Börjar den femte
Börjar dagen med att kolla upp Ray Cooper på nätet efter frukost. Släpper ut katten som rev mig i natt, när jag höll på och redigerade foton för MAJ14. Ett porträtt med öronvingar från Tblisi har samlat 30 gillningar i natt. Eller på morgonen snarast. Och Frank Zappa rules skriver Skini som svar på om det är Stallhagen som regerar på Bar Loose i Helsingfors. Och vad var det jag tyckte jag glömt? Att jag såg Madame B på Savoy kl 12 igår. Och att vi hade skönt jam som trio när resten inte var till städs. MIFK vände matchen till 2-1. Kanske Liffe var där. Kutten var på Bastun i lördags, men snackade inte, varken han eller jag. Och det blir ingen lunchpromenad idag, kanske aldrig mer. Mia messade att hon skulle sluta dricka. Jag skrev jättebra och önskade lycka till.
medan det forna försvinner
men kommer ibland igen
det tar sig sakta fram och tillbaka
i ett dis av töcken i minnets namn
flyger i en flod av slam och makadam
för att sjunka sen
fäller ner landningshjulen
medan förruttnelsen flödar i hamn
förmodar att det var dit vi var
på väg mot ännu en famn i nedan
framme, men en bra bit utanför
dags att ge sig
av igen.
JAZZ AND HERITAGE 2017
MAARIANHOMEBREVEN #
A LETTER in 7 PARTS to KEN DAY (YAMAR & JOHN) on MAY 5, 2005
It’s been a long long winter and I don’t even remember when I last left you a message from this island life of mine. Well, we did not make it to Mali this year, maybe next?
My wife really wanted to take a trip this year to Cap Verde instead of the one that was cancelled last year, due to her gynecological cancer in February 2004, when I turned 50..
PART 1 - BANJUL, DAKAR & CAP VERDE
We left Helsinki for Banjul on December 28, just as the whole scope of the Asian Tsunami started to attack the minds of the world. If I remember correctly your family was also touched by the tragedy in some way. We must have been talking shortly on the phone in January-February?
In Banjul we boarded Kristiina Regina (ex. Bore, constructed in Oskarshamn 1962) and after a night and a day in the docks of Banjul we left for Dakar where we arrived on the morning of December 30. I was supposed to have met Yamar Thiam and his family there, but the cell phones (ÅMT-Africell-TeliaSonera) did not work. So nothing was born out of my idea to do some shooting for my longtime documentary project on Tama Thiam.
*****
Dear Brother Yamar, how are things in Alajärvi? What a shame we couldn´t meet up in Dakar for The New Year. I was really disappointed that the mobile phones did not work down there. I would have loved to meet your Senegalese family. We have been planning this since 1999 and still there is not much to show on film. I shot very little material when in Dakar. Riitta have some great pictures from Gorée which I hope we can look at together this summer, at the latest.
We only spent two days in Dakar (30th-31st of December). Gorée was our greatest experience, but we also visited the Railway station and the Malian market where the train for Bamako starts. Someday I would like to catch that train. We had nice afternoon at a café by the Central Square looking at the buzzing life of your capital. Everybody was trying to sell us things. I finally bought a black T-shirt with some dancing Senegalese on it. The text said: Dakar Senegal.
On the night of the 30th of December I took a walk by myself in the city. It was quiet and peaceful. Outside the Novotel hotel a man named Ali Thiam joined me. He wanted to show me Dakar. He said he was working at the hotel but was free this night. He was going to some place to buy a goat that would be slaughtered the next morning in praise of his firstborn daughter. She was only eight days and was going to be baptized the following day. Ali spoke French so we could communicate quite well. He said it was a sign of luck to meet a stranger that through his gifts could bless the child. I knew that he was asking me for money but I did not let on that I knew. We walked around the area where the market is. He told me about his city and talked about Africa and African life. He said that I knew very much about Senegal already and I told him that I have Senegalese friends in Finland. They play in Galaxy. He said that you had been playing at the hotel last year?
