nomadness travel tribe

How I Roll: Nomadness Travel Tribe founder Evita Robinson

Welcome to How I Roll, TPG's airport routine series, covering everything from how jet-setters prepare for a trip to what they wear on the plane.

We caught up with Nomadness Travel Tribe creator Evita Robinson before she headed out on vacation to Egypt. The Nomadness Travel Tribe is a social community for travelers of color that organizes trips and hosts an annual travel and cultural festival called Nomadness Fest .

For more TPG news delivered each morning to your inbox, sign up for TPG daily newsletter .

The itinerary

In December 2021, Evita visited Egypt. The Nomadness Travel Tribe has trips to Cartagena, Colombia, planned from Feb. 23-28, March 2-7, and March 9-14.

Pre-departure prep

TPG: What does your pre-travel to-do list entail? Do you have any must-do activities around the house before leaving?

ER : I am a daily checklist person only because my brain has only so much capacity with running Nomadness, I have to make sure I don't forget stuff. I have a couple of rituals, one of them is a checklist, and that happens 48 to 24 hours before I leave. It's always the last little tidbits that you forget that can really mess you up when you're on the road, such as making sure I have all the chargers and passport. Checklists are integral for me.

A number of days before a trip, especially if I'm on the road for a while, I start sorting my laundry where I start tossing the clothes and accessories that I know I'm going to wear for that trip in the corner — it's kind of like pre-packing. As I audit my closet for what I feel is going to be in the suitcase for this trip, I put clothes and such into a certain section of my closet, so that starts to streamline the process.

I also have pets (two cats), so I make sure the feline babies are a big part of my pre-departure rituals — from making sure someone is booked to watch them have all of their food set up for the duration of the trip while I'm gone to finalizing anything they need.

I make sure the apartment is clean. Literally, if I walk back into my apartment and it's exactly how I left it before I went on my trip, that is bliss to me. I don't want to have to do anything. And there are systems I have for that with cats shedding, so I have a blanket I put on my bed to capture their fur while I'm gone. When I get home, I can take that off and it's comfortable and clean. You find these systems that you develop.

Packing strategy

TPG: Do you carry on or check your luggage?

ER : I'm a cuber where I can; I think it's the most efficient. I am team carry on. The last trip I had was two weeks. When I have equipment on me, I do have to check a bag, but in order to fit everything I can into my carry-on, I am definitely a cube user.

TPG : Is there a particular carry-on bag or suitcase that's your go-to?

ER : I'm not a luggage brand loyalist. I have an iFLY, and I ordered another one off of Amazon, but I don't even remember the brand. I am starting to have an affinity towards aluminum luggage. I love the sleekness, and it looks like you're rolling through the airport with a briefcase full of money. Hard case [luggage] for me is a must, as it needs to be durable. The carry-on I use the most is iFLY right now.

TPG : Do you tend to pack light or overpack?

ER : I try my best to not have a bunch of stuff. Sometimes you can get bogged down by your luggage, and I don't want that. My itineraries tend to be pretty intense, so I don't need that added to the mix.

TPG : What are your carry-on essentials?

ER : I have to have my journal, pens, my laptop in my carry-on, essential oils and if I'm flying domestic, CBD. The big things for me are my journals and the book I'm reading at the time. I'm a big bibliophile, so I need to be able to read and write.

TPG : What's your go-to travel outfit and footwear?

ER : Right now, the footwear is Birkenstock. My go-to outfit depends on where I'm going and what the weather is going to be like on the way there. If I can come up with a hybrid that's both stylish and comfortable, that's what it is — comfort over everything. Maybe a month ago I brought this up in Nomadness. I've been finding that I wear rompers, which aren't the most efficient, but I love the comfort of it when I fly and that's been my go-to [outfit] this year for some reason.

Before boarding

TPG : Do you get to the airport early or with just enough time to spare?

ER : I come from the land of standby travel because most of my travel is done on benefits. The thing with standby travel is that you're literally the last person on that plane if you even get a seat on that flight. I'm notorious for checking the [standby] flight to see what's going on, but I will be one of those people strolling up late if I'm on standby because I know I'm going to be the last person being given a ticket before the doors close.

