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The Story Of My Life: Salisbury And the Congo – End of 1959 [Part 4]

August 31st, 2019

This blog post is part four of the blog series in which I share my personal and professional journey over the decades. You can find last month’s post about the turning point in my musical career here. To start from the beginning, you can read about my early life here.  

After playing a jazz concert at the Athenaeum hall in Salisbury (now Harare), my Trio, consisting of Noel Kidwell on bass, Eddy Van Diermen on drums and myself on piano was offered a residency at the Chicken Inn, a restaurant in the Punch Bowl hotel in Salisbury. Noel Kidwell had to return to Bulawayo, so bass player Doug Graham (who had worked with me before) took his place.

Soon after, I had the opportunity to perform on radio

A newspaper advertisement for our gig at Bretts

I was offered a solo piano residency on the Radio Rhodesia morning show with the very popular host Leslie Sullivan. I had to be at the radio station at 6 am every morning. Being up so early was alien to my lifestyle! Sometimes I would arrive at the studio after partying all night and not having slept at all……those were the days! During the gig at the Punch Bowl, we played until midnight and then dashed across to Bretts nightclub to take over from Spanish singer/pianist Braulio Perez who finished playing at midnight. Australian singer Lena Verne had joined my trio for a short contract from October 1960 to mid-February 1961, after which Portuguese singer Carlos Fernando joined us.

What happened next led to a stay in the Congo

At the end of May 1961 we were offered a stint at the Club Le Relais in Elizabethville (now Lubumbashi) in the province of Katanga, Republic of Congo. Eddy van Diermen was unable to do the gig so I offered it to drummer Bobby Palos and he accepted. We then embarked on the 1,057 km journey by car to Elizabethville. We arrived on the 2nd of June, after two days of driving, and started work the next night. The gig started at 10:30 pm and finished at 4:30 am as the place was so packed that the owner asked us to continue playing! Thereafter, our hours were from 10:30 pm to 2:30 am six nights a week. The Club Le Relais gig was very lucrative so we didn’t mind the long hours. We had our own dining room and our own chef, and our rooms were attached to the nightclub which was very convenient!

Then everything suddenly changed – we got caught in the middle of an armed conflict  

During that time, the Republic of Congo was in a severe state of unrest and political upheaval, and at 4 am on the morning of Wednesday the 13th of September, shooting started between Katanga and UN armed forces. Being stuck in the middle of an armed conflict was not attractive to us young musicians, so we, along with other people, decided to leave the country as quickly as possible. To be sure that we would not get stuck, Carlos and I decided to drive around and siphon gasoline out of stranded vehicles, filling up bottles and tins with it. Banks were closed, in fact nothing was open, and as we hadn’t been paid, we made an agreement with the owner of the Relais to take his upright piano in lieu of payment. After loading the piano into the back of my van, we began our journey to the Zambian border.

The drive to the Zambian border was very stressful

At one point we took a side road, and suddenly a whole platoon of Katanga soldiers popped out of the bush brandishing their weapons! Fortunately, Carlos was fluent in French. He explained to them that we were musicians, and suddenly their attitude to us changed. Some of them even accompanied us to the border. What could have been a life threatening situation turned into us getting an armed escort! After crossing the border into Zambia, we spent the night at the Nkana Hotel in Kitwe. We left Kitwe in the morning and later that day, we crossed the border into Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and drove to Salisbury. After spending some time in Salisbury, I realised that there was no work for us, so I made a bold decision…I would drive down to Johannesburg to see what I could find in the way of employment.

I arrived in Johannesburg in October 1961

Upon my arrival, I booked into the Chelsea hotel in Hillbrow. At around 5 pm, I went downstairs and heard a group playing in the lounge. On trumpet was Eddie Payne, an old friend of mine from Rhodesia. Eddie invited me to stay at his place in Berea, a suburb of Johannesburg. He was a lifesaver for me as it was my first time in Johannesburg and I didn’t know anyone. The next evening, we went to a little jazz club in Hillbrow called the Montparnasse. After a while, Eddie Payne asked one of the musicians if I could sit in. They said sure, and we played a couple of songs. Liking what he heard, the sax player asked me if I would like to play piano and organ on a recording session scheduled for the following Monday. That sax player was none other than George Hayden, a brilliant musician, producer and arranger who was well known throughout South Africa. I spent the month in Johannesburg doing some recording sessions and playing jazz some nights at the Montparnasse.

Shortly thereafter, my stay in Johannesburg was cut short

I got a call from the owner of the Punch Bowl hotel who asked me to return to Salisbury immediately as he needed a band for the Chicken Inn. Drummer Pat Higgins who I had met and played with in Johannesburg travelled to Salisbury with me, and we were joined by Doug Graham on bass. We started at the Chicken Inn on the 9th of November 1961 and played there six nights a week. During that time, we also played Saturday afternoon jazz sessions at Bretts. On the 9th of April 1962 our contract at Chicken Inn was up so I decided to return to Johannesburg.

In my next blog, I’ll talk about my move to South Africa.

The Story Of My Life: The Turning Point [Part 3]

July 31st, 2019

This blog post is part three of the blog series in which I share my personal and professional journey over the decades. You can find last month’s post about my teenage years here. To start from the beginning, you can read about my early life here.  

As you may recall from the previous blog post in this series, my first band “The Youth Marvels” broke up when I was 18. For a number of years, I played random gigs with different groups and I learned a lot from the older musicians that I played with.

The trio I played in at the Grey’s Inn in Bulawayo, circa 1954. Pictured left to right, myself on piano, Bob Curry on drums and Scot Alexander on Sax.

Then came a huge turning point in my life, my first job as a professional musician.

In 1959, when I was 25, I was booked to play with Spanish singer Pepe de Santa Cruz and his drummer Pocholo at the Warnborough Night Club in Bulawayo. We were called “The Pepe de Santa Cruz Trio.” Part of the contract was that I had to paint my nails with clear varnish and had to wear a Spanish-themed uniform with a toreador waist coat! That gig lasted for six months. The owner of the Warnborough then asked me to stay on for another 6 months and form my own group. Pocholo the drummer decided to stay with me and not to return to Spain. Then Dutch bass player and accordionist Braam Pieterse became available so he joined us. This was my first Group!

Just a month after the Warnborough gig was finished, I was walking down Main street in Bulawayo with my friend Noel Kidwell ‘from the Youth Marvels’ (who was now playing bass), when a car pulled up alongside us. It was Gerry de Vos, a well-known guitarist/violinist/bandleader from South Africa who was visiting his mother in Bulawayo. Gerry got out of the car and said “Aha….my new band!” That was an exciting moment for me. It felt like fate had brought us together for the next part of my musical journey. It just so happened that Gerry was putting a band together to fulfil a residency at the new Carlton Hotel in Bulawayo. At the same time, I had just completed my apprenticeship as a boilermaker, so I had to make a decision. I could either work as a boilermaker and do the music thing part-time or take the leap into music as a profession. As my music career seemed to be taking off, and that was where my passion lay, I decided then and there to become a professional musician.

Working at the Carlton Hotel in Bulawayo was a Blast

We played a cocktail session from 5 to 7 pm and then dinner and dancing from eight-thirty until midnight six nights a week. After we finished at the Carlton, we would hang out together at fast-food stands that sold pies and mixed grills, and then sometimes head out to parties. My usual bedtime was around 3 am each night, so as you can imagine, I slept in till pretty late.  My income had now increased dramatically, so life was good.

We found our drummer in an unconventional way

At one of the cocktail sessions, a young guy suddenly arrived with his bongos, sat on the edge of the bandstand and started to accompany us. Irritated by this, Noel Kidwell, peering over his bass, whispered to me, “tell Gerry to tell this little cat to f**k off!” (Noel had a dry and direct way of communicating his feelings.) During the break, we spoke to the “little cat”. He told us that he was a drummer and wished to join our trio. It just so happened that we were looking for a drummer for the dinner-dance part of the evening. We decided to give him a shot and liked what we heard, and voila, we had a drummer! His name was Eddy van Diermen. Eddy and I would become great friends, and we remain so to this very day.

Eventually, our residency at the Carlton Hotel came to an end. As we had nothing lined up, and opportunities for work in Bulawayo were limited, Gerry, Noel and I decided to drive the 1,500 km trip to Durban, South Africa to search for work.

1,500km was a very long way to drive, and we made stops along the way to eat

Come nightfall, we’d pull into a town and book into an establishment for the night. At times I was worried that we’d run out of money during the journey, but we survived.  

Having arrived in Durban, we decided that we would walk into hotels along the Durban beachfront, and while I would look for a piano and start to play, Gerry would speak to the manager, hoping that the manager would like what he was hearing and hire us. Eventually, it worked. After three or four attempts, we landed a gig at the Edenroc hotel on the Snell Parade! At the Edenroc, we played jazz standards and top 40 tunes, and as Jerry DeVos played the violin as well, we also played light classics and show tunes. A month later we landed a gig at a hotel, the name of which I don’t remember, near the beachfront. As we were playing to a dancing crowd, we needed a drummer. A local drummer called Pat Higgins happened to be available, so he joined us.

Those days were so carefree

Durban had incredible beaches and being a lover of the sea, I’d spend the days swimming and lying on the beach. Long days on the beach, playing at night and then hanging out with other musicians in the after-hour nightclubs including the Cosmo Club and the Blue Note was really a great life! After six months at the hotel, our contract was up and we decided to return to Bulawayo.

Generally, when musicians arrived in a town or a city looking for work, they would speak to the local musicians to find out if there were any available gigs. Also, establishments looking for bands, groups or individual players would place listings in the ‘wanted’ columns in the local newspapers. Insofar as accommodation was concerned, there usually were hotels, motels and boarding houses with vacancies.

Upon our return to Bulawayo, I formed a trio with Eddy van Diermen and Noel Kidwell to play a jazz concert in Salisbury (now Harare). The concert was very successful and it consequently led to an offer to put a band into a local restaurant called ‘The Chicken Inn’ at the Punch Bowl Hotel in Salisbury. Noel Kidwell suddenly had to return to Bulawayo so I auditioned and hired local bass player Doug Graham who worked with me thereafter for many years and became a very dear friend.

In my next blog, I’ll talk about Salisbury, our experiences in the Congo in 1961 and my subsequent move to Johannesburg South Africa.

The Story Of My Life: The Teenage Years [Part 2]

June 25th, 2019

This blog post is part two of the blog series in which I share my personal and professional journey. Please read the previous post first, to learn about the early years of my life.

In my last blog post, I started to talk about the first band that I joined when I was fifteen. Now, before I get into that story, I must tell you about a health issue that I dealt with at the age of twelve.

I contracted a severe illness when I was twelve years old

One day, I suddenly experienced significant pain in my groin. This prompted my parents to take me to the doctor. We were in for a real surprise when we learned that I had contracted a serious bone condition called Osteomyelitis. Given that Osteomyelitis is a rare bone infection, the prognosis was weak. I was told by the doctor that the only solution was to amputate my leg. Given the seriousness of the situation, my doctor decided to get a second opinion from another doctor. Following that, they decided to consider using the new drug called Penicillin on me. I received Penicillin injections administered every six hours for the next six months, and the treatment eventually proved to be successful.

Penicillin saved my leg from amputation

Looking back has made me realize how fortunate I was that Penicillin was available to treat my condition. While Penicillin was invented in 1928, it wasn’t used for treatment until 1942, just four years before I contracted the Osteomyelitis. Had I been born or contracted this disease any earlier, I surely would have spent my life walking with a prosthesis.

Before the invention of Penicillin, there was no effective treatment for bacterial infections like pneumonia. In those days, people would contract blood poisoning from a cut or scratch, and there was nothing that doctors could do except hope and pray. Estimates say that Penicillin has saved hundreds of millions of lives since its invention. After spending a year in the hospital for Osteomyelitis, I was finally allowed to go home! But my happiness was short-lived; not too long after coming home, I contracted Acute Nephritis and returned to the hospital to spend another year under the care of nurses and doctors.

I was never afraid for my health during those years when I was in the hospital

Instead, my mind was in a state of acceptance, and I felt comforted that the doctors and nurses were helping me to recover. I never feared for the worst; I just thought I’d get better. And I did. I give a lot of credit to the power of positive thinking; I believe has kept me alive and healthy to this day! After spending two years in the hospital, I was finally released and went home for good. The first night in my bed was strange for me as I was actually feeling homesick for the hospital. I missed being in the hospital ward, where there were rows of beds and patients, and I missed the nurses and the activities that we did. I tend to think that we don’t give health workers enough credit for what they do for us despite having to see terrible injuries, work in hazardous situations around sick people, and experience death on a daily basis. Even after going though these difficult moments, they still do what they can to make it a comfortable and positive experience for patients. My feelings of homesickness for the hospital lasted for about a week or so, and I resumed life as a typical teenager. I could go back to doing what I loved to do – play music.

When I was 15-years-old, an acquaintance of my parents suggested that I meet with some young guys who were trying to form a band

After an initial meeting with the guys, they came over to my house to audition me and asked me to play for them. We played a few songs together as well. They liked me, and together, we formed “The Youth Marvels”. The lineup was:

  • Reg Kidwell – guitar
  • Noel Kidwell – ukulele and guitar
  • Buffy Austen – accordion
  • Ronnie Venter – sax and accordion
  • Eddie Angel – trumpet
  • Walley Duckenfield – drums

As The Youth Marvels played the hits of the 50s, we gained popularity and were invited to play at school dances and weddings. I initially considered music a hobby, so I was surprised and happy when we actually started making some money performing at the functions.

That same year when the academic year ended, I decided not to go back to school

At that point, I had lost complete interest in any kind of ‘traditional’ career. I wanted to spend my days with these new friends and spend more time playing music. While my mother supported my decision, my father wasn’t happy as he had a different opinion. To him, music was not a ‘real career’ and he insisted that I serve an apprenticeship as a Boilermaker as a backup plan. While doing my apprenticeship, I continued to pursue my love for music and managed to find two gigs, at the Grand Hotel, and the Warnborough restaurant in Bulawayo, in the evenings. On Saturday nights, I used to stand outside the Grand Hotel Crystal Ballroom and peer in through a window to listen to Harry Gerber and his band… I was mesmerized…For me, they were such an inspiration!

Managing the apprenticeship and the two music gigs was hectic at age 16

During that time, I worked from 7 am until 5 pm in the boiler shop and would then rush to the Grand Hotel to play the 6 pm to 8 pm gig. The only way for me to make it on time was by showering and changing in the hotel washroom!

Going from the boiler shop to the hotel was quite a contrast. I often arrived at the hotel, a classy, luxury venue, in dirty overalls! Once I was done playing at the Grand Hotel, I rushed over to the Warnborough restaurant for 8:30 pm, where I performed till midnight in a duo with an old German violist. Together, we played dinner music, show tunes and light popular classics. I remember him fondly and learned so much from him. He was very strict and would get extremely angry if I played a wrong note. Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep during those years.

Another great thing about these music jobs was the pay

As an apprentice, I made £8 a month. Compare that to my two gigs playing the piano where I earned £60 a month! Not bad, considering that my father’s salary was about £80 a month at that time. My father’s salary was approximately what tradesmen made in those days and it provided a comfortable lifestyle for our family of seven.

The end of the Youth Marvels

At age 18, I was still playing with The Youth Marvels between the apprenticeship and the two music gigs. I enjoyed spending time with the guys, but I was the only one who wanted to pursue music as more than just a hobby. Since our interests weren’t aligned, we drifted apart and eventually, the Youth Marvels broke up. Like all things in life, good things come to an end and it was time for me to move on. I started playing with older musicians and learned a lot from them while gaining valuable experience. A wonderful pianist by the name of Sholam Middledorf took a considerable interest in me and asked me to deputize for him in the establishments he played in from time to time. He also spent a lot of time talking to me about music, pianists, composers, and music theory.

Then came a huge turning point in my life.

Stay tuned for part three of the series.

Comment below and share your thoughts about this blog post.

The Story Of My Life: The Early Years [Part 1]

May 30th, 2019

While reviewing my YouTube channel, the team at my label came across this video of me talking about my music career a decade ago.

There is a line in the video where I talk about my aunt’s influence on me in becoming a musician. Here’s what I said:

“I was influenced by an aunt who was a great piano player. And I decided then and there that was what I was going to do…end of story”

My team pointed out that this anecdote is only the beginning of a lifelong career in music that has covered almost 70 years of my life. They also noted that my journey to becoming a musician is not shared anywhere on the web, aside from a few brief paragraphs on Wikipedia. My team gave me a compelling reason to write about my life story and encouraged me to blog about it. So here I am, sharing my story with you.

I hope that this story will help you to get to know me better as a musician, and as a person. Perhaps it can help some of you who also want to embark on this same journey.

I suppose I’ll start with my birthplace

I am the eldest of five sons and was born in the Zambian mining town of Nkana-Kitwe in 1934. Copper mining was the predominant industry in the area at the time, and it remains so. I didn’t realize until I started writing about my birthplace, that this town was founded two years after I was born. Kitwe is now the second largest city in Zambia in terms of size and population. When I turned 1, our family moved 43 kilometres down the road to another mining town on the “Copperbelt” called Mufulira.

My first car

Life in Mufulira

I was raised in a secure family environment and have many great memories of this small town. One of my fondest memories is of my brother and I playing and running barefoot through the bush. Just 200 or so yards from our house, the bush was almost literally our backyard. Considering how children grow up today, hanging out in arcades and malls, I can’t help but think how privileged we were. We didn’t have to walk very far to be in the ultimate playground, filled with majestic fauna and flora and free from our parents!

The wildlife was typical Africa; lions, leopards, elephants, baboons, springbok, poisonous snakes etc. While we fortunately never encountered any of the larger dangerous animals, we did encounter a cobra once, causing us to back away rather rapidly! It was an accepted way of life for us in those days. Being so close to nature every day of your life was a wonderful way for kids to grow up.

My Second Car
Here’s a photo of me and my second car (thanks mom and dad for the upgrade!) I am not sure why I am wearing a tie. My parents either had me dress up for the photo or it could just be my school uniform. Short pants were the norm because of the warm climate. We never wore long pants in that part of the country.

Hearing the piano for the first time at my aunt’s home

I became enamoured with the piano at my aunt’s house when I was about six years old. The sound of the piano enthralled me, and I would visit my aunt every day to hear her play the piano. That started my love affair with music, and it was just about the only thing I was interested in as a child. Whenever I heard music on the radio, I’d get up really close to listen to it. My parents saw how I felt about music because I was always trying to play my aunt’s piano, and one day, I came home to find a small white upright piano in the lounge! I knew right then and there that music was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

The only problem is that there were no piano teachers in Mufulira

The only way to learn how to play the piano was to teach myself, with some help from my aunt. I wasn’t a natural and had to work very hard at it. Initially, I learned a lot by listening to Carmen Cavallaro, Eddy Duchin and incredible jazz musicians such as Art Tatum, Oscar Petersen, George Shearing, as well as others. Music became the center of my life, and I would practice whenever I had the chance to do so.

We later left that country to move to the small city of Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe)

For context, Bulawayo is a small city in Zimbabwe and is about 450 km (280 miles) from the world-famous Victoria Falls. Growing up near Victoria Falls was a huge inspiration for the song “Victoria Falls”, which you can see here in this video:

Life in Bulawayo was very different from life in Mufulira

The city felt so much bigger, and going to a new school (Milton Junior school) changed our daily lives. We still ventured into the bush, except that now we had to cycle there instead of finding it right behind our backyard.

I never thought much about why my parents decided to move to Bulawayo. I see now that it was for us kids, and as I look back, I specifically remember my parents saying, “it’s for the children.” They were great role models, and I looked up to them. The change to Bulawayo was difficult at first, but over time, we adapted. As for music, well, I continued to practice whenever I had the chance. Little did I know that Bulawayo would be the place where my friends and I, at age 15, would form our first band. More on that later in the next blog post.

Comment below if you know the name of the band that I formed at the age of 15! Also, please share any questions you’d like me to answer in my next blog post on my professional and personal career after the age of 15

6 Reasons Why You Should Take Pink Himalayan Salt Baths

April 29th, 2019
pink himalayan salt bath - salt

So often, we hear of the negative effects of salt. But what if I told you that salt can actually have positive health benefits? That is, if you choose the right one. I’d like to introduce you to pink Himalayan salt, which I use for food and relaxation. While reading this post, you’ll learn about some great reasons why you may want to consider taking a pink Himalayan salt bath.

What is pink Himalayan salt?

Pink Himalayan salt is a pink-coloured salt that is considered healthier than table salt as it is not chemically processed and contains no additives, compared to table salt, which contains anti-caking agents and bleach. The pink hue that gives this salt its name is due to the 84 trace minerals that it contains, including iron, potassium, magnesium and calcium.

The issue with table salt is that most of the beneficial minerals that are contained in natural salt are destroyed during its refining process. In addition to using pink Himalayan salt to flavour food, this salt is used to make salt lamps and serving dishes, such as baking stones and griddles. When added to food, I find it more flavourful and less chemical tasting than refined table salt. You may also have noticed that many spas offer salt therapies using pink Himalayan salt as a way to rejuvenate and recharge.

The history of pink Himalayan salt

Pink Himalayan salt mainly comes from the Khewra Salt Mine in Pakistan, the second largest mine in the world. This mine was discovered by Alexander the Great in 326 BC. Legend has it that Alexander the Great and his troops were passing through this area when they stopped to rest. When they saw their horses licking the surrounding rocks, they examined them and discovered that the rocks were actually salt. Salt in itself has a significant history that has been overlooked since the invention of refrigerators.

While salt is now ubiquitous and affordable, before the discovery of the many global salt deposits, salt was a scarcity and as such a valuable commodity, for many centuries. Before the refrigerator, the primary way to preserve food was with salt. Without salt, soldiers and explorers couldn’t travel very far because their supplies would spoil. Did you ever wonder what the origins are of the term “not worth his salt” or the word “salary”? The word “salary” comes from the Latin word “salarium,” which refers to the allowance soldiers were given to buy salt in the ancient Roman days. During that period, soldiers were either paid in salt or given a ration to buy the commodity. Being “worth salt” meant that you were deserved of what you were earning.

Watch this video about the history of salt:


A word of caution when it comes to consuming pink Himalayan salt

While Himalayan salt is considered healthier than table salt as it contains 84 beneficial minerals, it is essential to note that this salt is still 98% sodium chloride. So while pink Himalayan salt may be healthier, it is still salt. That means it can still cause elevated blood pressure levels if consumed in excess. Like all forms of sodium, salt will cause health issues if not taken in moderation. Specifically, excess consumption of sodium increases the risk of high blood pressure. It is vital to consult with your healthcare provider before using salt as a food additive if you have pre-existing health issues. Make sure you consult with your healthcare provider if you have circulatory problems. Pink Himalayan salt baths can cause slight dizziness because of the impact they have on your circulatory system

There are many reasons why you will enjoy pink Himalayan salt baths

Pink Himalayan salt bath

Skin is the largest organ of the body and its health is a reflection of our internal health. Sadly, in today’s modern society, our skin is exposed daily to numerous toxins. Whether from the food we eat, the chemicals in personal products or the household products we use; the toxins are there. For that reason, I am a big proponent of taking pink Himalayan salt baths as a way to detox.

You may not know this, but salt baths have been part of human civilization for thousands of years. Salt baths date back to the time when the Greek philosopher Hippocrates discovered the therapeutic benefits of bathing in sea water. When you dissolve Himalayan salt in water, you create a rich blend that contains 84 trace minerals that parallel the minerals found in our bodies. While you can use other types of salt for bathing, pink Himalayan salt has recently become my preference for salt baths. Here are some reasons why you might want to consider taking a Himalayan salt bath:

#1: Pink Himalayan salt baths can soothe achy, tired muscles

If you find yourself on your feet all day or you are experiencing sore muscles, a warm salt bath can do wonders for your body. You can really feel your muscles relaxing after a warm salt bath. Be warned though – you may feel very sleepy afterwards, so make sure to take your bath closer to bedtime.

#2: A pink Himalayan salt bath can help improve your sleep

That’s because pure pink Himalayan salt can increase your levels of oxytocin, a hormone that It plays a role in social bonding, sexual reproduction, childbirth, and the period after childbirth. Increasing your levels of this hormone will help you feel calm and relaxed before bedtime.

As well, taking a bath two hours before bedtime will help you have a restful sleep. A study conducted by New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center revealed that the steep body temperature drop from the bath to the natural temperature dip that happens at night creates a deeper sleep.

#3: Pink Himalayan salt baths help beat bloating and look (temporarily) slimmer

An interesting fact about salt baths is that you can reduce your waist and thigh size with a ten to twenty-minute bath! It’s true, and it’s often a beauty secret that is utilized by celebrities. Note that while Epson salts are often used, a pink Himalayan salt bath has the same positive effect.

#4: Pink Himalayan salt baths will leave your skin feeling softer and smoother

When you have a saltwater bath, the natural salt is absorbed into your skin and it purifies your pores from within your body. The salt then draws out toxins, thereby leaving your skin feeling supple and glowing. Your skin also absorbs the 84 types of minerals, leaving you feeling youthful and healthy. Salt baths have also been proven to help greatly with skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis. That’s because pink Himalayan salt has antiseptic properties.

#5: Pink Himalayan salt baths help soothe blisters and insect bites

Pink Himalayan sea salt’s antiseptic, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties can provide relief from blisters or bites. A warm sea salt bath will soothe your itching or painful blisters.

#6: Pink Himalayan salt baths create a relaxing experience

Whether taken after a long day of work, during a cleanse or after an intense workout, salt baths are a great way to unwind. In today’s fast-paced society where most people have a jam-packed schedule, taking a salt bath is a great way to spend quality time alone. When combined with essential oils, pink Himalayan salt baths create an aromatherapy experience

What you need to take a pink Himalayan salt bath

  • Bathtub
  • About one pint of pink Himalayan salt
  • A glass of water to stay hydrated
  • Spa music (my albums “Spa” and “Beyond Dreams” are good examples).
  • Candles
  • Essential oils (optional)

Instructions for taking a pink Himalayan salt bath

  1. Shower and wash thoroughly to prepare for your bath.
  2. Fill a tub with a few inches of hot water.
  3. For a full spa experience, turn on some relaxing spa music and light some candles. You can also add some essential oils to enhance the experience.
  4. Add Pink Himalayan Salt and stir the water until the salt dissolves. While you can use any type of Pink Himalayan Salt, the finer salt will dissolve faster in water.
  5. Continue filling your bathtub with very warm water. The ideal water temperature is 97 degrees Fahrenheit (36 degrees Celsius).
  6. Enter the bathtub and soak your body for at least 20-30 minutes. Try to avoid getting salt in sensitive areas, such as eyes or inner ears. If you feel dizzy or light-headed, add cold water to the tub or add a cold cloth over your head.
  7. Once finished, get out of the tub slowly and use a towel to pat your skin. It is important not to rinse off the salt from your body.
  8. Rest for at least 30 minutes as your muscles will feel very relaxed. Now is an excellent time to have some herbal tea or read a book.

Pink Himalayan salt bath

When and how often should you take pink Himalayan salt baths?

By indulging in this relaxing activity at least once a week, you can reap significant health benefits. Some people will take salt baths depending on the phases of the moon.

CONCLUSION

Himalayan salts contain trace minerals and help the body to detox and relax. Now that you’ve learned some of the benefits of taking a salt bath, the next step is to take a salt bath!

Come back and share your experience with me on the blog. I’d love to hear how you felt after your salt bath. 

Please share this post with someone who will benefit from taking a Himalayan salt bath!

Beyond Dreams – Pathways to Deep Relaxation : Brain Entrainment Music for Deep Relaxation

August 13th, 2016

My new album Beyond Dreams – Pathways to Deep Relaxation has just been released and the response has been fantastic.  The album can now be heard on over 100 radio stations, and is available for purchase online and at select music retailers. I’m particularly excited to have released this album because of its real potential to make a difference in people’s lives, beyond providing mere listening pleasure. Over the years, I’ve received many letters and emails from fans and friends that have experienced positive change in their quality of life after listening to my music during tough times, so I’ve always been aware of the stress relieving and healing powers that music can have. But this album is different, as it is, in many senses, designed from the ground up to help people with specific problems.

Beyond Dreams is an album of what is called ‘brain entrainment music’ or ‘rhythmic brain entrainment’ and it also incorporates something called ’binaural beats’ – I like to call it “Music Medicine”. This is music that incorporates certain sounds, structured in such a way that they ’stimulate’ frequencies in the brain that are naturally prevalent in states such as deep relaxation and sleep, thereby promoting or enhancing those states. What I like about brain entrainment is that I can incorporate its principles in my songs, without them sounding any different from the music we are used to listening to. Therefore, this album contains songs that can be used for relaxation, stress relief, healing, yoga and meditation, and also as background music while performing day to day tasks.

Beyond Dreams is not my first brain entrainment project, but rather a followup to earlier albums that I composed and recorded in collaboration with leading Music and Health expert Dr. Lee Bartel, Founding Director of the Music and Health Research Collaboratory at the University of Toronto, Canada. It’s a well known fact that music such as this has the power to facilitate states of deep relaxation, provide an enhanced environment for self-exploration and promote sleep. But this type of auditory stimulation, also called ‘rhythmic entrainment’, has also been shown to improve the condition of people suffering from life threatening diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Fibromyalgia. Dr. Lee Bartel has spent decades studying the medical effects of music, and has done studies that have produced positive results. Working closely with Dr. Bartel gave me the opportunity to explore and understand, and to truly appreciate the power of brain entrainment music. Dr. Lee Bartel, who contributed to the liner notes for Beyond Dreams, said this about the benefits of listening to the rhythmic brainwave entrainment music found on the album:

“Beyond Dreams is beautiful music that has effects beyond music – it features precisely crafted sonic effects based on scientific research to enhance your body and brain response. The body is rhythmic – from foundational rhythms like the 11 second feedback loop between brainstem and heart, to the heartbeat, to brainwaves – we pulse with rhythmic energy.  As music is rhythmic, it can subtly synchronize and regulate body rhythms. In this album, carefully designed sound supports the regularity of the brain-heart connection, serves to slow the heart rate to transcend stress, and nudges brainwaves into a state of deep relaxation, meditation, or even sleep. In this album, musical elements of melodic motion entrain brainwave response at theta and delta frequencies to allow a deep relaxed state. The flow of the naturally relaxing, de-stressing, sleepy music is underpinned with a foundation of potent low frequency sound in the gamma range of brain activity.Gamma brain frequency in the 30 – 40Hz range has recently been shown to be crucially responsible for brain connectivity to support internal circuits responsible for emotion, movement, consciousness and cognition, and memory. This album features strong pulsations in the 30 – 40Hz range to support those key brain functions and is best experienced with a vibroacoustic device. So sit back and listen as this powerful music takes you to a place of deep rejuvenating calm.

Dr. Lee Bartel is the Scientific Designer of 25 music medicine albums including the highly successful Hennie Bekker albums, Music to Promote Sleep and Natural Stress Relief II.

“Old Friends” Performed Live

December 29th, 2014

2014 has been a good year, but it’s also been a sad one for me as I’ve lost some of my best and oldest friends. Most of them were friends from way back, and brilliant musicians that never got the recognition they deserved. Here is a song called “Old Friends” which I wrote many years ago, from my album “Spring Rain” performed live at the Jane Mallet Theatre in Toronto, Canada. I dedicate this song to my friends everywhere, but especially to those that I’ve lost this year, and in the past.

Hennie

“Spring Rain” appears on the album, Spring Rain (a reworked version released in 2003).

The reworked version of Spring Rain, released in 2003 is available on:
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/kaleidoscopes-spring-rain/id396652708
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Kaleidoscopes-Spring-Rain-Hennie-Bekker/dp/B000BW3VW6The original version, released in 1992 will be available digitally in 2015.

Performing with Hennie Bekker at the Jane Mallet Theatre, Toronto Canada:

Russ Boswell: Bass
Rob Gusevs: Keyboards
John Johnson: Woodwinds, EWI
Rick Shadrach Lazar: Percussion
Bruce Cassidy: Trumpet and EVI
Greg Kavanagh: Guitars
Bob DiSalle: Drums

Video – “Atmos” Performed Live

November 24th, 2014
My approach to the composition of New Age, Electronic and Environmental music has definitely been influenced by my having played a lot of jazz in the past. In composing “Atmos”, I decided to draw on some of my jazz roots and have this song morph from a New Age genre into an “Easy Jazz” vehicle for solos and the result……a lot of fun!  I especially enjoyed playing it live in my 2009 concert, and am pleased to be able to share it with those of you that weren’t able to attend. Enjoy!

Hennie

“Atmos” appears on the 2010 album release, Moving On.

Moving On is available on:
iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/moving-on/id376844707
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Moving-Hennie-Bekker/dp/B00320J858/

Performing with Hennie Bekker at the Jane Mallet Theatre, Toronto Canada:

Russ Boswell: Bass
Rob Gusevs: Keyboards
John Johnson: Woodwinds, EWI
Rick Shadrach Lazar: Percussion
Bruce Cassidy: Trumpet and EVI
Greg Kavanagh: Guitars
Bob DiSalle: Drums

Video – Introspection: Relaxing Music with Visuals at Dusk

November 10th, 2014

A video of relaxing nature scenes at dusk, set to the track “Introspection” from my album Mirage.

Dusk….when the sun is setting, I usually find myself reflecting on the day’s events, and enjoying moments of relaxation and peace. While searching for visuals for this track, I was reminded of the words of some of the great philosophers and writers:

“But if these years have taught me anything it is this: you can never run away. Not ever. The only way out is in.”

– Junot Díaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

“Study yourself. Find your strong points and make them stronger as well as your weak ones and strengthen them. Study yourself carefully and you will see yourself as you really are.”

– Theron Q. Dumont

“Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart.  Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”

– Carl Jung

“The deeper I go into myself the more I realize that I am my own enemy.”

– Floriano Martins

If you like the track, or want to buy the whole album, it’s available on:

iTunes:http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/mirage/id437359302
Visit Hennie Bekker’s Official Website: http://henniebekker.com
Like Hennie Bekker on Facebook: http://facebook.com/henniebekkermusic
Follow Hennie on Twitter: http://twitter.com/henniebekker
Subscribe to Hennie Bekker’s YouTube channel:http://youtube.com/henniebekker
Follow Hennie Bekker on Google+:http://google.com/+henniebekker

The Heart of Africa – Video

June 27th, 2014

“The Heart of Africa” is a really special song for me. Not only is it the first track on my first ‘full’ African themed album Temba from the African Tapestries series, “The Heart of Africa” really evokes Africa for me and brings back memories of my birthplace. Since the only other video available of this song is from my 2001 concert in Toronto, I thought I’d take some time to put a new video together for the song, using various visuals that I think speak to the music. I hope you enjoy watching this video as much as I did making it!

If you like the track, or want to buy the whole album, it’s available on:

iTunes:https://itunes.apple.com/album/african-tapestries-temba/id387023893
Visit Hennie Bekker’s Official Website: http://henniebekker.com
Like Hennie Bekker on Facebook: http://facebook.com/henniebekkermusic
Follow Hennie on Twitter: http://twitter.com/henniebekker