to explain "what it is I am doing in Bolivia". Once I had decided who I would like to work with I then started the process of individual music making sessions, followed by small group rehearsals. This went through many phases until the needs for particular sounds or instrumentation chose the final groupings.

• filming festivals, markets, landscape, the people, concerts..... so much filming that I used up my allocated stock for Bolivia and had my designated Romanian stock sent early.

• administrative duties including:
  • updating information for this website
  • keeping up contacts and preparation for the Romanian and African phases
  • writing and translating contracts for musicians
  • logging all DAT and DVC tapes ready for editing upon return to Australia
  • continuing to write up ideas for script for the documentary, then making sure that I have filmed the appropriate footage to cover these new ideas(this involved adjusting to many dissappointments and non-showing of some key people)
  • typing and photocopying scores for all the new music produced by the collaborations
  • organising and booking rehearsal venues, recording studios and sound engineer

Outcomes:

• The most important outcome was passing a personal and professional artistic hurdle. I gained an understanding and acceptance of the 'real' cultural differences. I worked through a process of not understanding the people I was collaborting with. At several points I was considering giving it all up, with continuing deep frustration and finally a realisation of the differences, mainly due to people either being late, very late or not even arriving for many and varied appointments.

  Just two weeks left before the scheduled start of the recording sessions, and with yet another disastrous rehearsal of non-showing musicians, and with expensive recording studios and engineers booked, I decided I needed to re-think my process and project. Would I continue to accept the battering of disappointments?

  The only point to arrive at is one of complete acceptance and even celebration of these anomolies. I decided to do something very Bolivian, to learn from their culture, "to live today for today and go into tomorrow with open arms".

• My pan pipe lessons have provided me with further knowledge in playing techniques, tunings, how to recognise good quality instruments. More importantly, it gave me more personal contact with Carlos Ponce.

• My piano lessons have been a part of a longer term process for music composition and accompaniment. I plan to continue these lessons in Romania. There was one rehearsal when these lessons proved invaluable, that was when Danillo Rojas was 'missing in action' and the piano so important for the piece. So I jumped up and played the part! Just....

• Television documentary maker is not something I ever thought I would be, but have found the art of filming images an immensely satisfying one. The dilemma is continually to divide my time between filming, playing and creating music. I have with me a televison quality mini digital video camera, a tripod, DAT audio recorder and professional microphone.

In conclusion:

We went into the recording studio with full Bolivian gusto and recorded five original pieces of music. The music is a mix of Bolivian traditional meets jazz meet me! It is some of the most exciting music I have ever been a part of making and again would sincerely like to thank the following wonderful, good humoured (sometimes to excess) and highly talented musicians... Carlos Ponce, Galo Cortez, Felix Rodriguez, Saul Callejas, Ruben Velásquez, Saul Vino, Danillo Rojas, Juan Vera, Victor Hugo Guzman and the skilled and patient engineer Ivan Barrientos. (see the Bolivian concert invitation for a description of the songs).

This was followed a week later by a concert which allowed for the best of world music. It was an 'invited guests' only concert and was played to a full house. The evening involved Swiss nai (pan pipe) player Andres Gmelin, Japanese shamising (and about a hundred other instruments) player Hiroaki, visiting friend and fine guitarist Dave Hyams, Snr. Hector Quispe and twenty pan pipe players from the Ave Maria School, along with most of the musicians mentioned above. It was a wonderful evening of food, drink, music and warm friends.

Bolivian was an enriching experience, full of the best that art, music, human beings and a rich traditional culture has to offer. I leave Bolivia on a creative high.