If it's a paid ticket, that's a different story. I'll get there with enough time because I don't like the stress of it all. I'm not a super early person like my mother, who will show up three hours early. I think I play it a little too close and every time, like clockwork, Clear has saved me. I need to be careful because I feel like I'm getting arrogant about it and there's going to be one trip where I show up and there's going to be a Clear line. I have Clear so I speed through all of it and bypass the security line, and on top of it, I have status on United [with the United Explorer Credit Card], so I can maneuver with those. I have systems in place through points and airline privileges, but the greatest of all time is Clear.

TPG : How do you spend any extra time at the airport?

ER : When I go early, it's about lounge access. If I can't get into a United lounge — I mostly fly out of Newark and their lounges have been closed — I also have a priority pass. I have Clear for the flights and priority pass for the lounges — that's how you rig the system, as far as I'm concerned. If I'm there early or at an international destination, everything is about the lounge, especially during COVID-19. Where can I post up around the least amount of people?

TPG : What pre-flight snacks and items do you stock up on?

ER : Considering airlines don't feed you anymore, for me, water is big. I've been pretty good at not steering toward candy and junk food but rather finding healthy alternatives like a trail mix or a pop chip. I tend to have a sweet tooth; dried fruit is good for me for the sugary fixes. What I need to start doing is pack my own snacks because I think we think so much about how we can't bring water or liquids of a certain size through [security] that we forget you can bring food in your carry-on, whether it's from home or from a restaurant. You just have to package it correctly.

Inflight routine

TPG : What's your preferred seat on a plane: window or aisle?

ER : Aisle because I like freedom. It's a melodramatic answer.

TPG : Would you rather work or relax during the flight?

ER : Relax. I actually look forward to people not being able to reach me on flights. I love it. I don't care about the Wi-Fi.

TPG : Any preboarding or inflight advice to make the travel experience smoother?

ER : Give people grace. We've all been through it the last year-and-a-half, everybody's emotions are high and everything is high octane. People are now trying to fight airline attendants — we need to get back to the point where we understand that you don't know what people are going through. It doesn't need to be an aggressive situation. I just want us to get to a point where the default is to grant people grace because we would want that for ourselves as well.

Everything else

TPG : What is something you would like women of color to know about traveling?

ER : That it's accessible for all of us, even if you travel by yourself. One of the privileges of being in travel communities, like the Nomadness Travel Tribe, is that we have folks everywhere. Don't let the fear of potentially being a solo traveler and feeling like you're not going to run into people who look like you stop you from experiencing the world.

TPG : What should others know about certain travel experiences that women of color have and have to deal with?

ER : Each person's experience is not the equivalent of the widely marketed experience that the travel industry tends to shell out. There are nuances to being a part of the Black and brown community, and there are intersections within that nuance. Traveling as a Black male is different from traveling as a Black female; traveling as a brown woman who is also part of the LGBTQIA+ plus community is different from being a brown woman who is straight.

For me, it's about understanding that all Black and brown travelers are not a monolith. There are nuances to our community, and we are wildly diverse. There is no one-size-fits-all model for us.

How Evita Robinson Built the Travel Tribe She Thought the World Was Missing

By Diana Hubbell

Ask Evita Robinson why she travels and she’ll tell you: freedom. The three-time expat and veteran solo backpacker has been racking up passport stamps ever since a life-changing trip to Paris following university. In 2011, she founded the Nomadness Travel Tribe , an online community for adventurous travelers of color. What started out as a small, scrappy group has evolved into a network of more than 22,000 members whose journeys bring in an estimated $50 million for the travel industry annually. Numbers like that are enough to get people’s attention and in recent years, tourism boards and tour companies have been reaching out to Robinson to find out how to connect with travelers of color in more meaningful ways.

Yet despite significant progress, Robinson still sees a lot of work to be done in order for the industry to truly diversify, and she has continued to spread her message through other initiatives, including the web series The Nomadness Project , which she co-created with Issa Rae of HBO’s Insecure . Using footage from Nomadness trips, the show documents real travelers getting up close with lions in South Africa and watching Muay Thai fights in Thailand . And last year in Oakland , California, Robinson launched Audacity Fest , a travel festival catering to millennial travelers of color featuring discussions and speeches from the likes of Kellee Edwards, the first black woman to have her own show on the Travel Channel, and Janaye Ingram, an organizer of the Women’s March.