He wanted to show me the University Café where we could go for a drink. I said OK. I bought him some Soda and a beer for myself. He told me that the Thiams except for being griots and drummers also are goldsmiths. He gave me a small packet with a bracelet. He said his father had brought it from the Congo and that it was pure gold and that I should give it to my wife. He also gave me some cheap bracelets for my daughter. In order to give his firstborn daughter a good start in life I should also make a sacrifice. I should buy a goat so it could be brought to the baptizing ceremony. I asked him if I could join him in buying the goat, but he said that the goat-market was far away in Sfax and that it would take me too much time. It was not important that I brought the goat myself, I could give him money to buy the goat. I gave him some euro-cents as a memory of our meeting. He took them but was not very satisfied. He wanted more. I said that I did not have any more money and that I would have to go to the bank if I would have something more to give. He said that there is a bank at the hotel. But it was dark outside and I was afraid that he would rob me on the way. We sat for about half-an-hour talking about life in Senegal and Europe and the situation got tenser by the minute.
I did not know what to do but he said that he would have to go to Sfax around midnight and it was already past. I said he could go. I would sit in the restaurant for some more time. He said that he had seen that I had some greenbacks in my wallet. I said: What? He said, yes I saw that you have some paper money there. I knew that there was a blue 20 € bill there, but I did not really want to give it away as I needed the money myself. We sat quiet for a while the atmosphere getting even tenser. Then I got very angry and gave him back his gifts and also the 20 euro bill, wishing his daughter and his family a happy life. He left me alone outside on the street. I was very relieved to get back to the boat alive. Is it true that the Thiams also are goldsmiths, Yamar?
The best time we had on our trip was spent in The Gambia and I want to go there again next winter. I hope to take my son there to film. We could spend some time in The Gambia, maybe Bakau or Brikama and then take the ferry over the Gambia river to Barra in Senegal and from there take some cheap transportation to Dakar, S:t Louis and Malla, your birth place. I would also like to meet Youssou and your brother Assane and the rest of your family, both in Yoff and Malla. If possible, the best would be to have you and your Finnish family there too: Riitta, Awa and Ndai. But that is of course a question of finances. Mine are very bad and low at the moment. We could maybe get a loan or some grant from some Academy. I will look into those possibilities. I think that it is about time that we would get my old dream of making the documentary about you ready for showing in 2006. There is already a lot of material that could be used from you teaching drumworkshops here in the isles and on stage with Galaxy. And of course the material we did two years ago in Alajärvi at your home and by the frozen lake. What we do not have is footage from Senegal. We could be calling it ”YAMAR THIAM - From Malla to Alajärvi, the music of an African masterdrummer in Finland” I think we should have some stuff from your roots in Malla, the journey to Dakar and from there to Turku, Helsinki and Alajärvi. There would also be some more interviews. What we have is Eero Koivistoinen and Pape. It would also be great to have something of your international stuff like the Balalaika Show and your workshops in Turkey with Okay Temiz. Are you still in contact with him? It would be great to have him in Mariehamn as well.
All my love to you, and to your family of girls.
*****
Ken, we visited Gorée the first day, a beautiful island 2 miles out from Dakar, Had a look at the hole in the wall, the only way out for slaves being transported like cattle over the ocean.
My wife took some very fine pix of that peaceful haven all surrounded by Western Atlantic waves. She bought a professional Digital Canon A20 camera before we left MHQ in order to document the cruise in 50 pix for the cruising company. That paid for her trip.
She had a lot of pain in her back, but before we left, the doctors at home told her that nothing was wrong and that she should take painkillers to relieve her pains! Although she was restricted in moving about, because of her pains, we still made some very nice walks in Dakar. Visited the Malian market next to the Dakar-Bamako train station. Next time I’ll go there, I want to jump that train.
We left Dakar on New Year´s Eve at 19 hrs and headed for Sao Vicente. The sea was quite rough and my wife spent the Eve throwing up. My daughter and me had a quiet dinner in Ravintola Kotka. New Year’s Day was calm, the sun shining over the decks of Queen Kristiina. Flyfish jumped wondrously by the side of the ship all day, and the girls even discovered dolphins following the vessel on her way out west.
