Jumping Fences | Public figure

Jumping Fences

Phone: +61 417 231 895

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25.01.2022 I’m looking forward to Friday night - our last Foco for the year but it will be a lovely night!

25.01.2022 Cuba celebrated its great singer/songwriter tradition ‘with the ‘Día del Trovador’ (Day of The Troubadour) on March 19. Undoubtably this wonderful wellspring of... music is the biggest single influence on our songwriting and greatly influences how we run Foco Nuevo. In our online version of Foco Nuevo during the pandemic last year, it was a real pleasure to be able to share the music of Cuban trovadoras and trovadores whom we had met over the years and bring their music to Australian audiences. So for their special day we send a slightly belated but heartfelt ‘FELICIDADES’ to our trovador friends! See more

23.01.2022 Thirty Five Years Ago - Santiago de Cuba. On 21st December 1985, Sue and I gave our first ever performance in Cuba. It was at a street concert organised by the ...organisation that coordinates solidarity from around the world with the Cuban revolution, the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the People (known across the world by its acronym, ICAP). The concert was held in Calle Heredia, in Santiago de Cuba, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of ICAP's foundation. After travelling around Latin America for a year, all we had was a guitar and a quena (Andean flute) - no bass guitar(!!) - but we managed. We had come to Santiago at the suggestion of ICAP staff in Havana, with whom we discussed our interest in music. Through their counterparts in Santiago de Cuba, accommodation and a program of activities, was arranged, including this special concert. That night we performed alongside Nicaraguan students, Cuban trovadores and poets, and Grupo Granma, who made a strong impression on us. The following night we again sat in Calle Heredia and sang with some trovadores we had met, including Walfrido Rivas, a friend to this day. We were soon joined by another singer who was walking by, who added a great harmony line, and then another, and another, all singing perfect harmony to Sue's and my amazement. It turned out that they were members of the renowned choir, Orfeón Santiago. They invited us to hear them sing under the guiding hand of their founder, Hector Silva, in a daytime performance in the Casa de la Cultura Miguel Matamoros off Plaza Cespedes. They presented us with a long-playing record of the choir that they had all signed, and which remains in our precious collection of Cuban music. While in Santiago we visited sites of the revolution; the Moncada, the Granjita Siboney, and the Museum of Clandestine Struggle in the old police barracks. While queuing for pizza in a non-descript local cafe, we met Ernesto, an ex-boxer who willingly took us around to see Maceo's birthplace, and the streets where Frank País fought against the Batista regime. One story Ernesto told us remains firmly in my mind. He told us that not long before he met us, he had struck up a conversation with foreign tourists who asked him, 'What was Cuba really like?'. His reply was, 'Go and ask Fidel, because you're not going to hear anything different from me.' It turned out that he had returned from his boxing career in the US to fight in the Sierra Maestra. Twenty odd years later we met him in a city living and breathing a revolution. Over those few days in Santiago we learnt about Cuba in a way that pamphlets, newspapers and history books (as important as they are) could never teach us. This, our first trip to Cuba, came at the end of a year travelling throughout Latin America. It was a turbulent time, we saw first hand the repressive Pinochet regime in Chile, the effervescent crowds of people throwing of the military dictatorship in Uruguay, the hundreds of thousands in Argentina calling for justice after the fall of the junta. Our travels in Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru and Brazil opened our eyes to the harsh conditions that millions of people endure under regimes that have as their central purpose to exploit the wealth for the benefit of a very small elite. We saw the cost being paid by the Nicaraguan people for standing up for themselves, enduring a terrible civil war financed by the United States, determined to bring the Sandanistas to their knees. Arriving in Cuba, we didn't really know what to expect. Within a very short time it felt very different from what we had experienced elsewhere during that epic journey. The people were confident (very confident) secure in themselves, open, occasionally to the point of being brash. It contrasted with the reticence that we had encountered elsewhere, in countries where repression, torture and arbitrary arrest were the order of the day. We enjoyed recent movies screening in the Latin American Cinema festival being held at the time. We saw concerts in wonderful heritage buildings, (including the legendary Emiliano Salvador playing in Bellas Artes, and Marta Campos, a trovador who became a friend on a later visit to Cuba, playing in the Museum of Music); we learnt to queue by calling 'ultimo!' and experienced the taste of Cuban pizza; we danced New Years Eve with friends in Havana, and spent time with the Australian Brigade at the Julio Mella International Camp at Caimito, just outside Havana, visiting a citrus processing plant. We saw the terrible impact of the US blockade, and the determination of people to forge their own future. In short we learnt to see special moments of the Revolution in the everyday lives of Cuban people. The experience of the incredible creativity and musicianship profoundly affected us. We wanted to emulate what we had seen and heard, but how. At that time, even though we had been performing in the group 'Frontera' for several years, we were struck by a realisation that back in Australia we could only hope to be a shadow, a reflection of this wonderful musical movement if we were to confine ourselves to a Latin American repertoire. Moreover the situation seemed to demand that if we were to stand alongside these musicians we had to find our own voice, and have our own songs to talk about life in Australia. And so a few months later we made a decision to develop skills that could help us find our way. Soon we were studying music, composition and singing, acquiring skills which laid the foundation for our original work in Jumping Fences, born out of our love of Latin American, and particularly Cuban music. Now, on this 60th anniversary of the foundation of ICAP, we remember with gratitude the hand of friendship that was offered us, which left an indelible impression. We learnt about solidarity in a very direct, human way. We came to understand the Cuban revolution through the relationships forged during this and subsequent visits to Cuba. Not in the abstract, nor he ideal, but in the real lives of real people, struggling. And thirty-five years later, we are proud to stand with the Cuban people and their revolution, which remains a beacon for us and thousands of others like us who believe real change and a better world is possible. The future is ours, we have to make it so. #ICAP60Years #EmbracingFriendship #CubaEsCultura Solidaridad con Asia y Oceanía

