At 9:30 this morning we left the Intercontinental Hotel in Jeddah
and were driven to the King Abdul Aziz International airport.
We were bound for Kuwait. We had been in Saudi Arabia for
10 days, performed 7 gigs in 3 different cities and we felt good
about moving on.
Little
Joe Quartet with equipment leaving Jeddah
Our pal Ali expedited us through a very crowded airport then we
all said goodbye as the band passed through security. With
the memory of our missed flight in Riyadh fresh on our minds we
wasted no time finding our gate and putting a vigilant ear to the
public address system as it blasted flight departure information
in Arabic. We kept an eye on the gate as well taking, no chances.
The weather in Saudi Arabia in April is like the weather
in Tulsa in August, hot and humid. At the airport we
passed through the gate and boarded a shuttle
Little
Joe, Ronald and Ronnie...Welcome to Kuwait City
bus that took us across the tarmac to the waiting
plane. I was dressed for the occasion wearing a tee shirt
but I was drenched in sweat by the time I boarded the plane.
Once the plane took off the temperature inside the plane began to
drop. I closed the air jet over my head but the temperature
continued to drop. I swear you could see your breath inside
that plane. It was a two hour flight to Kuwait City and by
the time we arrived I was nearly frozen. David, Ronnie and Joe suffered
with me and stepping off that plane into the warm desert air was
most welcome for a change. In Saudi Arabia they say there
are two seasons, running from the heat or running to the heat.
We were met at the Kuwait International Airport by a new diplomatic
team, Public Affairs Officer Katharina Sweet and her staff.
We picked up our gear, loaded it into a van and headed for the hotel.
We checked into the Radisson Blu Resort Hotel built right
on the gulf. This place is luxuriously amazing. We don't
have to play until tomorrow so I will just bore you with some photos.
Radisson
Blu Beach
Radisson
Blu Lobby
Radisson
Blu Pool
Kuwait
Marine Museum
April
11, 2010 - Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Today was our last full day in Saudi Arabia. What a trip
it's been so far.
Ali picked us up at the hotel at 10:30 this morning with two vans.
One van was full of equipment and there was a van for the band.
Today we played at the Effat Women's University in Jeddah.
This is the second Women's University we've performed at.
We first played in Bahrain at the Royal University for Women which
specialized in fashion design and marketing. Effat University,
named for the wife of the second Saudi Arabian King, King Faisal,
is focused on engineering, business and humanities for women, a
giant step forward for Saudi women. The audience was made
up entirely of women with the exception of our friend Ali who sat
in the first row with a big grin on his face. No photographs
were allowed so you'll have to take my word for it.
The 600 seat auditorium was over half full with traditionally dressed
women. The crowd also included a number of kids from the campus
day care center. The girls took to our Blues by clapping and
hollering, at times standing, waving their arms and swaying back
and forth in unison. They gave Little Joe three encores then
came on stage for autographs. Another successful day I would
say.
Afterwards we joined the school Dean for lunch then headed back
to the hotel to pack. We leave for Kuwait in the morning.
April
10, 2010 - Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Today we had about the most fun we've had since we
started this tour. We were invited to perform at the Help
Center School for challenged children. The
school is a privately funded facility accepting mentally handicapped
children from birth to age 18. The Help Center, celebrating
its 25th year providing care and instruction for kids, was founded
by the Al-Juffali family of Jeddah. We were given a tour of
the school by director Maha Al-Juffali.
We visited classrooms designed for each various age group and including
an art department and a woodshop for some of the older boys.
The school offers occupational training for the older boys and focuses
on self reliance. During the tour we met many loving kids
who were all very excite about the upcoming musical show.
Following a nice luncheon served in one of the conference
rooms we took to the stage.
Boy, talk about excited! These kids were ready to rock.
We played for about 50 minutes to screaming and dancing unlike anything
we experienced yet. The staff just about outnumbers the students
and treats each child with such respect and love it nearly brought
tears to my eyes. Little Joe delivered a dose of Blues they
will never forget. Watch the video of Joe singing Chuck Berry's
Promised Land and you will get a glimpse of what was shakin'
at the Help Center School today.
Little
Joe Quartet plays the Promised Land
Samar Fatany has
broadcast on Radio Jeddahs English service for nearly 30 years.
We then returned to the hotel for a brief rest.
Our Jeddah connection, Mr. Ali Ghahban, had an exciting evening
planned for us. Ali picked us up at the hotel at 7:00 for
a walk through Old Town Jeddah. Some of the buildings are
over 400 years old. We took a tour of the marketplace where
merchants were selling everything from Rolex knockoffs to flying
carpets. The place was amazing and crowded with beggars, thieves
and God knows what. Ali instructed us not to buy anything
without consulting him first. Everything was for sale and
we spent all our riyals.
Following a delicious dinner of Sharma wraps, the best in town according
to Ali, we proceeded to the home of Ali's friend Omar Alattas.
Omar is the leader of the Saudi band Abo Sarij. After a very
cordial introduction in Omar's office we adjourned to the music
room where we found Omar's band waiting to jam. The band has
been together for 28 years and is able to function around the ban
on live music by playing parties and events not open to the public.
Besides being the leader, Omar is the lead singer. The band uses
oud, flute, violin, traditional drums and an instrument called the
kanoon, a stringed instrument with 75 strings. I hate to think
what a set of those strings cost. Other traditional Saudi
instruments found their way into the jam session that included hand
clappers and dancers. Everybody was singing. Omar
often brings 25 players to the gig.
Little
Joe Quartet jams with Abo Sarij
After a couple hours of exchanging musical/cultural
ideas we loaded into the van and Ali took us back to the hotel.
