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MIRROR
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Friday
& Saturday, September 15
and 16, 2002
Blues Alley, Washington, DC
I
love Washington D.C. I don't
love Georgetown. Jay drove us
from New York to D.C. in a big
red van. You haven't been a
musician until you've driven
from town to town in a van.
Outside our hotel in Georgetown
is Sephora (nota bad thing),
the Gap, Starbucks (definitely
not a bad thing), Barnes and
Nobles, the Banana Republic,
Tower, Radio Shack. Could be
worse. Just when we yuppies
(although jazz musicians only
marginally qualify) finally
get things the way we want them,
we become nostalgic for squalor.
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Friday
& Saturday, September 13
and 14, 2002
Birdland, New York, NY
We
had a wonderful time at Birdland.
The carrottops are playing brilliantly
(redheads, Eric Montzka, Neal
Alger, and Michael Arnopol who
in his younger days, had blondish-red
hair). Lots of our friends came
into the club. The second set
Friday night was:
Solar
Wave
What a Shame
Caravan
A Man and a Woman
Love for Sale
If I Were Blue
Pieces |
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JAY,
ERIC, NEAL
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"Pieces"
seemed to throw them for a loop,
but oh well.
Here are Eric, Neal, and Jay
at the bar after the gig having
a beer.
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CHICAGO
August 26, 2002 - Green Mill
August 29, 2002 - Chicago
Jazz Fest
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SKY
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NEAL
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Ah
Chicago! It's such a wonderful
experience playing in Chicago.
I wonder if the musicians who
come through this city feel
the same way. My quartet played
two shows in Chicago, one at
our home club, the Green Mill,
and one in
Grant Park for the Chicago Jazz
Festival. The audiences were
their usual warm and enthusiastic
and the weather for the outdoor
concert in Grant Park was perfect.
It was very, very special for
me to be playing as the sun
was setting on the beautiful
Chicago skyline. The quartet
is starting to feel like a well-oiled
music machine and Neal Alger,
by virtue of the reviews of
"Verse," is becoming
a jazz star. These two photos
were taken at the Chicago Jazz
Fest by Valerie Booth.
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Saturday,
July 27, 2002
Willett Hall, Portsmouth, VA
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PORTSMOUTH
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It
was well over 100 degrees in
this area of the South and with
so much humidity one needs gills.
I had been excited to see some
of Virginia since I'd never
been there. I drove from the
Richmond airport through Williamsburg
and onto Portsmouth deep in
the night. I stopped in Williamsburg
because it was late and I was
tired and wanted to sleep, but
also because I would have loved
to have awakened in Williamsburg
to combine a coffee with some
sightseeing. My very individual
hodgepodge of political attributes
includes a fervent patriotism
(wouldn't have wanted to have
been born anywhere else). Virginia
must have been a fascinating
place because Thomas Jefferson
and George Washington were Virginians.
Alas, all the hotels were full.
I had to drive onto Portsmouth
that night. I entertained myself
the next day by taking the ferry
across the water from Portsmouth
to Norfolk and seeing a historical
house built by the first Jewish
family in the area in the 1700's.
This area is also the Naval
hub of the U.S. and I wish I
had had time to see the naval
shipyards.
The gig in Portsmouth was fine
except that the monitor man
was eating lunch through the
soundcheck. We asked him to
put his lunch down and attend
to business, since we go through
quite a bit of trouble to GET
TO THE SOUNDCHECK. (Often the
guys are still going without
sleep and coming there directly
from the airport.) But no, he
was stubborn in his slow way
and we were not in the mood
to argue. Then, of course, when
it came time for the concert,
the monitors were not on at
all. I had to try to hear the
house speakers and then half
way through the 90 minute set,
he seemed to realize there was
a problem and switched on the
monitors. The set was better
after that. The festival people
treated us well. We stayed in
a gorgeous 5 star Renaissance
Hotel in Portsmouth. This photo
is from my hotel room window.
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Sunday,
July 21, 2002
Bushnell Park, Hartford, CT
We
(Michael A., Neal A. Eric M.)
played a lovely outdoor festival
in Hartford in this, our two
months off. We have another
concert next weekend in Portsmouth,
Virginia. (It doesn't make sense
to take time TOTALLY off.) It
has been a complete and utter
delight to be home during the
summer this year. I stopped
plans for any European touring
this summer months ago because
I wanted some time off before
our September release, and now
I am so glad I did. It's been
years since I've been at home
during the summer and I remember
once again how summer is my
favorite season. One feels close
to life, close to plants and
weather, animals and friends,
family and fun. It's by far
the most relaxing of seasons.
We played a 5:30pm set in Hartford,
before Phil Woods and Joe Sample.
One of the interviewers asked
me what it was like to open
for Phil woods and Joe Sample.
I just laughed. I don't know
how to answer interviewers anymore.
Half of them are angry with
me for being too successful
and half of them are genially
confused as to why the 'underdog'
should be playing an established
venue. Put it this way, I wish
we had played later in the evening
because it was frankly too bright
to concentrate intently. Jazz
and bright light have almost
mutually exclusive functions.
As it was, we sat in the gorgeous
outdoor weather after our set
and had some drinks and listened
to some good music.
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FRIENDS
IN HARTFORD
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On
the plane ride home, United
decided to put me on one of
those not-quite-small-but-not-quite-big
planes from Hartford to Chicago.
UAL is having financial problems
so I'm sure they've decided
to save money on oxygen. Different
from American Airlines, who
keeps those blowers blowing
to avert disaffection and panic
attacks, United counts pennies
on air you could and should
be breathing. Everybody was
toying with the air vents over
their seats... dutiful children
were fanning their fathers who
were about to hyperventilate
and I was mentally going over
my ever diminishing chances
of getting into medical school.
This photo is of the wonderful
Hartford Jazz Festival volunteers
who fed the musicians.
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