One of the great things about the Jazz Band Master Class is I got to make friends and meet other musicians.  As result of that I had an opportunity to participate in another small combo jazz gig on Saturday.  I played at a neighborhood birthday party/fundraiser and had a great time. The crowd was receptive and I hope we were able to provide them with some entertainment.

As far as my performance – as usual, I am very critical of myself.  I totally destroyed the head of “Blue Bossa” (I fought with a hard to read piece of music — I should have played it by heart) and I wasn’t very confident at the start of my notes/phrases.  The place was wired for sound and I had never used a mic outside of my own home studio.  I was bit scared of it at first but got the hang of by listening to the monitors and adjusting accordingly.  I battled with endurance near the end of the gig (does ever that  end?) but it didn’t seem as bad as the master class gig I played.

I had a few moments where I was able to get into the music and play something worth while.  Tunes that I did well on included “Footprints,” “Summertime” and “Freddie Freeloader.”  I recall reading that most players are not going to “kill” or do extremely well on all tunes.  I take comfort in that.  I only hope that the more gigs I do — the easier it will get.  Boyd asked if we would interested in doing more performances (once a month including June 25th) so that combined with other opportunities should allow me to get out and play more.  All good.

The band included Michelle Coffee (keyboard), Micheal Fore (drums), Lorenzo Toppin (tenor sax), Eric Brewington (trumpet) and Eyre McKenrick (bass).  Well done everyone!  It was fun.  Hopefully we will get to do it again soon.  Happy birthday to Boyd Staszewski – thanks for having us.  Also – thanks to Kathy, Betty (mom) and Sharon for support and encouragement.

This week – the release of Terence Blanchard’s new album Flow and his appearance at Blues Alley.  Christmas in June!