Listen closely to the video clip and hear Omar lead the band and
salute each member of the Little Joe Band. What a
April
8, 2010 - Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
It's Thursday in Jeddah and throughout the Muslim world Thursday
night is much like Saturday night in the USA. The week end
activities begin to pick up on Wednesday night and continue to escalate
through the weekend. Traffic increases because the people
are out to enjoy themselves. Thursday night is considered the Family
Night of the weekend and families can be found picnicking at the
beach or strolling together along the boulevards. According to Islamic
Law, Friday is the Holy Day, so everything closes down, at least
for a while.
The band had a laid back day today and got caught up on a lot of
personal stuff like laundry, post cards and napping. Little
Joe and I decided to go for a walk in the late morning and explore
the surrounding neighborhood. We only made it about one block.
It was so hot we decided to return to the air conditioned comfort
of the hotel. Jeddah, being right on the Red Sea, has very high
humidity which you think wouldn't bother a couple of guys from Tulsa
- but it was really hot. We returned to the hotel and had
lunch inside.
We are constantly working on our conversion skills. This morning
after my shower the scale in my bathroom said I weighed 70 KG or
about 155 LB . That's very good news. The food here
is so deliciously rich and the way I've been eating I was afraid
I would weigh 300 lbs by the time I got home. My wife Candy
wouldn't like that.
When we are being driven around by the Saudi embassy drivers I
sometimes notice the speedometer approaching 120. I have to remind
myself that what I am seeing is kilometers per hour and once converted
we are really traveling 75 MPH. The traffic and aggressive
driving techniques here will make you tighten your seat belt and
make the hair stand up all over your body. The high speeds,
U-turns and total disregard for stop signs and most important, the
honking of the horn about sum up the experience.
The money conversion is a constant state of concern for us. The
Saudi Riyal converts 3.75 to $1US. In Bahrain one Dinar was
worth $2.65US. For example, in Jeddah a menu item listed 20sr will
cost you $5.40 while in Bahrain 20dr will cost you $53.00. It gets
a little confusing.
The air temperature, registered in Celsius, is most difficult for
me to convert but who cares. HOT is HOT.
This evening we met our Jeddah soul brother. We have found
one in each city as we've traveled. Maybe it is one of our
drivers or maybe the PAO at the embassy but tonight we found Donny
Yoo from Alabama. Donny has been with the Foreign Service in Jeddah
for nearly 9 months. We actually met Donny at our performance at
the Hero's Hall the night before. Tonigh we got to know him better.
We all hopped into a van and headed out for dinner at a restaurant
on shores of the Red Sea. We sat at a seaside table eating the best
seafood around and watched the breakers come crashing in. After
dinner we passed around the hookah pipe. The hookah was loaded with
a tasty apple/tobacco blend. Hashish, like live music performance,
is outlawed in Saudi Arabia. Donny focused on our most basic
concerns like the laundry issues earlier in the day. He offered
to send a car tomorrow to take us to the embassy to use their laundry
facilities. We have been washing our socks out in the hotel
sink. A pair of blue jeans is a little tougher so a washing
machine and dryer will be very handy.
Watch
Little Joe and Ronnie smokin' the hookah
On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a Saudi Super Market.
Just like a Wal Mart Super Center they had everything. Saudi
families were crowded in doing their grocery shopping. It
was amazing. Little Joe needed to pick up a swimming suit and
the rest of us tagged along. Joe found his swimming trunks
and bought himself a new suit. The kid knows how to dress.
April
9, 2010 - Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
We had another day off today. Although we were mostly caught
up on our laundry an invitation came from the Marines at the US
Embassy to make use of their washing machine and dryer. Up
until now I had been doing most of stuff in the hotel sink.
We managed to throw a load together among us and called to have
an embassy driver pick us up at the hotel. Besides the laundry
the Marines have the canteen and cold beer.
On the way to the embassy we stopped and had lunch. In
the Muslim world the Call to Prayer happens five times a day.
Many folks throw out their prayer rug, turn to face Mecca which
is only an hour's drive from here, kneel down and start praying.
To pray is not mandatory so many continue with what they are doing
but all the shops close. If prayer happens while you are in a shop
or restaurant you can stay there in some cases but there will be
no one to wait on you or in a restaurant there will be no one to
bring the check. We had to gobble down our food before they
locked the doors. I have heard the call early in the morning before
dawn and late in the evening after dark. Prayer also happens
just after noon at 12:30 but the traffic noise drowns out the call
during the day.
The Marines remembered us from our concert at the Hero's Hall across
the street two nights before and were very welcoming. There
are only five Marine troops assigned to the embassy. The rest of
the security is handled by contracted Nepalese soldiers. In
December 2005 a group of Saudi terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda
stormed this US Embassy and killed 5 contracted guards. They
are buried on the Embassy grounds and considered heroes, thus the
name Hero's Hall.
Jeddah
Embassy Seal
Hero's
Tombstone
Little
Joe, Ronnie Mac and David in The Heros Garden
Little
Joe and another blues fan
In this Saudi Arabian heat a couple of cold Budweiser beers sure
hit the spot. We folded up our laundry, returned to the hotel
and got a good night sleep.
The U.S. Embassy Brings Blues to Muscat on April 19
The U.S Embassy in Muscat will bring the sounds of
Tulsa Blues to Oman at a concert at 8:00 p.m. on Monday, April 19,
2010, on the Grand Lawn of the Crowne Plaza Hotel. >>>more
The
school is a privately funded facility accepting mentally handicapped
children from birth to age 18. The Help Center, celebrating
its 25th year providing care and instruction for kids, was founded
by the Al-Juffali family of Jeddah. We were given a tour of
the school by director Maha Al-Juffali. 
