Out of the Weekend

This past weekend I had no gigs which made it a good weekend to go to Mississippi and visit my grandmother. She's doing well considering her age. While we were there, Jack and I fished (we caught a bunch of catfish and a couple of turtles, but I returned them all safely to their natural habitat). Jack also drove the golf cart all over the neighborhood (highly illegal, but in a town as small as Leland, MS, who's going to catch us?). Jack had fun and we all had a nice visit.
Reggie got so excited chasing the geese in the back yard that he dove into the lake. I guess it's the lab in him. He can swim, though! He only did it once, so it's safe to say that he still does not like the water.

My grandfather died January, 8, 2009, and left me his truck. There has been an issue with executing the will (the title was in his name, not my grandmother's), and since it has been nine months, she is now able to transfer the title to me. So, Reggie and I drove the truck back. It's a 2006 Toyota Tundra (with double cab). An extremely nice truck with all of 5800 miles on it. It is huge...it fit in my garage with about a foot of space to spare (like 6 inches from the wall and 6 inches from the door!). Yikes!
To kill time, I took pictures of Reggie in the backseat on the way home.


I know...too many pictures of my dog, but I assure you, he's no ordinary dog!

I got home Sunday evening, and twenty minutes later I was out the door to go play my church gig.

Monday night I had a Platnumb gig at the Marriott Marquis downtown. Here's the traffic on the connector yesterday afternoon around 3:30.


We were supposed to be there between 3:30 and 4 to "stage" our equipment in the back hallway. Unfortunately, everybody got there after 5 (I got there around 5:45), so I rolled my stuff in and set up, and still had time to go to the break room and eat. Weather aside, I'm not at all sure why having me arrive at 3:30 was better than having me arrive at 6. It would have been a waste of 2 and a half hours of my life.
The gig was the usual mundane corporate thing where the attendees are either scared someone in their office will make fun of them, or just so stiff to begin with that there will never be any sort of wild drunken ruckus. In other words, I have no stories.

It was a bummer having to unload my stuff when I got home. Usually I pull into the garage and shut the door and go inside, but I had to park in the driveway due to the fact that there's an aircraft carrier of a truck parked in my spot!

Man on the Run

It's been pretty wild the past two days.

Yesterday (Wednesday), I played a duo gig with Louis Heriveaux. It was a three hour gig, but we probably only played an hour's worth of music. If that. Super easy. The rest of the time, we just sat there and talked (while some guy gave a presentation). Super easy. Now for the bad news...in the process of opening the door to my truck and switching hands, I dropped me tenor. In the gig bag, but it got a little messed up--the right hand is not sealing and the bell got bent (easy enough--I bent it back). Nothing that can't be repaired. Mostly I'm just feeling like an ass for being casual and dropping my horn.

Today was another two gig day. I played a trio gig with Tyrone Jackson and Tommy Sauter in Gwinnett from 6-9. The toughest part of that was the traffic (which was terrible with all the rain, and trying to be out there at 5 PM). After that, I jumped in my truck and boogied down 85 (again in the rain) to the 10 High for Yacht Rock. We played well, but most people stayed away. Let's hope it's because of the weather! I would like to elaborate, but it's 4:15 AM and I'm going to bed.

No gigs this weekend. What a weird month! All these gigs stacked up during the week, but this will be my second weekend with nothing.

The Weekend

This weekend was pretty easy. Friday I taught a few lessons. Nothing in particular to say about it.
Saturday was also pretty straightforward. Jack had a t ball game. That night I had a wedding reception--jazz quartet plus a singer. It was a wonderful alternative to the usual "we exist to serve you" sort of ass-kissing wedding gigs to which I've grown accustomed. We set up, we played, they dug it, and it ended. A three hour gig. No big deal. Why can't they all be that relaxed? Also, the food was awesome.
Sunday brought a recording session...the new Platnumb demo. No big deal. I sat in the control room and played EWI (strings and synths) on some stuff, and saxophone on two tunes. Done in an hour and a half. After that, I taught a clarinet lesson and hit my church gig.
I tried to stay up and watch the football game, but I fell asleep at half time. I'll probably have no better luck tonight.

Branford Marsalis on teaching

Survival

I made it through Thursday night's double-whammy unscathed.

My first gig last night was a little trio hit at Neiman Marcus in Lenox Square Mall. I never understood what it was for--I think it was some sort of private party for high rolling customers. We (Tyrone Jackson and Tommy Sauter) were stationed in the men's department next to a bunch of extremely high priced Tom Ford clothes. Nothing much to report other than our self-amusement.
I need to learn some new tunes. The three of us have played these sort of gigs for years now, and so I know what tunes we know in common, but since the two of them are more "on the jazz scene" than I am, I'm not picking up newer tunes as quickly as they are. I usually bring charts of things I want to try, but I was traveling light due to the fact that I had to run out the door when the gig was over.
Speaking of which, when the gig ended, I boogied on out of there (I had a half hour to get from Lenox to Va. Highland, park, get in, pull my horn out, turn everything on, change clothes, and get on stage). Unfortunately, a security guy who looked like one of my cousins stopped me and said I had to check in with "LP" before leaving. LP? I was totally confused. All I could think was "Latin Percussion." Finally it dawned on me, so back down the escalator, back through the labyrinth to "LP" so some lady could look in my gig bag. Then they wanted me to go out through the employee's entrance, which would have put me in the tunnel (the tunnel faces where Tower Records used to be in the Around Lenox shopping center). Bad! I was parked right outside the front door! She finally let me go back out the front, so back up the escalator, past my cousin the security guard, and away I go. All that B.S. cost me eleven minutes that I needed.
I got to the 10 High at 10:22 PM. The gig starts at 10:30. I made it, but just barely. I could have used those eleven minutes!

