My Blog

I am working with Scott Bucklin "fixing" my book, i.e. tweaking my charts to get the arranges to just what I want them to, but also to write up new material that I've been wanting to do.  I am feeling "fulfilled," literally.  Also, I just agreed to one Saturday a month for the next 6 months at the hottest new Jazz venue in town, Table 13. I am excited!

On Saturday night, January 18th, I had a gig at the new Kitchen Cafe, run by Tony Hakim, here in Dallas.  He is loved by the musician community.  A gentle guy with a good heart, a voice like James Taylor, and now a restaurateur. The Kitchen is fast becoming a musicians' hang where the most established names in Dallas Jazz (which is a vibrant and very dynamic scene) come to play and hang out.

The Kitchen is what I call a "listening room" where people come to eat and drink with friends, but with the primary interest of listening to the music and watching the show.  It's actually a bit like dinner theater.  

It was the first time that I really got to do what I've want to do for a long time: tell stories about the music, and how the songs relate to my life.  Who wrote the songs and when, and what they are related to, a Broadway show, an old movie (like Charade with Audrey Hepburn).  

The house was full.  I had promoted through most of my venues, email marketing, facebook, etc.  Finally in Dallas, a listening room.  

Well, it was a night to remember.  A night as I had hoped.  I started telling my stories, Drinking Again, the Bette Midler version, from a mix tape that Frank Schippani had made my dad a mixtape for his birthday one year that had that song in it.  I talked about how its lyrics were by Johnny Mercer.  

"I Thought About You," a song I've always wanted to do.  Also a Johnny Mercer Tune sung by Billie Holiday style.  I did Greatest Love of All, which to my surprised received perhaps the greatest of the night. Carol King's Smackwater Jack,

I think it was in the middle of the second set, Ross Perot walks right by the stage last night at the Mansion, looks at me and give me a salute, and keeps on going.  Then he came back the other way.  Not sure if he was sitting in the corner with his entourage, or in the restaurant.  Then later in the third set, Dallas' own Jon Adams, our resident superstar bassist, walks in and honors us with his presence, after his own gig.  An awesome night, it was.

What a night!  Dana Sudborough on Vibes, Aaron West on Keys, Chris Holmes on Drums, Young Heo on Bass and Sabre Ray on Percussion.  On one of our breaks I said to young Christopher that I have taken to putting large numbers of tunes into our sets, so that I have lots to select from.  I explained that I "custom-select" each tune for the demographic, the vibe, the feel in the room at that very moment.  It was a night of outstanding song selection.  It's one of the key's to what creates a grooving experience for everybody in the room.  There was a  lot of love and appreciation by the crowd last night.  A lot of dancing too.  I sang my heart out, and the whole band played with all their heart and soul.  I am grateful that I get to do this.  To live this.

This week I upgraded our Website so it will load and play music and videos on mobile devices and tablets.  Long overdue!  I also uploaded full screen versions of the great article written about us in Platinum Urban Magazine.  It looks great.  Visit their Website www.pumagazine.com and to see the full current edition visit http://issuu.com/platinumurbanmagazine.  So Jazzed up and pumped about tonight's gig at the beautiful Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek.  Looking forward to having Chuck Smith on Bass and Patrick Carr on Keys tonight!  Will be working on new tunes today and tweaking our repertoire, adjusting keys, making fixes to our charts, etc.  Musical housekeeping.  Also, I am excited to "pre-announce" that it looks like we will be playing at the new Dallas City Performance Hall for the Jazz Collective event on September 28th.  Stay tuned for more!  Finally, all indications are that we will be on "D Magazine: The Broadcast".  The show is M-F 9a to 11a on KTXD.