Friday, December 23, 2016

ALJO at Venkman's


I got to play with the Atlanta Latin Jazz Orchestra last night at Venkman's. It was a huge gig for me because of all the really heavy players in the band--guys I admire from afar (the internet!) were all packed on the stage. Even hanging in the green room was kind of intimidating! They're all out of my league.

Cool tunes, too! I was glad I'd practiced the charts ahead of time, because I'm not a very good sight-reader and some of the music was really difficult.

A few moments from the week of prep:

1. As is the case with most horn parts in Latin music, there's lots of very pointed articulation. My tongue bled a little...


One night I was practicing, and in between songs, the Bb key fell of my horn. Woah! I soon discovered that the post had come unsoldered, and several of the side keys were barely hanging on.


I made it through the night with a new rubber bands, one holding the post flat to the body, and the other pushing up so that the rods would still rotate. My repair guy put it all back together the next day.


 Anyway, the gig went great and I'd love to do it again.


Here's some Facebook Live video in case you missed our show!