Just started humming a Michael Jackson song in the kitchen and my b/f said ‘That’s is my favourite Michael Jackson song.’ So I asked him what the song is called - Human Nature: “Why, why? Tell them that it’s human nature”.  I’ve had it in my head all these years without knowing its title or that it came from Thriller.  So I googled the guitar chords and had a go at playing it - it is beautiful and sad and his voice is astonishing. RIP Michael Jackson.

Several of us in the Ginkgo Music team will be going to Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, London on the 30th July to see a new chamber opera about the relationship between Charles Darwin and Robert FitzRoy, captain of HMS Beagle during its historic five year voyage of discovery. The opera is called The Weather Man and Opera North’s blurb says: “As Darwin developed his theory of theory of natural selection, FitzRoy became an ardent creationist, and the two friends found themselves divided by the 19th Century’s greatest intellectual faultline. This fascinating new chamber opera by composer Paul Clark and librettist John Binias explores the opposition between science and spirituality through spoken voice, baritone, and string quartet.” I’m really excited about it! If you are intrigued by contemporary music responses to Darwin you may also be interested in the Darwin Song Project.

Last night Ginkgo Music and Tropical Forest Project: Ecuador had their second mention on radio. Multi-talented Josie Gallo, film & TV editor, radio presenter and member of the crew helping us film the artist interviews for our promotional movie, was presenting a pre-Glastonbury warm up show on Frome FM and kindly gave us a mention. Her radio rocks! Or something.

Oh Lordy, at last

Jorge Drexler’s producer is sending us a song tomorrow(ish), so they have something for us. Phew!

Plus we have a string quartet recording the backing track for Vania Bastos ‘The Rain Makers’ on Friday the 3rd of July; Ben is hard at work as we speak on this.

So we may have ALL recorded material in end of week commencing 6th July - how cool is that?

I’ll keep you posted

Ooh look! While having a bit of a rummage around the internetty thing, I came across an article on Morgan Szymanski in November 2008’s edition of Classical Guitar magazine. Lo and behold, we get a mention: http://www.morganszymanski.co.uk/content/news/featured-artist-classical-guitar-magazine-november-2008/

Thanks very much to Valentin Gerlier, whose track This Is the Waltz adds a bit of 3:4 to the mix on Tropical Forest Project: Ecuador.  He’s name-checked us with considerable enthusiasm on the front page of his site http://www.valentingerlier.com

For Tropical Forest Project: Ecuador Brazilian producer Ricardo Severo has written a powerful and incantatory song for Vania Bastos called Os Fazedores de Chuva (”The Rain Makers”) inspired by an ancient Inca myth about Inti-Illapa, the Weather God who drew the rain from the Milky Way.  With no direct reference to the myth in the song, it ties in beautifully for me (scientist) with recent work suggesting that chemicals released by equatorial forest trees cause rain-clouds to form.  Clever trees.  We’ve been struggling to work out how to approach the recording.  Ricardo’s piano-based first recording begins with isolated notes suggesting raindrops.  Now step forward Ben Rous, Ginkgo Music’s very own web technician, whose day job is musician & composer with an interest in Schoenberg.  Out of the blue Ben has been inspired to write parts for a string quartet, or perhaps two violins and a cello.  I can’t wait!  The challenge is to get the recording done asap so that it doesn’t impact on the completion date.  I’ll keep you posted.  

Had our film crew over for dinner on Tuesday evening; four wonderful, excited, interested and fun students from Bournemouth University who that very day had been recording our interview with Morgan Szymanksi, the Mexican classical guitarist who recorded a beautiful track for us last year. I made my famed mackerel dauphinoise, served with a whole heap of rocket’n'balsamic and all washed down with treacle tart and vanilla ice cream. Dominic had already met the guys’n'gals before (Will, Kat, Josie & Carolina) but this was my first time, and plying them with good food, plentiful wine and high-level (yeah right!) conversation made for a splendid evening all round. We’re hoping to take them to Ecuador in August to get some great footage of the forests and to film some more interviews. Margarita Laso, from Ecuador, has recorded a track for us but we’ve never actually met; lots of phone calls, emails, phone calls and yes more emails, and a superb result, but no actual face-to-face “hey how ya doing?” kinda stuff. Maybe she’ll cook us something nice…

Well have we got a crazy 3 months coming up. In readiness for promoting the album we’re making a short film/documentary about our story so far, featuring some of the contributing musicians along with footage of Ecuador we’re hoping to record on a trip we’re planning; we’d to visit some of the forests we’re helping to protect and we’re taking a sound-recordist to capture the noise, buzz and hoo-ha for the album. (We’re hoping to involve some rather splendid and well-known people in our journey so keep checking back for news on our success - eek.) Next up, our website’s about to get an upgrade to start accepting donations and pre-prders for the album AND we oh-so-know we’ve gotta get into Twitter and do more with our Facebook & MySpace pages. Finally, it’s all hands to the pump on getting the tracks mixed & mastered along with all the designwork for our beautiful, gorgeous absolutely-must-have booklet to accompany the album.

I’m so excited, and I just can’t hide it.

Great news!  Jorge Drexler confirmed this week that he wants to contribute a track to the album, and his producer is searching for an alternate take of one of his songs for us.  So (provided they find one) the line-up for Tropical Forest Project: Ecuador is complete.

Jorge is a poetic and politically engaged lyricist.  In 2004 he became the first Uruguayan to win an Academy Award for composing the song “Al Otro Lado del Río” (Across the River) for the soundtrack to The Motorcycle Diaries, a wonderful biopic about an early episode in the life of Che Guevera.  Though Drexler himself sang the song on the movie soundtrack, it was performed by Antonio Banderas and Carlos Santana at the Academy Awards ceremony.  His latest album Cara B (2008) received a nomination for Best Latin Pop Album at the 2009 Grammy Awards.

We have a few additional instrumental parts and finishing touches to put on the album before it can be mixed & mastered - I’ll keep you posted.