The third annual Audacity Fest will take place in New York City from August 20 to 23, and early bird tickets go on sale on November 29.

We caught up with Robinson for a conversation about running with the bulls, breaking down stereotypes, and building a global movement.

What was the idea behind the Nomadness Travel Tribe?

For me, it was about galvanizing community. It was about breaking not only racial, but also socioeconomic bounds—letting people know that they didn’t need to be rich, white, and affluent to see the world. It was about creating space amongst ourselves for us to celebrate one another and travel. It was about doing the things other folks say we don’t: running with the bulls in Pamplona and being the only black people at Holi festival in India , but still representing. We want to go on these kinds of trips, too, but not everyone sees that because there’s still a gross lack of representation in the travel industry and mass media.

How did this whole thing get started?

When I was teaching English in Japan , I started video blogging. It was just me with my pirated Final Cut Pro from college, a shitty camera, and shoddy audio, but the content resonated with people. At that time, you weren’t seeing a lot of black twenty-something women saying, “Hey, I’m just going to uproot my life, move to Japan, and backpack around India. Oh, and by the way I’m broke while I’m doing all of this.”

What drove you to reach out to people?

When I first created a community of a hundred people, I didn’t realize that I was answering a call for myself. I don’t come from a family of travelers. I’m definitely the black sheep and the outlier in my family. Half the time they’re like, “This is dope, but this is crazy.” In that regard, I personally needed community and didn’t see it at that point in time.

Why was that?

When we started almost eight years ago, a lot of Twitter feeds were about things like “Top 10 Places to Eat Pizza in Italy.” Meanwhile, I was trying to figure out how to identify with my family when nobody else was a traveler and why my long-distance relationship was shit when I got home, but it was fine while I was abroad. I needed to have more intimate, real-life types of conversations.

What kinds of travelers make up the Tribe?

Nomadness is not the organization you should sign up for if you want to stay at your resort the whole time. There are a million other groups out there for that, and we don’t knock it at all. We are the community that you want to sign up for if you want to get into the guts of a place, if you want to hang out on the corner in Stone Town in Zanzibar, share a beer with a local, and breathe in the night air.

Other than a sense of adventure, are there any prerequisites for joining?

We want to make sure that when people get into the Tribe, they know that they are amongst their peers and that there is a certain ilk of traveler. To this day, the one prerequisite is you have to have at least one passport stamp. We want to know that you’ve taken the dive on your own, because we’re not here to coerce you to do it.

I’m guessing running with bulls or wandering around Zanzibar forges some serious bonds between members.

We’ve had people get into relationships or get pregnant after meeting through Nomadness. People have started businesses with one another. You get all of the contacts that you get within any community, but it just so happens that our connective tissue is travel. That’s what makes us so strong.

I want to talk a little bit about Audacity Fest. What was your goal in creating it?

It’s the first festival in the country to target millennial travelers of color . We’re having those unedited, unabashed, open conversations about what it’s like to be a person of color in this industry, what it feels like to be ignored. Communities like Nomadness were created because I don’t wait for y’all. We answer our own call. We create our own businesses. We’ve created our own niche within this larger industry to pop off and flourish.

What does that look like in terms of the festival itself?

For our keynote panel last year, we had an African-American, a Syrian-American, and a Muslim-American all talking honestly about what it’s like traveling as a person of color in their respective demographics under Trump. We had a panel for people of color who also happen to intersect with the LGBTQ community. Where do they feel safe? What do they look for in a destination that they would put their dollars towards? Then we also had the industry stuff about location independent entrepreneurship for people who are now influencers in black travel.

Have you seen substantial changes in attitudes since you started Nomadness?

There is definitely progress. Have we hit some sort of nirvana? Hell, no. All you have to do is go to some of the top travel-oriented conferences and just look around. Until you see more inclusive representation, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.

What do you predict for the future of the travel industry?

