A week ago Friday, on September 29th, I attended a home concert at a young couple's home on Signal Mountain. It was the evening of the full moon. I was looking forward to this concert for many reasons. One, the fall weather was beginning to arrive and this was going to be an outdoor evening concert. Two, the artist would be playing some percussion instruments and I really enjoy percussion. Three, it was going to be outdoors. Four, I would get to see someone I hadn't seen in a while and meet new people.
Music is a language of the soul and it speaks to me. Notice I didn't say "the" language of the soul. Silence is also a language of the soul and it also speaks to me. If I were to reflect more, I might be able to come up with more languages of the soul, but this post is about music, so the references to music and silence suffice. Both were part of the evening.
I didn't see the setting in the daylight. But the setting was perfect for our evening gathering. We walked down through the back yard to a spot that was a circular rock area. There were some benches set up around the edges and cushions in the middle. In the very center was a fire. The stage for the musician was set up where he was facing everyone and everyone facing him. There were also places to put the tea light candles we carried down on the four corners of North, South, East, and West. These added a nice glow, in addition to the fire and the tiki torches.
The sound of the crickets was a delightful background sound. Ideally, there would have been water sound too, as there is a nearby creek. However, we had not had enough rain for it to be flowing sufficiently. Next time, I hope!
The hosts did a wonderful job of offering great hospitality from arrival to end. It was evident that they had put in time and effort to pull this together.
Ah, the music. Biko Casini was the musician. Prior to Friday night, I had not heard Biko's music. And even if I had listened to his music, I still would have heard new music because Biko chose to play original music for our intimate gathering that evening. What a gift! He sang about fire, water, earth, spirit. He spoke about his time in NY, his time on the farm, his time in Africa, his djembe teacher, etc.
Though I knew only 2 others when I got there, I met a handful or two of others. And, because we were all there for the music, the experience, there was a sense of community, even though we didn't all know each other.
I took two photos from my perspective that evening. I will share them below. Setesh Free took some photos. I will share the one he sent out to those who attended.
My photos:
