Just got back from a tour with George Benson that took us through Europe and ended in Angola.The beginning and ending of this tour could not have been more contrasting.We started in St.Tropez in the French Riviera,worked our way through incredible places in France,Italy,Spain,Sardignia,Corsica before hitting Angola,a country that only 8 years ago saw an end to it's 40 years of civil war.Angola is a Portuguese colony,so Portuguese is spoken there.Going way back native Angolans were taken to Brazil as slaves and brought with them their native music "Semba" the predeccesor to "Samba".Amazing what knowing a little bit of history can do for your outlook on the world.For 3 days at the Angola Jazz Festival I got to hang out with the likes of Joe Sample,Randy Crawford,Ronny Jordan,and the incredible Chucho Valdez and his band.I still feel like I'm going to school and being enriched with new knowledge all the time.