Instead, I had a jazz gig with David Ellington and Craig Shaw at a showing for an upscale house in North Druid Hills that had just been remodeled. I managed to talk the client out of having us set up under a tent in the soggy backyard (closer to the power! electronics and standing water are not a good mix!). We moved to the patio. Better.
It's funny when you get details for a gig from someone who doesn't deal with little trios. We had forty-five minutes for "set up" (pulls saxophone from gig bag, puts reed on mouthpiece...2 minutes); thirty minutes for "dinner" (which was appetizers from the caterer--a piece of cheese, a piece of bread, a crab cake, some kind of ham sandwich the size of a quarter, and something that looked like a cracker with slugs on it), and then forty-five minutes for "soundcheck." I would rather they'd said "Show up by 6:30 and be ready to play at 7. No food." I should have mentioned it to the agent.
The gig itself was fairly painless, though I was pretty tired, sweaty, and tired of sweating. Outdoor gigs in Atlanta are never well conceived--too hot, too cold, or too much pollen. The set up, dinner and soundcheck were pretty uncomfortable, but by the time we began the actual gig, the sun had set behind the trees, the rain was long gone, and it was ok.
The house was flawless, by the way. Beautiful inside and out. When I get famous...
Anyway, check it out. Basically, it's trio versions of the Dave and Dave Duo. At one point, there's some pretty heavy stomping on one and three--Dave and Craig were testing out Hal Galper's masterclass instructions to do so. I'll stick with two and four, thank you very much.
