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Wednesday,
August 1st, 2001
Paris, FRANCE
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|
AT
NEW MORNING
|
The
New Morning is an amazing club.
It's hot and stuffy. Truly hot
and stuffy. But it's owned and
run by Madame Fere who has been
there for years. She has heard
everybody from Nina Simone in
the 50's to Miles Davis. The place
was sold out for us last night,
which means that it's really hot
and stuffy. They put an extra
fan on stage for me hoping i wouldn't
have to leave the stage (as i
did in San Diego because it was
stuffy). The trio started, the
audience was lovely, the room
adds its own weight and spirit
to the art. The cafe afterwards
had its French windows open to
the street, the salmon with cream
sorrel sauce was too fine for
1:30 am anywhere else. People
were out in the cafes enjoying
their food and wine and conversations.
Paris was good. |
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HAIR
SALON
|
Tuesday,
July 31st, 2001
Paris, FRANCE
On
these tours, one starts to physically
fall apart. At least I do. The
guys I travel with on the whole
are physical and mental soldiers,
but I'm not. Finally everything
starts to show wear and tear.
Today I'm in Paris, my favorite
city on earth, and i spent it
at the hair salon. Show tonight.
Touring is about extreme highs
and extreme lows. I'm not sure
I like that.
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Sunday,
July 29th, 2001
Vigo, SPAIN
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AMPARO
AND JAY
|
There
is a rider in my contract that
asks for cognac to be available
in the dressing rooms before
our concerts. In Pontevedra,
a bar owner and his wife proudly
supplied the cognac for the
artist that was appearing in
their town's jazz festival that
night. He wanted to bring it
over in person, which he did,
and pour it for me, which he
did. The square was full of
people, the half-moon was shining
over the stage, the medieval
buildings in Pontevedra served
as sophisticated setting for
a wonderful evening in Spain.
The promoter in Spain met us
at the airport and followed
us to hotels and cities and
venues to make sure we were
comfortable. They should all
be so nice. Her name is Amparo
and here she is smiling with
our fourth member and sound
man, Jay.
We're
in Paris tonight, recovering
from a very, very long travel
day...missed connections and
missing musicians. Hopefully
we will all coalesce tomorrow
night at the New Morning in
Paris for our gig.
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Friday,
July 27th, 2001
Nice, FRANCE
The
concert went well. The guys
in the band and our fourth man,
sound guy, Jay Tenhove helped
make it a success. It wasn't
easy walking onstage after Dee
Dee Bridgewater did a dynamite
set.
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Friday,
July 27th, 2001
Nice, FRANCE
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|
BEACH
IN NICE
|
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|
UMBRELLAS
IN NICE
|
Nice...what
a relief to land in France.
and Nice is a feast for a camera,
even my cheapest and weirdest
of cameras. Today we did an
early soundcheck and swam and
relaxed. Tonight we play late....at
10:00pm out in an ancient Roman
Amphitheatre. The weather is
gorgeous. Let's live for today
and forget that tomorrow it
will take us three flights to
get to Vigo, Spain. (Of course
we could fly more directly couldn't
we?) We go on tonight after
Dee Dee Bridgewater whom i just
met in the lobby. That cannot
be an easy task since she is
a huge jazz star in France and
has a cast of thousands of percussionists
with her. Well, my little trio
was hired to do its job, and
we will bravely take the stage
at 10:00pm.
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PASSPORT
HELL
|
Thursday,
July 26th, 2001
Airport
This
tour doesn't have a single real
day off. That makes things difficult.
Last year, we had a few whole
days off in which we neither traveled
nor played a concert. In other
ways, this tour is easier, but
in that way, this tour is more
difficult. Yesterday was a long
travel day. Something about flying
is dehumanizing and trying. The
experience will defy any poetic
description and that's one of
the reasons it is so hard. Almost
nothing of value ever happens
while traveling these kinds of
distances except that you get
from the one place to another. |
