I played a GREAT duo gig last night with the one and only David Ellington.
Driving up Main Street in Woodstock, I thought "Man, it's dark here!" My directions told me I was in the right place, but all the shops and restaurants looked closed. I pulled into the parking lot, met up with Ellington, and we investigated on foot. It turned out that a car had plowed into a transformer and knocked everything out! I sent Ellington home and agreed to play the gig solo.
Right before I was to begin, the power kicked back on, so I called Dave and told him to turn around and come back. In the mean time, I went ahead and played solo sax for about twenty minutes. Once he was set up, we played a couple of normal length sets.
Part of it was that I was having a great night--I felt good and I had a good reed and I could hear myself--but Ellington really made me play better. We hadn't played a gig together in over a year, and it felt like we picked right back up. He played really well and made every tune comfortable. It was a good gig and good hang with one of my favorite people.
Some guy tipped us a dollar for playing Giant Steps. I think it worked out to be a penny for each of us per chorus.
Fun stuff! I hope to see Dave again soon.
davidfreemanmusic.net