My first foray with Platinum Soul

You see, Platinum, that name brand of deluxe coorporate party/wedding reception/cover bands has become a maleable force that can bend and shift with the moon and the tides.  If a client prefers a smaller group, or if the full size version is already booked, then a smaller, more forward thinking combo unit can be employed for a lesser fare.  I was fortunate enough to be part of the smaller version last night for the wedding reception of Serbin - Mikulenka at Temple Emanu-El in North Atlanta, on the outskirts of Dunwoody.  We were fronted by Dianna Crawford, who had left the band over a year ago.  She is now the leader of the smaller band.  Also along for the voyage were Glen, Gus, & Derek.  We had fun negotiating the currents with fewer cast members and no Virginia to steer us safely.  We rehearsed the first dance of "Inside Your Heaven" by Carrie Underwood and actually nailed the kicks and many other nuances.  We also went over "Conga" by Gloria Estefan (Miami Sound Machine) and "New York New York" as performed by Liza Minelli in her key of C.  It went well, I must say.  I had a scare when I saw that I didn't have my Hora chart for the festive dance.  I had visions in my head of no chair antics and a bad review by a bunch of disappointed Jewish people.  In a small panic, I raced home to make copies from my pdf, which I had scanned a while back.  Being 7.5 miles away I had enough time, although I later found that Dianna had a copy in her book.  I ended up singing some stuff since we only had 2 other singers.  I actually sang lead on "Livin' on a Prayer" with Dianna!  I also sang "How Sweet It Is" in the JT key of G.  Thought it sounded good!  They remarked on my high vocals for "We Are Family", which of course I used to do with Martay back in the Stayin' Alive days (ie Jerry Finley's old disco tribute band - R.I.P.).  What goes around comes around, or at least it's put to good use sonner or later.

We were actually a 6-piece band for a few tunes.  The bride's nephew joined us with his trumpet and blew over "Route 66" plus a special melodious "My Way", even though I sabbotaged the procedings by accidently kicking out Glen's keyboard power cord.  Luckily for all of us, His keyboard doesn't take long to reboot.