Sunday, May 12th, 2002
The Rams Head, Annapolis, MD

RAMS HEAD

Every club should be like this. Beautiful dressing room, nice staff, great food, good piano and sound system, nice stage. We didn't know what to expect at all driving 45 minutes outside of Washington D. C., but it was one of our most gratifying recent performance experiences. I saw a sign in the town that said that Annapolis was founded in 1649. They seem to be wonderful people with a wonderful town. They were certainly warm to us. I hope we go back there after the release of Verse.
This is a photo of the mural they have on their wall.

Friday, May 3rd, 2002
The Jazz Kitchen, Indianapolis, IN

JAZZ KITCHEN

Hmmmm. How do I explain this gig? The joint is groovy. Very. It's a pure old-fashioned jazz club. It has so many photo ops one could never choose one photo. This is what the stage looks like just before the performance. Frank is introducing us. Our audience was enthusiastic. The clubowner was annoyed that apparently the first set was five minutes short. (It's a small group and I do all the vocals and the piano which makes it a very personal and intense performance. There's no horn player to do 20 choruses to fill time.) So I carefully watched my watch for the second set. In my humble opinion, we gave our all and my boys played their asses off and the audience loved it. After the second set, I was informed that the set was of sufficient length but that the clubowner had expected me to make up the five minutes from the first set. Granted nobody likes to hear artists whine, but its very disappointing to give your heart and soul and only hear about the clock. It's very specific to jazz clubs, not concerts. So... I loved the club until the usual jazzclub petty bullshit. Over and out from Indianapolis.

Thursday, May 2nd, 2002
Gilmore Theatre Complex, Kalamazoo, MI

KALAMAZOO

Though part of us was left behind in Pittsburgh, (Jay, sound man extraordinaire) our little guitar trio bravely embarked upon the first set at the Gilmore Theatre Complex in Kalamazoo without him. Of course that may have been a mistake. I didn't have my cognac, my water, my reverb, I need the music stand off the piano to get at the keys, i didn't know how long the set was supposed to be, no towel, weirdo socks and chalk on my lapel. It's a terrible thing to be helpless. The second set, after Jay arrived, was better. We felt and sounded more like ourselves and therefore were able to play with more abandon and confidence. The music was being taped by Jazz Set and it was nice to see Becka Pullen from WBGO again. The jazz business is a bit like a small endangered planet these days and it feels to me as if anybody who's not lining up to rocket to another planet (there are different forms of dedication no doubt, but any adherence or attempt to embrace the art of jazz counts) has now become a friendly face. The performance series in Kalamazoo is impressive. This was a piano series with major stars in both jazz and classical musics. My friend ChuChu Valdes had been there the night before us and he left me a sweet note. We had actually just seen each other briefly in New York. I plan on going to Cuba to study with ChuChu as soon as I'm able. Those Cuban rhythms are elusive and he's got their number. Is Kalamazoo hip? Yes, as i'm finding consistently over and over again, the arts are alive and well outside of the major cities.

Thursday, May 2nd, 2002
Chronicle of the Photo Shoot Process

LUNCH

DRESSING ROOM

First the shopping...
My great friend and many time art director Mare came up from St. Louis to shop with me. I'm a bit lost when left absolutely to my own devices, but getting better.

It was an exhaustive few days of Michigan Avenue. Here we are at lunch, at the optical shop for some hip pink reading glasses, and in the dressing room at Max Mara where we ended up buying most of the clothes for the shoot. Then on to New York for the shoot with Jimmy Katz.

LAGUARDIA

Onto the Soho Grand around the corner.
Shots of shoot. The extraordinary Jimmy Katz and his wife Deana are a brilliant creative team.
You'll see Jimmy and Deana and Isabelle Wong, the current art director and my partner, Martha.
Jimmy works hard. and he gets the shots.
Which we'll all see later.