You’re dealing with another industry that needs to be disrupted, because it’s only going to get more diverse and continue to grow in size. If the majority of millennials started traveling in our early twenties, now we’re having children who are going to start traveling out of the womb. This isn’t a fad. It’s the beginning of a generational shift.

This article was originally published in March 2019 and has been updated with new information.

Reclaiming the globe

• Entrepreneurship

April 21, 2015

How Nomadness Tribe’s Evita Robinson Launched Global Travel Movement

Evita Robinson, founder of Nomadness Travel Tribe took what was once a personal platform to document her worldwide adventures as a young female backpacker, and turned it into a multiplatform organization and movement that boasts thousands of members and enthusiasts around the world. Her travel series, Nomadness TV , offers a hub for urban travelers to learn, interact and experience specatular voyages together, via an online social community and events. The invitation-only platform is a place where diverse travelers—who must have at least one passport stamp–can share stories, advice, photos and conversation about our personal experiences around the world.

Black Enterprise  caught up with Robinson, a television and film production graduate of Iona College, to chat about her journey in turning vlogs into a global movement and how you can take your passion, monetize it and truly live out your wildest career and personal development dreams.

Black Enterprise What inspired you to start Nomadness Travel Tribe ? Robinson: It was really my way to answer my own problem. I was living in Japan for a year as an ex-pat at that time, it was my second time being an ex-pat. I’d lived in Paris right after my college graduation, and I was out there teaching English and bartending. While I was there, I thought ‘Let’s start this Web series to let my family and friends know I’m alive and OK during this stint in Japan. About 10 months into it, I realized no one was going to come out to visit me, so I wanted to bring my experiences out to them.

I started videotaping my life and cutting together vignettes, and I named it Nomadness TV. It really started out as a way for me to showcase my life being  a 20-something, female backpacker. I didn’t see anything like that in mainstream media so I thought there was a space there to tell that story using my background in TV and freelancing. I got the attention of my friends and family and social media, but I was also getting the attention of people I work with who are in the industry.

Everyone’s feedback was positive and people saw it as really unique, so I kept going with it

What were the keys in terms of building the community from that start; turning a passion of yours into something that is a movement?

Dealing with travel withdrawal, one of the things they tell you to do is to start planning your next trip, even if it isn’t for a while, and getting into the process alleviates that feeling of anxiety or being stuck when you’re back home and you just want to get back on the road. Growing it from [the early start] for me into what is now 9,000 people that live all around the world, it was a process of trial and error and it still is a lot of trial and error.

In the beginning I was experimenting. Then a really close friend suggested starting off as a Facebook group, and she suggested I grow the platform from there. I started off with what was seen as smaller not really knowing where it was going to go—not looking to necessarily scale—but also not realizing that there was such a need for this type of community.

There’s been a big uptick in travel platforms, groups and organizations for people of color? In the midst of that, what does the Nomadness traveler look like? Who is he or she? What are his or her qualities?

When people ask me this question, I’m say, ‘You’re looking at her.’

Our demographic is highly skewed African American (80%), but we do have every ethnicity across the board represented. We’re also highly skewed female (80%).

[However], I don’t dub it as [exclusively] a ‘black travel group.’ I want something that had more of an urban lifestyle and something that was more inclusive. Having lived in a place like Japan, for example, I tell people all the time I can show you urban that isn’t ‘black.’ It transfers whether it’s the music, the dancing, the culture or the fashion, really is a lifestyle and that’s what I wanted to bring to no madness, and it’s been amazing to see that flourish and to witness the [diverse] people that the platform attracts.

How are you able to monetize this platform you’ve created?

It has been an interesting road. When I started this, I didn’t think I was starting a business. I knew I was starting a group. Then all of a sudden people were requesting coordinated trips, and I say yes to them a lot more than I say no. Once money was exchanging I knew I had to learn ‘Business 101.’ I had to protect our travelers and myself, so I got Nomadness registered into an L.L.C. We now average about five full-scale trips, and we may sprinkle in 1 or 2 long weekends, so that’s definitely popular within the group.

Merchandising is also something I had no background in, and I didn’t realize the affect that it could have. It’s been amazing but it’s not only just a monetary asset to Nomadness. It has also been one of the biggest pushes of brand loyalty and exposure for the Tribe. it’s now gotten to the point where my members who don’t know each other will recognize each other in airports because of the T shirts we offer.

