September 16, 2006
Mythologies Concert
Buntrock Room at The Symphony Center - Chicago, IL

This was just a dream come true. The venue was too small for us... Unfortunately people were turned away at the door, but other than that, we had a wonderful time. Shelby Webb Jr. and Choral Thunder are like angels carrying me to a better place; once they start singing i can feel strength coming back into my limbs. The 'kids,' who sing on "Phaeton" are not kids anymore. They, Lawrice Flowers, Mitchell Owens and Airreal Watkins, are gorgeous and dynamic young adults who sing and dance like Greek gods and goddesses. Lawrice sings the verse to "Persephone" more beautifully than I ever could and Grazyna and Paul make the chorus of "Persephone" just one big George Michael fun-fest.
Jim Gailloreto on saxophone played brilliantly in concert as he does on the recording and mostly, my quartet, Michael Arnopol on bass, Neal Alger on guitar and Eric Montzka on drums, kept the entire concert centered. Thank you to all of you. As a composer it is a pleasure to hear your compositions realized in a way that is better than you originally imagined them. I will never forget this concert and this night. Thank you to all of you.
Photos will be added as we have them.

September 12 &13, 2006
Dakota - Minneapolis, MN

The first night we had sound problems. After a few awkward moments, an old plate reverb system was hooked up. As my voice sounded 1963 to me in my monitors, everything ended up sweetly 1963.... The set list, meters and chords were all put into service toward this aesthetic. The band was brilliantly adaptive and we were all very smooth and summery.
The second night was much more what I have come to expect from this great and elegant club in Minneapolis. A wonderful two sets, a wonderful audience, a wonderful meal afterwards with wonderful staff.
The photo is from the ensuing insomnia. No particular reason I couldn't sleep... One can examine the espresso before the set or worries about other things... (Is there a lighting grid for this weekend's concert at Symphony Center?) This is just one of many midnight insomnia mirror shots. I believe I am building a lifetime chronicle. I have mirror insomnia shots going way back to NY, Seattle, Brazil, Spain, France... This is insomnia in Minneapolis.

September 1, 2006
Jazz Standard - New York, NY

 As we start the "Mythologies" tour, do people in the audience wonder why there are a surprising amount of songs with Greek mythological character references. Sometimes I explain myself, most of the time I don't. Imagine if you'd never heard jazz before.... you stumbled in after work for a drink.... you might think that jazz is an Ancient Greek music.
I miss my ensemble, the choir, the kids, the male and female singers, Lawrice Flowers on the verse of "Persephone".. I miss those pieces of the song cycle...."Persephone," "The Hours," "Phaethon."

First two sets in NY:

The Moon S'Wonderful Milestones Hunger Caravan Morpheus Norwegian Wood

Bumper to Bumper The Moon Inchworm Orpheus Witchcraft Icarus Whiteworld

 

August 7, 2006
Green Mill - Chicago, IL

  Monday night... It was crowded our last-night-in-a-long-time at the Green Mill.  My drummer Eric Montzka was on fire, obviously getting ready to tour and play big venues.  There are no dressing-rooms at the Green Mill.  I can be claustrophobic so because of the crowds there, after the set i try to get from the stage to the door and outside as quickly as possible. For some odd reason, I can sign CDs before a set, but not after... After the set I need to get away fast.  A woman stepped in front of me as I was making my way, head down, toward the door.  I tried to squeeze by her but she planted her feet and yelled, "I got divorced because of you!" Everybody was curious, so was I.  T urns out she took quite literally my lyrics for "The Fire," and as there was no passion left in her marriage, she divorced her husband.  This was less flattering and more frightening than I expected.  My songs are fiction, not advice.
   There is not enough summer left before the Mythologies tour onto which a city is added daily. I will have to circumscribe it soon.... put a stop to it.  Perhaps plant my feet and yell.  It works. 

July 20, 2006 - Teatre Mzyczny, Gdynia, Poland
July 22, 2006 - Mt. Gretna, Pennsylvania

This is not the way most people travel, but we had booked Pennsylvania before we got a very nice offer from Poland. We decided to do both. We left Chicago, traveled to northeast Poland, ate seafood and drank wine that first jetlagged night at a hip cafe at the side of the black Baltic Sea, did a television interview and filmed concert the next night in a lovely venue.. shown here in a photo with Jay setting up the stage.
The next day we flew back to Chicago, stayed that night at the O'Hare Hilton as there wasn't time to do anything but quickly eat and sleep, jumped on a flight the next day to Harrisburg Pennsylvania and did an outdoor concert in a beautiful country spot called Mt. Gretna.
It was very hot and humid. The string instruments were rising in pitch because of the humidity so by the end of the concert, i was singing in a different key from the instruments which were one half to one whole step higher. So, so hip...

July 5th, 2006
Montreal

This is a photo of the stage at the end of soundcheck looking from my vantage point at the piano.
You can see the line of beautiful string instruments in a row and lit by rose stage lighting and just behind is the monitor booth. This is where the monitor man sits and can make sound adjustments during the show; i can see him clearly, but he is completely hidden to the audience.
One has to love these nooks and crannies about theatres, architectural aids designed to assist the performers in creating magic.
We played two sets to an enthusiastic sold-out audience in Montreal and had a wonderful time, as always.