Kuimba: World Fusion Music - Nature & Spirit

When The Summertime Comes

• MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)

Unmastered/Unpublished

To be released on the CD Blue Kuimba.

Personnel: Lark Bowerman, vocals, guitar; Kris Bowerman, trombone, keyboard bass, hi-hat, fingersnaps; Rick Van Krugel, mandolin; Jeff Shucard, guitar

When the summertime comes, and the honey bee hums. I’m gonna take me a vacation. In a beautiful location, and let Jamaican Food Service, take real good care of me.

I’m gonna hang there in my hammock — Come on now don’t gimme no static! I’ll be snoozin’ in the shade, while that good food is bein’ made, because Jamaican Food Service, takes such good care of me!

Is it a bird? No, it’s a plane! Heck no! It’s Superman again! From over there across the river, Jamaican Service will deliver. It’s my genuine, sweet Baby, comin’ to my hammock tree!

Break: It’s my Baby and I’m crazy. For his lovins you can see. It’s my baby, when I’m lazy. He takes real good care of me! He takes real good! He takes real good! Real good care of me! ..... Take care of me Baby!!!!!

Well, he sets up on the sand. Where the dragonflies land. Lights up the fire and makes some food. Oh yeah, now he cooks pretty good! It’s my Jamaican Food Service Hangin’ in right here with me!

Mount Diablo

• MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)

Mt. Diablo is located approximately forty-five miles East of San Francisco, California. It was considered to be a sacred birthplace of the world by some central California tribes whose languages carried a number of different names for it. The name "Mt. Diablo" was applied to the Mountain by Europeans in more recent times.

Personnel: Lark Bowerman, lead vocal, guitar; Kris Bowerman, vocal, recorder, keyboard

Buy MP3!

From Shell Ridge you can see her. Rising gently through the mist. Watch the clouds break up and wander. As by the morning sun she’s kissed.

You can take the winding roadway. Up to her noble crest. There with the soaring birds of prey. You can see the view the best.

(Chorus) And through the day. The shadows play. Across her gentle slopes. Beneath azure skies. You can feast your eyes. On Mt. Diablo.

Call her Mountain of the Devil. But she’ll never play you treason. She meets you on the level. And she challenges your reason.

And through the day. The shadows play. Across her gentle slopes. Beneath azure skies. You can feast your eyes On Mt. Diablo.

And through the day. The shadows play. Across her gentle slopes. And her ancient trees. Hold memories. That can fill our hearts with hopes.

Because of You

• MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)

Unmastered/Unpublished

To be released on the CD Blue Kuimba.

Personnel: Kris Bowerman, lead vocal, harmony vocal, keyboard, trombone; Lark Bowerman, harmony vocal, folk harp

I perceive more in Venus
on this evening by the sea
I can feel the forest in us
where the meadow meets the trees
Because of You
Because of You

I can hear the birds more clearly
on a suuny clear blue morn
And I love the animals dearly
making me happy to be born
Because of You
Because of You

Sailing through the years
The information always steers
Us to a place of smiles and tears

I dew taste the flowers of sunshine
that the light and warmth conceive
I can sense the whole creation
on this misty moonlite eve
Because of You
Because of You

Sailing through the years
The information always steers
Us to a place of smiles and tears

I perceive more in Venus
on this evening by the sea
I can feel the forest in us
where the meadow meets the trees
Because of You
Because of You...

Travelin'

• MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)

Unmastered/Unpublished

To be released on the CD Blue Kuimba.

Personnel: Kris Bowerman, lead vocal, trombone, conga; Lark Bowerman, vocal; Don Keller, bass

Travelin’ in a day, Travelin’ in a night
Travelin’, Travelin’

Travelin’ from here, Travelin’ from there
Travelin’, Travelin’

Travelin’ to a new place, Travelin’ to an old place
Travelin’, Travelin’

Travelin’ with intensity, Travelin’ with ferocity
Travelin’, Travelin’

Travelin’ in a foreign land, Travelin’ in my own backlands
Travelin’, Travelin’

Travelin’ in seething brine, Travelin’ with peace of mind
Travelin’, Travelin’

Travelin’ to the sound of flute, Travelin’ to make some loot
Travelin’, Travelin’

Travelin’ has its ups and downs, Travelin’ has its all arounds
Travelin’, Travelin’

