Brasstown Valley Resort Oct. 23

This was a humdinger.  The day was crazy from the start with getting Jack to his new Saturday morning karate class which started at 9:10.  I had Spencer with me too, and we went to Mickey D's for hotcakes and eggs while we waited for Jack.  Then I foolishly decided we had enough time to go to the Sprint store to possibly purchase new phones and transfer our service from AT&T.  Well, that took a long time and Spencer was quite a handful.  I ended up missing my ride with DW so I had to drive myself and was late, but so was everybody else.  We played in a pavillion on a golf course behind the lodge, but man, what a view and the weather was nice too.  We had Michael Ray subbing for Kevin and he did a fine job.  Gus and I got into it a little over the ending for Haven't Met You Yet, which we soundchecked but didn't even play on the gig.  All is well.  The first dance was Ray LaMontagne's You Are the Best Thing, which I had learned incorrectly.  Derek got me to listen to it and the verse is in fact different form the chorus (F instead of D7/F#).  I wish I had helped myself to a lobster tail cause they were gone by the time I wanted one.  Driving back that night was a chore - 2 1/2 hours with a stop.  Then, once I got home I set up for Binnie's birthday with a sign, purple balloon, M&M's and cards.  For her birthday we went to visit with Praline and then we went to Six Flags for the day.  Fun and exhausting!

Sweetwater Junction at FAB Oct. 19

Tuesday we had a coorporate type gig at the French American Brasserie on Ivan Allen Jr. Blvd.  Along for the ride were Eric Frampton, Mark Letalien, and Scott Walker.  We were positioned way up above the crowd so we were heard but not seen.  Overall the response was very positive.  We played perhaps with perhaps the lowest stage volume we've employed in a very long time, which worked in our favor.  Then managers and the client really liked us.  We played a weird jazzy jam intro song that went on for a very long time as our first tune.  It actually worked but it could have beena little shorter, and then to get out of it we just kind of stopped dead.  Funny.  Then of course we had to do Freddie Freeloader.  Bb blues for 10 minutes.  I sang Domino, with Scott taking the 2nd verse, as well as Miss You, which turned out to be the closing song.  Easy stuff.

Last Week - Tuesday thru Sunday

It's like what my Grandpa John used to say: "It's just like Lemon-Pepper Chicken: Where does the thyme go?"  Now I get it.  Tuesday found me down at Smith's Old Bar with many other bands for a night of rotating musical mayham all for a worthy cause.  It was billed as the Cotton Langston Family Benefit Show ft. Ledfoot Messiah.  We were the Tone Brothers, which is Greg Hester & Doug McCombs along with a rhythm section or not.  I was joined by the mighty Greg Baba, one of my favorite and most versitile of drummers.  We flew by the seat of our pants and made the most of what felt like a 25 minute set.  I played my P-bass with recently boiled strings and a neck tweak.  It really went by fast.  I saw my old MMS co-worker Fran Mann loading out his pedalboard.  We said a few words but it has certainly been a while.  Good to see a familiar face at any rate.  A highlight would have been the opener of "Guilty", and old Randy Newman blues number they've added to their setlist.
The next night, Wednesday, was with Sweetwater Junction.  This night featured Brian along with Walt & Ganesh Giri.  We were playing for the owner of Canoe, who was celebrating his 60th birthday with an exclusive party including Ted Turner.  Also present was Jeff Dauler, who I got to meet while we were waiting to start.  It was a perfect night to be playing in the smaller tent down by the river.  Very nice evening with awesome vegetarian cuisine for us and free beers, which were exotic to my taste.  Musical highlights were the first song of "A Pirate Looks At 40" and "I Saw Her Standing There" since that got everybody dancing.  Tequila shots followed and we probably lost a little integrity at that point.

Thursday I rejoined the elite few that get together as the Adrian Ash Group, a jazz quartet that plays at Java Monkey in Decatur for the bi-weekly wine tastings.  The current quartet is made up of Jason Passmore and Guy Fenocchi as well as Adrian Ash, who usually plays drums, but also plays upright or even 6-string bass.  Here's a link for the band that has some older sound clips: The Adrian Ash Group.  We played through many of the other 3's originals.  It hasn't been my forte to be composing.  Adrian has tried to encourage me.  We are slated to go into the studio in a few weeks so I really do need to get it together.  I have started but it is not going so well.  I shall try in earnest tomorrow.  We sounded good on much of the stuff, including "Seven Steps to Heaven", "Recordame", "Stella By Starlight", and "Cold Duck Time". Plus, Guy has some newly constructed memorable charts: Frankenstein as well as In-a-gadda-da-vida!  Classic rawk!

Friday I was with Martay & the Partay at Padriac's in Vinings.  Luckily Cliff showed up for some good energy to bestow upon us.  We had fun but the crowd was quite thin - none of Martay's usual posse was there - perhaps due to the Eagles' concert in Piedmont Park.  Here's a pic from the end of the night:

Alright, now here's where life gets squirrly, time to hit the road with the members of Platinum for a gig in Hilton Head.  Thanks to David Winterhalter I was able to carpool along with Derek and Glen in his Town & Country.  We listened to a fair amount of jazz on his satellite radio including a Wynton workshop interview which I found to be good jazz journalism.  The time flew by and we made it there with plenty of time to spare.  The gig was at the Westin Hotel for a most swanky wedding reception.  Two wonderful families coming together, one African-American and the other Scottist.  The groom wore a kilt and there was a bagpipe player, but we never really saw him, or heard him too much.

Just above is Anthony Baker, who filled in for Gus and is my old rhythm section partner from Wild Rice back in the early 2000's.  I heard he is planning to move to Maryland so I need to make sure to keep in touch over the years.  He did a great job and had some crazy energy in just the right places.  Also, some of the tunes were at the perfect tempo at which I wish we always played them.  We got very little sleep that night and were up at 6ish to head back for a Sunday gig we had at the Primrose Cottage in Roswell.  It was good that we got up early as Virginia, Lexxi, & Kevin were all stuck in some awful traffic backup that kept them from making soundcheck.  It was another wedding reception with another amazing set of families.  The crowd really seemed to enjoy the night and our performances.  They even tipped us extra!  Nice touch.  The first dance was The Nearness of You by Norah Jones and we all learned her version at the last minute.  I flubbed the chorus to "December 1963" by playing an A instead of the Dm - hey, at least it was the V of the chord!  My only decent shot of the night was of Gus, so it will have to do:

I have something on Tuesday and then another reception this Saturday at Brasstown Valley Resort.  More soon.

 

Wedding Reception at Renaissance Waverly near the Galleria

Played my only gig of the week with Sweetwater Junction, a relatively new incarnation featuring Scott Walker on vocals.  Good to play with him as well as Mark, Walt, and Brian.  We had to learn It Had To Be You as well as Walk With You by Edwin McCain.  Easy stuff.  It seems that we didn't really play that long and because our main set started on the late side that we were penalized for starting late and we were asked to play longer - for no extra money.  Oh well, we were able to drink at the bar and this band seems to take advantage of that after the ice is broken.  After the gig, I joined Walt and Mark for a couple of cold ones at Delkwood Grill on Delk Rd.  Nice big bar and it was good to unwind a bit with the fellas.  Very nice of Walt to treat us!

Best Cellars Dinner at the Ritz in Buckhead

This was a big one!  A gourmet meal, wine, and a silent auction brought out some big names with Platinum serving as the entertainment.   We even had a 3-piece horn section so we were extra spiffy.  I brought my NS as well as my Tobias fretless and Stingray, so I had 3 basses in all.  And I really didn't have any equipment struggles so that was nice.  However, I did forget my book (!) but as karma would have it, Derek had copies of charts that I had sent him and I was able to get them copied by the good man behind the front desk of the Ritz.  That was great since one of the soundcheck tunes was "Haven't Met You Yet" and I needed the chart (I think Glen looked it over too - that bridge and the key change make it a bit of a production).  We got through it and did it again so I think we're are ready for it at any point now.  Had to do some audibles (Grapevine that everybody thought V had said 29).  We were a great band for the situation.  Some famous names too - Kevin Cronin was sitting at the table closest to the stage and he looked like he had a great time!  Also, Big from Big & Rich was the autioneer.  I wandered over to the bar and watched the band there with Dan Lawrence on piano (!), Sean O'Rourke on drums (!), Russ Rodgers on 6-string bass (!), & the thoroughly entertaining Theresa Hightower on vocals and heartbreaking personality (!!!).  She makes me cry on a regular basis, and I'm not really sure why!  I know I did sing backup vocals to "My Guy" on request, and caught her by surprise.  Hey, it's Atlanta, so I'm not sure why that would elicit any consternation.  They are a great band at any regard.  A showstopping version of Michael McDonald's "I Keep Forgettin'" was the hot number on which I had to return to my room.  Also of note is that I met Jennifer from Event Performance, who works with Chip Lunsford.  I've spoken with Jennifer quite a few times so it was nice to meet her and hang a bit over at the bar area.  She really enjoyed our first 2 songs, the first being "Fragile", so I guess she dug the EUB.  I thought it sounded good too.  I still need to get it together on "Easy", the part where the bass does it's little solo before the guitar solo.  Alright, still a great night all around.  Oh yeah, I bumped into Jeff Dauler from Q100 in the bar area.  You never know who will be there.

Dynamo Swim Club in Chamblee

Friday the 1st I played with SWJ which consisted of Ganesh, Eric, & Brian over at a swim club facility in Chamblee.  We were outdoors and the party was on the small side.  I honestly don't know who has the budget and judgement to hire a band like this for this kind of function, which was just an outdoor picnic for the members.  Still, we gave them what they wanted to a degree and the highlight that I will remember will certainly be Dream Weaver by Gary Wright.  Eric knew it, and taught it to us in a matter of seconds.  Ganesh has a great voice and knows so many songs, so he is a great contact.  We played for 2 hours and then ate dinner around 8.  Then we packed up and were out by 9!  What a great Friday night gig!  Home by 9:30 but too tired to do much of anything except watch Flight of the Concords.

Marriott Gateway is Connected!

Platinum played at the Grand Opening Celebration of the new Marriott Gateway at the International Convention Center near the airport on Thursday the 30th.  It has been open since the beginning of August but this night was it's coming out party.  We were asked to learn a song for the hotel - Get Connected!  It is an easy little vamp in D that bordered on repetitive.  Getting to this place was not made easy with an overly cautious security guard who would not let me into the dock area.  Thus, I was trapped in the convention center parking lot as hundreds of people filed out and promptly lined up their cars to escape to their neighborhoods.  Oh, the stress.  Well, once inside I set about getting my gear in place.  It all worked out but I know that Virginia was annoyed.  As long as I'm on time today, I think all will be forgotten - not that women ever forget much!  My 15" cabinet seems to be okay, at least with my Stingray so I'm going to try it tonight at the Ritz.  My NS is extremely susceptible to high end feedback so I always need to remember to EQ out the highs!  Ugly feedback!  No no!  We played well and had to kill extra time for V to morph into her Lady GaGa getup.  She makes a strong impression but I sense that even she thinks it's a bit too much LG all at one time.  Well, we'll work it out.

A gig with Gwen Hughes on Sept. 25th

I had played up at Waterfall Country Club at Lake Burton with Dave MacDougall, Mike Little & Chad Driskill a while back.  We were the perfect band for the moment - it was a force of cover band-dom that could not be matched.  Once in a while the right line up shows up and makes music that is just the right element.  It was a job that Gwen gave to Dave to lead, since she was on her honeymoon.  I learned this night that they liked us more than Brad Large's Living Large.  Nice to hear.  So we were asked back for a Chastain Night, meaning outdoor dining and dancing by the lake.  Fortunately, the rain held off - a cloudy and rainy day after so many hot sunny ones, and we were outside!  So we were with Gwen and her big band: Gwen on keyboards and vocals, Mike Hinton (her husband) on drums and audio mixing, Dave MacDougall on guitar and vocals, Don Erdman on saxophone, Jason Covey on trumpet, and somebody whose name I forgot on trombone.  With a big band we read Gwen's charts, which are very good and not too confusing.  I have to say that everything went very well.  I also have to say that the sets we had played as a quartet a few months back were possibly more entertaining and better received.  A number of factors made that true.  For one thing, we were farther away from the people this time.  Also, the songs were just a bit more esoteric.  Hard to put my finger on it, but the comraderie was a bit lacking as well, with such a diverse group that hadn't really met before.  Well, Gwen was great and it was a real treat to have performed with her.  Very professional and fun too!  Hopefully we can do it again!