Maria McNeil, the R&B/jazz songstress I play bass for, has the first of an ongoing monthly engagement at Café Luna this coming Saturday. Details can be found to the right in the sidebar, or at the facebook event. Hope to see lots of folks out there!
Had a spectacular gig at La Luna Caffé this past Saturday with Maria McNeil. It’s a great little place just on the southern edge of Central Square, right on Mass Ave across from the firehouse. We got started around 9:30pm, played a great set, but after we finished up, one of the employees asked us to keep going. So Maria played a tune of hers solo, then Samad, Aaron & I ended up jamming for another 20-odd minutes. Haven’t done that in ages. Really refreshing to just play, y’know? Really encouraging for us was the tip jar at the end of our set, people were very generous.
One of Aaron’s friends took a few pictures, I’ll see about finding those & posting a few. Hope to see some of you out at my next show, this weekend at Tommy Doyle’s with Tony Brown & the Faithful!
So this past weekend was a bit action-packed. Here we go:
The gig Thursday night at TOAD with Maria McNeil went well, if slightly rough around the edges musically, as we have not rehearsed nearly enough to be super tight. Still, musically I really enjoy her compositions.
Friday I packed up a bag, got my bass stuff & pedal board together (yes, I decided to bring all my toys with me), and waited for Tony to arrive in the van with the rest of the band. Alas, it seems, small disasters delayed him, and between having to work (he asked for the day off weeks ago), a flat tire on the van we were supposed to get, and the time to get to each rental place, we didn’t leave Boston until 2:45pm. Very bad when one wishes to get to NYC before 7pm for a gig. Between the delays leaving and the traffic into NYC (a combination of Friday rush hour, Passover, and the Pope’s visit to the City), we didn’t arrive until about 10 of 8pm. So, we totally missed our set. Suck.
On the bright side, I got to meet the sub who’s playing for the band’s gig May 2nd in Hartford, CT. If you live near there, you should go! It’s at the Webster Theater; here’s a link to the Facebook event, which would be the best source of information besides the MySpace page.
In addition to meeting said sub, my buddy Aaron showed up at the venue, so we grabbed a bite at the best pizza in town (according to Aaron), then had another drink back at the Living Room before retiring to Aaron’s with some beer & popcorn to chill out. We eventually watched a movie, A Death at a Funeral, which, while not side-splitting, was definitely funny. It’s classic British humor of the dark variety, so if that’s not your speed, you’ve been warned!
Sunday was spent enjoying brunch with my friend Ellie, discussing a jazz quartet/quintet we’re hoping to start. In addition to being a fantastic vocalist, she’s also a fellow bassist, which is quite fun. We’ve already asked a few cats about how interested they would be in playing some standards-based money gigs around town (weddings, events, hotel bars, etc.) and they’ve all been enthusiastic, so we’ll see how that turns out.
Sunday evening, however, I joined my friend Katie in dinner and drinks at the Sunset Grill, followed by the Via Audio show at Great Scott. The Peasantry opened the show, with Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin ending the evening. We wanted to catch the T, so we didn’t stick around for SSLYBY, but The Peasantry were pretty good, and Via Audio was just amazing. My friend Jess sings & plays keys in the group, and she’s just a killin’ musician.
So, that was my long weekend. As for the marathon today & the delightfully crowded T on the way to work… ew. Just ew.
So I’ve got some gigs coming up, tonight and Friday night, with Maria McNeil & Tony Brown, respectively. You may send your eyes to the far right sidebar to get the essentials, but for more detail, the gigs page is where it’s at. Suffice to say, gonna be a great weekend of music for me. Hope to see some folks out there!
Played a gig with the Maria McNeil Band this past Thursday at Felt, a club on Washington St, just north of the Theatre District here in Boston. While a decent place, it’s not my favorite venue to play, mostly because it was never intended for live music, the stage area is a bit tight & the crowd is usually just there for an after-work drink. Regardless, we had a good time, and it was the band’s first gig out. Maria’s had a group for some time, but this most current incarnation with myself on bass, Samad Kamali on keys, and Aaron Robertson on drums has only been around since this past November.
