A Quickie in Miami

Last Saturday, Yacht Rock played a wedding for a couple of fans from Baltimore in Miami Beach.  Small wedding (80 people), and pretty tame.  We flew, but our gear drove (Hans and Kip doing the duty).  Love that.

The drive from the airport to the venue included a near accident with two guys in a car who were obviously sooooo high that it didn't faze them one bit.  Minutes later, we noticed them passing somebody in the emergency lane.  Miami has its own special kind of crazy.

We had very good Cuban sandwiches at a nearby restaurant.

After soundcheck, there was a long hang out--the ceremony was on site, so we had to set up and then be quiet (and hide).  I took a nap.

The gig was a success.  I think they liked us, but not in a Park-Tavern-their-heads-are-going-to-explode kind of way.  I'd guess that around two thirds of the guests watched from their seats.  Lots of babes at this event, including the wedding planner.

The specially learned song for this was Lionel Richie's Hello.  Remember the video?  The groom's cake was Lionel's head, made of chocolate.

I've got to admit, I kind of like playing this song.  Lots of things to do.  Bencuya hates it.  Bitterly.

The inspiration:



Load out was...foul smelling!  It really smelled bad.  At one point, Hans had to give up and go back inside because he was almost gagging.

With the PA plus our gear, the trailer was very full.

And then Monkeyboy ran through my picture.

Here was the toughest part...we went to bed at 1:30 AM, which because of daylight savings time was really 2:30 AM, and had to be in the lobby at 7:30 AM to take the shuttle to the airport.  Ouch!

We boarded the plane...no air conditioning.  The crew shut the electricity down and then powered it back up, but that didn't fix it.  I'm kind of surprised that 1.  the "turn it off and turn it back on" solution was attempted;  2.  the pilot announced on the intercom that "turn it off and turn it back on" was the best solution to the problem.  Anyway...after a nap and about a half hour, we were sent back into the airport.  A half hour after that, we reboarded.  I promptly fell back asleep and woke up just as we touched down in Atlanta.  Plenty of time to go home and do some stuff before my goddamned church gig.

Making Records

This is a light week for gigs, but I was fortunately able to fill in with not one but two recording sessions.  Both went well;  I am very happy with the results.

1.  Wednesday night, I recorded woodwinds for Patrick Kelly's upcoming record.  For this one, I played flute, clarinet, and bass clarinet.  Patrick built his songs in Logic Pro 9 and created MIDI woodwind parts--cool because it generates sheet music, but not cool because there's no one to say what's physically possible!  For instance, one song had a flute part that extended into bass clef!  In another instance, the computer wrote that every note in a section was anticipated by a sixteenth note--at the tempo, it was difficult to hear, but on paper, it was definitely not correct!

Anyway, once we'd sorted all that stuff out, it was pretty easy, and Patrick (and Bruce, the producer/engineer) were cool and open to suggestions.  I was relieved and excited that all three instruments were relatively in tune (always a big fear of mine in recording!).   I wish there were more opportunities like this.

2.  Thursday morning, I met up with Greg Lee to add saxophones to Glen Pridgen's newest project.  Glen's stuff was more straight ahead rock, and both songs had existing horn parts, so it was clear what was to be played.  Both songs were two tenors and bari--love that sound!   

One of Glen's songs had a solo, and I was really pleased with myself for playing something beyond a safe, pentatonic scale.  Kudos to Greg Lee for leaving a little jazz in a rock song!

Trio

The David Freeman Trio came out of mothballs to play a gig last night--the usual corporate awards dinner kind of thing.  This one was a bit unusual because it began with two hours(!) of solo saxophone, then a bit of "play them into the room," an hour or so of dinner, and a last song to play them out.  David Ellington played keyboard and Kevin Smith played bass.  I guess I should have brought my hat.

Right off the bat, a curveball.  Even though it was confirmed the previous week that we would be sax, keyboard, and bass (and therefore needing a microphone and 2 DIs to get our sound to the house), our famous local sound/production company set up five lines with DIs.  When I said, "No, I'll need a microphone," they claimed not to have a single one on site.  Really.  "But we can run the keyboard in stereo!" the guy said.  Ha ha ha ha!  Like I give a shit!  Out to my truck to grab the microphone stand and crappy microphone that I keep behind the seat for just such an emergency.  

The two hours of solo saxophone actually wasn't too bad.  For whatever reason I was able to get into a groove;  my hands felt quick and light, and my horn felt good, so it was pretty easy.  Thank god, too, because I've had some solo gigs where ten minutes felt like too long.

The trio part of the the gig was painless, except for a request that led to several more requests, the last by a drunk old lady who almost fell down on her way to ask us to play At Last.  "If you play it, I'll dance!"  Uhh, no thanks.

I was kind of fried by the time we got into this, but in listening to it now, I don't sound as uncoordinated as I felt at the time.