A lot of our Tribe members wear our merchandise when we travel, and we’ve had flight attendants stop us. There’s one T-shirt that says ‘TSA knows my body better than you,’ and TSA officers see it and crack up. Another big one is ‘Friends don’t let friends stay domestic.’ They’re fun, different, in and in-your-face quirky way.

We also have major events, including the anniversary party we host the last weekend in September, and that’s something that is huge and monetized now.

What advice would you give someone who has a passion for something and seek to monetize it and create a platform, as you have?

First, just start. Most people suffer from analysis paralysis and it’s horrible because you have an amazing idea but you start to analyze it and break it down so much that you never actually move on it. Just start and perfect it along the way because people will grow with you that way.

Learn to sell it and sell it again. Your family and friends may not always come out to support you, but if you can always sell something again and again and again, that is your indicator that you are on to something that you can really monetize and that there’s an actual market for what you want to show.

Learn a little bit about every single aspect about what you’re creating with your business. I’m talking anything from learning how to do PayPal so you know how to balance books or learning how to put your shipping packages together and what the process is for that. Shadow a graphic designer, for example, just get to know a little bit about imagery and packaging what you offer. In the growing phases, you’re going to have growing pains and sometimes people are going to drop off. You never want to be in a situation where your knowledge base stripped by a major aspect of your company, so if someone leaves, the whole business won’t implode if you have a bit of knowledge in the area that person covered.

In the beginning, accept that you may walk alone. And as soon as you get to the point where you need it, start looking for help. I was a one-woman band for years, and when I got to that point of saying, ‘I can’t do this on my own,’ I got out of my own way, and that’s when no madness really started to scale.

• Nomadness Travel Tribe
• Social media
• black women entrepreneurs

Inside NOMADNESS Travel Tribe: The ‘Green Book’ For Digital Age

A six week trip to Paris after graduating from Iona College ignited a new passion for Evita Turquoise Robinson. That passion was to help people and by using her background in television, video, production, and fine art, she created the online community NOMADNESS Travel Tribe for travelers of color in September of 2011. Now in its eighth year, the group has more than 20,000 members who have accumulated over 100,000 passport stamps. In addition, the group hosts approximately 100 meets ups a year in destinations all over the world. NOMADNESS Travel Tribe has been coined a “Digital Green Book” as it creates a safe space where black travelers share travel resources and experiences from around the globe. The goal, according to Robinson, is to increase diversity in the travel industry. “My focus from the beginning to end is always community. It started with a need for people. A need to be accepted,” she told CBSN in a recent interview. “Travel is the connective tissue that brings my...

Mitti Hicks • Jul 4, 2019

A six week trip to Paris after graduating from Iona College ignited a new passion for Evita Turquoise Robinson.

That passion was to help people and by using her background in television, video, production, and fine art, she created the online community NOMADNESS Travel Tribe for travelers of color in September of 2011.

Now in its eighth year, the group has more than 20,000 members who have accumulated over 100,000 passport stamps. In addition, the group hosts approximately 100 meets ups a year in destinations all over the world.

NOMADNESS Travel Tribe has been coined a “Digital Green Book” as it creates a safe space where black travelers share travel resources and experiences from around the globe. The goal, according to Robinson, is to increase diversity in the travel industry.

“My focus from the beginning to end is always community. It started with a need for people. A need to be accepted,” she told CBSN in a recent interview. “Travel is the connective tissue that brings my community of 22,000 together as one.”

Robinson continued that her experiences with traveling are what ultimately inspired her company.

“By far the biggest compliment that I’ve gotten about Nomadness Travel Tribe is that we are a New Age ‘Negro Motorist Green Book,'” she stated, referring to Victor H. Green’s annual guidebook for African-American travelers. “For my group to anoint us as the digital, international version of the ‘Negro Motorist Green Book,’ they are telling me that I have created a safe space, and that means everything to me.”

Beyond the digital resources, Robinson and her NOMADNESS Travel Tribe hosted their first festival for its demographic in Oakland known as Audacity Fest.

