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Breaking the Silence, a/k/a Storming The Tower

First off, I’m so sorry for the silence. I got busy at the end of the year and have been remiss in my blogging duties. I hereby pledge to do better, and reserve the right not to, just in case. ;>)

Since last we spoke, Josh and I played our first gig at Tutta Bella and had a blast! That night was also the Columbia City tree-lighting ceremony, so there were lots of folks about in the streets and restaurants. Tutta Bella was so packed, in fact, that we had to wait until the people eating at the table on our stage were done with dessert and coffee before we could set up! That’s OK, though, because it gave me time to chat with Katy Bourne, a fabulous Jazz singer and the woman who books the music at Tutta Bella. Katy was having dinner with her family and we had a nice time drinking Chianti and chatting about music, being a working musician and who makes the best pizza!

Once Josh and I got to playing, we had a great time. We haven’t played as a duo in a while, but we settled back in pretty quickly. He’s such a great player and an even better listener, and with just the two of us, we can really communicate and throw ideas back and forth. We played some arrangements of holiday tunes, some standards and a few originals. Of course, I couldn’t resist throwing in a few quotes from “Hava Nagila” during the Christmas Carols, which Josh immediately picked up on. It then became the running gag for the evening, for better or worse. Thanks to our new friend Christina from Napoli for the pictures!

Last night, we played at the top of the Columbia Tower during a Microsoft holiday party. We were joined by the great D’vonne Lewis on drums, and he helped us lay down some swingin’ tunes. Highlights included my own arrangement of “We Three Kings”, done in the style of John Coltrane’s “My Favorite Things”, and Troy’s original tune “Emoticon Makeout Party”, which we’ve been really having fun playing recently.

This Saturday, we’ll play our first show at Caffe Bella in downtown Seattle…hope to see you there!

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Standing Room Only!

I’ve now had two days to process the memories from Friday’s show at Egan’s Ballard Jam House, and I’m still blown away every time I think about it. It was an amazing night all the way around, and I couldn’t be more thrilled and proud of my band.

All four of us attended Ev Stern’s jam session at Egan’s the night before, and I’m glad we did. It gave us a chance to get a feel for the room and the stage. And boy, what a room! Suzanne and crew have done an amazing job developing this as a true Jazz Club, and it shows. The room is small, but even with our SRO audience never felt cramped. And the staff and crew took great care of us all night.

We came out smokin’ with a version of Hank Mobley’s little-played hard-bop tune “Flirty Gerty”, and for the next two-and-a-half hours played our own music (2 of Troy’s compositions, “Una Colada Con Mis Amigos” and “Emoticon Makeout Party”, and three of mine, “You and Me”, “Tree of Life” and “Fare Thee Well”) and some choice standards from Blue Mitchell, Miles Davis, Mobley, Kenny Dorham and others. The first set was possibly the best set we’ve ever played, and the second set wasn’t far behind. We all rose to the occasion, and really communitcated with eachother and with the audience.

Which leads me to the best part of the evening – the audience! Like I said, the place was packed, both with friends and family, but also the good Jazz-loving folk of Seattle. And unlike some show’s I’ve played in this town, our crowd was right there with us the whole time. They loved Josh’s inventive solos, Troy’s groovy tunes and Dono’s masterful drumming. They even loved my goofy stage banter!

All in all it was an amazing night for us. I want to thank Suzanne, Ben, Jacob and everyone at Egan’s for making us feel like we have found our home. And huge thanks to my boys Josh, Troy and Donovan. Sharing the stage with you remains one of the great joys of my life.

Suzanne Weghorst, proprietor of Egan’s, said in an email to me: “[T]hat was a great night! Thanks so much! We definitely want to have you back in…so pick a date and let me know.” We did! So be sure to catch our return to Egan’s on Friday, January 5th.

Photos by Kirsten Kendrick.