Obit: Paul Pena (1 Oct 2005)

Subject: Obit: Paul Pena
From: Metchosin
Date: 11 Oct 05 - 07:16 AM

Sorry to hear Paul Pena passed away Oct. 1, 2005. Anyone wishing to know more of this amazing man should check out Genghis Blues.

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Pena
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 11 Oct 05 - 07:53 AM

Just came from his website -- without time right now to do it justice. Wish I had written to him after I saw "Genghis Blues" -- he was a truly amazing man.

Condolences to everyone who cared about him.

Linn

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Pena
From: katlaughing
Date: 11 Oct 05 - 12:01 PM

Another one gone from the amazing CD "Deep in the heart of Tuva." The world's great loss.

Thanks for letting us know, Mets.

kat

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Pena (1 Oct 2005)
From: open mike
Date: 11 Oct 05 - 08:06 PM

If i am not mistaken,
Pam Swan had him on
her most recent recording..
possilby his last performance??

what a great story about how he went to Tuva
and joined in the throat singing competition.

from the liner notes of her recording Dance to Your Shadow--
" Mouth Music is a kind of singing found in every culture-- rhythmic, traditional, a cappella songs used for work, play, sadness, celebration or for dancing without instruments.

    Pam Swan celebrates that common thread in this extraordinary collection of Mouth Music, as she sings with tradition bearers from Scotland, Ireland, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Thailand, Japan, Tuva, Arctic Canada, Appalachia and the Georgia Sea Islands.

   Joining Pam are: Christine Primrose, Peggy Seeger, Laurie Lewis, Paul Pena, Shay & Michael Black, Madeleine Allakariallak, Bo Lueng, Wendell Brooks, Kokou Katamani, Gameli Ladzekpo, Trevino Leon, Kyoko Fujita, Julia Chigamba and the Georgia Sea Island Singers. "

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Pena (1 Oct 2005)
From: michaelr
Date: 11 Oct 05 - 09:02 PM

Trivia bit: PP wrote Steve Miller's big hit "Jet Airliner".

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Pena (1 Oct 2005)
From: open mike
Date: 12 Oct 05 - 12:55 AM

You will find if you go to the Genghis Blues site,
http://www.genghisblues.com/
or see the movie http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187859/
that one of the most amazing things that Paul did was to excell in a
type of singing (throat singing) from Tuva, a small country in the
Mongolia steppes.

ON his web page he speaks of teaching a work shop in April.
I believe this must have been with Steve Sklar see more here:
http://khoomei.com/ the schedule on the web site mentions
a workshop here: Millberry Student Union, University of California
500 Parnassues Ave. San Francisco, April 17-18, 2004

Steve founded the International Association of Harmonic Singing (IAHS)

more about Paul here:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/10/04/BAGVPF28KH1.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

Paul was blind, and he originally heard the style of tuvan singing on
a short wave radio broadcast. He came to be a champion of this style.

another person who was fascinated with Tuva was Richard Feynman
http://www.feynmanonline.com/ who first discoved this small
country thru their postage stamps, some of whicha are triangular.

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Pena (1 Oct 2005)
From: open mike
Date: 12 Oct 05 - 04:59 AM

another obit here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,1586607,00.html

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Pena (1 Oct 2005)
From: p.j.
Date: 12 Oct 05 - 07:56 PM

Paul was a force of nature. He was my Tuvan throatsinging teacher and one of the major mentoring forces in my musical life, along with Rick Fielding.

If you'll forgive me a little sentimental storytelling, I want tell about a time in which I was priviledged to stand at a crossroads with one hand on the shoulder of each of these two wonderful men.

Rick had been an important person in my life, personally and musically. It was very tough to let him go. In the last few months of his life I was studying Tuvan throatsinging with Paul Pena, and recording tracks for my album Dance To Your Shadow.

