I spent almost the whole of June in Chennai. I had almost forgotten what a real summer feels like: 42°C and no relief except for the incredible variety of mangoes on the market….finger-licking good!
In July I recorded some tracks with the group Pilgrim. Later in the month I performed at the Palmengarten Jazz Festival in Frankfurt with East West Wind. In August I was invited to teach Kanjira at the Tamburi Mundi Meeting in Freiburg and got to meet, hang and jam with some of the finest frame drum players like Glen Velez, Scott Robinson, Murat Coskun, etc.
In October I went on a 10-day duo tour with Stepanida Borisova, driving through Poland, Slovenia, Austria and Germany. This was followed by a short Kadim tour in Switzerland.
Then in November I was back in Sofia to play with the second edition of Balkan Horses. Lots of pieces in 11/8!!
Probably my last trip outside of Germany for this year was to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where I was once again part of the incredible Global Perfussion Ensemble. It was great to be on an Island enjoying sunshine and temperatures of around 22°C before gearing up for the long winter-haul!