Took us two nights and a day to reach Sao Vicente on a Sunday. Quiet, peaceful. We took a taxi to look at the isle from Monte Verde thru a haze. Next day we did the town, walked around watching fishermen at the market, discovering the town from a Monday point of view. Left for Praia in the evening landing early next morning. My wife took the last free excursion-bus-chair on an expensive but rewarding trip to the north side of the capital island of Cabo Verde.
My daughter Anni and I explored the Chinese stores to exhaustion. The Cape Verdians were islanders in their own right. Not so easy to approach, proud and lusophonic. Compared to people in Dakar and Gambia they felt more isolated. In Dakar the atmosphere was French and gruffy and in The Gambia people were gentle in a British way and easy to meet and confront. I really appriciate The Gambia and wish to go there again, soon. Need more time.
When we arrived in Banjul after 2 nights and a day, the girls went for a day trip to some ecological nature park. I jumped a local bus to Serekunda, walked about, bought a Malian necklace and continued on to Brikama where I was chasing skins for my djembes. Met some young guys who wanted to help me in my explorations. I accepted their offer and we got three goatskins wrapped up in a neat little roll. I feared the customs in Finland, but there was no check-up on me coming back.
I walked around the market far away from the touristic shores of Bakau. In the evening coming back from our separate trips we took a taxi to re-live our 2001 holiday in the BB area. We had a nice dinner and when the taxi driver, on our way back to the boat, told us that the Kololi area was chaotic because Youssou was in town, we asked him to drive us there. There were quite a lot of action in Kololi. We were invited to a wedding reception and went to the luxorious hotel where Etoile de Dakar was supposed to play. The tickets were 3000 dalasis (about 30 $) and Anni was very tired so we decided to listen to her instead of Youssou.
PART 2 - CANCER AND COURT
Back in Maarianhome on Tuesday January 11, my wife called me in the midst of my weekly board meeting crying that she was at the emergency ward of the hospital. I did not have my drivers license so I had to ask Micke, our Wachtmeister, to drive me there.
The doctor told us that her spine was just about to break and that immediate action had to be taken in order to stop the cancer that mysteriously had nested into the spine of the 11th, 1st and 2nd ”rygg och bäckenknotor”. She was examined for a week and was then sent by helicopter to Turku for radiation. I visited her a couple of times but mostly had to stay at home looking after my job and daughter. We got along fine, even though she is in her 3teens, which kind of messes up anybody.
Riitta came back home on February 5th and started to get cell poison (xytoplasm?) every third week. She will have 6 doses of that poison running thru her blood. She just had her 4th dose and if everything goes according to plan she will take her last dose on June 15. Heavy heavy. The cancer and the cure make her tired and mentally instable. We try to cope with it as good as we can.
Simultaneously I have been going through a kafkaesque process. On February 28th I was in court to defend myself from false accusations of drunk driving on an electric bicycle. On March 11th I was sentenced to pay a 1050 € fine to the State + having my drivers licence held by the cops for 4 months. It’s a story too bad to be true and it just makes me mad and tired. I send you some newspaper clippings if you want to know what the papers had to say. I’ve grown a beard and won’t cut it until I am declared innocent. You never know how long that may take, maybe the rest of my life. Then I hope ”La historia me absolvera”. I doubt Castro will be free from accusations when he is all history. Been around power too long.
Already while cruising on the Regina I decided that I would use the rest of my annual holidays, two weeks in April, on a solo trip to the U.S. of A. I found out about three years ago that there was a place called Eckerman up in Chippewa County, North Michigan and felt that now was time to do it, now or never. By April my wife was able to get by alone quite fine. Our relations were bloody tense so I found it better for me to stay away for a while, rather than having to take that daily shit burying me up to my neck. I also wanted to get away from Maarianhome where everybody knew that I had been sentenced for drunk driving. Most people thought it was very unfair, and were "on my side" but I was dead tired of it all.