The fest is an immersive experience that celebrates and creates a safe space for discussions centered around traveling the world as a person of color. The fest includes panels, break off sessions, entertainment and more for travelers of color.

The second annual Audacity Fest will be held in Memphis, Tennessee from Sept. 28 through Sept. 29, 2019.

Subscribe to travel noire

Get more travel content

Subscribe to Travel Noire, a free daily newsletter that features the best of travel, destinations, and guides to the cities you love from a new point of view — yours.

By subscribing to this newsletter, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Popular posts

Trending stories in world travel

NOMADNESS Fest is a weekend for travelers of color, and our allies!

Bringing our stories, leaders, resources, and community together all in one place. Through our festival, we journey to various cities and curate the travel industry’s most honest and communal conversations on what it is like to navigate the world as a person of color. Each year’s theme is intentionally based on the climate of our culture and our needs and desires as travelers.

We’re community first. NOMADNESS Fest is a direct extension of our award winning, 30,000+ member international travel family NOMADNESS Travel Tribe

Since its inception in 2011, Tribe has grown from 100 to tens of thousands of members, has hosted over forty international trips across the globe, has developed coveted partnerships with brands and destinations, and has executed numerous regional events alongside our sponsor.

This year’s theme:

The Future is Ours: 

Reimagining BIPOC Travel

Check out our previous festivals!

The Future is Ours: Reimagining BIPOC Travel

Sign up for our newsletter to get up-to-date information on the annual event!

Due to COVID 19, all future NOMADNESS trips are tentatively on hold. We will make an announcement when we relaunch our trip experiences via newsletter and Tribe Facebook group. Be sure to join our newsletter list for up to date information on when we hit the road again!

JOIN THE TRIBE HERE

Moscow tours, business travel to moscow, tour guide service, interpreting service

• Our Service
• Our Photo Album

Moscow tours, business travel to Moscow, tour guide service, interpreting service

We are here to navigate you through Moscow and beyond. We specialize in private and customer-tailored tours for individuals and groups.

Tour options include:

• Moscow tours in 1 day/2days/3days (Red Square tour, Kremlin tour, metro tour, panoramic city tour, etc);
• Moscow panoramic city tour / night Moscow by legendary retro cars ;
• Layover tours in Moscow;
• Moscow cultural heritage tours, Moscow themed tours;
• Russian home hosted visits (visit to the Russian dacha);
• Russian culinary classes;
• Moscow-St.Peterburg tour package. Two Russian capitals in one week;
• Moscow-St.Petersburg educational tours for students and children;
• Russian towns of the Golden Ring (Sergiev Posad, Suzdal, Vladimir); Trips out of Moscow
• Shore excursions (Moscow/St.Petersburg)
• Russian honeymoon tours, photo walks in Moscow;
• Moscow tours for children
• Christmas time in Moscow;
• AK-47 shooting tour, tank T-34 ride, segway tour, fishing in Moscow region.
• Group Tours ( offers for travel agencies)

We are officially endorsed by Moscow Government to guide in most iconic tourist attractions of Russia’s capital such as Red Square, St. Basil’s Cathedral, museums of the Moscow Kremlin, the Tretyakov Art Gallery, etc.

We love our city and are ready to share with you our in-depth knowledge of Moscow, this old but very dynamic and amazing city. We will be glad to provide context and fun in equal measure opening up your eyes to Russian history, culture and art.

We know how to make the most of your time while you are here and will be delighted to turn your stay in Moscow into a life experience.

Why book with us?

• We love what we do.
• We highly value responsibility and individual approach.
• Our friendly booking service will help plan your itinerary according to your wishes. We are very flexible and design the tours individually for every customer.
• We are officially recognized by Moscow Government.
• Our training, qualifications, experience and personality will ensure that your visit to Moscow is a great success.

We take part in BBC series of documentaries "World's Busiest Cities"(Moscow)

Buy Tickets to the Bolshoi Theatre

Other special offers...

Interpreting and assistance at exhibitions and conferences, our garage ( vehicles+drivers), where to stay in moscow, what and where to eat in moscow, visa support, learning and discovery, our partners (trips to st.petersburg).

