October
14,
2002
Villfranche
October
15,
2002
Dijon
October
16,
2002
Tholon-Evian
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DRESSING
ROOM - DIJON, FRANCE
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ERIC
& MICHAEL - THELON
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Ah
France. We've had some wonderful
concerts in three cities in France
already. The food and architecture
are enough reason to tour in France.
Today we have our first day off
so we are tucked comfortably in
a French chateau right near Switzerland
on Lake Leman. The chateau is
one of those luxury hotels. It
was built in the
6th century and then rebuilt in
the 13th.
The rooms are all modern with
heating units and cable tv. Its
cavernous. There are rooms and
rooms and bars and cafes and a
restaurant and libraries. I missed
the breakfast because I was sleeping.
They say everything was homemade,
the bread, the jams, and the orange
juice was freshly squeezed at
the
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LAKE
LEMAN
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PATRICIA
- DIJON
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table.
Tonight i've
invited the carrottops
and Jay to dinner at 8:00pm. Michael
and I met in the bar/cafe this
afternoon for an espresso. Its
like Europe in the 1930s.
Very MFK Fischer (I brought her
book with me). All kinds of bottles
of liquors, cognac, armagnac.
Eau de vie etc. There's a huge
fireplace which is prepared for
this evening. The band is sounding
better and better after playing
together every night.
Here are some photos of the concerts
and the lake outside our window.
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Friday
and Saturday, October 12th and
13th, 2002
Cemal Resit
Concert Hall and Club Babylon,
Istanbul, Turkey
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PATRICIA
AT PIANO - BABYLON
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ISTANBUL
CAFE
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Istanbul
continues to charm. As per my
impression last time, the people
are warm, intelligent, engaged
and hip. Istanbul is an enormous
city of 14 million. There are
quarters dedicated to the bohemian
element. Babylon, the nightclub,
is located there in the middle
of
one of the narrow and elegant
streets that make up the nightlife
of Istanbul. The weather is temperate
so many small restaurants put
a few tables outside against the
walls. Restaurant after restaurant
is lined up against the labyrinthian
architecture of the old streets.
They put photos on the brick walls
of the streets over the tables.
Cafes are spread out along these
tiny alley/streets serving tea.
People sit at straw tables on
small straw stools and refresh
themselves with tea. Its a very
warm and social atmosphere. The
club was full and a lot of fun.
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Saturday,
October 5, 2002
CBS - The Early Show, New York
City
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NEAL
AND LARRY AT CBS
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We
arrived in New York City at 12:40am.
I arrived at the Plaza at 1:30am.
My lobby call for the television
show across the street was 5:00am.
So, in the middle of the night,
I ordered room service. I was
starving. The Plaza being the
ultimate in service, they brought
up a wonderful shrimp scampi and
rice, sparkling water, and salad.
I ate that happily... at 2:30am.
Then with darkness all around
me, I ordered up a movie, thinking
that would take me throught till
5:00am. I ordered, "Sum of
All Fears." Probably not
a great choice for New York in
the middle of the night, a strange
town, a strange career exercise,
a very strange 3 hours to spend.
I watched the movie, fell asleep
as the nuclear explosion happened,
woke up to see not that many people
that badly hurt in what was apparently
the fallout of a nuclear attack
seen through the eyes of the girl
doctor in Baltimore hospital.
Oh... so things would only be
that bad eh? Then, the movie ended
and I had to do the clothes and
hair. The Plaza had told me that
they would wake me at 4:20am and
have espresso for me at 4:30am.
They did. Wow. What a hotel. Old
New York and the kind of hospitality
I remember. Different from the
waiter now who holds the dish
over the table and asks, "who
gets the steak?"
I had the coffee, assembled the
music, walked across the street
to CBS. These people are morning
pros. Happy, sunshiny, makeuped.
Perky, and actually very kind
and sweet. I thank them for their
kindness and we had a wonderful
time on tv. Our first big tv thing.
TV. Yay.
-From Istanbul
p.s. Larry
Kohut was the bass player on this
gig, because Michael had family
obligations he couldn't get out
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Saturday,
September 21, 2002
The Spectrum,
Montreal, Canada
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CARROT
TOPS
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THE
BAND & JAY
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If
I weren't so rooted in Chicago,
I would consider moving to Montreal.
Its an American 'spring-in-the-step'
version of Paris or a more sophisticated
and humane version of Chicago.
The concerts in Montreal are always
a kick. But first you have to
get there. Michael got bumped
from the puddle jumper flight
from Boston to Montreal because
of the size of his bass case,
so Jay and Michael had to drive
to the Montreal soundcheck from
Boston. they were operating the
rest of evening without much food
or sleep. Flying is becoming an
incredible pain in the ass. (This
trip started at O'Hare with security
lines 1 hour and a 1/2 long.)
People who don't
have to fly these days have charmed
lives.
The Spectrum is a large concert
venue with precision lighting
and sound. Here is a photo I took
from my piano bench onstage during
the concert. We open in most of
the cities these days with a set
of tunes drawn almost exclusively
from "Verse." if we
have a chance to do more playing,
I throw in original material from
previous recordings and a smattering
of standards. The improvisation
is always new. And here also is
a photo of the band and Jay after
the Montreal concert. Happy to
be done with this tour and happy
to have played this concert.
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Sunday
& Monday, September
19 and 20, 2002
Regattabar, Cambridge, MA
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ROOM
SERVICE
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Boston
is a good place for us.
And the benefit of staying
at the Charles Hotel while
we play at the Regattabar
is worth a lot even if Boston
weren't a good place for
us musically. The audiences
are always plentiful and
supportive in Boston and
the way the stage is situated
within the club (people
surrounding me and within
touching distance of me
as I play) usually serves
to put enough nervous pressure
on me that the music becomes
my only refuge. We had a
wonderful time here and
Neal played an acoustic
guitar solo on a very brisk
version of "Sweet Georgia
Brown" that proves
my point that he is one
of the best jazz acoustic
guitar players around these
days.
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