From Russia to Germany!

Alona, a fellow student of mine, who comes from Russia and moved to Germany a few years ago, writes a blog about her experiences studying in Germany, learning new languages (she speaks almost 5 languages fluently!!) and traveling throughout Europe. Recently she also wrote an article about me ! Have a look on her blog. If you can, you may also read it in russian 😉
http://www.herst.su/gigs-en/joe

New Facebook Site!

Hey everyone,

you can now get information about me and MyTravelingPiano-Project also on my new facebook site. Please click the “Like” Button directly on the site:

www.facebook.com/mytravelingpiano

See you there 🙂

Dann Carlton Hotel in Medellin, Colombia

This is on my visit to Colombia, a beautiful country that is much better than it’s reputation. Now I am back in Germany, so if you are looking for a pianist in Bremen or Hannover, don’t hesitate to contact me 🙂

Jam Session at Guayaquil’s Jazz Club Diva Nicotina

This was the last time I played in Ecuador before I went on to Colombia and Peru. Every Wednesday is Jazz Night at Diva Nicotina, one of my favourite bars in Guayaquil. I met a couple of cool guys last night and we played a few songs together. This one is “Night and Day”.

One Night at the Hilton Hotel (Guayaquil, Ecuador)

Yesterday Franzi and I went to the Hilton Colon Hotel Guayaquil, the nicest hotel in town, made some new friends and I played with the hotel band for a while. A really nice evening!

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Unfortunately the video is a little dark but at least you can hear 😉

Not what I expected…

Hey everybody,

So I haven’t posted in a while… But I do want to tell you which gig I got last week. I am now in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Last week, I got a call from the owner of a nice restaurant and they wanted to book me to play piano for a big birthday party in their restaurant. As they wanted me to play on the same day, I didn’t have time to check out the place beforehand. I just had time to ask if it was a real piano and if it was tuned or if it was an electric piano.

The charming lady on the other end of the line ensured the piano was a little old but definately tuned. So we agreed on the details and I showed up half an hour before I was supposed to start playing. I have to admit I was a little surprised 🙂 I couldn’t see a piano anywhere! After looking around I finally spotted a cute little organ in a corner in the back of the restaurant, a B-35 Yamaha with foot pedals and everything… To be honest, I never played such an instrument and had no clue how to use those pedals…

I was close to walking out the door again, but we had a deal and the first guests already started to walk in. So, I decided to make the best out of it, playing such an organ for the first time in my life 🙂 It was an unexpected but very funny job, and the dinner was delicious!

Back from Nicaragua

Back from Nicaragua! Lessons learned:
1. Don’t leave your beloved hiking shoes on the bus before crossing the border.
2. Count the change you’re getting from the border officials.
3. Don’t go on a 16km tour to climb a volcano if you’re feeling sick.
Great week anyway! A very beautiful country! And much safer than I was told.
Tomorrow: Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica!

Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua

Flight Delay

I was supposed to go to Costa Rica today but the weather wouldn’t let me.
This afternoon I packed all my stuff and went to the airport, where I was told that my first flight to Fort Lauderdale was late due to bad weather conditions and that I wouldn’t be able reach my connecting flight to Costa Rica. As the flight to Costa Rica isn’t offered every day of the week, I have to stay another two days in Boston, hoping that the plane will be on time on thursday night…

What a fun to spend three hours carrying 60kg of baggage through Boston for nothing… 😉

First Gig in Boston, Massachusetts

After a nice but pretty stressful last week in Germany, I finally arrived in Boston. I’m staying with my good friend Emi, who I met eight years ago, when I was doing my social service in France, and her girlfriend Courtney. Since then, we have managed to meet almost every year – always in different places.
So after we had dinner at some of their friends house yesterday, we went to a piano bar where I got my first gig on this trip.

Travel plans

Just a quick update: Leaving in August, mytravelingpiano will be on the road again soon! Here’s the plan for the next couple of months:

Boston, USA
Liberia, Costa Rica
Nicaragua
Panama
Guayaquil, Ecuador

Looking forward to explore exciting cultures and new piano places!!