I’ve posted some pics up on flickr, but here’s a good one:
So last night at the Midway Café, Tony Brown & his band (which includes me) celebrated the release of Music for a Shrinking World, and along with Keppie Coutts and another gentleman whose name I cannot recall at the moment, but both of them were great. Really randomly, Craig Brodhead, a guitarist who was in an ensemble class with me back in 2004, was accompanying Keppie, along with fantastic bassist named Jenny. Everyone really enjoyed the music, the intimacy of the Midway (it’s only about 20 or 30 feet from stage to bar) was great, and it marks the first time I’ve ever been called back to the stage for an encore by an audience. Really cool. Hopefully we’ll be doing lots more gigs like this with Tony! Here’s a favorite from that set:
So the last two weeks have been wicked hectic, but before I get into that, I want to mention that this Friday at the Midway Café the Tony Brown Band is performing, celebrating the release of the new album, Music for a Shrinking World. So come on out if you can, it’s $5 to get in and $5 for the album (one-time special this week!)
Now, continuing on with my currently crazy life, we (Tony Brown Band and Zili Misik) were in Buffalo & Rochester, NY, on the 15th & 16th. We were scheduled to play the 14th in Toronto, but we had some trouble with the work visas required to perform in Canada, and were turned back at the border. Disappointing, but you live & learn. The upstate NY dates were great; we played Nietzche’s in Buffalo, which is a great place that’s got a great built-in crowd. In Rochester, which is Tony’s home town, we performed at the German House, which is this big old theatre-type place, with a balcony and dance floor. First time I’ve ever performed on an actual stage! The PA and mix engineer were spectacular, and while the vibe at that gig was completely different from the previous night in Buffalo, it was still great. And I have to mention that Zili puts on a fantastic show, so if you enjoy roots, reggae, Caribbean, African, or just good dance music, you should definitely check them out!
In addition to all of this, I’ve joined the Video Game Music Club at Berklee. We ended up being invited to play a gig in San Francisco at the G.A.N.G. awards, which were held Feb 21 at the GDC at the Moscone Center. Very very cool to be flown all the way out there for that gig and put up in a hotel, even if it was only for a day & two nights.
I would’ve liked to stay longer, but the reason for the short stay was, of course, another gig, this time in NYC at the Living Room, with Tony Brown again. Unfortunately, due to the weather and some car trouble, Tony and Zili had to cancel that date, so Shota (a fellow member of VGMC Band & Tony Brown Band) and I arrived at JFK and proceeded to catch a Fung Wah bus back to Boston. A long day purely of travel, which, while no fun, was humorous because of just how much Murphy’s Law was called into being. I mean, we started off our day at 5am PST, had the gig canceled, couldn’t change our flights to stay in San Fran for anything short of $300, left San Francisco International at 7am, landed at JFK, spent 20 minutes just sitting in the plane on the tarmac because JFK was partly shutdown due to the snowstorm, finally walked out of the airport & headed to the subway at 4:30pm, spent 20 or 30 minutes waiting for an A train, then finally arrived in Manhattan in Chinatown at 6:30pm, where we got on a 7pm Fung Wah bus to Boston, which took an extra hour to reach Boston because of the snow on the way. And finally, to top it all off, RIGHT as we were rolling in to South Station, the front right tire on the bus blew. At that point, we just laughed, ’cause what else could we do?!
So for now, I’m going to try to stay close to home.
So I haven’t posted in over a month, which is a bit lame. Anyway, life has been a bit hectic. Doing classes full-time (16 credits folks), gigging weekly, occasional trips out-of-town for gigs or recreation, and on top of all that Amber moved in for the summer. So yeah, it’s been overwhelming, but in a good way, especially that Amber is here (no surprise I like my girlfriend, right?)
As for my previous entry, still a work in progress, but the Chet album slowly edges forward. Boston Common continues to gig every Thursday at Paddy O’s down by Faneuil Hall. And to anyone who reads this, feel free to leave comments, that’s what they’re there for.
So, I haven’t posted in a while, sorry about that; the daily grind has been getting in the way of my intarwebs. Anyway, just a heads-up to anyone who’s reading this in the Boston area, but the cover band I’m in, Boston Common (warning, page is NSFW due to audio that loads on start, so mute your speakers before clicking) is continuing its weekly engagement at Paddy O’s tomorrow evening, from 9pm to 1:30am. 21+, no cover, and we play killin’ dance tunes all night long! Hope to see some new folks there!
Taking the stage at TT’s this Wednesday with Chet. The Fens and Dann Russo & the Whiskey will be joining us, so come on out for a rockin’ good time! Doors at 8:30pm, 18+, and $7
