chriscawthray.com

2006-01-15T00:28:00.000-05:00

I'm moving the blog to a new service (to me) called WordPress. I was experimenting with it and it offers some features I haven't been able to access here with Blogger (they may have these features, they're just not obvious to me :)). I don't think I can transfer the archive over so I will keep a link up to this blog so that anyone so inclined may view historical entries.Please update your

2006-01-13T20:58:00.000-05:00

Since INDIEpool has let me down (see my post from a few days ago...) and Steve Coleman is giving away a pile of music on his site, I've reposted a bunch of mp3s for your enjoyment. Now you can get almost all of the fruits of our limitations again at chriscawthray.com. I couldn't put Japan up because I ran out of space and I'd like to keep some videos and other stuff over on the download page.In

2006-01-11T21:05:00.000-05:00

Rob Price and I are putting a band together. Essentially, I'd like to play in New York, but the logistics of bringing my own band from up here in Toronto down to NYC is simply too daunting to be worthwhile at this point. Rob, he a fine guitarist and composer in his own right, and I have struck up a mutual-admiration society of late. I recently proposed that he be the guitarist in my New York trio

2006-01-10T20:52:00.000-05:00

INDIEPool is hopeless. I gave them two chances, first with winter music and then with the fruits of our limitations. In the former's case, they managed to get my record to 3 or 4 of the major download retailers (iTunes, MSN Music, Rhapsody and crappy Puretracks), but so slowly that any momentum I had built up with gigs or press was a distant memory by the time it was there for sale. With the

2006-01-03T06:24:00.000-05:00

Catching up....I've woken up early this morning (in anticipation of the delivery of some furniture to our house; and of course, the 4-hour-maybe-we'll-show-up-maybe-we-won't-but-don't-dare-expect-us-to-phone-you delivery window is for "my convenience") to some sad news that I'm presumably a little late on finding out.The master guitarist Derek Bailey passed away on Christmas Day. I can't describe

2005-12-29T16:47:00.000-05:00

Hello!I'm off to Burlington tonight, and I haven't played the drums since last Thursday so I'm quite excited to do some playing. The holiday season has freed up everyone's schedules enought to even allow us to do some jamming tomorrow. EdZ, MikeP and I are getting together, for, wait for it..... fun. :)Anyway, that's pretty much it for me for 2005. There's lots coming up in the next two months,

2005-12-20T08:09:00.000-05:00

Head over to drumLAB to check out the posters for the Drum Mondays concert series in February 2006. I'm playing twice (2.6 cc+mo, 2.27 cc3+EZ), but will be there every week as the host, for lack of a better term.A light week for me musically (the universe has filled up my idle hands with such fun as a natural gas leak in my home and other near-death experiences :)), only two gigs: I'm playing

2005-12-14T23:13:00.000-05:00

The Toronto area is getting ready for a major snowstorm, but cc3 is unstoppable! We're planning to head out to our regular gig in Burlington, so maybe we'll see you out on the snowy roads, and then hopefully at our gig.I rehearsed tonight for my good friend (and trusted drum tech) Paul Fitterer's drum ensemble, Solsticks for the Kensington Festival of Lights next week. It's a huge parade and

2005-12-12T23:03:00.000-05:00

Things are slowing down for a few weeks on the gig front, which may mean that I'll be busier on the blog and my websites in general. We'll see. With the exception of my old faithful cc3 hit in Burlington, my holiday season begins after Wednesday this week. Perhaps it began tonight when a fellow citizen decided to hurl insults and obscenities at me because I wouldn't let him drive through my car

2005-12-10T23:12:00.000-05:00

I've put some more stuff on the free download page, including a rare live gem from Relax with Trudy's February 2000 run at Clinton's. We did a weekly gig there, it was some of the most fun I've ever had onstage. There was never more than 10 people there, but instrumentally we were KILLING it. Really, off the hook. I was playing just snare, hihat, bass drum and an 18" Paiste 2002 medium cymbal and

2005-12-05T08:55:00.000-05:00

As planned, the complete free download of the fruits of our limitations has now been removed from chriscawthray.com. You can currently purchase it at Puretracks.com and (hopefully very soon), iTunes.Fans of free stuff fear not, as soon as I get a chance, I'll be uploading some unreleased music for your enjoyment. Please bookmark the LISTEN/DOWNLOAD MUSIC page at chriscawthray.com and check back

2005-12-02T19:00:00.000-05:00

I can't resist the remote-blog!I'm currently at The Gladstone awaiting my 8pm set with Chip Yarwood at the hotel's grand opening. They have WiFi here, and on Chip's gig I run Reason sequences from behind the kit. There's no cover, come on down (there's lots more going on beyond my gig too....).

