Where
am I? Oh yeah, gate 1 at the luxurious Jetblue terminal at JFK. Long
couple of weeks: Boston, New York, Austin, Boston, New York and later
tonight (or this morning) finally Austin. Played some very nice gigs
though. Really nice one with Alan Ferber at the Tea Lounge in Brooklyn.
Alan's been writing some amazing music and has new arrangements for
nonet and string quartet. He found for amazing string players who read
it down and sounded, well, great. Some guitar players came out to the
gig: Ben Monder, Andy Green and Nate Radley. Luckily we had already
played Ben's tune "Luteous Pangolin" so I didn't have to embarrass
myself (even more) in front of Ben, one of my favorite musicians of
all time. Alan almost played it again after Ben showed up but luckily
changed his mind and we played something else to close the evening.
Also
played an organ trio gig with Terry Bowness and Ernie Durawa in Austin
and that was a real blast even though I had been awake for a long time
since I took the A train to JFK that morning and had to get up at 4:30
after going to bed at 2 because of the Tea Lounge gig.
Not going to Berklee next week but going to NY to play with Chuck Braman
on Thursday and Alan Ferber, again, at Smalls on Friday and Saturday.
Then, back to Boston. This week I'm doing some really fun gigs with
Paul Glasse, John Steinman, Joao Vargas and Elias Haslanger. Elias has
some wonderful music and plays his ass off and it's with Steve Schwelling,
John Fremgen and Eddie Hobizol so it's bound to be intense.
Right now I'm at the opposite intensity. Code orange for non-intensity.
Got 6 more hours or so until the freaking plane touches down in Austin.
fuck. If it takes off on time. Big snow headed this way and it should
be starting about the time we are supposed to leave. Just hope we make
it out undelayed and undismayed. Had a good teaching week though. Some
really interesting, interested and talented students keeping me on my
toes. Level keeps going up at Berklee. I think it's coffee time now.
Don't think I can wait until we're at cruising altitude. JFK always
has long queues for takeoff. "Okay, folks, we're currently 14th
in line for take-off. Grab your laptops and talk really loud into your
cell phones. We're going to be here for a while."
Tuesday,
January 30 - Logan airport
Been
too busy to write much. Had a CD release gig at the Elephant Room and
that went okay. Band sounded great but didn't feel all that positive
about the way I played. Don't get to play my own music very often and
was worried about the arrangements. Chris Maresh was originally going
to do the gig but he called in sick that day and John Fremgen was willing
to do it at the last minute. He sounded amazing - just came in and read
it down and played his ass off. Then back to Boston to teach which is
going well but extremely tiring. I'm at gate 33 at Logan, waiting to
go to JFK, got a layover, catch another plane and back to Austin. Flew
to JFK on Saturday, took the subway to Brooklyn, hung out for an hour,
subway to 89th st. where I met Craig Enright and Chris Higgins and we
drove to New Jersey for a gig. It was a great gig, too. Eric Halvorson
played drums and was killing as usual, the food was very good, people
were really nice, the gig payed well and we played great tunes. Got
home about 11:30 so it was a pretty long day. Up at 5am and all the
travel, etc. But having a good gig made it worth it. Plus the check.
And possibly more gigs. I was playing the Ibanez that Jess pointed out
cost $450, not $400. She's right, as she usually is. I played the blonde
335 at the Elephant Room and is wasn't really working for me that night.
Difficult to play, don't know why. Been playing a telecaster at Berklee
and after I tweaked the truss rod today it plays pretty well. Okay,
flight is boarding. I'm in 4C, not a bad seat. This flight is only about
an hour and a half but I have an exit row on the flight to Austin later.
Did my time at JFK and I'm on the exit row now. I see by the flight
tracker we're above Kentucky. It's about 10pm and have a few more hours
to go until I get home. Listening to MP3s trying to find examples of
jazz musicians using pentatonic scales. M. Brecker's "Tales From
The Hudson." Damn. He was such a beautiful musician. I never got
to play with him or meet him but the way he plays makes me think he
was an incredible human being as well as an incredible, historic musician.
Fuck. I'm also listening to Scofield and I get a similar vibe from him.
"En Route." Damn. He's so good.
I had my blue chips and they were good-made a nice dinner. Jetblue is
now serving 3 Blind Moose red and I had one of those and it was good.
Some rich guy tried to sit next to me in this coveted exit row and I
had to put my foot down. I said "how 'bout the other side"
and he found a friend on the other side of the isle and they are now
bonding. This is the first time I had an exit row to myself in about
40 flights this year and I just couldn't give it up. Not getting a whole
lot of work done but it sure is nice to listen to Sco and these other
great players. Okay, better concentrate. Got quality project time.
Tuesday,
Jan. 16, jetBlue somewhere in ozark ozone
Listening to Dave Smith's new CD "Circumstance" on FreshSound.
Amazing recording with Mark Ferber, Seamus Blake, Nate Radley and Dave
Ephross. Dave wrote intricate, beautiful music, plays his ass off and
is a really nice guy to boot. Everybody else sounds amazing, too. This
is a great recording.
Coming back from new york. played some really nice gigs: alan ferber
nonet at smalls, grassroots with jeremy and a recording with craig enright,
eric halvorson and steve doyle. the smalls gig was really crowded because
of iaje people and because mulgrew miller was playing after us. some
woman in the audience was kind of moaning along with the music which
was a real new york moment. i think she may have been drunk. after about
30" somebody finally threw her out. in the meantime people were
shouting "shut the fuck up!" which was a really nice touch
during the tender ballads. before we played alexis cuadrado's band played
and that was killing. brad shepik!!! i've been listening to him for
about 15 years, ever since I heard him, tony scherr and kenny wolleson
at the angry squire on 8th ave in manhattan about that long ago. he
was great then but he just keeps getting better. he always finds something
different in the music that I didn't know was there. his time is perfect
and he has a tremendous musical personality. the other guys sucked.
not really. alexis wrote some music like I've never heard before, has
a great bass sound and plays his ass off. as does mark who I've never
heard sound anything less than amazing. I'm hearing it right now as
a matter of fact. this is a great cd, dave. i also heard rick peckham
on thursday night and he's never anything less than amazing. incredibly
hard music from tanya kalmonivitch, ronan guilyfoyle and owen howard.
also killing. owen is another guy i've known for a long, long time who
is an amazing player and writer. i love his cds and still listen to
them really often. like rick's cd: left end. every time i hear it i'm
reminded of how good it really is.
then on sunday i played my $400 craiglist ibanez with jeremy s., adam
kolker and anthony pinciotti.
ibanez
sounds good - how about those beautiful xmas decorations? - very classy
anthony
and adam and the delicious grassroots popcorn cooked to perfection by
the smiling bartender - they sure love us
there
incredibly fun. those guys listen so hard and can go anywhere - they
make it really easy. damn, i'm really missing playing with them. on
monday the same feeling playing with eric halvorson and steve doyle.
we've been playing together so long.
eric
is such a great drummer and steve sounds amazing. craig sounded great
too, and picked some hard material. we recorded music by bergonzi, don
grolnick and other people who i don't remember now even though it was
only yesterday. am i getting alzheimer's? probably.
no pics of anything before saturday because i forgot my camera on thurs
and fri.
now back to austin and i'm really looking forward to that even though
it's colder there than in new york and it's in the middle of an ice
storm. had to leave for jfk by 5am this morning because taking the train
takes at least 2 hours from brooklyn because of the stupid monorail.
crapola. now i'm listening to scott colley's "initial wisdom"
holy shit. adam rogers, ravi coltrane, bill stewart and scott c. damn.
adam rogers. damn. damn.
howard beach A train stop @ 6am. wheee!
i'll
be back in two weeks. pretend you're not home.
In
austin I've been playing with terry bowness and ernie durawa and that's
great although we played on new years eve outside and it was really,
fucking cold. also playing with steve schwelling and glen schetuze and
that's been a lot of fun. hope to do some more of that. playing with
darin layne at his house and that's also been great, he's a wonderful
guitarist.
giant
guero's guitar
terry and ernie on new years eve before the ice age
Tuesday,
Jan. 16, jetBlue/greyhound houston, tx Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, plane can't land at Austin because jetBlue is out of wing de-icing
fluid in austin - the plane wouldn't be able to take off again. So?
What does that have to do with me? They are really sorry. Sorry doesn't'
help me, I'm afraid. But our plane diverted to Houston and jetBlue hired
a greyhound bus to take us to Austin, somethiing they are calling 3
hours but we know is 4.5 hours. Add to that the 2 hours waiting for
said bus. Now it's 2pm, I left for JFK at 5am and I won't get home until
about 9pm NY time. For this jetBlue has promised a $50 voucher - for
another jetBlue flight. Am I missing something here? By the way, that
little boy in the pic was kicking my seat all the way from NY to Houston
then his lame-ass mother sits down behind me on the bus, too, to let
devil-boy continue his torture. I personally blame his lame-ass mother.