The Yacht Rock gig was pretty sluggish. Both of our front guys are out this week, so Ganesh sang for Pete and Greg moved off bass and sang for Nick. We had Donny come and play bass and sing. He did very well. The feel of the show was pretty uneven...it felt like we had a bunch of subs. Personally, I had no disasters, other than I Just Wanna Stop, which was an audible that I didn't want to hear. If you follow this blog religiously, you may recall that we played that tune for two back to back shows in July (a 10 High and Andrews gig), and I never got comfortable with playing the string part. I was always a chord behind. So hearing "I Just Wanna Stop! ...two, three, four!" was not good. I did what I could but it was pretty much the same results as July. I did not fare well with the orchestra, let's say. So it goes. Live to play another day...
The crowd seems to be turning up later and later. For a while we were pretty packed before we started, and then it would thin out as the night went on. Lately it's been getting thicker right around when we go on break.
Also, I would be remiss if I didn't point out my love of curvy Italian-looking women. Viva Italia!

The Easiest Gig I Ever Did

I had a duo gig last night that was supposed to be four hours long. It was a private dinner for about ten super VIPs in town for a business meeting. We were to provide the music during the cocktails before and after the meal.
Louis Heriveaux and I played the gig. Louis has become one of the finest jazz pianists in town, and is also one of the coolest, most laid back guys with whom you could ever hang out. Good thing, too. We played from approximately 6:30-7:05 PM, and then the crowd went in to eat. At that point, we were on break. Louis ran to a McDonalds to get some food to eat with the medicine he's taking. When he returned, we continued to stand by until the guests returned around 9:40 PM. When then played two tunes and they all got back on their mini bus back to the hotel. We were finished at 9:55 PM. I don't think we made it through ten tunes the entire evening.
So what did we do between 7 and 9:40? We hung out, talked, talked on the phone, text messaged the world. I guess Louis' medication made him sleepy, because for a while there while we were talking, he'd say something, and as I was responding to him, he'd fall asleep. In a minute or two, he'd wake up and we'd repeat (he speaks, I speak, he sleeps). This went on for a half hour, I'd bet, before he finally shook it off. While he was asleep, I took a picture of him.
Easiest gig ever.
I've got two gigs tonight (a jazz gig at Neiman Marcus in Lenox from 7-10 PM and then my usual Yacht Rock hit). Let's hope the race from Lenox to Virginia Highlands is an easy one.

Labor Day work

I had the weekend off (in other words, I didn't work Saturday night). It felt like it went by in about twenty minutes. I cleaned house Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning I got up and drove to Peachtree City to pick up Jack. Then we went to my parents' house and got my baseball glove and fishing pole. All of the sudden it was Sunday afternoon and I was trying to keep Jack occupied for the couple of hours before my church gig. We went swimming--I felt like I was jumping over the side of the Titantic. When I came up from underwater, I expected ice chunks to be floating around me. We swam for a little bit (and I did get used to the cold water) and then we walked across the street and tried fishing. I threw the line out and it settled, and Jack declared "This is taking FOREVER!!" We crossed back over and went swimming again (still cold).

I went and played my church gig. Nobody was at church. Nothing else to report. I wore my other new suit. I looked good.

Sunday night I watched Quantum of Solace and Frost/Nixon. Both were pretty good. I'm not sure what Quantum was about, but it sure looked cool. Frost/Nixon is one of those where I think it was good, but I could easily be persuaded that it was merely average.

I woke up late in the morning today (Monday). After some standard computer stuff (reading the news), I took Jack and Reggie to my parents' house. I then headed into Buckhead for a recording session for a guy named Jesus (not like "Hey Zeus", but like "Jesus Christ"). I played flute stuff on a very somber tune. We (Jesus, me, and producer Greg Lee of Yacht Rock fame) worked on it for about an hour and a half. I'm not sure what it was about, but it was in G. I played some pads and some real basic ideas that kind of floated along.

I went back and hung out with Jack, Reggie, and my parents. We ate hamburgers. We went for a walk.

I'm watching the Miami/Florida State game. It's a shame how these programs have changed. When I was in high school (in Florida), both teams had some of the fastest, most freakishly athletic guys in college football. I'm talking about Jimmy Johnson's teams, and Deion's stretch in there. Now they look like really good high school teams. Weird. I think Florida State will win.

I love you Erin Andrews.

I'm thinking Slumdog Millionaire tonight. Maybe.