Travelin’ gives you time to thaw, Travelin’ gives a sense of awe
Travelin’, Travelin’

Travelin’ with an easy glide, Travelin’ on a carpet ride,
Travelin’ to the Orient, Travelin’ in a car for rent,
Travelin’ just where you can, Travelin’ in a caravan
Travelin’, Travelin’

Travelin’ beneath the sky, Travelin’ in the mountains high,
Travelin’ for a point of view, Travelin’ to be with you
Travelin’, Travelin’

Travelin’ - no time to spare, Travelin’ just like the hare,
Travelin’ at warp speed, Travelin’, yes indeed!
Travelin’, Travelin’

Travelin’ with a map, Travelin’ to Rat Trap Gap!
Travelin’ where there’s lots of noise, Travelin’ in a Rolls Royce
Travelin’, Travelin’

Travelin’ with my drum, Travelin’ to have some fun!
Travelin’ to Africa, To visit Addis Ababa
Travelin’, Travelin’

Travelin’ to just keep sane, Travelin’ through the pouring rain
Travelin’ through the fog, reciting this monologue
Travelin’, Travelin’

Travelin’ on a winding road, Travelin’ with a heavy load
Travelin’ is so immense, Travelin’ at my own expense,
Travelin’ in a motor home, Travelin’ on an enormous loan,
Travelin’, Travelin’, Oh yes we’re travelin’, Travelin’

Travelin’ with an instrument, Travelin’ to feel content,
Travelin’ a road that’s long, Travelin’ to sing a song,
Travelin’ to a far off land, Travelin’ with the band,
Travelin’ with my Lark, Travelin’ to our favorite park,
Travelin’ with Don and John, Travelin’ to where we’re drawn
Travelin’, Travelin’

Travelin’s for folks like me, Travelin’ to be free!
Travelin’, Travelin’

Travelin’ - here we go, Travelin’ with the flow
Travelin’ we’re on our way, Travelin’ far away!
Travelin’, Travelin’

Travelin’ with the beat, Travelin’ with weary feet, Travelin’ on a busy street, Travelin’ to beat the heat,
Travelin’, Travelin’

And where you are, there you’ll be, And what is there is what you’ll see
So let’s... go...  Travelin’....... Travelin’....... Travelin’....... Travelin’.......

My Friend The Blue Jay

• MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)

Personnel: Lark Bowerman, lead and backup vocals, kokirika; Kris Bowerman, backup vocals, djembe, percussion; John Waller, 'djembe set' (large djembe, hi-hat, cymbal - played with one hand and one stick); Don Keller, electric bass

Buy MP3!

Ayeh, ayeh My friend the Blue Jay!

Ho hey Aiyeh! My friend the Blue Jay. Always has a lot to say! Patrols the Oak tree all day. In a most official way. "Folks like us should stay away" Is what I think I hear him say.

Ayeh, ayeh My friend the Blue Jay!

Ho hey Aiyeh! My Friend the Kris Jay. Always has a lot to say! Patrols the campground all day. In a most official way. “Folks should be respectful now — Just watch and I will show you how!”

Ayeh, ayeh My friend the Blue Jay!

Ho hey aiyeh! My friend the Blue Jay. Gath’ring acorns all the day. And quickly stashing them away — It's a long, long working day! Some he’ll eat, the rest he leaves. So one day there will be more trees.

Ayeh, ayeh My friend the Blue Jay!

Ho hey aiyeh! My friend the Kris Jay. Wakes up at the break of day. And gets his drum and starts to play. An enchanting roundelay. Soon the Forest fills with sound And Blue Jay dances all around!

Ayeh, ayeh My friend the Blue Jay!

Milkweed Seed

• MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)

Personnel: Lark Bowerman, lead vocal, guitar; Kris Bowerman, vocal, recorder, djembe, percussion effects; John Waller, 'djembe set' (large djembe, hi-hat, cymbal - played with one hand and one stick); Don Keller, electric bass

Buy MP3!

I am a little milkweed seed. Carried by the wind. So many places that I have been. I am a little milkweed seed. Flying in the breeze. Twirling and dancing through the trees. I am a little milkweed seed. Floating in the air. Entrusted to the wind’s special care.

Released from my mother plant. Freely I roam. Searching and longing to find a new home.

I am a little milkweed plant. Growing in the ground. This is my new home that I have found!

Breeze

• MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)

This song is not available for sale at this time.