I'm not a genius but even I know when it's time to give up and move
to the back of the bus. Hopefullly he's going to fall over and bang
the shit out of his head because he's standing on the seat. I've got
my fingers crossed. It would be worth the wailing since he won't shut
up anyway.
houston from greyhound
devil boy
thursday,
jan.11, brooklyn
In
ny to play some gigs with alan ferber, jeremy stratton, craig enright.
week of IAJE so a lot of people in town. jetblue flight great (exit
row to myself-no problem with guitar) and subway to brooklyn uneventful.
apartment looks fine - thank you dan nettles for washing sheets for
me!! you're the best. going out tonight to hear rick peckham at smalls
with tanya kalmonovithch, owen howard and ronan guilfoyle. should be
good. tomorrow smalls with alan ferber and it's the regular band doing
one set. saturday hope to hear pete mccann in the east village, sunday
jeremy, monday recording. had some really good gigs in austin with terry
bowness organ trio and have some fun stuff coming up. best get on the
train now - who knows what evil mass transit gremlins lurk out there.
it's been too good today, bad things coming. i'll take pics tonight
and post.
sunday,
dec. 24, austin
Croatia
was really fun. Lindsey Horner, Jeff Berman, Lou Stallute and me. We
had one rehearsal on 42nd st. above the Showtime topless club and from
the start it felt great. Lindsey's music is beautiful, everyone was
nice and played great and the coffee from the 7/11 on 42nd st. was Sumatra
and fresh. And cheap.
jeff
and lou on 42nd after coffee
studio
above showtime topless
band
at newark
Took off from Newark the next day about 3:30pm - NJ train from Penn
Station, Northwest Airlines, took off on time. Seats were a little cramped
after JetBlue and I had an inner seat but there were outlets for my
laptop and I got a lot of work done. NW Air has about 40 movies on file
and toward the end of the first flight I watched most of "The Illusionist"
with Ed Norton and Jessica Biel(? - how did that happen) and it was
decent although the TV screens aren't the best. Got to Schipol and had
a 6 hour layover.
schipol
5:30am
lou
about 6:30am - good coffee
Then
to Zagreb and got there about 1:30pm their time. Went to the hotel and
checked in and by then it was about 3pm. Nice hotel. Met for dinner
about 6 and had a great meal with Nikolina, our liason with the American
Embassy who were sponsoring the trip. It had something to do with a
NY week in Zagreb as you can see from the poster.
in
zagreb
After
dinner back to the hotel and couldn't sleep until about 2am their time
- don't even know what time it was for me. Up at 7 for some reason,
practice, work on laptop, etc. Walked around looking at stuff, went
to the hotel gym, met in lobby at 5 to go to club for soundcheck. Bad
sounding room, weird amp with no reverb, typical. Went to NY photo exhibit,
met a bunch of people including poets and novelists from Amersterdam
there for a reading the next night at which we were going to play. Really
nice people - Megan, Robert and Cowen.
lou
at NY art exhibit
Back
to gig, played one set, went to dinner.
lindsey
and lou at first gig
By
then it was midnight - pizza, very good. Got to bed about 4am and up
at 9. Went to (long) lunch from 12-4 courtesy of Boris who owned the
club and restaurant and Amy from the Embassy, walked around, went to
hotel, went to first gig with poets, they sounded great, better room,
moved equipment to club for last gig. Really fun because of better amp,
better sound and better crowd. Got to bed about 2 and up at 5am for
trip to airport. Trip back: not so good. Got to Amerstam okay, another
long layover then NW flight to JFK. Got close to JFK and it's closed
because of fog. Diverted to Newark, running out of fuel, endless circling,
landed with fire trucks on the runway because of so many planes diverted
with low fuel, sat around a couple of hours, paramedics hauled off some
lady who had passed out off the plane, took off again for JFK(! about
18 miles away - in a 747) and arrived 4 1/2 hours late. Interminable
customs, ran for Jet Blue flight to Austin which was also delayed although
not according to the 1-800-jetblue person. Had a beer (or 2), listened
to William Ash sound like Wes (playing at the JFK Jetblue terminal),
took off 2 hours late and arrived in Austin. Door to door about 30 hours.
Dang. Sure was fun to play with Lindsdy though. Now, back in Austin.
Day after I got back had a great gig with Terry Bowness (organ) and
Ernie Durawa (drums) at Sao Paulo- they sounded so great and the room
sounds wonderful. Next night same place with Joao Vargas and Pepe playing
guitar trio and that was great, too. Had a really nice jam session with
Steve Schwelling and Glen Schutze, heard the Paul White Quintet (wonderful)
at the Elephant room and have been going to a lot of parties. Also heard
Suzi Stern at the Cactus Cafe with Alex Coke and Chris Maresh and that
was wonderful. It's good to be back. Going to NY in Jan. to play with
Alan Ferber, Craig Enright, Jeremy Stratton, Eric Halvorson, Steve Doyle,
do a recording. Not looking forward to more flying but it will be good
to play with those wonderful musicians.
view
from hotel window
Monday,
dec. 11, croatia airlines coming into Zagreb
Doing
okay but about 19 hours of travel - maybe 20 counting the train to Penn
Station, Took the "airtrain" to Newark and pretty easy but
all told it took 2 /12 hours just to get to the gate - door to door.