The final portion of the evening was spent raising money--a male and female tag team with microphones, walking around the room cajoling people into dropping $1,000.  It was like Regis and Kathy Lee took over a non denominational church.  When a guy offered his tux jacket up for auction (and people actually bid on it), I got worried that my horn would be next.

We played them out of the room and the evening ended.  Never a dull moment, I guess.  Here are mp3s from the trio portion of the gig.

U2 in the Park

Yacht Rock's first Park Tavern show last night was a huge success!  In spite of the weather, we had a large, enthusiastic crowd and the band played well.  What more could you ask for?

The stage for this one was rotated ninety degrees, with the most of the crowd out in front and a smaller contingent behind.  Kip said that the crowd was so thick that he couldn't get to the front of house position;  he ended up mixing from behind the stage.

Our first set was all U2.  We hadn't played this set in a couple of years.  We rehearsed a few weeks ago (with the anticipation of playing on the Train cruise, but it didn't happen).  Surprisingly, there wasn't too much rust!  My worst moment was right at the beginning--I started the first song of the gig on the wrong sound (and wrong transposition).  Not my best playing.  Once we got into it, I was fine, though.

The Yacht Rock set was good;  we had a fun night.  At one point, I took a high five solo across the front of the stage.  Playing-wise, things were solid.

At the end of the night, a friend of mine remarked, "You guys are rock stars!"  Forty-five minutes later (as I was dragging my gear up the stairs), some guy asked me if we were the Schooner.  Fame is fleeting.

Dave Squared

David Ellington and I played our monthly duo gig at Sun in my Belly in Decatur tonight.  It was nearly a solo--traffic was so bad--it took me an hour and forty-five minutes--that I started looking for a bridge to jump off.  The situation was madnes;  it's a 24 mile trip, one that I made post gig in thirty-five minutes.

Once we'd played a tune or two I finally settled down.  What a shitty way to start a gig!

Anyway, check out our work.  New tunes for this gig were Driftin' (Herbie Hancock), Little B's Poem (Bobby Hutcherson), and Best of Times by our man David Ellington.



We're back there Friday, March 27, 7-9 PM.  Please stay off the roads that day.

Callaway Down There

Yacht Rock played a corporate party Monday night at Callaway Gardens...waaaaaaaay down I-85 (and then down I-185), almost to the Alabama state line.  A long drive, but we've been kind of starved for gigs lately, so I am thankful to be working!

Luckily, this was a pretty rockin' party, with people on the dance floor from just about the first song, and it stayed that way for the entire gig.  It's so much easier to play a private gig when the people are into it.  Just about everyone was in a costume (60s and 70s);  our favorites were the members of KISS--Ace Freely even brought a guitar.  Nice touch.

The Beatles at Smith's

Smith's Olde Bar...every time I think this place is dead and we'll never set foot in here again, there's a night like this one where the crowd is great and the sound is good and the gig is fun, and I know we'll be back.

More Dave and Dave

David Ellington and I brought our duo to the west side last night, crammed into a nook in a bar.  We are very thankful for the gig, indeed--without this place and our monthly restaurant thing in Decatur, I'd have no jazz outlet.

The music played before, after, and on the breaks was really loud--REALLY LOUD!!!, and definitely not in line with what we were doing during our set.  I think that from now on I'm going to iPod the breaks through Ellington's amp to try and keep things the same.  Plus...holy shit--it was loud.  Ellington and I laughed about the difference in volume between our stuff and their canned music.  On one break, a customer came over to me and asked me if I could turn down the music, and I had to break it to her that it was not something I could control--it was the bar's stuff while we were relaxing for a moment.  I felt like we were the break music between the barrages of hipster rock.

We're not back until early April.  Hopefully we'll be outside for that one?  It's a better gig when we're on the patio.  The passing trains aren't that loud (by comparison).

Anyway, check out the music.

Sailing

Another cruise!  Somebody thought this was the twelfth ship on which Yacht Rock has sailed.  I really can't remember.  We've done two Rock Boats, Weezer, Live Loud, VH1, Zac Brown, Train, Jillian Michaels, KISS, Kid Rock, the Grammy Cruise, and this one. 

Friday:  For this cruise (Sail Across the Sun with Train), we flew into Ft. Lauderdale and took a van and trailer down to the Port of Miami.  Lots of people crammed into the van.

Port o' Miami.

My room, just down the hall from the last cruise's room (5584 vs. 5514).

I got a little practicing in every day--about an hour and a half.  Fortunately, there was no cabin on the other side of this wall so I only had one neighbor, and that person never said anything.

Our first show was in the theatre on the first evening.

Nice picture from show, courtesy of a girl named Shelley.

After that, most of the guys moved to another room to serve as the backing band for John Driskell Hopkins (just as they had at the Greg Lee Show at Eddie's Attic).