Not far from the house in the jungle where I first lived as a child there was (ironically enough) a row of long needle pines which had been planted by the white people. The breeze would make a particularly plaintive sound as it would sigh through their needles. Perhaps it was helping the trees express their longing for their native habitat. In any case, I loved the sound so much that for many years I wanted to capture the feeling of it in a song. Finally, one day, I had the chance to be alone at our home in Oregon. As I sat out on the front steps in the sunshine the breeze came sighing through the Ponderosa pines, touching me lightly as it passed, and the words of this song came singing into my head.

Personnel- Lark Bowerman, vocal, Celtic harp

Breeze, you pass me by, A lover from the sky, A gentle thought, a hurried wish, A tender lullaby.

I hear you in the pines, Singing your soothing lines, Doing what it is you do, So willful, so benign.

Giza

• MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)

Feared, admired, a force to be reckoned with, Chui, the Leopard, a magnificent Presence felt in the mystical Ituri Forest nights.

Personnel: Lark Bowerman, lead vocals, Tanzanian harp, shaker; Kris Bowerman, vocal, Talking drum, percussion; John Waller, Moroccan clay drums; Don Keller, electric bass

Buy MP3!

(Chorus) Saa ya giza imefika, Saa ku acha ku tumika, Iko saa ku pumzika, Na wapepo wamefika

English Translation of Chorus: 

The time of darkness has come, Time to leave off working, It's the time to rest, And the spirits have arrived.

(Verse)Your soft black shawl has fallen ’round me, Stars are shining in their places, Beaming down their lucent faces, Insect violins surround me.

So soft the night, so strong my terror, Chui comes without a sound, Gold eyes burning huge and round, Makes my eyes her human mirror,

I can’t see her in the daytime, Chui, Leopard, Friendly Foe, Follows everywhere I go, Tracks me down into the dreamtime…

Swahili Translation of Verses:

Kikwembe yako neusi ana zunguka mie. Nyota wana ngala ndani ya fasi yao. Na ku peleka nuru ya sura yao chini. Nina sikia wa zeze ya wadudu fasi yote. Usiku iko teketeke, lakini kuogopa yangu iko ngufu kupita. Chui ana kuya kimya kabisa. Macho yake mavilingo kabambi ku choma kama moto. Ana tazama ndani ya macho yangu. Si wezi ku ona ye na uchana Chui, Leopard, rafiki na adui. Ana fuata mie fasi yote nintembea. Hata ku fika ndani ya njozi…

Dawa Mutamu

• MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)

Dawa Mutamu means Sweet Medicine in Swahili.

Personnel: Lark Bowerman, lead vocal, kayamba; Kris Bowerman, vocal, djembe, trombone; John Waller, djembe

Buy MP3!

Chorus: Dawa mutamu, dawa ngufu, Kunywa ile iko mapendo.

Dawa ya Mwezi na ya Jua, Ya usiku na ya uchana. Dawa ya maji na ya udongo, Dawa ya hewa na ya moto.

Dawa ya mbingu na ya mawingu, Ya bihari na wasamaki. Dawa ya poli na ya wanyama, Na vitu vyote ya Dunia.

Kunywa kwa Mama na kwa Baba, Kwa Mutoto na Muzei; Kwa Mwalimu na Mwanafunzi, Kwa Muraia na Mufalme.

Dawa Kwa Kichwa, na kwa roho, Kwa migulu na kwa macho. Dawa kwa mie, na kwa weye, Kunywa kabisa kwa siku yote.

Kwa saa ya kazi, na kupumzika, Saa ya kutoka, na kurudia; Kwa saa ya huzuni, na ya furaha, Saa kuzaliwa, na ya kukufa.

English Translation:

Sweet medicine, strong medicine, This drink is the drink of love. Medicine of the Moon and of the Sun, Of the night and of the day. Medicine of water and of earth, Medicine of air and of fire.

Medicine of the sky and of the clouds, Of the Ocean and of the fishes. Medicine of the forest and of the animals, And of all the things of the Earth.

The drink for Mom and for Dad, For Baby and for the Elder, For the Teacher and for the Student, For the Citizen and for the King.

Medicine for the head and for the heart, For the feet and for the eyes. Medicine for me and for you — The true drink for every occasion.

For the time of work and of rest, For the time of departure and of return, For the time of sorrow and of joy, The time of birth and of death.