We recorded tonight (cc3). It went very quickly. After attempting to set up the mic pre-amp I rented, to no avail (it actually had a similar malfunction at the store, but the rental guy assured me it was a bad mic he was using.... I tried it at home and it worked Ok, then got to Mike's where we were recording and it died again...), I recorded us with the internal mic on my iBook.

It actually came out fine, whaddya know? We recorded little excerpts of a bunch of the tunes in our book, and I'm going to edit them together into a medley. This will be our demonstration recording (or "demo" as they say in the industry). I'll post it to the website when it's done.

It's starting to look like cc3 will be worth investing some more time into. We're going to record a demo this week and shop around for more gigs. Our house gig at Canyon Creek is great, and I'm so thankful it appears to be going indefinitely, but Mike, Eric are really hitting our stride in terms of repertoire and consistency, and I think it deserves a wider audience. Furthermore, we can actually make money playing this stuff.

Anyway, I'll post the mp3s when they're ready. Stay tuned.

Last night was fun. MO came to play, and we played to a full-house for the first set and then exactly 2 people for the second. The second set was musically superior; since there wasn't so much noise from the patrons I could hear everything better, and I'll be damned if it didn't actually sound kinda warm in our corner of the patio. We also (since it was the last night and only two people were there, and ignoring us) stretched a bit; a rather exploratory version of "Tune Up" was the highlight for me.

In-between set talk was of the rather dismal state of affairs for jazz music. Once you remove Norah Jones and Diana Krall from the list, the only artist really selling anything is Metheny. As such, very few artists are getting to tour in any significant way. This leaves a presumably dire situation for artists yet-to-emerge on an international scale (such as myself). Or does it? The prevailing wisdom is that the industry in grinding to a halt and as such, will re-invent itself. If that levels the playing field, then maybe, just maybe, folks like me can establish some little atoll out in the ocean of this industry, and you all can visit.

Having said that, you first have to order your tickets for 10/15 @ the Canopy (this is the newly founded name for the upstairs of Birds and Beans.

There's less than 20 tickets available, if it doesn't sell out, well, so much for my atoll. :)

Tonight's the last night we have booked at Canyon Creek Square One, I'll be playing in a trio with Eric Boucher (keys) and Michael Occhipinti (guitar). The bass-less thing is always fun, and I haven't played with MO (with the exception of a rain-soaked one set HBS gig in July) in a while.

I'll be sporting my new hardware ("trap") case. It's like an RV for drummers, I can pack all my stands, spare pedal and snare stand, full microphone setup, tambourine, cowbell, and there's even room for my lunch if I really tried. It fits snugly in the back hatch of my car and I'm just do damn pleased with myself for buying it. :) It's an SBK TPX-1 or something like that.

If you don't like music, but like "intelligent storage", come on out just to see it. If you happen to like both (as I do), well, then tonight is your night!

I had a great time last night playing with Chip Yarwood, Celina Carroll and Kevin Cooke. We were improvising to a series of films created by Toronto visual artists. While I get the chance to play with Kevin quite a bit, I hadn't played a gig with Chip and Celina in years. The three of us were the backing band for a spoken-word artist, Mary Elizabeth Grace. Chip is a unique and complete musician, a true multi-instrumentalist and the real deal when it comes to "world music". Celina has been, and continues to be, my favourite singer in Toronto, and elsewhere too. She's also a fantastic percussionist, her conga playing last night was very impressive. In short, I had a great time, and we reconvene to support Chip's CD release on Oct. 25. I got a copy of his record last night and gave it a listen today. It's great. Very much reminds of me of Dylan's "Time Out of Mind" album. It's going to be a thrill to bring these tunes to life onstage. The gig on the 25th sounds like a good deal too: $10 get's you in the door AND the CD!.

But, yeah, forget about all that! Have you ordered your Birds and Beans tix yet? October 15th!

Also, the October 16 show in Hamilton at Pepperjack's will be great, as I've added a support act, the "electrocuted" ensemble of Topher Stott (drums), Lyle Crilly (laptop) and Laurel James (vocals).

...this may be the most HTML I've put in a post in a while. :)

I've just been called for a last-minute gig tomorrow night at the Gladstone Hotel. I'll be in a band with Chip Yarwood, Celina Carroll and Kevin Cooke accompanying a live film called "Queen Street By Numbers".

Here's a link to the details, I think my set is at 10:30pm

Ok,

here's the poster for the October gigs



BUY TICKETS FOR THE 10/15 show HERE

FYI, the birdsandbeans gig Oct 15 is an 8pm showtime. I will have all the details over the weekend, but don't delay, ORDER your tix!

I have an article in a magazine this month, The Dance Current is a damn fine reason to learn to read, and Canada's only dance magazine. I am writing a three-part series on Time, and I have yet to mention Morris Day in it. Anyway, I still don't have a copy of the magazine myself, but you can find out about getting yours here.

Also, the details are still formulating, but you can order tix for my Oct15 show @ Birds and Beans for $7.50 CDN through my website. Or right here, BUY TICKETS. Oh, and don't worry if it shows shipping charges when you click to buy, those will be removed before your credit card is charged.

Here's the cool part: THERE ARE ONLY 15 TICKETS TO BE HAD. This venue is small, and the smoothies they make downstairs are way too good. So, order your ticket, I'll email you an e-ticket to print with your name on it. Also, there will be a list kept at the gig so you can just show up if you don't bring your e-ticket printout.

ONLY 15 TICKETS. Don't delay!

We played our last cc3 with Anesti tonight. It was fun, and I think we actually sounded our best so far tonight, so that counts for something. The crowd was a bit sparse (everyone has homework I guess since it's the first day of school...), but an OK night overall. We hit for two more weeks with Eric Boucher (and actually, mike PELLARIN subs for mike PELLETIER on sept 20.) there on Tuesdays.

Today's real news is that Mike Bowell has offered to play some shows with Ed Zankowski and I, including October 16 @ PJC in Hamilton. Mike and I go waaaaaay back, and he is a wonderful player and a helluva guy. I'm excited about Mike joining this trio, and I think he'll bring a lot to the existing repertoire. Where's Tim, you might ask? Tim is very busy, as you all know he is a fine fine guitarist, but he's also a bandleader of more than a couple of his own very great bands. The near future was becoming complicated in terms of reconciling the amount of time I needed from Tim and what that would cost him in terms of his own work and life (obviously, this project is not a big payday, yet...). It was with great reluctance that I chose to "freeze" this project, as opposed to try and eek out a few more gigs before Tim's time became very very tight. To my surprise, a casual phone call to MikeB revealed that he was not only available, but looking for something to get involved in. Supply and demand. (Supply and defrost?)

Stay tuned for official gig details, later this week, I hope.

My team of interns churned out a new "one sheet" bio for me, all before 10am!

download the PDF of it here

NEWS:

<> the 10/16 Pepperjack Cafe date, originally scheduled to be a show with Tim and Ed, will now be a "special project" concert, featuring a unique "one night only" lineup, stay tuned for details.

<> a very dear old friend, who in many ways gave me my start in the music scene here in Toronto, Chip Yarwood, has asked me to play drums for his CD release concert October 25 at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto. I couldn't be more pleased, and the band is shaping up to be quite killer: Chip plays everything, Kevin Cooke on bass, myself, Celina Carroll on vocals, and guests. Just like the old days, when I was 17 and they were only 40. :):):):)