Ok, it's sunday morning, so I'll update all y'all since my last post...

- wednesday's trio was cut short by one set due to torrential rain, but it was quite fun until that point (this week we'll make up for the last set by playing till 10pm, so come on by!)
- thursday saw the return of MO to the house gig, and MP played electric bass... I'm 50/50 on the ebass for this gig; it allows us to carpool as a band (which lowers the travel costs and increases pay-in-pocket, as it were), but I think it'll be a few more gigs before it settles. One problem for me is that we're doing low-volume stuff, I'm playing with hands and brushes almost all night. I love that challenge, but with the electric (since it has such a punchy sound), the sound coming out of the amp rattles the snares on my snare drum all the time. I don't seem to have this problem with an amped acoustic bass... Furthermore, the presence of the acoustic always warmed up the overall sound and helped the band stay quiet. With electric guitar and bass and an always excitable drummer, the volume always creeps up. This week, we may play outdoors in Burlington, so the volume issue won't be as crucial (they'll let us rip a bit), so we'll see...

-Hot Buttered Soul has a bunch of dates coming up, two nights this week at Joe Dog's in Burlington (100% non-smoking, so it can be alot of fun), and then we play 9/11 at the jazz festival in Port Credit, which usually draws a big crowd. In between there, we may have a date at the Canyon Creek (Sherway) for a special event; the date keeps changing, as does our availability, so who knows....

-my new snare drum arrived, and with the 7weeker in the house, daddy (me) has yet to play it. it certainly looks fantastic! I may have to sneak out to a friend's practice studio to give it a honk... at any rate, it'll be in effect this weekend with HBS

- I've been watching drum instructional DVDs this week. I only have two, but luckily, I think they're the two best ones out there, Steve Jordan's "The Groove is Here" and Billy Ward's "Big Time".. lots of inspirational playing, and great music too...

- I should be getting my drumKAT this week! I have no idea how to use it, but I think it's going to totally change my solo playing (for dance work, mostly). I really need this, as I feel I'm spinning my wheels a bit with that part of my playing... On that note, TDT (Toronto Dance Theatre) asked me to go on tour with them this fall. I would love to, man, would I love to (travel + music is the absolute best), but I won't leave home right now without my family. So, I've politely declined, but told them if they were willing to accomodate my wife and baby along with me, then I'd be happy to. I'm quite sure their budget doesn't allow for that, but we'll see...

last night's Trio hit with Tim Posgate was great fun. This was the first time MP and I had played with Tim (and actually the first time we've ever met), and he was fanastic as both a player and person. Very organic in his musical approach, Tim's got a sweet/sour guitar tone that was a real pleasure to accompany and he's not afraid of mixing it up rhythm-wise. (which we drummers appreciate). Anyway, good fun, and hopefully good music. We'll do it again soon with any luck.

what's next? I have the weekend off to be Dad and contemplate the purchase of some electronic drum equipment. Next week I am hoping my new snare drum will arrive (the Sonor Artist Series Beech 13x5) via UPS...

hello hello

I got offered a really cool gig yesterday, alas, I had to turn it down. Toronto Dance Theatre (www.tdt.org) offered me their fall tour; I would have been drumming for them in technique classes and workshops, and doing some driving. Coulda been cool. But, between Drummer, Driver, and Dad; Dad takes precedence. So for now, I'm staying home to be with my family. No regrets about that; but you never know, there may be a way to make it work (bring the family along!)...

Tonight MP and I gig with Tim Posgate, should be fun. I missed last night's Trio gig (EB and MP played duo) due to a minor health emergency with my daughter, but everything's OK now.

OTHER NEWS:

my business partner and new friend Kip Hanrahan is off to NYC to begin recording of his new record. It'll be his first all-original (non compilation, soundtrack, production of another artist) in many years. For years I devoured this music from afar, it's almost too much to be "in on the ground floor" with it now.

