The Blues in Oman

The Little Joe McLerran Quartet Jamming to the "Terriplane Blues" 

(On YouTube Here- yes that's Grace and I dancing, also Nick's teacher and her husband)

It's been a while since I've last posted to the blog.  Things have been busy for me at work and so, I've left it to Katy to manage postings.  She's done an awesome job as always.

I don't write that much about work for a variety of reasons... but I want to share with everyone one recent perk of my job with the State Department.  As part of the Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad program, the Embassy recently hosted an incredible blues group from Tulsa, Oklahoma.  The Little Joe McLerran Quartet toured Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman.  Oman was there last stop and I was fortunate to be able to guide them through most of their time here.  They played for a wide variety of including our Ambassador and much of the diplomatic corps, school children and college students and in a word they were: AWESOME!  

Little Joe plays guitar and sings.  He's joined in the group by harmonica player David "Bernesto" Berntson, Bassist Robby Mack and drummer Ron McRory.  I could spend the rest of this post writing about the pure musical genius of this group, but I couldn't do their music justice.  Blues music with roots so deep, some of the songs the quartet played date from decades before the advent of recording music.  Little Joe plays with an unshakable passion for his music and his knowledge of the history of blues is incredible.  And... he's only 26 years old.

There were two moments during their visit here that I'll never forget.  The first was watching more than 200+ Omani school children having the time of their lives during a performance by the group.  The absolute truth of music as a universal language was brought home to me and the joy that Little Joe and the guys brought to these children was palpable.  

The second was during the final concert the group gave to about 450 people on the lawn of the Crowne Plaza hotel.  Katy and the children came to the concert and we had one of the best times yet here in Oman.  As incredible people as they are musicians.  We had a great time together.  I told these guys that they did more in three weeks than many a diplomat can do in three years.  As cliche as it may sound, they opened hearts and minds and showed so much of the great spirit of America.

Katy and the kids with Dave Berntson

(Little Joe, Ronny and Robby with the Pattarini 5)

I've included some pictures in this post but you can check out blogs that were kept by both Robby Mack and David.  Wanting to give the guys a bit of kick, I met them at the airport wearing one my Eskimo Joe's t-shirts.  They appreciated the gesture.  Robby Mack nicknamed me "Eskimo Dan" 

The story doesn't end here.  If you like music at all, you should buy and enjoy the recordings of Little Joe McLerran.  They're available on i-Tunes or CDBaby.  Also, check out Little Joe's web site, LittleJoeBlues.com

Finally, for all of you friends and family in DC, NY or Oklahoma, you need to go see the Little Joe McLerran Quartet.  On Thursday June 3rd the group will be at the Grosvenor Auditorium in Washington D.C and on  Saturday June 5th at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in NYC.

Enjoy!

-Dan(ny)