Hello good people of the interwebs!

James Whetzel has a new DJ mix playing at Seattle Center; it plays in the background in the Center House and in the International Fountain when the “big show” music is not playing (the big show music is the music that plays when the fountain fires off it’s big water jets).

Artists in the mix include:

Nav Katze & Black Dog, Bobby Ellis & The Observers, Fila Brazilia, Global Dance Project, Benny Goodman & his Orchestra feat. Charlie Christian, Duke Reid, Ravi Harris & The Prophets, Yann Tiersen & Baba James, Augustus Pablo, Orchestre Continental, I.K. Dairo, and Heights of Abraham.

Here is a link to one of the tracks, J-Pop group Nav Katze “Never Not” (Black Dog Remix) from the album “Never Mind The Distortion,” in video format:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK4E_NC8maw

Best musical regards,

James Whetzel & Funketabla

[photo at top: Seattle Center, International Fountain]

Live performance of sarod, violin, beats and vox at the Sea Tac International Festival, Saturday, June 26, 2010, 3 - 4pm at Angle Lake Park, 19408 International Blvd. Sea Tac, WA

It’s become a tradition to send out New Year wishes from Olin Place and Funketabla.  This year we did not do so.  Neither the end of the 2009 nor the start of January arrived as sweetly as we had hoped.  The Taliban bombed a volleyball game in Pakistan, a devastating earthquake struck Haiti, and people passed away both near and far.  It was not the sort of fresh start we had been hoping for.  So we decided to delay our good wishes for the new year.

Fortunately the solar New Year is not the only New Year’s option available!  The Lunar New Year is coming on Valentine’s Day February 14th, 2010 and we will delay our good wishes no longer!

And since talk is cheap and wishes without will can be feeble, we are actually doing something to make this year better.  We are giving away a track by James Whetzel!  It’s a happy little ditty  called “Days In Black Satin.”  It’s based on an out-take from the Sarod & Beats album.  The song began as a joke.  At Remedy Teas they make a tea called “Black Satin, “ and James joked, playing off of the name of the Moody Blues song “Nights In White Satin,” that he would make a track called “Days in Black Satin.”  Well now he’s done it and now you can enjoy it.  For the record “Beauty” is the name of another tea they make at Remedy Teas.

You can listen and/or download the track at ilike or soundcloud at the following links:

http://www.ilike.com/artist/James+Whetzel

http://soundcloud.com/jameswhetzel/days-in-black-satin-new-lunar-valentines-mix

May respect, peace, love and good things come to you and yours!

Funketabla

Eduardo Mendonca is a Seattle based musician who is one of twenty Music Corps fellows in the U.S. Music Corps is a part of the Music National Service project. Eduardo interviewed Funketabla’s James Whetzel asking questions about music, its meaning and value and music education and its relationship to creating community.

Here is also a link to the video at Eduardo’s blog at the Music National Service project:

http://my.musicnationalservice.org/profiles/blogs/james-whetzel