Just ate a mystery chicken nugget like meal. It was cold and there was
some macaroni there, too, but I couldn't really tell if it was chicken.
With apple strudel and instant coffee. Not very hungry anyway but must
say the flight attendants on Croatia Air very friendly and polite. Now,
customs, a probably long trip to the hotel and then hopefully, a nap.
And internet. And mini-bar. Not necessarily in that order.
Monday,
dec. 4, austin airport waiting for jet blue
Had
a couple of great gigs last week. One with John Fremgen and Tony Campisi
- just a private party but so much fun to play with those guys. Parking
was close and free, food and drink were free and good and it was just
a great gig. Then played with Brandon Rivas and Phillipe Vieux down
in Frederickburg. Really wonderful to play with those guys but it was
so freaking cold! It's going to be hard to get used to this freezing
texas weather. Outside gig of course but no heater - my hands got so
cold they wrinkled up which has never happened before. There was a refreshing
and icy cold wind blowing the whole time. It didn't seem to affect Brandon
and Phillippe because they played their asses off but I could hardly
function. Then last night went to the Elephant Room to hear a set by
Darin Layne with Chris Maresh and Rob Kazunel. They sounded really good
and played a lot of Darin's tunes as well as I Hear A Rhapsody and All
The Things. Darin sounded amazing, Chris and Rob sounded great and Chris
was playing a music man bass that was really nice. Chris plays so fucking
great - damn! Now, headed for Boston - long day because I'm teaching
until 10pm. Been listening to pianist Mark Copeland's CD "Stompin
with Savoy" with the late Bob Berg, Randy Brecker and rhythm section
I don't remember but it's a great recording. Wonderul arrangements and
playing. Also been revisiting Dave Stryker's new Mel Bay CD "The
Chaser" and Dave sounds amazing. He just keeps getting better after
100 or so CDs as a leader. I really like his quartet recording with
Ornette's "The Sphinx" on it, too. Was listening also to "Capricorn"
from a Owen Howard recording with Brad Shepik and those guys
are amazing - Brad is always killing. So many great guitarists. Also
Rick Peckham's "Left End" which I love. Rick with Tony Scherr
and Jim Black. Their rehearsal consisted of talking about the tunes
and then hitting and just playing the shit out of it. Also listening
to Tony Scherr's "Come Around" which is an instant classic.
Using flatwounds on a 335 and I'm kind of liking it. Kind of. They feel
pretty stiff on the Buscarino but they sound good. They are also somewhat
cheaper than Elixers which run about $10 a set.
Going
to Boston now. Great, it appears the flight attendant I was sort of
dissing at security because she butted in front of me in line is on
my flight. Oh boy. More later.
Back
in the air and this has been the best flight of all time. Maybe I shouldn't
jinx it. But: exit row to myself, right on time, flight attendant forgave
me, extra battery for the laptop, sun is out the whole way, not too
hot-not too cold, good coffee and cranberry bread (thanks Jess and Steph),
noise-cancelling headphones. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything -
what's going to happen now? We haven't landed yet.
Wednesday,
nov. 29, american airlines - my pals
Is
it soup yet? That's from an tv commercial for those of you born after
1990. My brain is. Soup, I mean. I'm sick of flying and have about 3
more hours today. got a lot of "secret project" work done,
not that anyone cares. that includes my long-suffering students who
have had to put up with multiple makeups this semester and have been
great about it. the next one is when I go to croatia with lindsey horner,
something i couldn't say no to. i really want to play wtih lindsey again,
even if it means the most brutal travel of all. I'll be teaching about
16 hours a day for a few days at berklee, taking the bus to NY and then
flying to europe, playing some gigs then flying back to ny and hopefully
making a connection to austin on the same day. if I miss the connection
it means sleeping at JFK until the next morning when jet blue flies
to austin at 7 am. but it's a gig with lindsey so.....
playing
tomorrow with john fremgen and tony campisi at a private party then
on saturday with phillipe vieux and brandon rivas - this is going to
be nice week. played last week with jeremy stratton, george schuller
and phillip from san francisco (tenor) and that was really fun. played
a telecaster which was kind of hard - i knew it would be but wanted
to see if i could take it to croatia and be functional. don't think
so - taking the ibanez which can get destroyed by gate checking and
i'll survive. tried flatwounds on the ibanez and they are really hard
to play but I like the sound. might keep trying even though i sound
like crap on those strings.
are
we there yet? are we there yet? are we there yet? are we there yet?..........
saturday
nov. 18 / mucal invader is there no end to your oozing?
in
hell or Chicago / American Airlines / how about some free internet
What's
with T-mobile and their "service." What is O'hare's "Boingo".
