Valentine's Night at Nakato with TAAG

I was asked a while back by Adrian to play this couples event night at this chic sushi restaurant.  As I am with a band that takes priority, I asked about the hold for the night.  The hold was removed and I was a free agent for the night.  Well, lo and behold, the best way to get a gig is to have one booked already.  Once I committed to this one, I learned that the other band was indeed booked with another strong hold, which ultimately did become a definite.  Ugh.  That's a lot of how my year has been going.  Well, I got a sub for the main band and proceeded to uphold my commitment to this one.  That's the right thing to do, after all.  Gotta keep the karma police at bay.

We were at the very favorable Nakato Japanese Restaurant on Cheshire Bridge Road.  If you haven't been there, the atmosphere is very warm and friendly.  Great bar, nice sushi bar, fun private dining rooms in the back where you remove your shoes and put on slippers to enter, they have it down.  My trips through the kitchen to load in and out were a vision of hard working chefs and an immaculately clean work area.  We dined on spectacular sushi rolls - the Rainbow Roll is as delightful as it is colorful - as well as fresh seafood: grilled salmon for me, sea bass for Guy.  Nice work all around.  Could have used more soy sauce - my only minor gripe.  Hey, it was quite busy in there and we ate at prime time.

The music, you ask?  It was The Adrian Ash Group: Adrian on drums, Guy on guitar, Jason on sax, moi on upright bass, and special guest Rich Rowlinson on piano.  We have to have a piano player there because the venue has a piano - a grand piano!  Maybe we don't need guitar?  That would be cold to Guy...  I don't deal with those kinds of issues.  I think the venue might have been really happy with a piano trio.  Still, we gave it a good try.  Also had Emile on vocals.  I think we may have wandered a bit in the spirit of it all in the song selection.  It wasn't a bad song selection, but it may have not been the best ones we could have played.  So much of what makes a successful gig, especially from what is essentially a pickup band standpoint, is the tunes that are called.  Does the audience know them;  can we play them well;  are we having fun;  are we getting into the music;  are we varying the grooves enough;  do we get out of them before it gets stale...  (?)   I'm not convinced we were successful in many of those regards.  I should have made a set list.  The ones that I had planned on playing were forsaken for others.

We did have some brushes with greatness: bass instructor extraordinaire Russ Rogers (what can be more intimidating for a would-be bassist such as myself than to look up from my charts and see Russ and his woman sitting at the frontmost table, right in my lap, so to speak?); also had Peabo Bryson there, who reportedly really enjoyed our version of Stevie's Overjoyed.  The second set was much better than the first - more jazzy.  The biggest response from the crowd was for the Dolly Parton penned Whitney Houston signature tune I Will Always Love You, warmly delivered by Emile.  I wouldn't have chosen that one, so there you go.  Sometimes you can overthink the song selection.  Of course, Whitney's funeral is planned for this Saturday.  It was the first time that people have been out of their house and paying tribute to a fallen legend.  I get it.  That is what performing music is all about - can I help you feel something inside?  It's not really about the chops or the athletic aspect.  It's about connecting with folks and making them remember the night.  When we're old and in our rocking chairs, that's all we hope to have - some memories of the good times.

We reconvene on Thursday for another wine tasting event.  Perhaps we will get around to playing the other tunes we left out for this occasion...

A pensive Rich Rowlinson awaiting his fate.

Guy & Rich coming to terms with the course of the evening.

I haven't yet realized the mistake I made in taking this gig.