Life in NYC has been continuing apace since last I had time to write here. Both my musical life and my ‘other job’ (as a web developer) have been busier than ever!

2011 finished, and 2012 started, with my being back in the UK. I made a welcome return to The Rat Pack – Live from Las Vegas for a limited engagement in London’s West End. Great fun to be back playing the show and marvellous to see so many friends, old and new! A bonus was being over there to see my family at Christmas time, although it was at the expense of the planned visit to my wife’s family in Los Angeles; no winter sun for me!!

Since my return to New York in late January, I’ve been keeping busier than ever and playing with an array of fun groups. I’ve written about the one of the more incredible – the Fundraiser for Clark Terry – already in the blog section of this site. What a remarkable event that was!!

Looking forward to the next couple of months, I’ll be playing with Mr Ho’s Orchestrotica Big Band once again – we’re playing the music of Juan Garcia Esquivel in Bethlehem, PA on May 27th. This is actually a gig to replace the one cancelled by the Hurricane last Summer! We also have a second gig a month later, but I’m not permitted to give any details about that yet. More information soon…

Another upcoming performance will be on June 5th with Mike Longo’s NY State of the Art Jazz Ensemble at the Baha’i Center in NYC. Mr Longo was sideman to, and Musical Director for, the late, great Dizzy Gillespie for many years. His writing and playing are extraordinary, and the band formidable! Please come and check it out if you’re nearby.

Looking forward to August, I’ll be heading up to Boston, MA to play with the New Life Jazz Orchestra at the famous Sculler’s Jazz Club on August 24th. Led by Kendrick Oliver, this band is always a swinging affair – the last site update here was just before a concert we played last summer – and it’ll be a great show. We are joined by special guests Rachael Price and Warren Wolf. If you’re in that neck of the woods, it’ll be well worth checking out!!

Enough for now. Thanks again for looking in.

BD

It was quite simply one of the most remarkable events I have ever been to, let alone had the chance to perform at! The assembled performers read like a “Who’s Who” of Jazz in the past several decades, including a number of Clark’s fellow NEA Jazz Masters. A remarkable experience that I will never forget! We assembled, before the concert, for a group photo.

I’m going to attempt to list as many of the musicians in attendance as possible. See who you can pick out from the picture above.

Trumpets: Greg Gisbert, Ingrid Jensen, Tony Lujan, Jimmy Owens, Jeremy Pelt, Wallace Roney (Sr and Jr!), Noah Schpak, Don Sickler, Lew Soloff (and me!)
Trombones: Art Baron, Wycliffe Gordon, Clifford Adams, Steve Turre, Conrad Herwig, Jack Jeffers
Saxophones/Reeds: Paquito D’Rivera, David Demsey, Bill Saxton, Phil Woods, Jimmy Heath, John Simon, Dave Glasser, Bob Kindred, Lou Donaldson, Frank Wess
Piano: Mulgrew Miller, Cedar Walton, Helen Sung, Justin Kauflin, Norman Simmonds, Onaje Allan Gumbs, Barry Harris, Don Friedman
Guitar: Mark Elf, Gene Bertoncini, Russell Malone
Bass: Marcus McLaurine, Ron Carter, Essiet Essiet, Lisle Atkinson, Buster Williams, Rufus Reid
Drums: Sylvia Cuenca, Jimmy Cobb, Louis Hayes, Winard Harper, Carl Allen, Victor Lewis, Bill Goodwin
Vocals: Melba Joyce, Dee Daniels, Shawnn Monteiro, Anne Phillips

Quite a list, as you can see. To top it all, Clark Terry appeared with his wife Gwen via Skype; beamed onto the wall of St Peters Church, where the event took place.

Clark was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love from both his fellow musicians and the large audience in attendance. Overall, it was a tremendously joyous occasion, despite the unfortunate circumstances behind it.

