Well, it's 3 in the morning and guess who's wide awake??? I'll give you one guess. . . me!
I suppose it's a perfect opportunity to update. I've been thinking about the daunting task of recounting my week in Port Townsend & I've decided mearly to highlight.
Here goes:
-Tuesday: ~Workshop with Nancy King in the morning and afternoon. She's awesome!
~Great bass line clinic with Christoph Luty. Good ideas about transcribing & so forth
~Amazing faculty presents concert. Group #1 was Bruce Forman, Dan Balmer, Chuck Easton, Dave Captein, Dawn Clement, & Gary Hobbs. Group #2 was Nancy King with Steve Christofferson duo, then with Dave Bjur and Pete Swan. Group #3 was Gary Gibson, Randy Porter duo with Steve Wilson, Ingrid Jensen, Dave Captein, & Gary Hobbs. Let me tell you a little about Gary Gibson if you don't already know about him. The man is an awesome percussionist/vibraphonist/steel drum player. I thought the steel drum was going to be some kind of gimmick, but let me tell you, the guy is awesome. He played one of the best versions of "Georgia on my Mind" that I have ever heard!
~Now for one of the BEST parts of the workshop. . .the "Ray Brown Remembered: The Art of the Piano Trio" clinic hosted by Jeff Hamilton, Benny Green, and John Clayton. They shared stories about their own experiences with Ray & also played 4 tunes. It was absolutely beautiful! One of the most touching musical moments at the camp was when they played "Li'l Darlin'" with the intro that Ray wrote. Breathtaking. I was so emotional after the clinic, that Dave had to hold me up. Benny hung on to me for a while while I recovered. It was crazy how everything I was feeling manifested itself into me physically. Wow!
~I observed a piano lesson given by Benny, Tamir Hendelman, & Randy Porter. Benny and Tamir played musical chairs on the piano bench. Nobody ever gets to see something like that. Amazing.
-Wednesday: ~Ingrid Jensen's clinic in the morning was great! She played us tracks from her new album "At Sea" while showing us pictures from her honeymoon in Alaska. The photos and the music were gorgeous! I was able to tell Ingrid how much I love her music. I later found out from Benny that she really liked me! Yes! This was the beginning of my awesome time with Ingrid (my new favorite person).
~Faculty presents concert: Group #1 was Pete Christlieb, Bill Ramsay, Jay Thomas, Tamir Hendelman, Chuck Deardorf, & Gary Hobbs. Group #2 was Bob Florence (solo), then with Jiggs Whigham, then with Kim Richmond, then with Terell Stafford. Beautiful. Bob Florence just radiates love. I spoke to him afterwards and he was more than sweet; his wife was too. Group #3 was Kurt Elling, Bill Mays, Christoph Luty, and Jon Wikan. The band was killing. I don't know. Kurt just doesn't do it for me.
~Ingrid held a rehearsal that night in which I helped out making copies. God, she's an amazing musician.
-Thursday: ~Still trying to figure out what song to sing. So far I've tried: How Insensitive, Since I Fell For You, Beautiful Friendship. . . by Friday I settle on In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning. It turned out to be a good choice.
~Faculty presents concert: Group #1 Dee Daniels, Marc Seales, Christoph Luty, and Clarence Acox. If you ever get a chance to see Dee perform, DO IT! Besides being an amazing singer and musician, she grabs your heart everytime. I've yet to see her be anything less than incredible. What a beautiful person too. She is pure joy and light. I feel so fortunate to have been able to spend the week working with her. Group #2 was Buddy DeFranco, Bill Mays, Dan Balmer, Chuck Deardorf, and Jon Wikan.
~Ingrid's band at the Public House that night = INCREDIBLE. Her band was: Randy Porter (piano), Chuck Deardorf (bass), Jon Wikan (drums/cajon), Bruce Forman (guitar), Steve Wilson (alto sax), and of course, Ingrid Jensen (trumpet/flugel). They killed!
-Friday ~I checked out some combo performances. Ingrid's combo was fantastic. I also got to hang with Nancy for awhile.
~Benny's Art Blakey combo performed that night. I got to know some of the guys in the band (including my good friend Dave Speranza). They were soooo good & such a blast to listen to. The whole room was on their feet and dancing. The band was shaking it & even Benny was moving! Our friend Belinda came up from Portland; it was so nice to see her.
~Went down to the Public House to catch Ingrid's band again. She let me introduce the group for the second set. After they were done, Jon said they'd give me a ride back to camp, so we hung out at the bar. After a couple of beers, Jon and I did tequila shots! What a fun guy! I also got to hang out with Ingrid's step-father, Al. He's a bundle of laughs & just an all around joyful guy.
~Oh yeah! My friend Javier Vergara (from Poncho Sanchez's band) came down and hung out. It was great to see him.
-Saturday: ~Had an amazing morning hanging out at Nancy's pad with Belinda, Benny, Nancy, and Leroy Vinegar's widow Carol. We sad around and chatted for a few hours & Nancy showed me gorgeous pictures of her granddaughter. Fun!
~Caught some great music. Then came the great-great music! Benny played two tunes (Lush Life and Love You Madly) solo before Dee Daniels came out and broke my heart with "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man." Belinda and I were sitting together holding hands and crying. Dee is just so passionate & Benny so sensitive. A perfect pair. Kurt Elling then came out to do a tune with Benny and shat all over it. I don't know. I'd rather hear one note full of soul, than a million "impressive" notes splattered all over the place. Nancy sang "We'll be Together Again" as a personal request by me. She was fabulous. The trio of singers came out to sing "Bye Bye Blackbird." Nice show.
~Said goodbye to Belinda and Benny, then hung out with Nancy until show time. My group began performing at 10 that night. Everybody did so well! I was so proud of everyone!!
~Went to hear Ingrid's band again. Introduced the band again. Drank more with Al and Jon. Ingrid drove me home. I decided to become a trumpet player. Let me say that again I AM SWITCHING TO TRUMPET and I couldn't be more excited about it. Ingrid is going to teach me everything she knows. I'm so lucky to have her as a friend.
As I'm writing, I keep remembering awesome things that happened throughout the week. I don't feel like writing about them, so call me.
I was laying in bed about an hour ago thinking about some of my favorite musicians & it occurred to me that most of them are women. I'm aware that most of the giants are all men, but for some reason, I am attracted to the music made by women. It's not that I'm a man basher; I'm far from it. Maybe I just identify to their experiences. Who knows! I don't think anyone would dispute that Maria Schneider, Joni Mitchell, Ingrid Jensen, Shirley Horn, and Nancy King are awesome.
I think it's time for me to try sleeping again. Boy, I'll be impressed if anyone actually reads this book of mine!
Love
