The First of March: I'm being followed by a moonshadow

The stage is almost set at The Moonshadow Tavern

This was a grand affair.  Somehow or another, Adrian recruited a stellar cast of horn players to augment the lineup of Absynthe Makes the Art Garfunkel for this fine evening of folk and pop standards.  Much thanks goes to Dr. Tom Gibson on trombone, Kevin Lyons on trumpet, Jason Passmore on saxes and flute, and Shanti Price on flute and pennywhistle.  We were also joined by Alan Dynin on additional keyboards.  We took over the residence of The Moonshadow Tavern in Tucker.  I had never been there before.  It wasn't quite what I had expected.  The stage is a bit odd, being in the corner and facing, well, not quite the bar and not quite the tables.  It is a big stage, but long.  The rail across the front is interesting, but it makes it hard to get on and off the stage when in starts to fill up.  As I was the soundman, so to speak, my access and speed of efficiency was compromised.  I was rather worn out as well.  I had been another long week of work and such.

The sound was good.  I brought my big rig but only used the 410 cabinet.  I played some Stick, as well as the P and fretless, not to mention the Ashbory and the Johnson.  I had really worked on the volume pedal guitar solo for The Boxer, playing the high part on the Stick while holding down the bass.  It wasn't meant to be.  Maybe there will be a next time for me to whip it out.  Fortunately, Kevin nailed it on the trumpet.  The band was tight, more so than ever before.  We just keep improving, little by little.  The horns added so much.  It was amazing that there was any money to go around.  Not exactly a get-rich-quick scheme here, but a fun project to venture towards when the stars align themselves accordingly.

As always, it couldn't have happened without these folks as well:

Matthew Smith (an incomparable musician who happens to play guitar and sing with precision and emotion - yes it's true - he also is a big pedal fiend, much like myself, and we make a formidable team on the front line with our matching NYC Pedalboards, although his is bigger...)

J.T. Alessi (certainly the guiding force and emotional cornerstone of the band, he could carry the entire show on his own nimble shoulders with just a vocal mic and a 6-string)

Adrian Ash (where would we be without Ade and his gorgeous wife Heather, who host our rehearsals and champion us towards collective excellence - Adrian is a musician's musician;  and hey, keep your eyes on him, cause he's on the path to a lean, mean beboppin' machine)

Jeff Fritz (the comical yet reverential multi-tasker, commanding vocals, guitars, keyboards, drums and percussives with deft confidence and a mocking self-deprecation that only makes ya love him even more)

Don Whitaker (a severe talent in terms of rhythm and groove - I found myself locking in with him more than anybody else when looking back on the gig, and thinking at the time how utterly in the pocket it all felt - 'nuff said - he's a supremely approachable guy on all levels as well;  wish I were more like him...)

Great people that you need to catch in the future.  Stay thirsty my friends!

Rehearsals at the Ash's - before the horn section was finalized

Shanti was our featured pennywhistle-ist on You Can Call Me Al

Adrian Ash, bathing in the lights

The micro-bonfire out back where we made our amends and professed to cross the bridge over Ms. Walters together.
It was beautiful and sad at the same time, much like when Tom and Jerry split ways in 1970.

Alan and Jeff

J.T. & Matt commanding the attention of the scores of attentives eyes and ears.

Jeff "Gadd" laying down the groove on 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover/