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Tonight represents the first of three church performances on this tour
Yesterday was a day off. Everyone traveled to Charlotte, but Frank, Sugar Rob and I stayed in DC to attend the American-Russian Cultural Cooperation Foundation Gala at the Russian Embassy. The great Russian tenor saxophonist/bandleader, Igor Butman, and I jointly received the (ARCCF) Foundation Award for our cultural diplomacy. He is my brother from another mother and I absolutely enjoyed seeing him and the ever beautiful Oksana. Igor will always say something insightful and hilarious and play all kinds of horn, and he did. The Gala, chaired by Susan Carmel Lehrman, was classy, communal and comfortable. Many culturally engaged DC citizens and friends were present including Wayne and Catherine Reynolds, Murray and Lisa Horwitz, and Washington Performing Arts Society Board Chairman, Reggie Van Lee. It was festive - with or without vodka. Keep reading »
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The house was packed and brimming with expectation
Sunday afternoon, we were presented in our Nation’s capitol by the Washington Performing Arts Society. They are the very definition of a community arts organization. Both the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and my small groups have been honored to perform under their auspices for close to thirty years. Keep reading »
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The importance of bringing feeling and integrity to every performance
Last night we played in Norfolk, Virginia. We were presented by the Virginia Arts Festival whose Artistic Director, Rob Cross, played in the Eastern Music Festival Orchestra when I was a high school student attending camp at the Festival. We laughed about me showing up with an E-flat trumpet to play the Hummel trumpet concerto but all of the orchestra parts were in E-natural! [Who had even heard of an E trumpet then?] Keep reading »
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Memorial Hall was filled with a very spirited audience
Last night was a rare second night in the same venue. Memorial Hall was filled with a very spirited audience. Two great saxophonists, Chad Eby and Stephen Riley, came out. Chad brought his 11 year old son, Spencer (who can make it through all of his major scales), and Stephen drove 2 and a half hours to hear us. Ralph Rodgers, Damyan Crews, Yaya Corbett, and Kevin Johnson came as a trumpet section representing North Carolina Central, and the great composer/educator Dr. Anthony Kelly came with a radiant and eclectic group of about 20 students from Duke. Keep reading »
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Last night was the first performance of our three week US tour performing the Abyssinian Mass
Last night was the first performance of our three week US tour performing the Abyssinian Mass. We are definitely prepared. The 70 strong Chorale Le Chateau has been rehearsing for months and was in great form. Damien Sneed, our conductor, brought an energy, passion and an innovative way of improvising with every nuance of the vocal score that left even us grizzled veterans mesmerized. Keep reading »
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Louis and the King
This past week we played “The Weary Blues” in the style of King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band in honor of Armstrong’s great mentor. Keep reading »
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2012 NEA Jazz Masters Awards Ceremony and Concert
Tuesday night we celebrated the 30th annual NEA Jazz Masters Awards Ceremony and Concert. It was a stellar night for Jazz at Lincoln Center, the NEA and for jazz. We had some of the finest, up and coming musicians in jazz including Kris Bowers, Ambrose Akinmusire and Grace Kelly. This was a night for the Masters, of course, and they were out in full force. Phil Woods, Hubert Laws, Ron Carter, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Candido Camero, Dave Liebman, Sheila Jordan, Jimmy Owens, Jack DeJohnette and others all graced the Rose Hall stage. Keep reading »
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Steve Jobs: A Man of Absolute Integrity
Steve Jobs was a man of absolute integrity. He pursued the deepest truths in his imagination with unabashed passion, uncompromising singularity of purpose, and unyielding urgency. Apple’s tenacious actualization of his transformative and lofty vision of integration brings us closer together. Keep reading »
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For the love of Joe
And so we leave Italia by way of the A12 highway. Stuck in traffic entering Genoa at 8:30 on a Monday morning, we have plenty of time to savor the majestic mountainous splendor, the sweeping Mediterranean, and the hard-earned elegance of the Italian landscape with its diversity of hardy trees and shrubs punctuated with weather-worn houses of various rectangular shapes dressed in warm tones from olive to pink topped with triangular, terra cotta tiles glistening in the sun. Keep reading » -
Down Home: Manfredonia
Fernando and Irene had driven 11 straight hours without even stopping to eat. Keep reading »
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