What's with American Airlines? A nightmare commute back to Austin -
no food today because I had to do a make-up on my lunch hour, just bought
an $11 beer at O'hare and the the total time from door to door, Berklee
to Austin, is about 11 hours. 11 seems to be the magic number. All I
want to do is check my email but I don't want to pay $6.95 to do it.
I guess "boingo" is better than T-mobile but so is a sharp
stick in the eye. Please remind me why am I doing this? Please, just
get me the fuck back to Austin - I guess it'll be tomorrow when I get
there.
Okay,
took a few deep breaths and thinking that the $11 beer did help somewhat
but I'm feeling a little shaky going into a 22 hour day running on a
cup of raisin bran at 7am and some lame american airlines pretzels on
the last flight. Squeezed into the middle seat between a bio-tech tycoon
and a bio-tech stock trader who were bonding across me "THIS GUY
IS FAMOUS". the tycoon seemed like a nice guy though. Actually,
no, but I liked his style. The trader said "one question"
and the tycoon said "no fucking questions". the tycoon was
really a harvard educated scientist and lived in Iceland, home of sunna
gunlags and scott maclemore, and my only beef with him is that he was
large and hogged some of my space. And, that he was a millionaire and
let me buy him a drink, rather than the other way around. Ah, plane
is here and should begin boarding in a millenium or so. I hope the next
miniscule bag of pretzel mix is waiting for me. Maybe they'll give me
two? Sell me two, more like it. I'd best go now but tomorrow I'm really
looking forward to playing with Rick Macrea and Chris Maresh and Kyle
Thompson on two different gigs. I can't tell you how long it's been
since I had two gigs in one day. Oh, yeah, bought a 1980 Ibanez AS-50
(can you say Ben Monder?) for $450. What do you think of me now?
Okay,
back in the air again. This flight is now 3 1/2 hours late. An 11 hour
commute door-to-door. Had to get a oxygen bottle for the pilots. Took
the one maintenance man four trips to get the right tools. Just like
there was only one gate agent for 29 gates at the Logan "facility."
Crap, crap, crap.
35,000
feet / American Airlines / Deep vein thrombosis imminent
Headed
back to Boston - going to be flying every week for the next 6 weeks.
If this one is any indication, it'll be okay. I think I like American
better than JetBlue, TV's notwithstanding. AA got off the ground right
on schedule, the seat is a little smaller but not as hard and there
isn't a lot of touchy-feely stuff, just get the freaking plane to Boston
so I can get off this shitbox. Do have an hour layover in Dallas, coming
and going, but JetBlue has to deal with the JFK layover on the way back
and their terminal there is kind of a drag.
Played on Friday with the Terry Bowness organ trio and that was really
fun. Terry was killing and Chip Vayenas played drums and sounded great.
The temperature did go into the 40's and we were playing outside at
Guero's and that hurt but the people at Guero's were really nice and
we got to eat afterwards - great food. Although I overdid it on the
salsa which was really hot and my stomach is still hurting from that.
Then last night I played with The Celestial Mechanics - Steve Schwelling,
Danny Barnes and Glenn Schutze. Danny plays banjo and sounds amazing
- we had a lot of fun. It was a benefit concert and some amazing players
were playing in other bands - Alex Coke, Tina Marsh, Chris Maresh, John
Mills, Kyle Thompson, Russ Scanlon, Suzi Stern, Rich Harney, Randy Zimmerman,
Elias Haslanger - I know I'm forgetting someone but it was really kind
of overwhelming - everyone was just killing. The high points of the
evening for me were hearing Doug Hall play Quiet Now and Time Remembered
and playing Raise Four with Bruce Hall. They were in town for a couple
of hours before driving to Dallas. It was so great to see them.
I stopped by the Elephant Room on the way home and heard Mitch Watkins
play and he sounded wonderful (lot's of chops) - playing through a BadCat
amp - the cat lights up which is pretty impressive. John Fremgen and
Rob Kazunel were playing as well and they sounded - guess what? - great.
So, got 4 hours of sleep and now back to Boston and a really long couple
of days. I'm discovering that this plane, unlike JetBlue which is boiling
hot, is fucking freezing. What was I saying about American? I take it
all back.
guero's
guero's
jazz
nomads at ruta maya
monday, november 8,
35,000 feet in blue leather covered in biscotti crumbs
Thanks for flying Jet Blue.
It's okay but I'm not digging the leather seats - they are really hard.
Nothing on TV now that Gunsmoke is over. Lot's of commercials. Had a
good time in New York the last few days - most of the time anyway. Played
with Chuck Braman and Thomson Kneeland at Uncle Jack's Steak House on
Thursday. Perhaps you haven't heard of Uncle Jacks? No need, really,
just a restaurant with $80 steaks on 33th and 9th ave. in Manhattan
- just a place to play. We can play anything we want because no one
is listening and it was really kind of a workout since I'm not getting
many calls in Austin and haven't been doing these gigs enough. Some
tunes: Played Twice, Serenity, Trinkle, Tinkle, 26-2, But Not For Me
(Coltrane changes), Light Blue, In Love In Vain, I've Grown Accustomed
to Her Face, Fall, Tom Thumb and a lot more. 4 hour trio gig and I was
playing my 335 again which is harder to play than the shiny red one
but I was totally digging that guitar. Which is now, hopefully, in the
cargo hold of this very airplane. JFK was a nightmare this morning and
rather than gate-check the guitar I put it under. Hope it makes it.
Spencer was right on time but took the long way to JFK across on Caton
and I think that way sucks - I always vote for Eastern Parkway.
On Saturday night had one freaking hellish time getting to the John
Ryerson gig. That's the last one for me, I think. Walked the half-mile
to the train dragging my amp since the busses never run except when
you don't need one, no F trains at 7th ave. in bklyn. Okay, take the
G to Hoyt-Shermerhorn and grab an A to Broadway Nassau. No 4-5-6 at
Broadway Nassau. Getting worried because I only gave myself 1:45 to
get to 93rd and madison. Should have been plenty but things are obviously
totally fucked. Okay, take the J to Chambers and yay, there's a 4 train
going uptown. Can still make it. Get to 14th st. and the 4 stops - police
activity at 28th st., no trains going uptown. Get out of the station
because no cell service, call ryerson, pay $2 to get back in the station
to catch an N train to 59th. Get off on the wrong stop at Carnegie Hall,
walk to Madison from 7th ave, call John, he comes to get me and finally
get to the gig 1/2 hour late. It took 2:15 to get to this fucking $50
gig. Luckily, Tom Hubbard is on the gig and it was great to play with
him and going home I took the N/R all the way to Bklyn which took 1:45
but at least it ran. Really fucking slowly, but it ran. I must say that
I lost all desire to ever do that fucking gig again, even if Donald
Fagan and Burt Young hang out there.
Well, that sucked, but Sunday did a jam session with Rob Garcia, Adam
Kolker and Ben Rubin and then played with Adam, Jeremy Stratton and
Anthony Pinciotti at the Grassroots Tavern and that was so much fun.
Really, really fun and easy and challenging at the same time. I love
playing with those guys. Doing it again Dec. 10 and I can't wait.
Now, Jet Blue and I can't wait to get back to Austin again. For personal
reasons.
Going to try and load some
pics now but things are kind of screwy with dreamweaver.
ben taking gigs during guitar solo
serious rob
adam messing wiith new
recording gadget during bass solo
brooklyn moon from basement apt. - buy this house for 800k
anthony and jeremy at grassroots
CLICK Pic FOR QUICKTIME MOVIE
Hell train I damn thee
2 hours later
stylin' in the pinciotti-mobile - under BQE & smooth as clarified butter
(thanks anthony)
gig cart - pro gear just like scofield and metheny
monday,
october 30, jetblue, 100 miles and about an hour away from Logan
Ah,
yes, Logan, backed up as usual. Last departure we sat on the runway
for close to hour and now flying in circles trying to land. Did get
a lot of work done this trip because I got a row to myself and have
the extra battery for my laptop. Secret project. Too fascinating to
tell you about. Heard some really nice music in Austin - Chris Maresh
Quartet, Jim Stringer with T. and the A.M. Band and at the Brentwood
Tavern jam, Pete Rodriguez Trio at the Elephant Room. Just missed doing
a couple of gigs - must remember to bring my cell phone when I run.
