I'm to be featured on 21st and Ivy, lifestyle website by photographer Matt Clayton

There will be a Valentine's day story on me (romantic saxophone music and all) at the website http://www.twentyfirstandivy.com/

I'll post another link when the story is up. You may remember Matt from his earlier project "Square Magazine". He's a very talented photographer and really nice guy to boot.

NYC Fashion show recap

I had a blast in NYC this weekend playing at the fashion show/talent showcase. Diana from Suede marketing truly knows how to take care of her clients, and everyone was very welcoming. I played two sets, broken up by comedian "Shorty" who proceeded to make fun of everyone in the audience, including me, the "white chocolate from Utah with 5 wives, recruiting for his 6th wife". He was hilarious.

The event was held at the Mt Vernon AAC (African American Club) and I was so happy to have the opportunity to play for such an enthusiastic crowd that was so into jazz music. Typically at events I get a lot of requests for music that is not jazz, but here they asked me to play Coltrane, couldn't ask for a better place to play.

The clothing designer had some really stunning pieces, she weaves them all herself.

I was especially happy to be able to meet so many of the members at the club, and learned about a lot of other places in town that I could potentially perform at.

Diana coordinated everything and made it an amazing evening. I'd go back and play there again in a heartbeat, and hope for another opportunity.

Musicians and Event planners coordinating to make the event a success

Over the years my bands have performed at many many events of all shapes and sizes. I've played acoustic background music with a small instrumental jazz quartet for backyard wedding receptions with an intimate gathering of close friends and relatives. I've had my bigger band play for large corporate events at the Salt Palace, providing the main entertainment for a seated convention crowd of 8,000; with rehearsed timing and entrances, boosted with huge speakers and complicated audio-visuals to accompany the music.

No matter the size or complexity of the event, it is essential to communicate well with the event planner, whether it's the bride herself or an events expert from a large company. This communication may be as simple as emails back and forth, or as complex as multiple meetings or long phone calls going over the needs and plans for the event to go off without a hitch.

A few things which I have learned over the years which are important for the musician to discuss with the event planner:

1. Music Style. Often a client requests a mellow jazz band for their wedding reception but once the reception begins they start to request popular dance music. For this reason I've greatly expanded the repertoire of my band and vocalist, so that we are prepared to do the modern chart-toppers.

2. Special requests. Determine the Daddy-daughter and First Dance numbers long before the night of the reception. A request for an obscure song made the night of an event usually can't be fulfilled . . . plan ahead with the client so that expectations are clear and can be met.

3. What to do in case of a need for en extended performance time. Let's say the company party got to a late start, or the wedding reception is going so well that everyone wants to stay and party longer than the planned time. This is a common eventuality which must be discussed beforehand. If an agreement is reached before the event starts then the event planners and musicians already have a clear plan of action should the client choose to extend their party.

4. Will the band be served dinner? This seems small but can be a big deal if the band is playing starting in the evening going until late. Plan early to stay within expectations.

5. What is the band going to be wearing? Tuxes or concert black are the most common, but sometimes there is a certain look and feel desired . . . such as a mardi gras party, or a new year's marquerade ball, etc.

Performances in Japan

Larry Marshal, pictured above playing drums, is an incredible player. Listen to some of his past recordings (along with Phillip Strange on Piano) here.
Kazuki Iida was incredible on the keyboard. Hi intuition as a musician anticipated anything I wanted to do, and he created beautiful canvasses of chords over which the solos and melodies came very naturally. Check out his myspace page here, and his website here.
Toshiya Kasamatsu performed exceptionally on bass, laying down the groove with Larry.

It was great to perform with Alicia Saldenha. She's an up-and coming vocalist from Trinidad who's lived in Japan long enough to learn the language, and we talked a lot about her first album which is in the works. She has great talent and I wouldn't be surprised to see her name in big places somewhere down the road. Check out some of her youtube performances here.




This past week I headlined the Okayama Jazz festival in Japan, it was great. I love how appreciative Japanese audiences are of Jazz music . . . they listen intently to every song, and applaud after solos . . .

Here's an article with more pictures from the performance (Be forewarned it's in Japanese).