Tag Archive: touring
Foggy landing at JFK airport
I used to spend a lot of time here playing music when I was with the Jonah Smith band. Between 2001 and 2005 we toured Spain, with an emphasis on Catalonia, about 6 times for roughly 30 days at a clip. Our guitarist, the fabulous David Soler, was from Barcelona and hooked up way cooler tours than we did for ourselves on the East Coast.
JFK was so fogged in it was like the final landing sequence in Die Hard 2: we couldn´t see the ground until it was right in front of us. Kinda scary.
I got into JFK at 7:30 am and spent all day trying to grap some sleep in a reclined leather chair in the Admiral´s Club before my 5pm flight to Barcelona.
The trip as a whole was pretty good. I had exit row seats for every leg and there were no delays. I even managed to make my way to my friend David´s house with no phone contact. That´s a weird thing: all of a sudden not having a phone to turn on and check. Like the old days.
I got here and slept from about 10am to 6pm. Best part of the tour so far!
OK, so my playlist…here is what I got into on the trip:
Patrick Cornelius – Maybe Steps
Patrick and I went to Berklee together. This dude is a [insert bad words that mean good things]! The ratio of professional tenor to alto players is unbalanced at best and it´s nice to listen to someone flat out own the alto. Patrick has always had what might be called a formidible [read scary] technique, but this album is more than a collection of barnburners. The track “Bella´s Dream” got at least a half dozen replays on one flight.
Ben Wendel – Frame
I´m a big fan of Ben´s. I´ve long admired his work with his band Kneebody but his solo stuff is incredible, too. His compositions are pretty deep and you may have to dig this twice before it hits you. He also works in the bassoon…yes, he plays the bassoon!
M83 – Hurry Up We´re Dreaming
Really digging this album.
Julien Wilson Trio – Trio Live
I have one of my Australian students to thank for introducing me to this incredible Australian group. Remeniscent of my favorite Stan Getz, Julien´s tone is as good as it gets. The playing is fluid, the time is great (no drums) the instrumentation is unique (tenor, accordian, acoustic guitar), and it´s the kind of music you can appreciate on many levels. Put this on during your next dinner party and you will get lots of “This is really nice. Who is this?” The melodies are gorgeous and the instrumentaion makes for a very consistent listening experience (meaning you won´t be rushing over to adjust the volume or skip a track).
Washed Out – Life of Leisure EP
Discovered this because of the show Portlandia. The track “Feel It All Around” is the show´s theme song and I dug it so much I went Googling and found this guy´s music.
Alright, now it´s off to a master class and then tonight´s show.
My view at SFO sans glasses.
So here’s the short form:
European Tour 2012
Headed to Europe to play music with Janek Gwizdala, Gary Husband, and a pair of great drummers.
Used frequent flyer miles to book my trip. Very cool deal (only 40k miles if you can believe it!)…except to get to Barcelona from Los Angeles I have to stop in San Francisco and New York (all day tomorrow) first. Crazy how that would have cost an arm an a leg if I’d actually wanted to visit those two cities first!
Something for the kids
I thought I’d use this opportunity to do a bit of blogging. Will anyone notice? Not really the point. I had this idea on flight #1 that if I were a young saxophonist and I stumbled on a musician’s website I admired and it contained actual updated information, and perhaps even insight into what it’s like out there in the world of producing and performing original instrumental music…well, that would’ve been awesome.
So, to the one kid who may fit that description, this Bud’s for you. (Wait, if you’re a kid you’re too young for a Bud.)
I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep this up…it’s gonna be a monster tour: 8 gigs in a row or something like that. Janek booked it. He’s nuts. Then again, it’s better than a day off. After all, we’re trying to actually make money on this tour, not go broke.
Even so, I don’t think I’ve ever played 8 straight gigs in a row. Ever. Not even while touring with John Mayer. Maybe 5 in a row tops.
The Game
Another idea that hit me on flight #1 was to “pull back the curtain” a bit on this touring experience (you know, for that kid I mentioned) and document the highs and lows (there won’t be any lows, right?) and ins and outs. Again, I know that stuff would have fascinated me, so that’s why I’m doing it.
So here’s the idea: I’ll treat the tour–at least the business side–as a bit of a game. There will be points (instead of dollars) that can be won and lost (earned and spent). The goal is simple: win the game while also playing great music with killer musicians. Can it be done? Stay tuned.
Keeping Score:
Me: 0
Tour: 8* (although I got my flight for free, I still had to pay taxes and fees, etc.)
*The point system is a complex proprietary algorithm I developed to turn specified dollar amounts into points. Don’t even try to figure it out. You’ll go crazy.