2005-11-30T20:12:00.000-05:00

fruits is up at Puretracks. Can iTunes be far behind? (yes I bet they can...). I'm going to be taking the free version off the site very soon, so don't delay if you haven't downloaded it yet.

2005-11-25T12:55:00.000-05:00

I guess this is a re-blog or something. I recently discovered the music of guitarist Rob Price, based in NYC and through listening to his music, and finding his website, struck up an email dialogue with him. I noticed on his website today that he made very kind mention of me and my music. I've been enjoying his very cool record "At Sunset" (available on iTunes, that's where I found it) in private

2005-11-23T18:14:00.000-05:00

Hey, good news! Chip Yarwood's band (including me) will perform again at the Gladstone Hotel on Friday December 2 in the Melody Bar @ the Gladstone. We're doing one set at around 7pm for the grand-opening party for the hotel.

2005-11-22T14:47:00.000-05:00

I just picked up a pre-mastered copy of a record I played percussion on over numerous sessions between 2003 and now. I was curious to hear what the finished product might be, and lo and behold it turns out I'm on a smooth jazz record! :):)Yep, this stuff is pretty smooth. There's some fantastic playing from all involved, but man, oh man, the quiet storm is rolling in on a few tunes. Who knows,

2005-11-20T16:15:00.000-05:00

HBS had a great gig last night. The band sounded very very good (having Lester McLean is great because he's a fine alto saxophonist, so the band sounds that much bigger with him), and the audience was very much into what we were doing. It was a private party, and our hosts easily rank amongst the best clients I've ever had the pleasure of working for. For all I know that may have been the last

2005-11-19T17:10:00.000-05:00

About to go pack up for a private party gig tonight in Burlington with HBS. Lester McLean is singing lead tonight, which is a rare treat for HBS. The clients for this private party specifically asked for Lester and I was lucky enough to get him for this gig. The rest of band is me, Mike Bowell, and Mike Pelletier. Tomorrow is a rare day-off for me this month, and then another busy week. cc3 has

2005-11-15T18:00:00.000-05:00

My good friend Altaf Vellani has returned to Toronto from living in Germany for the last 4 years. It's great to hang with him and he's a fine drummer. He has a new book/CD coming out and we're talking about doing a drumLAB clinic in conjunction with its release in March 06.

2005-11-14T08:18:00.000-05:00

The optical drive on my iBook has died, but I have 20 days left on my Apple warranty, so I'm crossing my e-fingers. I'm going to try and stay online (by resurrecting an original iMac sitting here in my office), but if I'm not around, this is why. Having said that, my blogging has been rather sparse of late anyway.The tap dance project has finished, for now. The performance went reasonably well (

2005-11-11T07:29:00.000-05:00

Tonight is the performance I am doing with Paula Skimin's tap dance company, Turn on The Tap. The show is at Mississauga's Living Arts Centre and a link to info about it is here.I have to do a tech rehearsal in the afternoon which I am dreading because tech rehearsals for a show like this (many artists doing single pieces) translates into hurry up and wait. I see a lot of sitting around doing

2005-11-02T19:05:00.000-05:00

I've got a busy week (and November is turning out to be a busy month), so I apologize for the scarcity of posts. I'm scrambling to get the music finished for Paula Skimin's dance piece, which we perform on November 11 in Mississauga at the Living Arts Centre. I am actually hoping to finish it later tonight, we rehearse Friday and Sunday.cc3 hits twice this week, our regular (we're going to put

2005-10-29T12:57:00.000-04:00

Hey, much to my surprise "paper tiger" got some airplay on 10/19 on Mike Hansen's fine "whynotjazz" radio show here in Toronto. He even mentioned the website on-air. Thanks!He does a great show 7am-11am Wednesdays, but you can listen to archived mp3s of each show at this site.

2005-10-27T20:53:00.000-04:00

For the first time ever, cc3 failed to make our gig tonight. We commute about 40km down the main highway out of Toronto to get to the gig, and while traffic is never good, we all get there. Tonight we didn't. So I had to decided to cancel the night when I was there by myself more than 30mins past downbeat. I can't remember the last time this has happened to me, if ever. I've got to gigs to find

2005-10-27T16:09:00.000-04:00

Page 162 of the new Modern Drummer magazine (12/05 issue) mentions my latest release, the fruits of our limitations. Download it here. I'd love to sell it to you, but iTunes is dragging its digital butt about uploading it, so it's free for the taking here at my site.

2005-10-26T07:47:00.000-04:00

You can see some photos of my new Tempus drum kit @ chriscawthray.com. For those gearheads out there, here's what's in the photos:TEMPUS drums:7x12 tom (blue)10x15 floor tom (orange)11x22 bass drum (gold)SONOR drums:6.5x14 ferro-manganese Phonic snare drumPAISTE cymbals:14" Alpha custom hats (SoundEdge TOP, Power BOTTOM)16" Alpha crystal crash18" Innovations crash/ridehardware:SONOR Designer

2005-10-25T18:42:00.000-04:00

I'm typing this post from onstage @ the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto. The building has WiFi, and I'm running some Reason files from behind the kit tonight. It's definitely a luxury to have WiFi onstage. I feel like I'm in Peter Gabriel's band or something. :):)Come down tonight, if only for the WiFi! The music's gonna be great too. Here's the link with all the info.

2005-10-25T10:44:00.000-04:00

Tonight is Chip Yarwood's CD release gig for his really really excellent record, one fork. It's like Dylan's "Time Out of Mind", but with a worldbeat sensibility. I like it a lot, and I'm so glad to be playing this music live. We're rocking out on a few things that are somewhat more ambient on the disc. Also, tonight will be my first time playing my new Tempus drums. I'll take some pictures once

2005-10-20T15:44:00.000-04:00

I'm getting things going on drumLAB. It's going to be a "nomadic" drum school, running at various (temporarily rented) locations. I'm working on bringing up a VERY COOL artist for a clinic. Stay tuned...cc3 hits tonight, and my new Tempus drums should be here tomorrow (I missed the FedEx guy today).

2005-10-17T08:24:00.000-04:00

Great gig last night. A small but appreciate audience came out, and the venue and its staff treated us very well. It was a real treat to be able to play with Ed and Mike, each of them so generous to my songs and my ideas in their own way. I'll try and post a video clip later this week from the gig.I'm starting to get a clearer picture of how to make this project work. For instance, the club

2005-10-15T15:38:00.000-04:00

MikeB, EdZ and I rehearsed this afternoon, and we're all feeling great about tomorrow's show at Pepperjack Cafe in Hamilton.The music has a different edge with Mike on guitar, it still respects the vibe of the fruits of our limitations but also manages to bring out other shades of the material. Mike and I go way back musically and personally, so it's a good fit. I think Mike's digging it too. Now

2005-10-14T00:18:00.000-04:00

On a whim I went and checked out the Juno Award submission regulations. The Junos, as some may know, are the Canadian recording industry awards. Anyway, it would be neat (and not much more than that, just neat, maybe neato), if "the fruits of our limitations" got nominated. What category? I guess some sort of Jazz.Anyway, I'm too futuristic for the Junos. They don't accept download-only releases

2005-10-12T20:43:00.000-04:00

My new article (part 2 of 3) is out in the October 2005 The Dance Current. I got two pages + graphics this time! Also, my dear friend and collaborator, Arwyn Carpenter has an article in this issue.I rehearsed with Ed and Mike today and it was great, we're going to take advantage of Saturday's gig being cancelled and get together and play that day too. I really hope you can make the show in

2005-10-11T17:59:00.000-04:00

my music is now available at MSN Music

2005-10-11T16:11:00.000-04:00

i've done a new poster for pepperjack's this week. see it heresee you at the show!

2005-10-07T00:11:00.000-04:00

yeah, so October 15 is going to be cancelled.The hit in Hamilton on 10/16 is still very much happening, and I think it's going to be a great time. The story on 10/15 is that the plug is being pulled because the show was likely going to underwhelm the venue financially, not to mention yours truly. To solve that issue would require energy that I want to devote to the music itself, instead of

2005-10-04T16:14:00.000-04:00

Ok, I've edited together a 6 minute demo medley of cc3. You can hear it and/or download it here.I'm getting worried about the 10/15 show. I'm worried there'll only be 3 people in the audience. I'm not worried about this because I want to be popular; my concern is that it all amounts to a big waste of time if no one shows up. If there's no one there, no one buys drinks (which hurts the venue), and

2005-10-01T13:36:00.000-04:00

I have a moment here on the last day of my 30th year.... I did a session yesterday for Kevin Cooke, it's a record he's been working on for quite some time, a "solo" album for saxophonist Mike Skinner. Basically, it's the Kevin Cooke Band, but MS is featured (it's an instrumental album). Anyway, due to some ProTools magic, my conga track on one tune went missing; so I went in to replace it. I

2005-09-27T23:06:00.000-04:00

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

2005-09-25T10:58:00.000-04:00

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

2005-09-21T19:12:00.000-04:00

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

2005-09-20T15:58:00.000-04:00

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

2005-09-17T18:54:00.000-04:00

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,

2005-09-15T12:36:00.000-04:00

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

2005-09-14T20:37:00.000-04:00

Ok,here's the poster for the October gigsBUY TICKETS FOR THE 10/15 show HERE

2005-09-08T23:42:00.000-04:00

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!

2005-09-07T23:31:00.000-04:00

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

2005-09-06T23:17:00.000-04:00

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

2005-09-03T10:04:00.000-04:00

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

2005-09-02T23:28:00.000-04:00

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

2005-08-30T16:08:00.000-04:00

What's news?Well, we hit tonight (I hope, the skies are graying, but I think the rain will stay away until later tonight) with cc3 @ Canyon Creek Square One. This is Anesti's second-last (or, penultimate, if you must) night with us, as his teaching practice begins again in two weeks. Eric Boucher will take over, and so far we're only slated to play Tuesdays until Sept.20, but I hope a gig-fairy

2005-08-28T17:04:00.000-04:00

I finally have a moment to type, so I'll re-cap since Thursday's gig.- cc3 in Burlington was fun, it had some nice moments. We don't get to play as much contemporary material without Eric, but it was a good time nonetheless. (Though I must admit, our weekly renditions of Wichita Lineman and The Rain Song are addictive; I quite missed getting to do them on Thursday.)- on Friday, Pacy Shulman and I

2005-08-24T14:06:00.000-04:00

Due to a family matter, EricB can't be with us tomorrow @ Canyon Creek. Tim Posgate has graciously made himself available to fill in, it'll be a great night. We hit @ 7pm.I have begun booking rehearsals with Paula Skimin for a tap dance piece that will premiere November 11 and then re-appear in a show in February. I'll keep you posted. Our first rehearsal is Sept. 12What else? Steve Jordan showed

2005-08-23T02:54:00.000-04:00

Mike Ferfolia I had the pleasure of playing with this fine musician for the third time tonight (he subbed in with HBS). He's great, a total pro and very very musical. I hope I have lots more work to offer him.I bought the new Bill Frisell live CD today (double-disc). iTunes wanted $19.99 for it, and I think that's a bit much for a download of a 2-CD album. I think it should no more than 1.5

2005-08-22T10:13:00.000-04:00

I'm in the midst of lots of gigs, basically every night, with little time to rest during the day. It's quite tiring, but rewarding. It's good to challenge one's self to play at a high standard every night, and I can't say I mind making more money than usual. On the other side, I just ordered some concert tickets to see Ornette Coleman (I've never seen him) and Wayne Shorter's Quarter. OC is in

2005-08-18T07:40:00.000-04:00

Tech time....I've been hanging on to two old Mac computers for some time and finally decided their occassional usefulness does not match the amount of space they take up in our home. I put ads up on craigslist.org and the stuff is pretty much sold, in less than 12 hours! Too cool.I'm trying to de-clutter and raise some "found money" to make my impending drumset purchase a non-issue to the

2005-08-16T23:29:00.000-04:00

A few things:+ OCTOBER 16 - my trio with Tim and Ed returns to Pepperjack Cafe in Hamilton, mark it down! (the tinyTour may happen too, with this date included, stay tuned...)+ I played the Steve Jordan drums on a cc3 gig tonight, they're cool. I will try them with HBS Friday (pretty much the opposite end of the dynamic spectrum in terms of my playing) to see if they cut it. If so, I'll have to

2005-08-15T19:49:00.000-04:00

I went to the music store today to trade in my rental PA cabinets for lighter ones. I did that. But I brought home drums as well.A set of YAMAHA Maple Custom Definitives (a line that is apparently not available in the US market). 6ply Chinese maple shells, made in Japan with all the YAMAHA bells and whistles. They are modeled after a vintage Gretsch style shell (rounded edges). I think they sound

2005-08-14T19:59:00.000-04:00

I am in the midst of two weeks accompanying Peggy Baker. It's fantastic, for a few reasons. I decided to take almost two months off from playing for dance classes; it was getting tedious (or rather, I was.) and I didn't want to burn out on it. The offer came to do Peggy's professional training intensive at the National Ballet of Canada and I knew this would be my perfect re-entry into the dance

2005-08-11T16:29:00.000-04:00

Wow, what a busy week. Lots of music going on, I'm really enjoying it. Hopefully I'll be able to post soon about what I've been doing, no time now....

2005-08-07T07:55:00.000-04:00

The Red Guitar is a cool place, and we had a great time last night. The crowd was on the intimate side, but appreciate and listening (what more can we ask for? :) ). The band had its moments and had a lot of fun too. As usual, my feeling post-gig is that I can't wait till the next one. I still feel like Tim, Ed and I are still learning each others' moves, which is cool (and has its musical

2005-08-06T11:36:00.000-04:00

Tonight! First set is at 9pm, see you there!chris cawthray @ the Red Guitarwith his trio: tim posgate/guitars + ed zankowski/tenor saxophone603 Markham St. (Markham/Bloor), Toronto$9 coverCD and DVD giveaways!!

2005-08-05T11:28:00.000-04:00

On a whim (partly influenced by the extreme heat wave we're under and the thought of lugging drum hardware) I took my congas and a cymbal to cc3 last night. It worked really well, and I got to play a whole night on congas, which is somewhat rare these days. Thankfully, we didn't try and become Miami Sound Machine just because the congas had shown up. It was far more interesting for me to play our

2005-08-02T17:12:00.000-04:00

cc3 tonight has been cancelled due to weather, and the fact that most of the roads leading to the venue have been closed or are jammed with traffic due to the plane crash at Pearson Airport, which is only a few minutes away from the Creek.We hope to see you all next week at Canyon Creek, and please send some good thoughts out to the people involved in this horrible accident.

2005-08-01T09:44:00.000-04:00

Allrighty, the Red Guitar show is imminent! Our Saturday rehearsal got moved to Tuesday, so I'll report back after that. In the meantime, I'm looking ahead to shows in October, the fabled "tinyTour" will rise again. I'm also talking to a publicist about handling those dates ("doing it up right" as it were). The plan all along has been to divert CD manufacturing money (since we're DOWNLOAD-ONLY

2005-07-28T23:37:00.001-04:00

We had another great night at Canyon Creek. The Thursday cc3 (with Eric Boucher) is a helluva band. We played two new charts tonight that I had prepared:Hope Song (my tune from winter music )Hunter (a Bjork cover)Both of these tunes are being added the the "fruits..." trio with Tim and Ed, so it was cool to hear the charts played before I rehearse them with T&E on Saturday. It was particularly

2005-07-26T16:30:00.000-04:00

cc3 @ SQUARE ONE has been cancelled tonight, july 26. The whole area is under a severe-weather watch so the venue has decided to cancel this date and add an extra week to our contract into September. See you next week!.... in other newsI had my first-ever "meeting with my editor" today over the phone, for my Dance Current article. She (Megan Andrews) likes my article but wants to break it down

2005-07-24T20:40:00.000-04:00

My blog couldn't be more boring right now in comparison to my "the fruits of our limitations" mate Tim Posgate. He's in Scandanavia touring with his own band featuring Howard Johnson, and getting into all sorts of trouble/fun. Go read all about it.I did another night at Joe Dog's last night, and unless I get really desperate, I can't see myself doing it anymore. The fighting (in the audience,

2005-07-22T16:54:00.000-04:00

Tonight is Joe Dog's with Hot Buttered Soul. This gig is a poorly paying 2-nighter that holds sentimental value for our singer, so he books us in there. It's loud, goes late, and there's usually a fight or five at the end of the night as the patrons exit (the patrons fight, not the band). It's the only gig I play locally where one of us has to "guard" our vehicles when we load-out. Feels like

2005-07-20T08:24:00.000-04:00

I played my new Giant Beat 20" cymbal last night, it's very very cool. These cymbals are THE sound of heavy British rock from the 60s. In the middle of the cc3 gig last night I was playing a figure on the GB between its bell and shoulder and it sounded like we were listening to the middle of Whole Lotta Love... MP noticed it too. It's a bright cymbal with a lot of air in its tone, I like it, I am

2005-07-16T23:48:00.000-04:00

My gig tonight got rained out after one set, and then Pacy phoned to tell me that my master CD was waiting to be picked up in his mailbox.So, I got busy.the new release, DOWNLOAD ONLY. Go get it. like "winter music", I'm going to offer it for free until it becomes available on iTunes.

2005-07-14T07:46:00.000-04:00

Mastering went very quickly last night. Pacy had suggested I bring some CDs with me that I thought sounded good. Not "good" from a performance/composition point of view, but "good" sonically, good engineering, etc. I picked the last The Bad Plus disc GIVE, mixed by Tchad Blake, and an old Pheeroan AkLaffCD from 1990 called Sonogram.It was amazing, when loaded up in ProTools, how different those

2005-07-13T17:32:00.000-04:00

I'm mastering @ HiLo Studio tonight. This is the final stage before "pressing", which raises an interesting issue. I am still undecided about releasing this as a CD. My gut tells me to simply make it a download, and stay ahead of the curve (any money I would have spent on manufacturing CDs can be spent on other areas of promoting and performing with this band). I'll burn copies for promotion, but

2005-07-11T16:18:00.000-04:00

I received an email today from Megan Andrews, the editor of The Dance Current, Canada's national dance magazine. Her and I had discussed me writing an article for them back in the spring, and while I started it, I shelved it while other things came up.Anyway, she still wants the article, so I'm going to finish it. It should be out in the September issue. My plan was to write the article on the

2005-07-08T09:15:00.000-04:00

The gig last night was great, EricB really came through playing bass+keys (he played organ sounds and a "split" of a wood bass and piano). He even took a few "bass" solos. Tim sounded great and the decent-sized crowd was quite appreciative. So, all in all, a good night.I'm starting to think about a "cover" image for the new release and may use some photography by my friend Ed Pas. he takes

2005-07-07T10:08:00.000-04:00

I just finished printing and cutting colour handbills for the August 6 gig w/Tim & Ed. This kind of work has nothing to do with drumming, composing, or any of the things I am passionate about. But it has to be done. And I'm just the man for the job, in fact, I am the only man for the job. :)BTW, the Red Guitar (the club we're playing August 6) has its grand opening this weekend, the website is

2005-07-04T19:20:00.000-04:00

A light week this week with just two gigs, tomorrow @ Creek Square1 and Thursday at Creek Burlington. Both gigs are cc3, but with all-new lineups (since MP is away on vacation):tuesday: cc, anesti karantakis (guitar), mike pellarin (bass)thursday: cc, eric boucher (keys), tim posgate (guitar)I'm totally humbled by the fine musicians that come out to play with me, it's going to be a great week.

2005-07-01T23:41:00.000-04:00

Luther Vandross has died, much too soon. He was an incredible singer, and one of the last true soulful singers in mainstream music. There is a live album from Radio City Music Hall that was recorded just before his stroke (check it out here) that contains some damn-near perfect performances by him and his band.A singer like Luther is hard to find in this "Idol" era. Luther knew how to sing with

2005-07-01T00:34:00.000-04:00

Tonight's gig was effortless, from the first note to the last. What a great night, waaaay too hot outside, but Eric and Mike sounded great, and we nailed cool versions of some of my faves in our repertoire (wichita lineman and isobel, and of course the cc3 staple, rain song by zep). I'm keen to bring in some new charts, maybe a Radiohead tune, and another Bjork....Next week it's subs-ville, with

2005-06-29T07:51:00.000-04:00

We had a good gig with Anesti last night at cc3's new Tuesday install, Canyon Creek Square One. We're playing very different material with Anesti than we do with Eric (or anyone else). Anesti, for one, brings lots of gear, so his guitar tone changes on every tune; his view is that if he's melody and harmony then he should bring some variation sonically to each tune. It's a cool approach, and he's

2005-06-27T09:18:00.000-04:00

For those of you that visit here before the homepage, the poster for the August 6 gig is now up.This morning I am making notes on the mixes Pacy sent to me and I'm beginning the digital "booklet" that will accompany the download of our new EP.

2005-06-26T17:26:00.000-04:00

There's a momentum happening here. The cancellation of the tinyTour that never was has yielded another opportunity: we may do an "off-site" gig in the Guelph Jazz Festival sept 7-11. The GJF this year features the Art Ensemble of Chicago, which is just plain AWESOME. Also, Ed Z mentioned to Tim and I at our gig in May that many years ago he wanted to be AEC's Roscoe Gordon, with the exception of

2005-06-26T15:08:00.000-04:00

The tinyTour is no more, for now.Scheduling and expense have dictated that the tinyTour should wait until the fall. In the meantime we'll still be hitting at The Red Guitar on August 6 and hopefully doing a Sunday @ Pepperjack's in August. Stay tuned for a tinyTour in September or October.Meanwhile, I am definitely in the thick of my SIRCorp/Canyon Creek monopoly gigs for the summer. When HBS

2005-06-22T19:08:00.000-04:00

I stumbled into booking shows for the new three-o this week. While my idea of a miniTour hasn't come to fruition, other things have presented themselves. Expect us back at Pepperjack's (Hamilton) in September and the miniTour has been re-named the "tinyTour", as it is now (if it happens) only 2 dates:Saturday August 6 - The Red Guitar - Toronto (evening)Sunday August 7 - TBA - Guelph (time TBA)

2005-06-21T16:54:00.000-04:00

Ok, over the course of the day the three-o miniTour has been squashed from 3 possible dates to 2. Looks like we'll be gigging August 6 in Toronto and (possibly) August 7 in Guelph. Stay tuned....

2005-06-21T09:13:00.000-04:00

The new three-o (tim, ed and myself) are hopefully booking some shows in the beginning of August. If it all falls into place, we'd do August 5-6-7 in three cities in Southern Ontario. Tentative scheduled so far is August 6 in Toronto at a new venue called The Red Guitar. I will confirm this soon, and then officially post it on the website. Our new 5-song release will come out in July as a free

2005-06-19T01:37:00.000-04:00

Kevin's gig tonight was fun. Probably the loosest of the gigs this band has done so far. Everyone played well, and I think it was perhaps the most appreciate crowd we've had yet, but the gig just felt a bit sloppy. I am not sure where this band is headed next: it's 10 pieces and no one is really making any money. Kevin has built up alot of goodwill amongst the musicians in Toronto, and he's

2005-06-17T00:22:00.000-04:00

Busy night tonight:It began around 3:30, when I delivered a bouquet of gerber daisies to my grade 12 students @ ESA in celebration of their final performance tonight. I chose the complimentary "Happy Retirement" card for the bouquet. My work @ ESA is something I don't really blog much about, but it's a big thing for me, and I really dig working with such talented young people.From there I

