One Year, Week 8 - Abergwaun, Manorbier, Fernhill in Rhosygilwen

I'm well behind on the blog now... by at least eight weeks!  The next few entries will be rough...

Let's see...

Easter... I don't remember much except that I had a great chat with Catrin.  She's a real character, great laugh and great storyteller!

At some point, I made my way to Pencader and had a quick play with Julie, Christine and Ceri "Ffliwt".

Jens, sound genius

Ceri "Ffliwt", Christine and myself made our way to Abergwaun the following day.  We were recording some music for this indie film at Jens' studio.  Sean Vicary (a serious director and maker of indie films) is the fellow we were recording for.  I saw one of his films that featured the Mari Lwyd -  proper dark imagery, completely suitable for the ancient rite of Mari Lwyd.  A wonderful film.  I think he grew up around Shrewsbury and this particular film is to feature some ancient Welsh poetry that was written in that area.  At one time there were quite a few Welsh speakers in Shrewsbury...

listening to freedom

Anyway, the three of us played a version of Meillionen and we played 6 or 7 pieces of free improv.  It was a refreshing challenge and I thought it sounded really cool.  Of course, some moments were better than others but I would love to play more improv with those two.  I played both harp and trombone.  I'm quite out of shape on the trombone, well past my peak days, but managed okay.  I'm really looking forward to the film's release which I think will be in November sometime.  I'm curious to see how it all turns out...


That evening, we traveled down to Manorbier and I stayed with Christine at her parents place.  Her folks were very welcoming offering wonderful food and conversation.  The next day Christine took me to Manorbier - the birthplace of Geraldus Cambrensis.  (see 'Day 10' for more about my soul brother, Geraldus)  In his book, Geraldus gives a full description of the castle, the castle of his birth, which doesn't seem to have changed overly since his time.  Well... except for a few missing walls and ceilings...

Manorbier

Afterwards, we went for a long walk around the cliffs and went for a brief picnic in secret bay.  It was a beautiful day spent together.  Christine's a lovely character who's done all sorts of crazy things - lived in China, stayed in a yurt with yak herders near Tibet, lived in an anarchist commune - that sort of thing.  Pretty wild experiences!


Later that night, I went to the Fernhill gig at Rhosygilwen.  Jason, Vicky, Martin and Sille were all there, camping for the weekend.  Of course, it was good to see them all again.

Rhosygilwen is an amazing house and the owner was very interesting, a real patron of the arts.


About Fernhill...


Fernhill were out of this world.  Something remarkable... a Happening...

Fernhill in concert

There were three moments where I was near tears.  The first moment was near the top of the show... Julie sang this song in that voice of hers, the earth reverberating in the great silence before dark...  words fail utterly... how can one describe the ineffable?

The second was when Ceri "Ffliwt" and Julie sang together, mainly in octaves.  It had something to do with the fragility in Ceri "Ffliwt"'s voice, coupled with Julie's natural yet gentle power, together rendered into a thing beyond beauty and again words cannot begin to capture the moment...

And the third was Christine's story - a story about life, love and death... a memory...  a memory within the memory of our day together.  She transformed our day into magic, her words painting the butter dandelions, the ochre cliffs and I see the farm and the secret picnic with its tastes of apples and oat crackers.  I was spellbound - caught in the images spinning before me, images of the day we shared, music interwoven with words, brought into light and love ...and I was touched.  The experience unforgettable.

The four of them together, Tomos (tpt), Christine (ffidl), Julie (voice) and Ceri "Ffliwt" (guitar and flute) - together, they create a thing beyond themselves... something otherworldly.  They touch on the ineffable  and the numinous.  They reach the place, the void, the silence where Music alone comes into existence.  A thing of wonder and beauty and art...

And this, I tell you as a Humanist...

And with that, I leave you...


Next, something somewhat surreal... The Party...

Hwyl.

Rhosygilwen

ps.  If you haven't heard Fernhill yet, I'd recommend any of their albums.  You can get the latest one here at http://fernhill.bandcamp.com/album/canu-rhydd