Tragedy at the frozen yogurt station.

Some love from my valentine.

The first day of this cruise was marked by a silverware crisis.  Perhaps the guy who usually put the forks and knives in the napkin and rolled it up had jumped ship.  Whatever the reason...major crisis!

Saturday:  sea day, so nothing much happened.  I slept a lot.  After the Hopkins show, I went to bed at 11:30 PM and (except for a pee break in the morning) slept til 1:30 PM.  Other than exercise and practicing, not much was accomplished during this day.

I drank a lot of coffee at the outdoor eating area at the back of the ship, sipping and reading my book (currently plowing through Geoff Emerick's Here, There, and Everywhere).

Saturday night was our second set.  It was supposed to be our U2 set, but the guys from Train asked us to play yacht rock instead.  What could we say?

Another good set.  I remember that it was really windy and really loud (and we started at midnight), and I couldn't help but think about how much sound was coming off of the boat in the middle of the ocean.  I guess we were far enough away land (and other boats) that it didn't matter.

Sunday:  Woke up and looked out my window.  Key West!  I would've thought Key West had a cruise ship port, but they said were at a navy base.  No pictures!

Some views off the back of the boat.

I went ashore with Greg Lee and his wife, Hop and his wife, and their friend Jolie.   Once ashore, we met up with Jolie's husband Rizzi, who happened to be playing a gig in Key West this weekend with Mike Veal.

My babysitters.

Hop, Jenn, Mike Veal, Nicole, Greg, Rizzi, and Jolie.  Nick joined up with us a bit later.

Four mojitos and half a cookie in, we went to visit Jimmy Buffett's studio in Key West.  Here we are on the drunken parade.

Fins to the left, fins to the right.

Inside Jimmy Buffett's studio.

Maybe not that exciting.  Really just a main room, a booth, and a control room.

Nice piano.

Nice organ.  Dig the light switch for changing the speed of the Leslie.

Nice wurly.

I was playing piano, and all of the sudden, everybody was GONE!  I'd been locked in the studio by myself.  About 10 minutes later, Greg Lee called, found me, and got me out of there.

I made the news on social media:

At around the same time, a burst of messages from me to Bencuya.  The voice to text thing made it seem worse than it was.

Onward!  I followed Greg and Nicole on a wandering shopping excursion.  Nobody bought these.

Sloppy Joe's!  As close as we got to any Hemingway stuff.

We got back to the boat and I took a two hour nap.  I woke, showered, and made it to the evening's first event:  name that tune with the Yacht Rock Revue.  It was all 90s stuff, as I recall, which meant that I was totally worthless.  Surprisingly, we didn't win.

After that, most of us headed to our dinner reservation at the teppanyaki place.  Always good.

Monkeyboy's snack fingers were in overdrive.

Our chef happened to be very good at origami.

I figured it was probably safest for me to go back to my room.

Monday, I woke up in the Bahamas.  The view from my cabin.

The view from the top of the ship.

I wasn't going to go ashore;  nothing on Great Stirrup Cay (Norwegian Cruise Line's private island) that I haven't seen before, plus I was pretty sunburned from Key West.  However, Atlanta was having horrible weather, so I felt obligated to at least stand on the beach.

My ride on the tender was empty.

I ran into Bencuya and we hung out for a minute (I also drank half of somebody's mudslide).

Monday night at midnight, we played our third show, back in the theatre.  Nothing new to report.  We ended up not doing U2 at all, so the set list for this one was cobbled together from odds and ends.

It started with our version of We Are the World; Nick tried to play the backing track off the internet.  At the end of the first verse, the track died.  He tried to restart it, but the internet on the ship was too slow to accommodate audio.  Failure!  Oops!  Except for a few memory lapses on less often played songs, we did pretty well on the rest of the gig.  I didn't have my flute with me (saving myself one more thing to drag around), so I played piccolo on Lowdown, but other than a look from Nick, nobody flinched.

In the rush to clear the stage (we were the last show on that stage for the cruise), my phone fell out of my jacket pocket.  When I got back to my cabin, I knew I must've left it there.  Fortunately, the crew guys had already picked it up and turned it into the production office.  A band-wide text with this picture went out.  Around the same time, I ran into a crew guy (after I'd crawled around on the empty stage for ten minutes), who told me where my phone had ended up.  I rescued it around five minutes later.

Tuesday.  Back to Ft. Lauderdale.  This airport was rough.  Very few food choices, and (unsurprisingly) about a million old people.  The line of people in wheelchairs waiting to board our plane was longer than I have ever seen (seven chairs), which made boarding the plane a real treat.

Hope to see you around Atlanta this week!

Dave and Dave Duo (with David Ellington) this Thursday at JCT Kitchen, 6-9 PM.

Please Pleaserock Me (Yacht Rock plays the Beatles) at Smith's Olde Bar, 8:30-11 PM.