Montreal's Studio 303 is interested in having Arwyn Carpenter and I perform in their 2004/05 Vernisagge Danse series. We'd love to, so we're just working out the dates now...

posgate's in for next week in burlington.... while I can't make new html pages, I can change images on the site, so I made a new "house gigs" poster for the front page of the site....

tim posgate's website is www.guildwoodrecords.com he blogs too... check it out

sorry about the lack of updates.... I've been working alot, and changing baby diapers in between.

I recently mangled my web software, so updating the page itself is overdue (I have to get new software). But suffice to say, here's what's been up:

my Trio has been doing lots of work. Eric Boucher has been AWOL but tenor/soprano player Ryan Oliver ably filled in. It was cool to play "chordless" trio for a few gigs. The Thursday night house gig in Burlington looks like a keeper, and I now have a 2nd regular Trio of Mike Pelletier (bass) and myself with my duo-mate Michael Occhipinti on guitar. The bar in Burlington digs the guitar (MO subbed for the AWOL Eric, and they liked it so much I decided to establish a guitar/bass/drums trio), so that's what they get.

Next week MO is away, but he was going to hopefully get the great Tim Posgate to sub, whom I've never played with, but enjoyed for quite some time...

So, for those that are keeping score, or making plans:

WEDNESDAYS (probably till mid-Sept.) - TRIO @ Canyon Creek Sherway -cc, mp, and eric boucher on piano
THURSDAYS (at this point indefinitely!) - TRIO @ Canyon Creek Burlington - cc, mp, MO

The Thursday gig is 100% non-smoking, which we love.

What else? I'll be working with the Toronto Dance Theatre for a week at the end of this month, playing company class for TDT director Christopher House.... When our routine at home with our new baby-friend settles down I'm going to begin preparing a new show for Arwyn Carpenter and I... I am going to begin the process of having "winter music" submitted for JUNO awards consideration... I am going to apply for Arwyn and I to do a workshop at the PASIC (Percussive Arts Society) convention in fall 2005....

long time no post!

we have a baby in the house now, which (as anyone with one knows) CHANGES EVERYTHING. it's wonderful though.

July has been busy, lots of music. This week's gigs include playing @ TDT, teaching @ MHSB and working with my Trio. Only, my Trio is not "the" Trio this week.

Tonight, Mike Manny subs for Eric Boucher (who is away this week doing a theatre gig...). and tomorrow the Trio starts a new house gig, Thursday nights at another Canyon Creek location, in Burlington. Neither Mike Pelletier nor Eric are around tomorrow, so it's a one-time-only, never-before-seen trio of myself, Michael Occhipinti, and Kevin Cooke on 6-string bass. It should be fun.

What else? Looks like Hot Buttered Soul will do some dates in August at one of our usual hits, Joe Dog's in Burlington; and the Wednesday Canyon Creek may do some Saturdays with HBS as well.

Stay tuned!

It's starting to look like a busy July, great! I've just been offered a whole bunch of teaching gigs at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre, plus some dance-class accompaniment there too. So, there's my days (along with teaching the kiddies every Tuesday all summer at Martha Hicks School of Ballet), and the Trio and a few other things at night.

Also, a last-minute addition: I'm playing with Akim Triebsch (his duo gigs are under the name Traveller) at the Up+Down on Roncesvalles Ave, in Toronto on Friday night from 9:30-1:30... I used to play with Akim alot, then I gave the gig to a great drummer, Chris Stott. Anyway, I'm now the "fill-in" guy for this job, and that suist me fine. So, come see my fills on Friday. :)

It's starting to look like a busy July, great! I've just been offered a whole bunch of teaching gigs at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre, plus some dance-class accompaniment there too. So, there's my days (along with teaching the kiddies every Tuesday all summer at Martha Hicks School of Ballet), and the Trio and a few other things at night.

Also, a last-minuet addition: I'm playing with Akim Triebsch (his duo gigs are under the name Traveller) at the Up+Down on Roncesvalles Ave, in Toronto on Friday night from 9:30-1:30... I used to play with Akim alot, then I gave the gig to a great drummer, Chris Stott. Anyway, I'm now the "fill-in" guy for this job, and that suist me fine. So, come see my fills on Friday. :)

It's starting to look like a busy July, great! I've just been offered a whole bunch of teaching gigs at the School of Toronto Dance Theatre, plus some dance-class accompaniment there too. So, there's my days (along with teaching the kiddies every Tuesday all summer at Martha Hicks School of Ballet), and the Trio and a few other things at night.

Hope to see you all on Wednesday soon!

.. oh yeah, I'll be off the Trio gig next week (june30). I haven't booked a sub yet, but I'm one of two places next wednesday: at my brother's wedding or having a baby, whichever comes first... :)

The Trio has put two in the bag so far... last night was considerably better than the first night (last week). It felt like a band again, lots of listening and some unexpected turns. Why, oh why, do musicians seem to fall into the trap of ending songs the way they started? I mean, few films, books, plays, or dances really do that; why music? Is the musical language so foreign to the audiences ears that we can't assume they can appreciate something starting, changing, and ending? I don't know. Jazz standards are most noticeably stricken by this curse; you play the "head", solo, then play the "head" again. It would seem that jazz, of all musics, would be able to loosen itself from these shackles. In the end, it's up to us I guess to take these chances.

... I just read that Lollapalooza has been cancelled in its entirety due to poor ticket sales. WOW. So, right now, I have more gigs this summer than 30 bands who just days ago had way more gigs than me. This is a fragile business. It's a helpful reminder that music is its own reward, and the mere notion that I will pay my bills (and maybe, just maybe, save some money, or spend some money on my family and I) through music is a pretty wonderful thing. I've yet to reach any substantial notoriety in this business, and may never, but I do play my drums almost every day, and have yet to pick up a spatula and flip a burger for money, or ask "do you wear black?".....

.. new CD finds: John Abercrombie (w/Joey Baron)/Class Trip (ECM)

The Trio starts tonight, and should continue weekly all summer. I've been looking forward to this gig since it ended last fall. The venue (a restaurant called Canyon Creek) treats us well, and the music goes in lots of different places. Pre-production for the Trio has been impossible, what with everyone finishing up other projects and me expecting the expectation @ home (not yet, any day though)... So tonight we'll just wing it, and then in the next few weeks start working out of the band "book" (a collection of repertoire we want to do, as opposed to just showing up and playing the same old jazz standards all the time). The "book" requires me to do some photocopying.....

What else, the Hot Buttered Soul performance July 16 at the Docks is confirmed, although the details have changed. They originally sold it to us as a large (2000 + people) event. The reality is that it may be only a few hundred of the attendees that actually stick around for the band. So, the budget had to be scaled down, but it's all OK. They've offered us some other dates too in the future, so that make sme happy.

What else? The summer may shape up to be OK work-wise, stay tuned to the website for new dates.

Otherwise, come out on Wednesday night and say hello!

I got a call today from a promoter that stages running races (with parties attached), and they are looking for Hot Buttered Soul (my cover band) to play an event of theirs in July. We've done the Toronto Marathon through these people (we'd play on the course itself, so while the audiences were small at any given moment, literally a few thousand folks would hear us in the space of a few hours), and this race in July, they want us to play the end-party. That's cool. 2200 people, which I think would be the largest crowd this band has played for....

Anyway, details to work out, fees to be discussed, songs to learn (they want lots of classic rock). This is the business side of the music business, but I don't mind. The end result is always playing the drums (and paying the bills by it). How could I complain?

computers! such fun.

anyway, I'm re-arranging server space, so bear with the site for a few moments... the videos are offline right now, until I can find more space to keep them... but there's some great mp3 music to hear, so enjoy!

I've just put up some new audio, a track from 2001/2002 (I can't remember if it was recorded late in 01 or early in 02), from a suite of songs I did for PBJ dance projects. Laurel James is the featured vocalist, and she sounds great. I would like to officially release this stuff one day.... Anyway, go grab the mp3 and enjoy!

Ok, Canyon Creek has confirmed: we start Wednesday June 16 and for the first few weeks we'll be going 3 sets from 6pm-9pm. Once it warms up, we'll add a 4ths et until 10pm... Hope to see you there, you can get info on the venue from www.chriscawthray.com, just click on Canyon Creek's name in the performances calendar...

I just got some new cymbals, so I'm selling some old ones:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3725513189&ssPageName=ADME:B:LC:CA:1

check 'em out. there's something funky between eBay and the Safari browser, so I couldn't get the photos up, so go to:

http://www.musicformovement.com/602.html

to see them...

not much else to report professionally right now, with the exception of the Trio at Canyon Creek I will essentially be off from June 10 to the beginning of July, in anticipation and preparation for the arrival of new (very small, in need of a lot fo assistance) person in our house.

welcome to Canada.... where your June outdoor gig may be postponed due to cold weather. :)

I got a call from Canyon Creek yesterday, they want to delay the start of the Wednesday jazz nights (we play outdoors on the patio) till the third week of June, as they fear the evenings will be too cold until then. OK. I was looking forward to getting started, but the anticipation will just be building even more now, I guess.

In other news, I've elected to change my role in the upcoming Martha Hicks ballet gigs. I am now going to be essentially a "producer" instead of performing. My dear colleague Romano DiNillo will be taking my place. Some very wonderful personal stuff is occuring around the time of the gigs that will require my entire attention, so I have chosen to limit my working hours during this time. It'll cost me money (lots, actually), but I'll make it back sooner or later.

Elvin Jones died yesterday, he will be very much missed by many drummers and music lovers (myself included). I had the pleasure of seeing him perform a number of times when I was a teenager, and he never ceased to amaze, inspire, and fill me with joy. Elvin had a sense for picking out the drummers in the crowd, and I do think he felt a kinship with them. I remember settling in to a seat right beside his drumkit one night when I was in high school, and before the set started, he came over and sat down at my table and welcomed my friend and I and he was genuinely interested in who we were and how we were doing (and he correctly guessed I was a drummer). Another drummer friend, Paul Fitterer, spontaneously related a similar story today to me. I am sure there are hundreds if not thousands of these stories out there being told today, all of them true. R.I.P. Elvin...

hello, long time no post.... here's the news:

-my Trio (with Mike Pelletier on bass and Eric Boucher on piano) will return for it's summer residency gig at Canyon Creek (a restaurant at the southwestern edge of Toronto, what was formerly called "Etobicoke"), starting Wednesday June 2, 6pm-10pm, and continuing weekly all summer. Eric can't do the first two weeks, so I'm hopeful Michael O. can sub in for him, and I anxiously await his confirmation of that.

-I am slow getting started on the prep for the Martha Hicks gig, but I will make some effort this week, it's a lot of work, and I am procrastinating like crazy. :)

- ABC (Australian Broadcast Company... Australia's national radio station), has shown interest in "winter music" for their "THE PLANET" show. I've sent off a CD (they won't make final decisions based on mp3s) and hopefully they'll dig it enough to play it.

-had lunch yesterday in Guelph, ON with Robert Blonski, the painter whose work I used for the cover of "winter music". great stuff. he has a show in Guelph right now until June 6 at the Bookshelf (a very Guelph-esque bookstore/gallery/restaurant/move theatre), also visit www.robertblonski.com

I've added some stuff to the website: some pictures and an old mp3 of Relax with Trudy; which by some reports, was probably the best power trio onstage anywhere for maybe a few seconds while we were playing. What I mean to say is that we had our moments....
I've been checking out iTunes (the store) too, and while it's not available yet for Canadian customers to shop, we can browse. They have "celebrity playlists", essentially song compilations. It's a simple thing, but the fact that the reader can actually get the songs listed immediately is quite cool... I've been thinking about making some mp3 lists of my previous bands, and then offering them on the website as condensed "best of"s for those who might be interested.