Copyright 2015 - Moscow Navigator

Moscow Nights

• Movie Soundtrack
• 5 years ago

About 2 years ago in early 2017, I got a call from Digital Domain, Inc. founder Scott Ross inviting my wife Erica and I   to a surprise birthday dinner for his wife Michelle at a restaurant in Hollywood. We all met in Rome 6 years ago through a mutual friend.

There was a table for us all, a gang of about 16 people and as with most of Scott’s productions, it was loaded with creative interesting people. Mark Chait and his partner Vasilis Paddis were two of those people. Mark, I learned, was a concert pianist and film composer based in China and also a representative of Steinway Pianos. By chance we were seated next to each other so got to know each other over dinner.

At one point, as we were singing happy birthday to Michelle, I thought, damn, I should run out to the car and grab a harp and play something for Michelle. So I did. I came back and played an impromptu blues jam for Michelle. At this point, Mark says to me, “Wow, I’m writing a score for a Shanghai, China TV/Movie production and I was thinking of using harmonica. Would you   be interested?” Of course, I gave my usual reply, “ Oh, hell yes! “

A few months later in May, Mark and Vasilis, emailed me a guide track and chart. It went something like this:

“Hi Jimmy Z!

Hope all is great in your world., it took a bit longer than expected but we finally got the green light to go ahead with mark’s re-arrangement of ‘moscow nights’ and we would love to have you play the harmonica as guided by mark below., i have attached the following three moscow nights guides and the side agreement for you, mp3 (a): this is the guide track – see attached, instructions: all new tracks with guide vocal line   key:   b minor transposes to c minor where jimmy comes in at bar 23., at bar 42 (approx. 2 min 58 secs from start) – jimmy plays lead melody line., please note:   this is his guide track – below is the tracks minus the vocal guide which can record over.   i want jimmy to play solo at bar 23 all the way out., mp3 (b): instrument tracks – see attached, instructions: instrument tracks without guide vocal for jimmy to play over, the track is blank until 43 seconds (where the solo vocals will be acapella) and then its just guitar and vocal until jimmy comes in at bar 23.   then he plays the solo melody at bar 42 at 2min 58secs in., moscow nights sheet music – see attached”.

I was informed Moscow Nights is an old Russian drinking song (what isn’t?) usually played very fast.

When I listened to the track, to be honest, I was a bit intimidated. It was this beautifully orchestrated piece with soaring female operatic vocals, delicate piano and accordion. As you can see in the email notes above it flows from B minor to C minor.

Not exactly the blues, rock, funk or country songs I usually record on. The harmonica would be very exposed. No room for error.

And as I was due to leave for Sweden in a week they needed it ASAP. I was tempted to defer and tell them maybe they would be better off with a chromatic harmonica player. Then as I started going through the chart with the guide track and a few minor harps I discovered that this was something maybe I could deliver on.

So I did. I played the melody as they instructed and they loved it but then they wanted me to improvise outside of the melody. So I did. I ended up improvising over the entire vamp.

And things turned out all right. Mark Chait raised my game.

Here is a rough mix mp3 of my harmonica melody and solo over the vamp because you won’t hear much in the final edits:

Here is the full piece:

To top it off, last week I got the word that a reviewer in the UK listed the soundtrack as  “one of the Best Scores of 2018!”

I’m honored to be working with an artist of Mark Chait’s stature and massive talent and very proud of my playing on “Moscow Nights.”

Purchase the soundtrack here .

Kevin Henry

Good story, Braddah Z. Keep these blog comin!

Thanks, Kev. I’m trying to get a few out there while I can. Z

bella della

so very beautiful Jimmy. thank you so much. putting it on my “fav” list! The only thing that’s wrong, is that it’s too short, I could listen to hours of this beautiful music score. Are you selling it in cd form? Would love to own it. xox

Thank you, Bella. I’m not selling it myself but I think you’ll find it available from info on the original article. I appreciate your support. Z

Peter Harman

That really sounds great Jimmy and I enjoyed your story behind it. I have followed your musical adventures, stories, videos etc. ever since I bought my first Lee Oskar harp 20+ years ago. You were one of the musicians featured on the little note inside the box. Best Regards Pete in England.

Leave a Reply Cancel Reply

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .