2018 Europe, Canada, North America

It’s been another year of bouncing back and forth across the wide waters. This summer saw Fantuzzi at Landjuweel Festival just north of Amsterdam for about the 30th year! As usual, a brilliant array of artists, inspirational theater folk and musicians from all across the world come together in this beautiful little village. Fantuzzi is a fixture, part of the framework of the festival almost… leading the kids’ parade around the village, playing a beautiful acoustic set in one of the salons and a kick-ass late night set on the bus stage in the main ground.

From Landjuweel, he launched (was the opener for) another brand-new festival in the east of Holland and revisted SoulSteps Festival where he received such love last year.

From there to Lithuania. Last summer we were in Vilnius to share a TEDx talk. An amazing experience…the reception in Lithuania - and in previous years, Estonia - has been fantastic. There is so much hunger for the type of healing, joyful, soul-filling music that Fantuzzi has to share, it’s fertile ground out there!

BIG thanks to Jurgis Did, Aivaras and all the other Euro-bods that help to coordinate and make such exciting tours happen at all. We love it!

From Amsterdam to Calgary… Fantuzzi finally made it up to Kat’s base town & we kicked off with a sold-out concert in the hamlet of Bragg Creek, an idyllic setting in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Many friends here have been reading about Fantuzzi for years as Kat still writes a monthly column for the news-magazine in this area to keep everyone up-to-date on her happenings which largely involve Fantuzzi.

We took a road trip through gloriously beautiful British Columbia, stopping off in the Slocan Valley to play in Winlaw and Nelson and to hang with some very groovy people. From the middle of BC we drove west through the magical mountains to Vancouver for a small, but sooo sweet concert & finally across to Salt Spring Island for a private gathering of old friends and musicians. What a fantastic retreat that was for everyone involved. Beautiful location, beautiful people. Thanks to Gita Govinda for being the magic and the glue that pulled everyone and everything together.

Now Fantuzzi is playing percussion for Krishna Das at Bhakti Fest’s 10th anniversary shindig in the desert of Joshua Tree. That’s after he’s led a two-hour Bhakti Kirtan camp, played his own main stage set, hosted a kid's’ camp 2hr extravaganza and will round that off with another Fantuzzi concert on Sunday evening before joining all the names and faces on the main stage to close out what will be, of course, a spectacular spiritual and musical few days.

More coming. It never stops. The Fantuzzi cruise is never-ending. Drop us a line if you have the desire and a few pennies to bring Fantuzzi to your neck of the woods!

From Woodstock to Woodford

Woodford Fantuzzi Volunteer Party

Rounding out 2014 with our trip to perform at Woodford Folk Festival near Brisbane, NSW was the most inspiring amazing and exciting way to end a tremendous year of travel, spiritual growth, discovery and sharing. We warmed up at Uplift Festival in Byron Bay, a few gigs in the area, then on December 26th drove on a sweltering hot day a few hours north to Woodford. From WOODSTOCK TO WOODFORD! Amazing to look back at this 45-year journey. Woodford's size, diversity and unfailing friendliness from all volunteers, participants and everyone we came across is beautiful.

We played in three different venues at the festival - there are SEVENTEEN stages and over five hundred acts. Amazing artists from around the world shared their talents, enthusiasm and joy through music, comedy, circus and more. We spent late nights in the Chai tent meeting more Rainbow people, discovering young musicians who soon became elements of the gloriously ever-changing Flexible band.

Nakho and Medicine for the People played (and funnily enough were camped right next to us, so we could all relax together between all the adventures) - "uncle" Fantuzzi was invited up to sing with them on their last show, a tremendous night!

The opening and closing ceremonies for Woodford are intense spectacles, night sky bursting with fireworks, the natural amphitheatre thick with thousands of people all staring in awe, singing together, holding candles in memory and honour of absent friends.

Soon we will be leaving Australia, on to new lands and new adventures, but this trip will always hold a very special place in our hearts and memories.

California Dreamin'

Wow! What a blast we've had, April in Southern California has been so full of Divine Love and Light. Ease & Grace has been delighting all ears its fallen into. I landed in Los Angeles just in time for all the Easter and Earth Day celebrations. Such sweet Kirtan nights to start things off - Jason & Pia - thanks to you! My favourite FLEXIBLEs came out to play with me at Coco's place, I had a blast with my young friends at Kathleen's. The opening and closing ceremonies for Topanga Earth Day were blessed and blissed-out.

There was a cool afternoon by a pool shooting some amazing tribal earth music for a friend's video, then a short but sweet trip down to San Diego, somewhere I haven't had the chance to share and enjoy in waaay too long. Thanks to Lisa for being an amazing host and orchestrator.

Up to San Luis Obispo to share amazing magic, Snake Tales and funky dance - big thanks to Billy for pulling that together!

My dear friend Scott invited me to help him wrap up a beautiful collaborative weekend with some funky Fantuzzi vibes on Sunday and now we're heading towards another amazing series of events in the Bay area and north. Keep in touch!  I love you.

Magical Maui

Mystic Island Festival on Maui was a delight and divine gathering of Family. Rain could not dampen our spirits - singing around the fire with good friends including Chris Berry, Tubby Love and more. Some of us slithered in the mud, but our souls shone bright through the love and light. On Sunday February 16th, this connection with family continues at the Sacred Earth Temple in Haiku.

Fantuzzi- Grace Song Image

We will be hosting a PRAYERFORMANCE community ceremony from 3-5pm, inviting any and all interested to come and participate with your good energy, loving thoughts, song, poetry, dance and creative artistry. We will wind a Rainbow Serpent path through the lush organic gardens and fish-filled ponds of the Ahimsa Sanctuary Farm, coming to the medicine wheel and the temple to celebrate the diverse aspects of our traditions and spirits.

Following the Prayerformance, if you would like to stay for supper and music, we'd love to share more with you. Financial donations accepted to cover the costs for the amazing organic love-spiced food and music that follows, ALL are welcome!

IllumiNATION Garden Party Sun Nov 10th

CHANGE OF VENUE (& time) FRIENDS!We will gather at Dennis Peron's B&B, 4pm Sunday 10th. Now asking a minimum donation of $15. See you on Sunday! NEW ADDRESS: 3745 17th street, San Francisco, CA 94114

Dennis Peron & Barry Plunker will bless us with their presence & we will honor them for their good works. Peron for the legalization of medical marijuana & Plunker for being one of the originators of the Rainbow Gatherings.

Haight Gig Nov 2013-640x640

Being in the Bay area to work on the CD & book research, I can't leave without sharing some magic with my friends here... so we're having a party in SF. It's a great place to get together, have a party and give what you can to support a few charities AND the final push to get our new CD in your hands before the end of the year!

Looking forward to seeing you all there.

Bliss-SINGs

Fantuzzi

Sitting on the dock of the Bay

Wow ..these are amazing times. The planets are fixed for helping us all fulfil our dreams.

Ease & Grace the CD we've been working on for three years, is about to be birthed... in a matter of weeks. We're in the San Francisco Bay area, reconnecting with the family - getting into the studio with my son Kahlil to lay down some vibes on one of the tracks for the new album was such a blast.

We hooked up with Rocker-T to add some of his magic, and we're meeting up with our dear friend Jah Levi to refine The Hopi Prophecy, one of the most powerful songs on the album.

It's a bit chilly at nights in these parts at this time of the year, winter is sneaking in, in disguise as Autumn.

We're off to Hawaii where we will be keeping warm, playing music, leading sharemonies, workshops, retreats and hanging out at our Hawaiian Rainforest Sanctuary, doing some work on the land and getting down to earth again.

We have other projects in the works, the book (biography) that has been ongoing for a long time, is also blossoming rapidly and our plan is to beam in on it in the next several months to be able to share it with you. If you have a great old photo of me or an extraordinary story please share with us!

England, Faire England

Mid-way through our visit to England, our weekend at Into The Wild Festival was soooo good. What a sweet gathering of families, people and children playing in the green fields and woods, an idyllic setting surrounded by ancient oak and chestnut trees, a great field circled by white teepees, yurts and bell tents that glow with candles in the night. Music, raw food, saunas, games, fires and song, we love coming to this festival and seeing all our good friends here each year. Last week in London, Festival of Life was off the charts! A hall full of ecstatic yogis, dancers, singers, drummers and people who just turn up to share this learning experience. Great musicians in London, what a night.

From there... to Saffron Walden, to Stonebridge Farm with the beautiful Giles and Juliette, where our new friends Mark & Hazel host us in their farmhouse and we get to play in a great barn with a sweet circle of children and larger people.

Dear friends welcome us here, it's been a great visit so far. More to come!

Rainbow Peace Concert in LA!

So excited to be heading back to Santa Monica to play at ZANZIBAR SEPT 4th. Get your best dance shoes on, glitter up & come out with your friends to join Fantuzzi and NiceFingers from 9pm! Straight after this extravaganza of delight, we're off to Bhakti Fest West, then to the UK for a whole bunch of excitement and fun with our friends in London, Lewes and more. Check out the SCHEDULE page for all the details.

Rocking in Puerto Rico!

Upcoming...

The Rainbow Gathering in Montana was, as every year, a joyous occasion meeting with family - welcoming home familiar faces and beautiful new bodies. Now I'm in Puerto Rico for my own Family Reunion, surrounded by an extended Fantuzzi family - what a celebration!

From here I'll be off to Amsterdam for Landjuweel's 40th anniversary, then to Ibiza to rock that island with some magical sharemonies, back to the US to be a part of the first East Coast Mystic Garden Gathering, then down to California for Bhakti Fest West - Sept 5-8, Joshua Tree CA. This is a beautiful annual festival and you can get $50 off the ticket price if you buy online and use code 2013fantuzzi.

Leaving the Land Down Under

...where we have had an amazing time, off the charts! We headlined the Nimbin Aquarius 40th Anniversary Festival (Imagine) on Sunday June 19th - such a great event with so many old and new friends and wonderful energy. The highlight was the party at the Rainbow Temple with such a sweet gathering of young Rainbow Warriors, dancing and singing under a brilliant full moon. Energy exploding into the night skies, the vibe was so high we almost couldn't stop. At the end of two hours the band formed a line and 'broke a leg' for the audience, the front lines of which went down to the floor to enable those at the back to get a good look at the band and really show their appreciation. We had such a great time here and there is much talk of us returning before the end of the year. Let us know if you'd like us to be back in Australia and if there's something specific we should be involved with - so little time and so many souls!

Heading back to the Bay Area and the completion of the album Ease & Grace. Also some work to be done in New Mexico, Rainbow Gathering in Montana, then Puerto Rico and Europe. Forward ever, for the love of light, life and music!

New Friends In Manila

Grace's Song (after we meet at Malassimbo / Puerta Galera)

Two gypsies came One with long flowing hair And they were a pair From a flock out of nowhere Out of nowhere Out of nowhere...

Plucked from the air Thus were his songs All day long All night long

Two gypsies came One with long flowing hair And they were a pair From nowhere...

Nowhere is home... No one is him Who clambers like a frog Who swims like a fish Who sings like a sparrow Who wings all tomorrow...

Two gypsies came One with long flowing hair And they were a pair Out of nowhere...

Manila, May 8, 2013, by Grace Marie Katigbak

Celebrating Peace

Here in the Philippines having attended SPF13 - Summer Peace Festival in Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga. These areas in the south of the Philippines have been publicized mainly for political uprisings, violence and environmental challenges. A group of talented young people put on a very sweet festival that reached out to two completely different cities. We were far from the city at Cagayan de Oro; people took the time to drive an hour out into the mountains to the natural setting of the ranch that hosted the first part of festival, a day or so later we were further west, on a beach looking at the most tormented island in the Philippines.

This is an excerpt from a recent interview for a Bali magazine, referring back to the original Woodstock festival:

"Great times! Hard times…people forget that at eighteen boys were drafted into a terrible war. We fought back with love. It is still all about that love and peace consciousness, environmental awareness and unifying the global community. It is about our collective consciousness. When we are unified we think of great things to do and we empower each other to stay focused on positive change such as helping the poor and saving the environment. Music is one of our greatest mediums. It is the universal language that brings people together and creates change. It is a vehicle for communicating our ideals."

Heading to Australia shortly... only there for a couple of weeks, so hoping to get some good things together in a short time! Contact us if you have any great venues or contacts we should know about!

GOA Update

My first gig in GOA (India) in six years! Loekie's Cafe in Arambol Tuesday night, March 5. We'll be setting up a few more in this beautiful place before we leave.

Kickstarter rewards for our Ease & Grace project have been fulfilled... the pre-release download promised to our supporters went out last week, although at this stage a low-resolution copy, we have plans to do more for our family!

Namaste from Mother India

Kumbh Mela 2013

I may not have given away 100 CDs in my week at Kumbh Mela, but I gave away 100 x 100 divine kisses. The spirit and grace of this greatest of great gatherings surrounds everything. Even in the breath-choking dust or the deluge of unseasonal rain, the spirit of the people remains centered in joy and devotion. Returning to Handi Baba Yogalaya Ashram to meet my beloved Swami ShantiJi is a blessing. Reconnecting with old friend Deena Bandu in the Krsna camp and meeting new friends Prem Baba and Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti too, was wonderful. The color, sound and magic of the Kumbh still reverberates within me. Having my son Eli travel with me to film and capture images was another blessing, I am so proud to have had this experience, so blessed. We visited Varanasi briefly, meditated by the burning Ghats, watched ceremonies from boats upon the river Ganga (Ganges).

Now we take a day of rest to recuperate, then head south to meet more friends, meditate and work together in spirit and in physical form. Planning the months ahead, but also flowing by God's grace into whatever plans the sublime divine river has for us all.

We will post photos from the Kumbh on the Gallery page, please take a look and let us know how they make you feel!

Namaste

The Greatest CD-Release Party of all time!

Tomorrow I jump on a plane to India, flying to the Kumbh Mela at Allahabad. The past two days have been a whirlwind of amazing work on the new music with JonJon at Little Buddha Studios. There is so much more we could do to make this music absolutely the best thing I have ever done, but time is so short and the need to be with you all is so great. I'll be hanging out with 100 million people in a few days' time - I had the idea to give away a pre-release copy of the new CD to one of the pilgrims there for every million pilgrims who make it to the Kumbh, so I guess that's at least 100 CDs I have to share! For those of my wonderful global family who participated in the Kickstarter campaign, the promised pre-release download is so close I can smell it. There will be a secure download on this website very soon - goddess willing.

As always, my thanks to all my family and friends who grace my existence in so many ways, making this astounding adventure possible...not only do I get to travel once again to Mother India to attend the Kumbh Mela, but this journey is spiced by the addition of my talented film-making son Eli and assistant Kat. We'll be filming footage for what hopefully will evolve into a TV Reality Series; "Adventures With Fantuzzi", and obviously, the documentary of our global travels and life on the road.

May the wind blow gently on your back, Om Shanti!

Ease & Grace an update

Writing this from Hawaii, we have been through an intense and productive few months. September through November, much work was done to bring together amazing musicians like Diane Patterson, Stevie Abrams, April Dawn, Michael Plusnick and more. Each of these friends brought a different spice to the production of the new CD, tracks are growing and flourishing! We visited Mexico to celebrate the great galactic alignment of the winter solstice, end of 26,000 year cycle and the beginning of a new era. There is work still to be done to bring this CD to completion, our Kickstarter campaign went a long way in helping us birth this CD, BUT we appreciate all the help we can get. All our friends can contribute to the eventual manifestation of Ease & Grace as a beautiful reality, here on the website. Click that button over there on the right!

Thanks, love, light and laughter. May we meet and dance together soon. If Not You sample dec 2012

Birthing the new CD

I talked about being 'pregnant' with six new songs in Bali... since last year the work has continued; a recording session in LA, several more in San Anselmo at Little Buddha Studios. NOW, I've launched a Kickstarter Campaign. All we need to do is give a little each and we can share a beautiful gift of this CD around the world! Studio time, wonderful musicians and singers, all the special and often hidden stuff that goes into making magical music... all needs a little $ to help it move along. So please, visit the Fundraiser and help bring this joy into the world. Can't wait to share it with you!

WaterWoman and Bhakti Fest

WaterWoman was one of the most fascinating experiences... being in the Andes Mountains with Shamans from many tribes and musicians from all parts of the world, DJs and yoga teachers, and breath-workers. All these people gathered in a most beautiful setting, against the Andes Mountains, not far from the Amazon. The attendance was super-small, but it only made it super-cozy! The elegant hotel with hot-tubs in every room, was a five minute walk from the site. The stars and the moon danced above our heads and we danced and we jammed in ecstasy. Bhakti Fest, number four, in Joshua Tree - was stupendous! The feeling of devotion, the company of high souls, was food for our spirits. Yoga classes were all packed; the greatest yoga teachers, kirtan musicians singing the name of the divine, yogis and yoginis of every sort from everywhere, smiling and beaming the healing love into the atmosphere. On the last night, Fantuzzi and the Flexibles flexed like never before on the Hanuman stage, throwing down African Reggae rhythms  with the boogie bajhan, singing the names of the divine was awesome, so much fun. Just as we were getting done with the superstar superjam on the main stage, a wind storm came so strong it looked like it was going to blow the stage away. We all had to hold the stage together while others sang and danced into ecstasy - Bhakti Fest Ki Jai!!!

Europe 2012

Family, friends, blessed ones... 2012 has been going great so far! Two visits to Europe, and now I am on my way to the magical land of Ecuador to celebrate at the Water Woman Festival.

I was in Germany in May, in Amsterdam at the beginning of August for Landjuweel, just outside Amsterdam. I've been a part of this Festival for 30 years and next year they celebrate their 40th anniversary! Rain is part of the festival - and this year was no exception, we closed out the concerts with a mass of happy people dancing up to their ankles in mud -  ecstatic dancers joined the band on stage and the place was transformed from a dark muddy field into a crowd of joyous celebratory bodies singing and dancing.

Our wild ride continued as we visited the Osho Humaniversity in Egmond aan zee - what a great group of people. Blessed to be accompanied by my nephew Eli from Maui and the delectable Celine from Amsterdam, Ibiza, Bali. The concert at Osho was another high-energy gathering; sharing my music and creating such momentum for the completion of the next album. While in Amsterdam we also worked on ways to gather funds toward the finishing of this album. Studio time and technical matters eat up so much, all your support for what we do is so much appreciated!

A brief stop in Berlin, hosted by a beautiful lady who also was our chauffeur back from Leipzig to Berlin at the end of this trip. Thanks and blessings to Aina for all you do! Ancient Trance Festival in Taucha near Leipzig was amazing! I have been telling people that I'm going to my favorite festival... Ancient Trance. I've never been before, but I could feel that this was something special - and it was SO beautiful. Put together by a circle of friends, Rainbow family, musicians that are amazingly talented and come from across the world to be here. We were wowed by everything, including the blazing sunshine. This is truly one of the best festivals around. Fantuzzi and Flexibles at Ancient Trance 2012