Cancelled at Guero's with Terry Bowness Organ Trio which really bummed
me out. Got to play with Glenn Rexach, Rob Kazunel and Chris ? (nice
bass player) and they all sounded great. I really had fun at that session
playing some of Glenn's tunes and some of mine. Glenn writes and plays
so great - very inspiring. Okay, no TV now either. I was typing and
sort of watching a really bad horror movie with Dennis Hopper - tomorrow
is Halloween. Uh, oh.
friday,
october 6, american airlines, i'm assuming 35k feet
Had
some good times, had some bad. In New York less than 24 hours but it
was chock-full of entertainment. Heard John Ellis at the Tea Lounge
in B'klyn last night and that was really good. Mike Moreno playing guitar
and just amazing: Great sound, ideas, vibe, everything. Ellis sounded
wonderful as usual as did Derek Phillipps (drummer) and a bass player
I didn't know but was also, yes, great. Saw Doug Yates and Bryn Roberts
there and it was mighty good to see them, too. They were just hanging
out. I have to say the Brooklyn is getting to be a jazz mecca or jazz
hell-hole, take your pick. I'm not hip enought to actually play gigs
in Bklyn anymore but dudes, my 20 years there must mean something. Yes
it does, it means I'm old and tired. Before the Tea Lounge I'd played
with Craig Enright, Chris Higgins and Eric Halvorson at the Hideaway
on Duane St. and I had so much fun. We played mostly Bergonzi tunes,
including "On Again, Off Again" and it felt so great to play
with Eric H. again. I just don't feel that comfortable with anybody
else. He is one of the most musical drummers I know and so easy to play
with. Craig and Chris sounded, well, great. Great, great, great. I either
need to play with some crappy musicians so I can say "they sounded
like shit. About as musical as a bag of nails" etc. or I need to
find some new adjectives.
But
now I'm on this ill-fated flight from La Guardia which was an hour and
a half late taking off. Wouldn't be so bad except I went to JFK via
the A train and the fabulous ($5 extra) monorail. Went to the terminal
and noticed that the boarding pass said LGA on it. Hmmm, no wonder my
flight isn't listed, I'm at the wrong airport. So, into limo smelling
like apple dumplings or whatever the foul air freshener was and I'm
sitting in traffic on the Van Wyck, clock ticking, driver listening
to middle eastern pop, me sweating the flight that purportedly leaves
in 45 minutes, mentally kicking myself for being a really stupid fucking
asshole. $60 later I get to LGA and find out all AA flights are delayed
because LGA just sucks so bad that no pilot wants to land his/her plane
in the wasted shithole of fucking queens. [ What's with all the "fuck
this" you wonder? Me, too. Maybe because I was in New York and
there were a lot of people talking that way on the train. Or because
of Fung Wah and there was some guy going apeshit on his cell phone for
most of the ride, yelling at someone. The sound-cancelling headphones
have their limits.] Or maybe the clouds were screwing things up, I never
learned why everything was on hold. But at least the wine I just bought
was from California and not incredibly horrible, we're on our way to
Dallas where the layover will, hopefully, not be hours long. They'll
just load the mother-fuckers on the plane and we'll land in Austin less
than an hour late. That's what I'm hoping. No Berklee for me this coming
week - staying in Austin and hope to play with some of the people I
haven't been able to play with in a while: Rob Kazunel, Chris Maresh,
Pat Murray, Jacob Wise. Also hope that sandwich I bought at a deli about
8 hours ago isn't going to attack me in the next 2 hours before we land
in Dallas. I think the people around me are hoping the same.I did notice
the guy next to me, who had 4 vodkas in 2 hours plus the $4 "snack
box", giving my sandwich the eye. Keep looking, bozo, cause you
won't be seeing this sandwich for long. And, no, since you hogged the
armrest you can't have a bite.
thursday,
october 5, mass pike, framingham or so
Fung
wah. Füng Wahhhhh. Listening to Larry Goldings "As One"
with my Sennheiser noise-cancelling headphones. Peter Bernstein sounds
so good - as do the others. It's about 11:15am, pretty nice day - outside.
Inside smells like fried food, diapers (I knew I should have changed
mine - damn) and there's some BO in here, too. That might be mine anyway.
Been wearing the same thing for a few days and long freakin' days they
were. Get to Berklee about 6:30am, go to the gym until 8, go back to
school and teach until 10pm. Doing pre-make-ups. Then out to Jamica
Plain, Forest Hills or wherever the house is located. I still don't
know Boston very well. Didn't get to hear any music this week but tonight
I'm playing at the Hideaway in NY (hence fung wah) with Eric Halvorson
and Chris Higgins. I'm really looking forward to that - I can't tell
you. Just not getting to play much in Austin. A couple people call me
occasionally but it's more like 2 or 3 gigs a month (if I'm lucky) as
opposed to the 2 or 3 a week I was doing in NY. Did play an organ trio
jam session with Terry Bowness and Ernie Durawa and that was great.
Those guys sound so good and it was really fun to play. Oh yeah, briefly
heard Chris Buono last night with his organ trio and that was fabulous.