In December I met the daughter of a Finnish / American filmmaker visiting her mother, in the isles. We were invited to her mother’s X-mas party and there I got to talk to her about the States. She said she was living in Chicago near to the former studios of Chess Records and that I was welcome any time to spend time with her and her artist-friends on their loft. An offer hard to refuse.
PART 3 - CHICAGO
I left ARN on April 3th at 10 a.m. and arrived in Chicago at 12. Crushed out at 4 and woke up at midnite. Everybody else had gone to sleep so I decided to take me a walk into downtown Chicago from 2255 South Michigan Ave. First stop was The Velvet Lounge, where the jam was just about to end and the bar was down. Talked a bit to Fred Anderson who said he´d been in Finland last year with Hamid Drake and Reggie Workman. Nice place, The Velvet Lounge, spent another night there 10 days later.
Went on to Buddy Guy´s Blues Heaven where the show of the night was over, but I got me a Sierra Nevada Ale, anyway. Walked further on into downtown Chi with buildings so high they almost touched the sky. Ran into a man who asked me for a dime, and then for a sausage and later tried to tell me he needed 14 $ for a bed to crush in. I said ”Let’s have a coffee and talk”. We sat talking on a bench for an hour or so about life down and out in Chicago, politics, racism, hunger and the blues. He said his name was John Pope. I said how come?
Them banners on the poles are halfway up and halfway down these days. Could it be because The Pope is dead?
After a while I had to take a leak and he told me to do as everybody else, to use any gangway. I said that I didn´t need any extra problems, please. So he showed me to a late nite Sports Bar. Couldn´t enter himself. Had lost his I.D. while sleeping on a train. I gave him a couple of bucks and went in to have a shot of Jameson. Walked back south into the morning. Outside of Symphony Hall I spotted a poster saying Sonny Rollins was playing there on April 22nd. A young uniformed black guy came out of the lobby handing me flyers for a Yo Ma Ya- concert the following day. He said it was sold out. In my mind I wondered why he advertised a sold out show at 5 a.m? I told him that I thought that Rollins was dead. He said ”Oh no, but he doesn’t play very often nowadays and only on special occasions”. A shame I couldn’t make that one. It was way too late for my schedule, my flight back was on April 15th.
PART 4 - SOCCER IN HELSINKI
At sea 2005-05-05
Back aboard a ship, this time a Princess. Left MHQ last night together with 500 other Åländers heading for a match of soccer at Finnair Stadium this afternoon. IFK Mariehamn made it to Veikkaus Liiga, the top division in Suomi last fall and are now fighting to stay in the top league for their first season. It looks good. Last Sunday they played 1-0 against RoPS from Rovanniemi with more than 2700 attending their premier match at the WHA Arena. Today in Hellsinki they did not score, but ”won” nil-nil against one of the top teams in Finland, HJK.
I offered my wife a trip to the capital and even if she did not attend the match she seems to have been having a rewarding day, meeting up with friends who are into orthodox religious thinking. This morning I told her: ”So here we come again to this old hometown of ours”. She replied: ”You call it hometown, but don’t wanna move back?” No I don’t wanna. Like my feelings for MHQ I have a love-hate relationship to this city. My wife has been talking about moving back for the last couple of years. But my answer, is NO. And our daughter wants to keep up with her pals at school. If I move, I won’t move East. West or South are the directions I am longing for.
Met up with my son at his place talking memories; trips and films for a while with his girlfriend before leaving for the match. We had a good time following the nervy game and he walked me back through his beautiful city to the Olympia harbour where Birka Princess was waiting to take us and the other passengers back west.
PART 5 - FROM CHICAGO TO U.P. MICHIGAN
On the Road, Clark’s Mootel, Strongs, Chippewa Co, Michigan, USA 2005-04-11
Our conversation sure was sweet,
It nearly swept me off of my feet,
And I’m back in the sun,
Having my share of fun,
Blues and wonderings.
Dear John,
So, I made it to Eckerman, almost to Canada. Saw Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario, from over the strait in Soo, Michigan. In a while I’ll be heading west again; Duluth and Hibbing in Minnesota tonight, and I hope it will be fun, for a while. Thought of looking up the old blacksmith, Russell Johnson, here in Strongs, before I visit the post office in Eckerman to send some cards and applications, and then be gone down the road. I’m listening to Emmylou Harris doing her very precious version of ”Every Grain of Sand”. I saw the creator in Milwaukee last Friday. He started off with ”To Be Alone with You” and ”To Ramona” and did ”All along the Watchtower” as an encore. Fourth time around that I saw him. This time only 50 ft away.
Third time around for me in the States. This seems to be the real America to me. I´d love to come here again for a fourth time. Bring my family and friends.
I’m living in the future,
I´m living in the past,
Try to live here and now
At least, at last.
Highway 61 is waiting, I will go from Duluth down to Chicago this time. Down south to New Orleans next time around, inch’allah.
They say I have been living in a prison all my life. I will pass by Redwing on my way down and hope to throw my balls and chains away. My wife probably feared I would fuck my brains out, this time around. I haven´t done it yet. The Injun girls are pretty, but I won’t bother.
I wonder what John Eckerman was doing before and after founding this crossing for trains back in the 1880’s? I will go and find his grave someday and my grandpa’s Leonard´s as well. He was on the East Coast for 8 years in the roaring 20´s. Did he fuck his brains out? Are there any cousins around? I´ll find out, I´ll find out. What did my father John Eckerman do in Poland after the war, after he jumped ship in Gdansk? Did he ever come over here?
I can feel the spirit of Eckerman. The men are all strong and bully, the women are fast and sweet. I feel at home wearing my Butt Bear Bar cap and my greying beard. The best moment of Friday night was ”Absolutely, Sweet Marie”. Absolutely. Dylan made me shout and dance. Other old suckers from the 60s did not understand, but the little girls did. On Saturday night I went to Rock Bottom in Moran and danced to ”Superstition”. The guys were rough but the girls were fine. At midnight I jumped into my red Pontiac Sunfire and drove into the dark, listening to classic rock from the local station ”The Bear”. As I curved Eckerman Corner a man comes on the radio. Mick Jagger can’t be a man, ’cause he doesn’t smoke Camels. I listened to the whole of ”Beggars Banquet” riding into the Michigan morning. My God what a musician Brian Jones was! I got no expectations, I’m a poor boy, I’m the prodigal son. Still not lost, but not found.
At the Bear Butt Bar and Grill I had me a whitefish for dinner Saturday nite. Tom Guys’s the owner. He is selling the place, wants to go out sailing on The Great Lakes. I will go out sailing this spring when the ice has left and Freja is on water. Having felt the Zimmermann grooves up around here, I will go down to Park West Chicago on Thursday nite and feel the spirit of Robert Nesta Marley when The Wailers are playing there. If music be the food of love, then play on, plain Tom (Payne).
On the road, Park Hibbing Hotel, MN, USA 2005-04-12
Drove all the way to Zimmy’s in Hibbing, ’bout 500 miles in approx, 9 h, driving steadily about 80 mph, even if the limit usually was 55. Hit Duluth at sundown. Got lost, had an urge to eat. Stopped at John´s Taco. Had a Taco Bravo. There are at least three Tom Eckermans in the States. One in Texas, one in Arizona and one in Minnesota. I called up the Minnesota one. Was not there. His wife was. Wondered what I wanted. I said I wanna know. She asked for my e-mail, and then gave me a number where Tom probably could be reached. At first he was engaged, but I got him the 2nd time around. He was suspicious of my intents. Wasn’t interested in his roots. Told me to contact his dad in The Twin Towns of St. Paul – Minneapolis. Gave him my number so he could call me up tomorrow. Hope he does.
What is an ORV? Probably a camper, they´re not allowed at a lot of places. Drove by the beautiful southern shore of Lake Superior. Followed the Soo line that John Eckerman was partaking in building in the 1890s. Passed places like Makinen, Niemi and Korpi. No Pihlajas though. Maybe on the northern side of the border. Just before Hibbing there was a sign for Toivola. Will pass thru it tom-orrow. Drove thru Christmas, as well. There was a huge Santa outside of some souvenir-shop. Duluth was a mess. High hills and freeways going thru. I tried Highway 61 in order to reach Highway 53 northbound. Had to turn around and finally did find my way out, on the other side of town.
Getting into Hibbing I stopped to wake my home up by phone. My daughter Anni had already left for school. I was looking for motels, only saw a Super 8. Downtown there was Park Hibbing Hotel. Looked expensive. Along main street there was a bar called Zimmy´s. I stopped and walked in to have a beer. The place was full of posters and record-sleeves depicting the first Bob. On the jukebox ”Not Dark Yet” from ”Time out of Mind”. They had a special on pints this Monday. 2 dollars. I chose an icy Michelob. They asked me if I were from around, and when they found out that I was from Finland they wanted me to sign the guest book. While wandering around looking at the frames, a young man approached me, asking if I was a Dylan fan. Couldn´t deny it. We stroke up a conversation about Finns. He was of Irish descent, second generarion Irish-American, Sean Johnson was his name. Drove a truck and had very positive experiences of Finns. “Those good people that helped the Irish on Manhattan when they first got there”. Lots of Finns around here. He knew Niskanen. I told him about Kari the Painter.
There were only two public places to sleep in this town of 18.000 so I drove back to the 8 motel. Woke the reception girl up by calling 106. She said she was all occupied, full, and told me to go back downtown, head for Park. 79 $ for a bed and 62 channels to choose from. Al Green is on NBC, the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, doing a great job taking his audience by going around shaking hands and hugging while singing soulfully.
Time out of mind yeah. I was talking to Susan at the Eckerman Post Office this afternoon. Asked her how the weekend had been going. Beautiful weather, but too short. Told her about Caspers idea of the five day week. What they talked about in the late 60s but did not do all the way. Skip Mondays and Tuesdays. That way there will be exactly 73 weekends instead of 52-53 now. In Åland everyone is complaining that the summer´s too short, All kinds of touristic events overlap and so there are not enough tourists to fill all the simultaneous events offered. So let´s have more weekends. Susan liked the idea. She would join my party. I said I had been wondering about becoming a politician in order to push the idea of Åland Time. Would maybe be something for Ålands framtid. But I do not want them to misuse such a grand idea. The Greens are trying to make a comeback in Mariehamn, thru them the idea could thrive environmentally. Or maybe I should create a Tidal Party myself. Too much ado about nothing, though. After all the fuss about my electric bike and being sentenced 1050 €s for no crime at all everybody said they’d stay behind me. I wonder.
Everybody said they´d stand behind me
when the times got rough
But the joke was on me
there wasn´t anybody
even there to bluff
…………
Don´t send me no regards, no letters please,
’xcept if you send them from
Desolation Row.
Will go the library tomorrow morn to see what they made of their Bob Dylan Tribute Corner. Take a drive around the Iron range and then head for Highway 61 southbound. Pass by Redwing and Stockholm. Will reach Chicago late at nite, I suppose. It´s been a breathtaking experience. Yesterday when I was looking for Russell Johnson I knocked on the door of a house nearby. Jimi Hendrix was playing LOAD inside. I walked into the house and knocked on the door of the room where Jimi was roaming. A young woman wrapped in a towel opened up and said ”Oops”. I asked her for the home of the old blacksmith and she pointed down the road. I excused myself while the phone rang. Walked over to the neighbors who already knew that I had been around, sneaking. They check up on every stranger in those villages. Now I´m already the man with the cause of trying to find out who John Eckerman was.
How about you? Whereabouts are you roaming? Hope you can take a bike tour westwards this summer. Then we can discuss the oddities of life, play a little, laugh a lot and look at moving pictures from the great Mid West. Do take care, and don’t forget to breathe.
Yours truly,
The Lone Ranger Tom
******
So Dear Ken Again,
A month ago I was discovering Chicago by bike. Spent 5 days there exploring most parts of the windy city. Spring was in the air and there was music all around. Tried to find old clubs like Checkerboard, but they had all been forced to close down. Conglomerates are taking over, they are building conference centers and offices. Muddy Waters’ house on South Lake Drive was for rent for 1.000 $ a month and if you wanted to check how popular rappers played The Howard Washington Cultural Center, there was a 25 $ fee. I went to see bluegrass at the Hideout for free, instead.
For the weekend I hired the cheapest possible car from Enterprise for about 30 $ a day. It turned out to be a red two-door automatic brand new Pontiac Sunfire. I drove up to Milwaukee to watch Bob Dylan play from a short distance, 50 feet away, play The Eagles Club - The Rave. He’s getting old, 64 in two weeks time, but he won’t give up his neverending touring. He had Amos Lee and Merle Haggard supporting. The band was not very good, the old guys were too bored and the younger ones too eager. Sounded worse than any old showband that you can find playing these ships of the Baltic. Without the charisma of the man himself it would have been a disaster. He played keyboards and harmonica dressed in a fancy black suit with a white hat on his head. His shoes were striped, black and white and he was evaporating a lot. I could see his nose dripping with sweat as he ended the show with the encore of “All Along the Watchtower” in a nice reggae-tinted version. He bends his old songs around so that sometimes they are almost impossible to recognize. You wouldn’t, if you did not know his words by heart. “Absolutely Sweet Marie” was my favorite of the nite.
After the show I drove all night into a beautiful spring morning in northern Michigan. I arrived in Eckerman at 10. It was so tiny that I just drove thru, passed it on my way to Paradise 12 miles north of Eckerman Corner. Paradise was small too. So I rode on to Whitefish Point where there was a huge lighthouse showing the ships on Lake Superior their way. I turned back, stopped off at the post office in Eckerman in order to get me some info on where to lodge and how to find out something about the history of the village.
Susan, the postal lady, told me that presumably a man called Eckerman bought a lot of land in 1889, sold it dearly two years later to the railway company that in 1891 started to build the Soo – Duluth railroad. He named the crossing Eckerman and disappeared without a trace. The nearest lodgings were Clarke´s Mootel in Strongs 3 miles away. I headed there to get me some rest 24 hours after leaving Chicago. Nice motel with a cattle-theme, Mootel, moo moo. When I woke up that night I inspected the workshop of Handy Andy in the back. A very original guy into MCs and strange constructions. I then went on to the only bar in Eckerman to have whitefish for dinner. Tom Guys, the owner, intended to sell his Bear Butt Bar after 11 yrs. A nice cozy place with a Bear-theme. Swapped a MW-cap for one of Bear Butt Bar, Eckerman, MI. A shame somebody grabbed your Mariehamn Winter-cap. I will send you a new one. Please hold on to it. It suits you fine.
I hung around in Eckerman for two days, filming, talking to people, driving around in my red sportscar in the surrounding areas. Went 22 miles to Sainte Sault Marie and took a glance of Canada but did not take the bridge. In the Bayswater Indian Reservation there was a huge casino where old Americans, who could barely walk any more, played machines, poker tables and roulette.
I would not mind going back to Eckerman again for awhile. The country was beautiful and the people were brave. In the forest and by the lake there was the same kind of tranquility that you probably experience up north in Näsåker.
PART 6 - MINNESOTA
I left Eckerman on Monday afternoon and headed for Minnesota. Drove by the lake all the way to Duluth. Stopped at a Taco place and called up Tom Eckerman in Sauk Rapids. He was not interested in me, thought that it was suspicious that somebody called and said he had the same name as him and asked personal questions! He said his father in Minneapolis maybe would be interested to discuss where his Eckerman family came from. I gave the son Tom my number and expected his father to call me up the next day. Duluth seemed like a drag so I headed up to Hibbing for the night. Stopped at Zimmy’s for a late nite beer before lodging up at The Park Hotel. In the morning I went to see the Dylan Exhibition at the local library and walked up and down the mainstreet, Howard Road. Bought Michael Gray´s Song and Dance Man III, which will take me years to get through.