As Rick slipped away, Paul listened to much of my sadness about his passing, and sympathized with my feelings of loss. He taught me a song in Tuvan called Eshten Charlyyry Berge-- It's Hard To Lose A Friend. It is a beautiful piece of a cappella from the Tuvan tradition, full of deep emotion and powerful sounds. Paul had recorded it on his album Genghis Blues with Kongar-Al Ondar (also known as K.O.) and Paul said if I wanted to put it on my album he would record it again with me in honor of Rick.

I wanted very much to do this song. I had been invited to perform at Rick's memorial concert, produced in Toronto a few weeks after his death. In addition to singing pieces that Rick I had done together, I wanted very much to perform Eshten Charlyyry Berge there, because I knew Rick would have loved it.

About that time Paul introduced me to members of Huun Huur Tu, the wonderful group of Tuvan throatsingers, and I spent several days with them during one of their tours of California. As I worked with them on the music Paul had been teaching, one of the things I wanted to do was to make sure I was respecting traditions of Tuvan throat singing as I learned. Although the sounds of throat singing are first heard by babies when their mothers sing lullabies to them, women are not allowed to perform certain types of throat singing publicly in Tuva. Whether or not I believe that tradition to be fair or correct, as a person singing te traditions of another culture I felt it was important to be respectful of the wishes of tradition bearers who worked with me on their music.

I asked about which songs it would be permissable for me to record and perform publicly. They gave me a list of examples, and specific songs that I could record. They even shared material with me from field recordings they had made in Tuva that I could include on my CD. But in no way was I allowed to make the sounds of xoomei, or to sing Eshten Charlyyry Berge, it was not appropriate. We discussed it extensively (through an interpreter) over many, many beers-- but the answer was final. No.

I was shocked and disappointed in many ways. Over the next few weeks I wrestled hard with the ethics of voluntarily supporting a cultural prohibition with which I fundamentally disagreed. I wrote to a couple of the women singers of Tuva who have stepped into the public eye and made a name for themselves by performing and recording their music internationally. But in the end, out of respect for the wishes of those teachers who shared their tradition with me, I did not include this beautiful song in my CD, or the concert for Rick. I sang the song for Rick, but only when I was alone or with Paul.

Paul told me he would support either decision I made, and record it with me if I wanted him to, and I was grateful to him for that. On the day that I told him I decided not to record or perform anything prohibited for women in Tuva, Paul asked me another pivotal question in my life-- he asked if I had ever heard of Inuit throat singing. I had not.

"What you need to do is go and study Inuit throat singing." He laughed. "The whole thing is done by women. They wouldn't tell you it's not your place, they'd say it's not MY place!"

I was intrigued. Paul spent the next couple of hours explaining the differences between the two throatsinging styles, and ended with exactly the type of "Now go and do it" speech Rick loved to give--

"You need to go there." Paul said. "You need to find somebody to teach you that mouth music. I'm serious, you should just find a way to do it."

Yeah, right, I thought. I'm gonna go there. It's at the top of the stinkin' world, and I'm gonna just go there. He's crazy. Five months later I was on a plane to Baffin Island, to live in an Inuit village and study throat singing with Madeleine Allakariallak. I owe a lot of that album, and my approach to research, to Paul Pena.

The thing is, it's pretty hard to argue with a man like Paul who figures out a way to overcome whatever odds life throws at him to go learn something from tradition bearers in remote locations. When Rick said "try", you gotta try. When Paul said "go", you gotta go.

It's very hard to resist imagining them singing together tonight, and even harder to imagine a world without either of them as an influence in my life. But I am very, very grateful for their tenderness, and stubbornness, and all the gifts they both gave.

It is hard to lose a friend.

p.j.

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Pena (1 Oct 2005)
From: katlaughing
Date: 12 Oct 05 - 09:59 PM

Oh, Pam, thank you so much for sharing that. I was hoping you'd post to this thread and have been watching for your voice here. They must both be so proud of you. I can just see them swapping songs and stories.