If you missed it, there a few videos apparently due to start appearing on YouTube before long. I’ll update this post with some links when I can. If you would like to contribute to the Jazz Foundation of America, you can do so online, and even specify that your donation be made in honour of Clark via their website donation page.

Also, you can keep up with Clark and his recovery via his website: ClarkTerry.com. There are regular blog posts made about his progress. There is also a Guestbook where you can leave him a message. Gwen reads them all to him and he gets the biggest kick out of it! In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I built the website; hence the fact that I was invited to perform in the first place. I hope you all enjoy it.

Here’s the form. You’ll get the download link by email.

I had the tremendous honour, through my day job, of rebuilding Clark’s website, a few months ago. It’s so gratifying to see the communication from friends and fans, which is now possible due to the Guestbook and commenting features I intoduced. Clark has been such an inspiration to me for many years, and it’s wonderful that the thousands of others who share that artistic debt can now have a simple way to express it to him.

Details are as follows:
Musikfest Cafe @ ArtsQuest Center
101 Founders Way.
Bethlehem, PA
United States
7:30pm show.

Tickets are $42 & $32 and are available from the ArtsQuest Center website.

Hope to see you there!

Update: This event has been cancelled due to Hurricane Irene. The plan is to reschedule – details will be posted when we have them.

Looking back to June, I had a great trip back to the UK, visiting family and friends and doing some playing and teaching. One highlight while I was there was resurrecting the “Quarter To Four” band at Grimsby Jazz. We had a great time playing and it was so nice to see so many old friends, both on and off the bandstand. I made a reference recording of the evening and have posted a couple of samples in my Soundcloud account – they are linked elsewhere on the site.

Just before I left for the UK, I spent a chop-bursting evening at the Tea Lounge in Brooklyn, attempting to play the lead book with The Chase Experiment. Bandleader Jackie Coleman has painstakingly transcribed much of the music of Chase; the iconic Trumpet-section-led Jazz/Rock group devised by former Woody Herman lead trumpet, Bill Chase. I’ve enjoyed that music for a long time and playing it gave me a new appreciation for what a monstrous player he was!

Upon my return to New York, I played with the Nathan Parker Smith Large Ensemble for the Jazz Vespers service at St Peter’s Church. Nathan has written some great, if slightly unconventional, music and it was tremendous fun to play something a bit different. I look forward to playing with them again soon.

Hope you’re having a great summer.

BD

I recorded the gig, for my own reference, and thought you might enjoy hearing a song from it – either because you weren’t there or were and (hopefully) enjoyed it! Here’s “Alone Together” by Dietz & Schwartz.

The musicians are:

Pat McCarthy – guitar
Piero Tucci – piano
Ken Marley – double bass
John Perry – drums
Bryan Davis – trumpet

The sixth member of the group is Tony Burkill on tenor sax, who chose not to play on this tune. I’ll upload one that he is featured on another time!

The one gig I do have on the books is at Grimsby Jazz in Thursday, June 9th. We will be reprising the so-called “Quarter to Four” band that proved so successful a few summers ago. So called because of a last minute mix up, on the day of a supposed Grimsby Jazz gig with a different band; the replacement group was finally settled at 3:45pm! It will be a great pleasure to play with Pat McCarthy (guitar), Piero Tucci (piano/saxes) and Tony Burkill (tenor sax) again. Rounding out the band this time will be Ken Marley (bass) and John Perry (drums). It promises to be a good night!

There are some lesson spots available, while I’m in the UK. I will likely be visiting friends in Leeds on Sunday, June 12th and can be elsewhere as the situation dictates. Please check the Teaching page for details and drop me a line if you’re interested. Skype lessons are always available, as well, as when I’m in NYC. However, the smaller time difference may make them more viable for interested students in Europe – I know that can make scheduling a headache sometimes.

On the subject of lessons, I must offer my apologies for the current absence of the Store on my site. If you would like to organize a lesson, please drop me a line and I can send you a PayPal link to prepay your Skype (or in-person) lesson. The store will be fixed shortly.

Enjoy your summer!
BD