I could only stay for a couple of tunes because I was doing make-ups
but he, and they, sounded killing. Nice tunes, great playing and lots
of effects. Chris has two pedal boards both of which are about the size
of a refrigerator door. No, really. They are fucking huge and I'm thinking
he doesn't take the "T" to gigs. He needs a 2 roadies just
to carry the effects.
Well, I'm really enjoying this CD. I hope everyone owns a copy of this
because it's beautiful. I bought a CD by Alex Machacek and that's really
mind-blowing. He sounds really great and has some chops. Very beautiful
guitar sound, too.
thursday,
september 28, 372 feet above sea level, austin
Flew
Jet Blue last night and saw the sea level thing when we touched down
in Austin which is how I know my GPS. And I mean touched down - nice
landing by Captain Friendly or whatever his name was. Jet Blue is a
little touchy-feely for me but I have to admit when they have cheap
flights I prefer them over other carriers. Speaking of which, I feel
like carrion. Long freaking week and they seem to be getting longer
all the time. Not complaining mind you, I really like my job simply
because I love the music and I get to hold a guitar for part of the
day, I love being in Austin with those I love, but travelling kind of
sucks. Did get a little entertainment last night at the 2 hour JFK layover
when some guy was going ballistic with security. Just a momentary diversion.
They were kind of half-hearted in their response to his hormonal outburst.
Listening to Paul Motian Psalm right now and really enjoying the way
those guys played back then (1981). Frisell sounds huge and angry. Like
the airport guy. Okay, I'm tired. Had a nice gig with Steve Schwelling
and Glenn Schuetze at the Elephant Room on Sunday. I had a bad cold
and my ears were stopped up but it was still fun to play. Met a great
couple and the email I got from them:
Hey,
J. and I met you last Sun night at Elephant Room and I've since been
able to listen to the "Fragment" CD we purchased. Man, that's
the kind of music I want to make when I grow up. Here's a quote from
J's drum pedagogue,Nick : "This Bruce Saunders CD is the best thing
I've heard since Wayne Krantz............unbelievable......"We're
all looking forward to your next gig in Austin - I need to get a couple
more copies of "Fragment" so I can give them to friends. As
for the show, I can't tell you how refreshing it is to hear someone
who can exploit the dynamic range, harmony and velocity thing all at
once, and in the service of the music. Very rare, even among good players.
No,
I didn't make this up. What do you think of me now? This has never happened
to me before so I don't know what to think of me. Maybe D. (above) thought
I was Glenn Rexach who sat in and sounded really great. I kind of thought
I was playing a lot of bullshit but I usually think that so maybe it's
just that they aren't sick of me yet in Austin. Not everybody, anyway.
I haven't really had enough gigs for people to get sick of me yet. Some
really great players here though and it's got a real community spirit.
Got a gig with Brandon Rivas, a really nice bass player who studied
with Bill Huntington in N.O. just like John Hebert and is living in
San Antonio. Brandon is amazing and it was incredible to play with him
and Philipe Vieux and the winery last week. Every time I hear Philipe
I'm just blown away by his command of harmony and melody. He's an incredible
musician. Okay, fading, got to go. Lots of stuff going on right now
so may not be able to keep this journal like I'd like but I'll try
great
to find someone at such a high level here in town
wednesday,
september 20, 35,000 feet above what looks like pennsylvania
Have
begun the weekly trip from Austin to Boston and back. Ouch. All I will
say is that it's a direct challenge. As was the hard drive dying in
my other laptop which is why it's been a long time since I entered anything
in this journal. I'm doing it now when I should be working on Berklee
stuff but I'm taking a little time for myself. I'm tired, that's just
all there is right now. Just had a California Red served by a smiling
flight attendant, it's alternately hot and then cold on this flight,
I've got to layover for an hour in Chicago. Boo hoo. I did get some
Sennheiser noise cancelling headphones and they work okay but squeeze
the shit out of your ears. I guess that's what the extra $220 is for
with the Bose Quiet Comfort headphones. Yeah, I researched.
I
did hear some really nice music last week. Went out Friday night and
heard Elias Haslanger at The Elephant Room with Rob Kazunel (drums),
Mike Porter (bass), Pete Rodriguez (trumpet) and a really nice piano
player named Angelo Lambesis. They all sounder beautiful and I really
liked Elias' music and the tunes he picked from the standards menu.
I think they played "Speak No Evil" and something else by
Wayne but after 3 long days at berklee I'm having trouble remembering
my own name. In fact, I'm going to try and get some shut--eye. Can't
think anymore. Playing this weekend with Phillipe Vieux and Brandon
Rivas and really looking forward to that and also at the Elephant Room
with Steve Schwelling and Glenn Schutze and that's going to be really
fun.