Frank Tuma
Island Bars
Sailing around the Caribbean and the bordering Countries brings fond memories of 'Back Roads Bars because of the incredible music provided by extraordinary characters that live and play music in those surroundings.
This CD has come about as the result of requests from you music afficionados. Also, many have liked the occasional
"bar" music sprinkled in amongst my Carnival and Junkanoo songs. There are those who have asked me to put out a CD containing exclusively old-style and Latin jazz. Perhaps you have visited these expatriate hangouts in the islands, or those good old backroads bars where a different brand of Blues, Jazz and New Orleans musical styles are mixed with island themes.
For all of these reasons, I have happily produced "Island Bars." You can picture in your mind, as I do, the old-timers bringing their instruments into these places and jamming and producing an unusual and nostalgic brand of Island Bar Music.
While attending college, I played at various bars and resorts to help pay for my education as a physicist. This valuable exposure to the life of working musicians convinced me to continue my education and make my way in the world of science. However, life throws interesting curves, and my goals and objectives were tinkered with and music never left the scene. Between extensive business travel and sailboat racing, I was introduced to Central and South America and most of the islands, especially in our hemisphere. Their rhythms and melodies never left me, until they exploded into a never-ending outpouring of musical compositions and a need to share them.
Florida sailing out of Cape Canaveral brought the Bahamas and all of its delicious and outrageous counter beats into my music while the endless surf beating on the hot sands of hundreds of islands brought me their catchy melodies floating on the wind. New Orleans and space rockets brought a mix of sound as tasty as the foods served behind old and rustic exteriors surrounding antique furnishings and indoor courtyards, and the beat goes on. While in Houston, I found myself playing the vibraphones and keyboards with a Hawaiian music group. This added a new musical dimension and lifelong friends who helped me pursue island music beyond my known boundaries. Science taught me about the boundless energy in the universe; traveling by sailboat to hundreds of islands and Central and South America provided me musical experiences well beyond the reach of classrooms, TV and high tech studies.
The creation of music, in my case, is based on the emotional settings and my response to them. This surely produces a uniqueness and originality not found very often. These kinds of experiences never leave me and continuously guide my fingers over the keys.. The energy from the universe, especially at night, stimulates me to compose, arrange and perform music based on all my emotional experiences.
I now live on Pine Island, which is located on the southwest coast of Florida. It is a beautiful and mostly unspoiled place surrounded by estuaries and dozens of little islands where dolphins, manatees and colonies of birds live. In this setting, especially on star filled nights, my creative juices flow with music. Please join me and listen to the rhythms of the universe.
World: Junkanoo