My grandson has gone to sleep listening to Rick almost every night of his almost two-year old life, along with a few other Mudcatters' music. I have to laugh 'cause there's Rick telling him to stay in school and ya know it's going into his subconscious...it'll probably get him through college and beyond!*smile* BTW, he also loves "Deep in the Heart of Tuva."

luvyakat

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Pena (1 Oct 2005)
From: open mike
Date: 12 Oct 05 - 10:14 PM

I am going to play deep in the heart of tuva this weeknd on my radio
show as a tribute to Paul! And hooray, Pam, for taking the advice of those guys to "try" and to "do" the world is richer for it, and I am
glad we have you here to sing out!! thank you for that moving story,
and I am glad you were able to meet and gain inspiration from both of
those fellows. hugs to you. Laurel

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Pena (1 Oct 2005)
From: Metchosin
Date: 12 Oct 05 - 11:17 PM

I wish to thank you for posting that too, pj. The world is indeed a diminished place for the loss of mentors such as Rick and Paul Pena. You are very blessed to have had the friendship and support of both. Please accept a virtual hug from me as an attempt of comfort.

Susan

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Pena (1 Oct 2005)
From: open mike
Date: 13 Oct 05 - 01:25 AM

was his name actually PEN~A

the spanish letter en-ye with a squiggle over it?
so pronounced Pen-ya with the nya sound?

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Pena (1 Oct 2005)
From: p.j.
Date: 13 Oct 05 - 01:42 AM

Paul pronounced it PEE-na (without the sound of the squiggle.) Just to be sure I checked my answering machine-- I can't bring myself to erase his last message, which came in just two days before he died. It's PEE-na.

pj

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Pena (1 Oct 2005)
From: Willie-O
Date: 13 Oct 05 - 09:45 AM

Good story Pam. So, why didn ya drop by if you were in the neighbourhood?? (g)

Curiously, one can still hear Rick's voice by calling his old phone number in To. Not that I am recommending it to the idly curious. It's understandably difficult to erase those recordings...

Bill

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Pena (1 Oct 2005)
From: p.j.
Date: 15 Oct 05 - 08:43 PM

There will be a memorial concert for Paul Pena in San Francisco on Sunday, October 23rd from 3-5 p.m. For information please visit www.clarionmusic.com

Also, I've set up a special page in memory of Paul on my website, where you can hear sound samples of my conversations with him as well as samples of his extraordinary throat singing.

Visit www.pamswan.com
click on Dance To Your Shadow CD
click on In Memory of Paul Pena

By the way-- as of today Paul's cat Lyuba has found a permanent home.

Now go and hug a teacher you've loved-- while they're still around.

love,
pj

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Pena (1 Oct 2005)
From: Dave Swan
Date: 15 Oct 05 - 09:32 PM

Here's a clicky to take you to Pam's page in memory of Paul.

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Pena (1 Oct 2005)
From: katlaughing
Date: 23 May 08 - 11:01 PM

Well, I finally got to watch Genghis Blues. Knew I had read a lot about Paul and this movie on the Mudcat. Can't believe it took me so long to see such an incredible and touching documentary.

Pam, thanks again for sharing. How incredible a person he was, with such heart and truthfulness and honour.

Anyone who has not seen the film, would benefit from doing so, imo.

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Pena (1 Oct 2005)
From: GUEST,Neil D
Date: 23 May 08 - 11:36 PM

Absolutely!

Subject: RE: Obit: Paul Pena (1 Oct 2005)
From: GUEST,Neil D
Date: 23 May 08 - 11:56 PM

I just recently watched Genghis Blues. My wife ordered it from Netflix based on my interest in Genghis Khan and love of the blues. I had never heard of Paul Pena, Tuvan throat singing or even Tuva for that matter, but upon watching it I was truly blown away. So much so that I got all choked up and watery-eyed when I came across this thread.
                   Neil