March 2011
5 posts
The End
Wow.
I don’t know how to thank The Bad Plus—Ethan, Dave, Reid—for taking me around the globe with them. This was a culminating experience in my life. I’d not ever left the shores of America before this happened and it was the fulfillment of many long held dreams—with perks—the honor of singing in all these countries and cities for a year and a half.
It was inspiring to “make...
London Jazz Festival (Nov 2010)
This trip was amazing. Hands down. The last time I was in London, my hotel was in the tourist district near Trafalgar Square, which was classic but just a little annoying. I don’t like traveling that way.
This trip, I was within walking distance from Camden—punk capital of the world. I did go there and clearly, it’s changed since the 1970’s. But it was an amazing sun drenched...
November 2010
4 posts
Reaching Back and Getting Current
I just returned from London last night, having played The London Jazz Festival on November 19, 2010.
It had been—strangely—EXACTLY a year to the very date that I had last performed with the band on November 19, 2009 in Chicago for a film event. That gig denied me seeing Vic Chesnutt at the Cedar Cultural Center. He committed suicide about a month later, on Christmas Eve and frankly, I’ll...
Day Two
I finally got to sleep at 4am and slept until noon. I’d gotten a text message from Melissa Laveaux to meet for coffee or breakfast. She is a young singer/songwriter from Canada who had moved to Paris in order to advance her career. We had initially met at the Montreal Jazz Festival where we were all performing, and shared a production van from the airport to our hotels. During the ride, we...
Bliss
I walked the entire promenade profiling two separate beaches (La Concha and Ondaretta), and at the end of the bay, slipped into the quaint, tight streets of Parte Veija (Old Town) to eat some pintxos, the Basque equivalent of tapas. Apparently, pintxos are purported to have originated in Andalucia but were perfected in San Sebastian. The Basque region as a whole is considered to offer the finest...
San Sebastian, Spain
I had almost three weeks at home before departing on July 24th for our show in San Sebastian. I employed some of that time to do a little research on this Spanish coastal city, discovering that it is a vacation destination for Europeans.
In discussing travel arrangements with management, it was determined that I would arrive a day ahead of show in order to both save a little money and have time...
October 2009
17 posts
Catching Up Slowly
OK. I admit that I’m procrastinating when it comes to posting the final shows on my tour with The Bad Plus. I guess it’s my way of keeping it going … since I was officially laid off mid-August.
It’s mid-October now and past midnight after a surreal Tuesday involving a malfunctioning furnace and Herman Hesse’s Steppenwolf and Revolutionary Road with breakfast and...
The Long Walk
After this stunning and extremely rich meal we decided to save the cab fare and walk back to the hotel. It was a lovely evening and there is nothing like roaming the streets to digest a city… and a stomach full of gastronomic delights.
I cannot recommend this restaurant enough, most especially to meat eaters… tres French Canadian deluxe. I would return just to eat there again.
Back to the food...
Unbeknownst to the rest of us, Reid had done some research and he sprung his findings on us upon arrival in Montreal. He’s always subtle in his suggestions but when Reid says, “There’s this restaurant…” it’s generally a good idea to pay attention. He reserved table time weeks in advance for 11:30 pm after our last show at L’Astral. We hopped in a cab...
Stevie and Wonders
We played two consecutive nights at the L’Astral, a brand-spanking-new venue for the 2009 festival. It was so new you could smell the paint. Just up the street on the first night we performed, Stevie Wonder took the main stage. I stood outside after our sound check and listened to his voice echoing through the streets of Montreal.
It was the closest I’d been to Stevie since seeing him...
September 2009
4 posts
Yo, Canada
Next leg out was the Montreal Jazz Festival and Jazz Winnipeg from the 30th of June to July 3, 2009. Before I left, we had a birthday gathering, some sky and a little down time.
I love touring; the high of sleeplessness, the erratic food intake, the dehydrating airport lines, the laughs, the long walks through new cities, the time spent staring out windows or onto the pages of books. I love...
August 2009
48 posts
Watch
