Jim Vick: Home
Welcome to the website of performing songwriter and guitarist Jim Vick, born in the USA but now living on the southern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, just outside of the popular ecotourism and surfing town of Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. Jim grew up and began his music career in upstate New York, relocating in the early 80’s to Madison, Wisconsin, followed by a move to Boston, and eventually settling for 13 years in Seattle. Jim currently performs regularly on the south Caribbean coast as a solo artist and in his acoustic duo with percussionist Carter Van Hauken, and improvisational trio shows with Argentinian sitarist/guitarist Santos. His frequent collaborations with other Costa Rica based calypso, Latin jazz, and reggae artists and visiting international musicians have continued to expand the world music influences heard in his recordings and performances, even as he he has ventured further into the jazz/blues and solo acoustic leanings of his earlier years.
One of Jim's newest composing and recording projects, the INSIDER'S LIMON audio travel guide soundtrack, is nearing release (available at www.insiderslimon.com.) The soundtrack album, also nearing completion, will be offered here soon on the LISTEN page.
Jim’s earlier CD, SURFING THE WEB OF LIFE, has enjoyed critical acclaim and surprising downloading interest on the internet for a first time electronic release, with a few of the cuts receiving a lot of attention. “The Norm” and “A Thousand Waves” both achieved top 10 status in the jazz charts at American Idol Underground (the internet indie spinoff of the notorious network tv show,) and “Our Lady” and “The Norm” both made top 10 status in the indiemusic.com charts. Independent critic Kenny Hart writes in The Singing Songwriter and IndieMusic.com, "Without question, Surfing the Web of Life earns the distinction of ‘Ear Candy’ and“goes far beyond the definition of 'album', attaining a status something closer to a socio-political manifesto set to an eclectic blend of folky jazz with a solid dose of world rhythms.” Chris Armogida of GidaFolk Internet Radio adds that "The stylish packaging of the CD is as cool as the music and makes reading the lyrics all the more fun while listening to this great album. There’s so much content both lyrically and musically that the listener will be refreshed with the opportunity to keep getting more and more out of it as time goes on.”
Featuring Jim's vocalist daughter Elisa Vick, along with his longtime musical collaborators Rob Moitoza and Dan Ochipinti, along with guest appearances by Brazillian jazz/pop great Paula Maya and jazz pianist Richard Middleton, SURFING and its individual songs are also available at CD Baby, iTunes, efolk.com, and other download sites.
DRYING OUT EN LA PLAYA - December 1, 2008
Big news just in this morning: the secret is out on my recently completed soundtrack/score project and the nearly finished products’s website is now up for previewing! Take a look & a listen here:
www.insiderslimon.com
Meanwhile, the storm has passed, the flooding has subsided, the sea has calmed, and the sun is shining over Caribe Sur again! So you don’t need to be scared off by those photos in the news of water drenched villages if you were planning a trip to this area soon. The media coverage has definitely had an impact on the tourism here, with the town much quieter than usual this week, but the washed out bridge into town has been replaced with a very adequate temporary one while the new one is being installed this week, and the weather has stabilized, with the immediate forecast looking quite good.
I’m continuing my weekly Saturday night solo gig at Que Rico Papito! at Costa de Papito hotel in Cocles, while planning for the official performance debut of my Rumi songs project, which will feature Spanish lyric translations done by a very charming performing poet amiga from Columbia. A special New Year’s Eve show is also scheduled at Salsa Brava Restaurant with keyboardist/vocalist Jim MacDougall and his trio. In the meantime, I'll have more samples from the INSIDER’S LIMON score to offer on the MUSIC page soon (there are already a couple there for listening now) and I hope to see you out there on our beach sometime this winter.
ROB COMES TO PUERTO - October 1, 2008
The arrival of autumn here on the Costa Rican Carribean coast is more like the onset of summer, with drier weather and wonderful swimming and snorkeling weather. It has also brought the arrival of a very special guest, my good friend and longtime collaborator Rob Moitoza, for a 3 week visit that’s coming to an end later this week. Rob joined me at Costa de Papito last Saturday night and in a house concert performance this week, much to the pleasure of those in attendance.
I’m putting finishing touches on the soundtrack project tracks this month and rehearsing for a couple shows in October with visiting bassist extraordinaire Rob Moitoza to introduce the Rumi Songs project here. Many Seattle friends were on hand when Rob joined me in July for the U.S. debut of several of those songs during my little Puget Sound tour with Marc Smason and Joanne Rand. It will be great to have him here for the first outing of the whole collection of this new material. Recording has been underway since early summer, and Seattle drummer Ed Mays laid down some great grooves on a few of the tracks during my Pacific NW visit. I hope to have some previews up on the Music page soon.
ARTE VIVA 2008 & MORE - September 19, 2008
A busy summer is winding down as I prepare for Puerto Viejo’s third annual Arte Viva Festival, coming up on the weekend of September 26 – 28. I’ll be performing on the main stage with keyboardist/vocalist Jim MacDougall, saxophonist Gib Monks, and drummer John Wheatley on Friday evening, and doing a solo set at La Casa de Cultura on Saturday at 5:30 PM.
Arte Viva was born a little over two years ago when a group of foreign born residents like ourselves banded together with some of the local citizens, setting out to raise funds to open a community school of the arts, where the children and youth of this area can receive instruction and encouragement in a variety of arts disciplines. I was immediately excited about this idea, recalling the positive effect that music, creative writing, and visual arts had in my own early life (I've always related to the Bumbershoot t-shirt slogan, "Art Saves Me.") There are currently few opportunities available for the youth of Puerto Viejo and far too many are drawn into crack use and the the inevitable accompanying street crime that supports it. I'm familiar enough with addiction issues to know that there is no easy solution to that situation, but the idea of a positive alternative emerging here that may provide a preventative buffer for some of these kids offers a bit of hope, and that's a dream I'm happy to get behind. If you’re interested in learning more about the project, check out
http://www.arteviva-puertoviejo.com. You'll find some great photos of some the participants and activities at the Arte Viva event the past 2 years, along with a link to a short video about the project, the festival, and the collective dream that inspired them. And you can help bring that dream to life with a donation - large or small – right there on the website, too.
Meanwhile, I’m back at Costa de Papito every Saturday night now. Putting finishing touches on the soundtrack project tracks this month, and rehearsing for a couple shows in October with visiting bassist extraordinaire Rob Moitoza to introduce my new collection of songs based on the writings of Rumi, the 14th century Persian Sufi poet. A number of Seattle friends were on hand when Rob joined me in July for the U.S. debut of several of those songs during my little Puget Sound tour with Marc Smason and Joanne Klein. It will be great to have him here for the first outing of the whole collection of this new material. Recording has been underway since early summer, and Seattle drummer Ed Mays laid down some great grooves on a few of the tracks during my Pacific NW visit. I hope to have some previews up on the Music page soon.