Wigwam Festival of Fine Art

         We went to Litchfield Park today to see some great art and hear my favorite musician, Arvel Bird.   The Wigwam Resort is hosting the three day festival.   I saw so many great pieces of art--sculptures, paintings, photography, jewelry and even some clothing.   But the highlight for me was the music and dancing.

The performance began with a blessing, as is traditional in the Native American culture. This was followed by story-telling and an explanation of the dances.    I didn't write down the names of the dancers because I thought I'd be able to find them on the web.   Unfortunately, I couldn't.   A lesson to me to take my own notes!

This dancer is doing a Shawl Dance.   The men compete in Fancy Dance, and this is the women's equivalent to that.   Very beautiful and fast-paced.

Arvel Bird started with the title song from his album "Ride, Indian, Ride".  I love this album and listen to it a lot on my commute.  After a few songs from this album, he performed "Great Blue Heron" and "Dolphin Dances" from the  "Animal Totems II" album.  I love the stories that he tells about the meaning of the animal totems whenever he performs. 

This young man did a great job with his hoops.  

The national championships are being held at the Heard Museum this weekend.  I wondered if he would have competed in one of the youth divisions if he had not been performing with his family here.   His father is the drummer, barely visible to the far left.

Arvel Bird's latest music features the Celtic side of his heritage.   One of his selections was a tribute to the poorer passengers on the Titanic, many of whom were from Ireland.  The music is excellent, but his Native American songs will always be my favorites.  

  

  

Litchfield Park Festival

        I'm coming out of a work-induced hibernation, and there's no better way to do that than to enjoy a day in the sun, listening to great music.

        The Litchfield Park Festival featured Arvel Bird, my favorite Native American musician, and my favorite Native American group, Estun-Bah.    The downtown area was closed off and lined with booths of art, jewelry, and food.    All afternoon the musicians performed on the stage in the center of the festival.

       Arvel Bird played a lot of my favorites from his "Animal Totems" CDs , including Red Tail Hawk.   The first time I heard him perform was at a different festival in Litchfield.  As he performed Red Tail Hawk, a real red tail hawk circled in a thermal above the stage area.   A magical moment.
      He has won many American and Canadian awards, including being named Artist of the Year in 2007 by the Native American Music Awards.   Today he performed songs from many of his albums, including some of his newer Celtic songs.   I bought his latest CD, "Ride Indian Ride", which is listed as Blues Rock.  He played the title song, and it sounded great.  I can't wait to listen to the entire album.

      Estun-Bah features Tony Duncan on flute (in blue above), Darrin Yazzie on guitar (in red and black), and Jeremy Dancing Bull on drums (see photo below).    In addition to being a great musician, Tony Duncan is the World Champion Hoop Dancer.   He performed a hoop dance today, but I couldn't get a good picture.  But you can see a picture of him at the Hoop Dance Competition that was held at the Heard Museum this year on my February 6, 2011 blog.
      On the end in yellow is Tony's wife, Violet.    She performed a Shawl Dance, one of the women's social dances.   Very graceful and colorful.    The lady in pink must be family, too, but I'm afraid I didn't get her name.   Their baby also made a brief appearance--so cute!  He was being held on a traditional cradleboard, but  I  missed getting his photo.  When I took the above pic, he was asleep.  
     I bought their CD "From Where the Sun Rises", and I'm listening to it as I write tonight.   Beautiful songs.   Their CD's can be found on Canyon Records.  This album was a finalist in the Best Instrumental category, 2011 NAMA.

     In addition to playing drums, Jeremy Dancing Bull also performed a men's grass dance.   I had never seen this type of dance before.  It comes from the northern plains tribes where tall grasses grow.   In order to prepare the area for the tribe, the young men had to stomp down the prairie grass.    The dance celebrates this tradition.  It is often the first dance performed at a pow-wow or other gathering to bless the dance and dancers.   A very powerful and energetic dance!

 

      The arts were beautiful, especially these Navajo weavings. 

     Jewelry, pottery, paintings, and photographs were abundant.   Something to please everyone.  I picked up a few small Christmas gifts--it will be here soon--and wished I could have bought a lot more.  
      My wish list is always bigger than my checkbook.  If only Kent would win the lottery.....
     

Arvel Bird at the Pueblo Grande Indian Market

Yesterday we went to the Pueble Grande Indian Market to hear Arvel Bird and shop for Christmas presents at this Native American arts fair.   The site was the Pueblo Grande Museum in Phoenix.   Tents filled with pottery, jewelry, paintings, baskets, and other treasures lined the area.   Tribes from all over Arizona and surrounding states were represented.   There were so many beautiful pieces of jewelry.    I wish my pocketbook could support my taste!

Arvel Bird is my favorite Native American musician.  I already had two of his albums and took advantage of the Market special to add another one.   He is Paiute and Irish, and he mines his heritage to create wonderful music.  More about him, and a sampling of his songs can be found at http://www.arvelbird.com/. 

We rode the Light Rail train into the Market, which was fun.  I love riding the train.   On the way back we stopped mid-way to have dinner at Switch, http://www.switchofarizona.com/.   Switch has great food and a cosmopolitan atmosphere. 
Music, culture, fine dining--it was a great day in the Big City.