2005-06-16T14:58:00.000-04:00

Here's the official plug for my gig with Kevin Cooke Band this Saturday night:==================================Mark your calendar: Sat. June 18thTHE KEVIN COOKE BAND"All the horns & twice the percussion!"LIVE AT CLINTON'S TAVERN693 Bloor Street Westat the Christie Subway Stationmap to venueFeaturing the 10 (possibly 11 or 12) piece bandfor a paltry $5.00 coverShow starts at 9:30pmCome for

2005-06-15T14:40:00.000-04:00

I played a dance class this morning, and will head out @ 3:30 to view my students' dress rehearsal for their final show @ ESA (I'll miss the show due to a cc3 gig). In between I've been doing some admin and realizing that times are pretty good in my career-world. I went to the mailbox to find three cheques from various clients. All three of these cheques, for various reasons, arrived with an

2005-06-14T06:51:00.000-04:00

Pacy and I had a mixing session @ HILO yesterday. Wow, the stuff sounds INCREDIBLE. All credit goes to Pacy's fine facility and his ability. Thanks to him, we've ended doing a lot of mix "moves" one normally doesn't see on a so-called-jazz recording. The result is going to be a collection of pieces with lots of sonic depth (beyond the performance itself), we've done a few "headphone mix" type of

2005-06-10T23:13:00.000-04:00

The MHSB shows are off to a good start. I caught all my cues, and managed to play some interesting music in the process. I'm still working out some technical issues with Reason. With each different patch I use the volume goes up and down, so depending on what I'm playing with it (i.e. synth and drumset, or synth and Tibetan cymbals, etc.) the Reason sounds are sometimes too quiet.I experienced a

2005-06-10T13:17:00.000-04:00

Just checking in while I have a few hours between gigs. I played two dance classes this morning and the studio had to have been at least 30Celsius; way too hot for the work we were doing. Anyway, I complain about winter so I can't really start complaining about warm weather now, can I?We had a great gig last night at Canyon Creek. The re-constituted full-time cc3 of myself, mp and eric boucher is

2005-06-06T07:29:00.000-04:00

I am staring in the face of a very busy week! In addition to 10 dance classes this week @ ESA, I'm doing a cc3 hit on Thursday and an HBS on Saturday (which I have to rent the PA system for...). Squeezing in around this are 6 shows for the Martha Hicks School of Ballet. The MHSB gig is one I have done for a few years now, and it's great fun and a great group of people to work with. Essentially, I

2005-06-01T14:43:00.000-04:00

GIG REPORT:Here's a clip of my song "megtwo" from my gig on Friday night. This is a cool trio, and the more I think about it, our demo will probably become an actual release (download or CD, or both, stay tuned...). Anyway, let the music from the gig speak for itself, click here to watch a clip.Mixing sessions @ HILO are probably delayed until next week. I'll report track-by-track once we're

2005-05-29T23:07:00.000-04:00

I implored my PC-using brother to check out if Winter Music was available at Puretracks.com, the Canadian download site for PC users. It is, at over $2 more in price. What's up with that? I assure you I am far, far away from those making this decision, and I can't in good conscience ask people to buy from Puretracks, when iTunes offers it for $3.99.PC or Mac. Both are supported by iTunes. If you

2005-05-29T21:30:00.000-04:00

WINTER MUSIC is on iTunes!FINALLY.I shouldn't start to get picky since it took almost 6 months, but they listed me under the ROCK genre. Maybe. I don't know, do I rock? That record doesn't, but whatever. Please, check me out on iTunes. Please. I've waited so long. :)

2005-05-29T17:33:00.000-04:00

hey!Big weekend, the gig in Hamilton was a blast. I'll try finish my studio report this week, and a offer some thoughts on the gig. Stay tuned....

2005-05-27T17:45:00.000-04:00

Studio report: part oneWednesday night was great. Instead of going in and doing the original plan of three songs, we played our entire repertoire, six tunes! While I had hoped to take pictures and video, little of that actually happened. I was busy drumming. I'm going to start making a concrete plan to get a DV/digicam person at sessions and gigs so that good stuff gets documented. At any rate,

2005-05-25T15:33:00.001-04:00

I'm home from setting up at HILO studio, sounds good, feels good, tonight should be fun.Here's a few pics so far:the exteriormy drumsa mic and engineer Pacy Shulman bending over, working hardmore photos tomorrow