Then headed down south to Minneapolis / St. Paul. In Toivola (Finnish for ”A Place of Hope”) I got caught by the local sheriff for speeding. He said I’d been driving at least 70 mph in a 55-zone. I tried to explain that the concept of miles was strange to a European kilometer-man like me and that it was not my intention to break any of their rules. He asked for my licence and passport, checked me up and after 10 minutes let me drive on, saying that I should cool down. I promised to, and was glad that he had not caught me when I was driving 110 mph with Hendrix blasting out ”Crosstown Traffic” from the car speakers on the freeway where 65 was the limit.
No Mr. Eckerman called me from Minneapolis so I drove straight through The Two Towns following the Mississippi and Highway 61 all nite. Made it to Chicago at dawn. Drove 1900 miles in 4 days and still had a lot of time to experience Dylan, Eckerman and Hibbing. Back in Chicago I went to the Green Mill to listen to Kurt Elling and to Park West to experience The Wailers doing the same old thing, 25 years after Stockholm 1980.
I also visited Tim Eckerman in his office 6 floors up in one of the scrapers downtown. He was a 58 year old singer/songwriter and attorney that had a cousin named Tom living in Texas. We will work on, trying to solve the Chicago-Eckerman-Eckerö connection.
It’s time to have some rest. We will wake up in Mhome harbour 6 hrs from now, tom-morrow morning at 7.00 and I will then get down to business as usual. That’s mañana to me.
PART 7 - THE FUTURE
After work 2005-05-09
Too little time, too much work.
Finally there were some ideas I wanted to discuss with you concerning my experiences in Chicago.
Meeting Fred Anderson at the Velvet Lounge gave me the idea to try to get some combination of AACM artists to come to Mariehamn for the Winter Jazz days in February 2006. I think it would be possible for me to finance their travels and offer them a good enough fee for a concert in Mariehamn but it would help if we could co-operate with somebody in Sweden.
There seems to be a growing interest in good old creative music in Finland at Pori, Kerava and Tampere Jazz Happenings. Art Ensemble played Pori last year. Hamid Drake & Fred Anderson were in Tampere and Roscoe Mitchell in Kerava.
Do you think there would be any interest from clubs and promotors in Sweden to do some shows with i.e. Hamid Drake & Fred Andersson in connection with a gig in Mariehamn? Just asking.
I also went to Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven at the old Chess studios. Kevin B. Mabry, office manager, showed me and a Canadian radio woman around.
As I told him that I had a Winter festival in Åland he immediately got interested and asked about his chances of selling some of his old pals blues artists to me. One guy could hold a blues harmonica workshop and was able to do a blues-show with our local blues band here, Kuttens Blues Band. Would that be an idea to work on?
And then again: Why cross the ocean when there is a lot of interesting stuff happening just around the corner?
I hope that the whole family can make it to Urkult this summer. There are some artists I really would like to hear; Habib Koité, Zap Mama and Alamaailman Vasarat. AV provided me with a great musical experience at Ruisrock last year. They did a show with Tuomari Nurmio. I will let you know later if all three of us has a chance to come all the way up to Näsåker in August. It depends very much on how R is doing and if A feels like joining us.
On August 12th there will be Kulturnatten again and this year instead of having Kimmo Pohjonen at Alvas I plan to do a culture crash mixing Galaxy with Ramona & Högtryck, an Åland dance band. Work hard to get guaranteed funding for that at the moment. I use my buraeucratic skills and help my wife to get all kinds of sponsors to support multicultural causes.
Hope I haven’t bored you too much with my ramblings on about ”what’s bin hid and what’s bin did”.
Please let me know that this delivery reached you.
Hope that everything’s well with You and Your family.
Kind regards,
Tom
80s
Veckan skall liksom vara slut nu men det känns inte riktigt så. Veckändan är full av diverse program och direkt därefter börjar och fortsätter allt i samma stil. Kom oss iväg och köpa skor när jag märkte att John blivit hitsänd i endast gummistövlar igen. Passade samtidigt på att köpa ett par åt mig och sedan dra till Borgbacken där vi gick igenom det mesta. Safari, Vekkula, Panorama, Disney-tåg, Spökhuset, Monorail. Köpte varsin glass och vann två elefantbadges på Tombola.
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