19.01.2022 A little over 13 years ago (16 January, 2008) Sue and I had the great pleasure of meeting Barbara Dane at the Centro Cultural Pablo de la Torriente Brau in Hava...na, where she was awarded the 'Premio Pablo' by the centre director Victor Casaus. She asked us to say hello to Margret RoadKnight (with a wave in the photo below)! There were great performances by Barbara, accompanied by her son Pablo Menendez and the group Mezcla, along with other performances by Inti Santana (her great-nephew, I believe), Alberto Faya, Mery Cordoba, and their sons, David (my bass teacher at the time) and Pablo, as well as Frank Delgado. Barbara Dane (now 93), a jazz singer with strong political commitment and the founder of Paredon Records has now been recognised by the New York Times and the Smithsonian Institute, and the article is well worth a read! https://www.nytimes.com//music/barbara-dane-paredon-record

17.01.2022 Available spaces at this month's Foco Nuevo are limited and we're approaching our 50 limit (seriously!). So if you're interested book as soon as possible!

12.01.2022 Preparing for Foco Nuevo's 13th anniversary! We're ready!

11.01.2022 Looking forward to a great 13th anniversary concert for Foco Nuevo!!

10.01.2022 Foco Nuevo Live again! Last Friday we held Foco Nuevo in our house concert. Thanks to the Swing Beans for their lovely performance, to our band members James and Ross who added verve and drive to Jumping Fences songs, to Kallan for a very competent job on mixing, to Shanti on the door, ably mastering our EFTPOS system, and to Cheryl who gave marvellous support with food and drinks. Thanks also to the audience, we had a full house and the atmosphere was wonderful. Now to celebrate 13 years of Foco Nuevo on Friday 5th March! Don't miss out!!

07.01.2022 Foco Nuevo celebrates 13 years of live music Last Friday our backyard came alive as we held the 13th anniversary concert of Foco Nuevo, the performance space hosted by Jumping Fences. Guest artists The Boxties and Ovidio Orellana gave fantastic performances, and Jumping Fences were on fire too! The Boxties played as a trio, with great arrangements of their eclectic repertoire. Ashreya and Ben sang beautifully, and Bridget added great colour and rhythm on the vibraphone and pe...rcussion. Ovidio sang a crowd pleaser 'La Montilla', and joined Jumping Fences on some favourite Latin American songs. We were also pleased to have Rob Stewart join Jumping Fences for a beautiful guitar solo in what else but the Cuban song 'La Guitarra'. Great that Rob's hand has come good! Over the life of Foco Nuevo, we have developed strong musical relationships with our wonderful band members Ross Gwyther and James Harper, who have given colour and drive to our songs, and have become integral to the sound of Jumping Fences. It was great to be able to share the stage with them again on this special anniversary. While the pandemic challenged the future of live music, it has been a big relief to get through to the point of performing to an audience again. It was such a pleasure to play to our very appreciative crowd, some who had come to Foco Nuevo for the first time, as well as others who have followed us through thick and thin. The night would not have been possible without the great support we have from Cheryl, Shanti, Claire and Graeme who worked tirelessly in setting up, organising the food and drinks, and managing the door. For their contribution we are very grateful. Dave Parnell did a fantastic job on sound, a real joy to have his expertise on the night. Thanks to Steph for her part in all of this! As we celebrate International Women's Day, we would like to mention that Foco Nuevo continues to be a music space where women performers feature regularly and prominenty. We also aim to create an event where women of all ages feel comfortable and safe. Foco Nuevo began in 2008 at Ahimsa House in West End, shifting to Kurilpa Hall in 2010. After a short series of online concerts, we resumed in November 2020 with regular house concerts in our backyard in Yeronga. We hope you can join us in our upcoming program.

05.01.2022 Wishing all our friends a very happy New Year! Here’s some Foco Nuevo holiday viewing - https://mailchi.mp//foco-nuevo-in-a-time-of-covid19-decemb