Wednesday: I hired Susan and Marshall to perform with Mack and I at Carbo's Cafe for Freeman Decorating company employee holiday party. Carbo's is a nice place to play, but the job was nothing special.
Thursday: Mack and I performed at King Plow Arts Center and we were joined on stage by the lovely and talented Tina Catalanatto on drums as well as the most awesome tenor sax player in the region, Sam Skelton. The band was smokin' and the crowd was hip enough to "get it".
Tina is a 24 year old red-headed native of New Orleans. She is a trained and skilled classical percussionist and has a degree in Jazz Studies from The University of New Orleans, where she studied with Jason Marsalis, Ricky Sebastian, and John Vidacovich. She's my current favorite drummer in the city.
Friday: A reunion of sorts, as George Miller called me play with his trio, Suburban Knights, filling in for the absent piano player. It was a corporate holiday party in the Suntrust Plaza.
George's Dad, Al, was very influential on my development as a musician. Back in 1971 or so we used to hang out in George's basement listening to records and learning to jam. Al, who used to be a big band drummer, would come down and offer us cigarettes and a cocktail then start playing his old 78's. He liked the big bands, but not just Glen Miller and Benny Goodman, he also had Fats Waller, Fletcher Henderson, Bob Haggart, etc. He told us stories about the musicians and explained the music and arrangements, luring us into his world, and before George and I knew it we were jazz fans.
Saturday: Tonight I will be performing with Susan's band at the Gwinnett Civic Center for a largely Hispanic crowd. She has assembled a fantastic band with many of the top horn players in the South, several drummers, multiple vocalists and at the core of the band will be Mack and myself. This should be interesting.
Posted by dancoy at December 11, 2004 11:04 AM