Pictures1 and 4
Luckily enough the U.S.-Korea FTA (Free Trade Agreements) were taking place in Seoul this past weekend. The FTA is vehementaly opposed by almost every union and worker in Korea as they see the agreements as a vehicle for the U.S. to totally flood Korean markets with U.S. products and therby costing them their jobs.
The cool thing about all of this was the great protest that Greg and I got caught up in in the street as throngs of people stormed out of the subway and shut down traffic on one of the main streets in the city.
It was cool to see the banners and hear the chants as people fought the police. In my mind though though the need the sixties, as my friend Greg says, to really be able to counter the lines of riot police.
To protest successfully they should have showered the police with bricks, bottles, and stones rather than try to force the line of plastic shields and helmets with their bare hands.
2. Even in the middle of a city of twelve million, you can still find pockets of old Korea as this picutre from my hotel window shows.
3. Late at night in the red lite district.
Chick Corea in Korea
10.0.07
This past weekend I was incredibly privileged to go to Seoul and see one of the best jazz duos of all time play in a very small, intimate venue at the Seoul Arts Center.
I have long admired Chick Corea and Gary Burton, a pianist and vibraphonist who helped to revolutionize jazz in the mid-seventies and it was one of the high points of my time in Korea, and maybe my life to be able to see these two in concert.
The concert hall holds about two thousand people and has three levels. When we arrived, right at show time, the space was about half full facing a small stage on which was placed Chicks piano and Gary’s vibraphone.
When the two came out it was like a spark of light as the elite of Seoul and the hard core jazz fans there applauded wildly, knowing that they were in for a fantastic treat, and what a time it was.
For over two hours, through three encores, the duo played song after song; some new, like Alegria, and some old like Crystal Silence. On and one they played and the music seemed to float like air from their respective instruments.
For piece after piece Chicks hands flew over the piano keys totally from memory. Only once, for a brand new piece did he need sheet music, and then only very little. Every piece was known by him from memory and you could see how absolutely passionate he was about his music.
For Gary it was almost the same. Time after time his mallets banged out perfectly pitched melodies from an instrument that looks so simple, but in reality is terribly difficult.
The music was almost like a duel as the two experts flew at each other time after time, complementing each others playing with increasing speed and skill, the notes flying back and forth as the melodies flowed like a deluge from the stage. It was incredible!
