Learn To Work The Saxophone

Hey Soul Mates,
the last few evening were chock full o' culture. Last night, a bunch of us went to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Pretty good. I still like the third movie best. The length of this novel seems to have made it very challenging for the director to tell the story properly in 2:34. But, it was entertaining. I'm only 2/3 of the way through the book. But that has been my MO with the Potter series. Read the first two "acts" prior to seeing the movie, so I know what the heck is going on. Then I read the end after watching the film. It's been a decent way to do it. I'd really rather not know how any movie is going to end when I see it, no matter how engrossing the book is. And Potter 4 is a quick, fun read at 700+ pages.

Thursday night, Bryan and I were busy trying to gain more friends on MySpace. We were doing pretty well, then we hit a ceiling to the amount of activity we could accomplish there. Kind of frustrating. But we did add 100 new friends in a 36 hour period. I want to welcome any of you who are checking out my blog for the first time, as a result. Feel free to leave comments on the blog or on MySpace. I enjoy the feedback. Sometimes I forget that anyone is even reading what I write. Ha Ha. Then someone will e-mail me or mention something at a show that I've written about. I appreciate your attentiveness.

Wednesday night, we went to the Walt Disney Concert Hall for the Django Reinhardt Festival. The festival was less about Django than the style of music he played. Dorado Schmitt and his quintet played a lot of original material, but it was still enjoyable. The venue is breathtaking. It's basically theatre in the round. And the interior is like being in the belly of a wooden whale. Our seats were in a balcony that ran along the side of the stage. Fortunately, this being a small combo, they played to all sides. There was even a section of couch/bench seats behind the orchestra area. Very unique.

For me, the highlight of the evening was the presence and performance of guest saxophonist Tom Scott. Tom is the genius behind the sax solos and horn arrangements on Steely Dan's Aja. Deacon Blues? That's Tom. The opening riff of Peg? Tom. To see him play in person was a treat. He certainly brought a burst of energy and comic relief with him. Helped that he was on his home turf. Four of the quintet were European and had little to relate to the audience between songs. Mr. Scott has also played with Wings (Listen To What The Man Said), Rod Stewart (Da Ya Think I'm Sexy) and Blondie (Rapture); he's just an inspiring player who's played some ferociously memorable solos. On Wednesday, he played some really hot alto.

All right, this is post number 199. Gotta have something good for the next one, huh? Well, I'm off to the dentist. Hope no more teeth fall out of my head. Then, it's a Saturday, it's a Saturday. What to do?!

Love, Power, Peace

Postcard From Los Angeles

Hey Soul Mates,
I know, I know. It's been a few days since last I wrote. What's been going on? Well, last night I was at the Clippers' trouncing of the Milwaukee Bucks. A friend invited us to a swank luxury suite at Staples. That was nice to see the home town win in fine fashion. Just wish the Clips would go back to wearing sky blue and burnt orange. Of course, they'll never replace my Cavs in my heart. Oddly enough, I ran into one of our venue bookers and was told that we'll have a date in mid-December opening for a nationally known music act. Details will follow.

Tonight, should be cool. We are going to the Django Reinhardt festival at the Disney Concert Hall. I've only been in the hall once, when I spent a day downtown. It's a pretty fantastic building. I'm looking forward to the performance. I was really introduced the music of the gypsy guitarist Reinhardt in the Woody Allen film Sweet And Lowdown (my favorite movie of 2000). Then, when I was in France for a jazz festival later that year, there were several tribute acts who played his music. Seems like a lifetime ago. Django's "hot jazz" music is uplifting and soothing simultaneously. It's become a favorite of mine on down-time. The "role" of the late Mr. Reinhardt will be played by reknowned Djangophile, guitarist Dorado Schmitt.

I've been reminiscing a lot this week. A year ago was the trip to Italy. On this day, I was in Florence and got to see Michelangelo's David. David had just turned 500. Nothing on Earth like it. I've said this before, but if you wanted to show a non-earthling one work of art to explain humanity, the David would be it. Although I have a soft spot for Bernini's David, now. The journal I kept has come in handy. Rereading it brings back things I had forgotten about the vacation. My advice to any one is to keep a journal, diary, whatever. My grandmother is a great journalist and that's where I got the idea. Even if you only write down what you ate that day or what the weather was like, you'll be glad you did. My journals get pretty detailed and I can remember forcing myself to stay awake or fighting a bumpy bus ride through Tuscany to get extra thoughts from pen to paper.

In Rush Hour Soul news, I'd like to thank everyone again for participating so vocally in our 3 week stay on Next Big Hit. We are looking forward to the next big move for our career. I have mentioned in passing to some of our fans that we will be heading East in 2006. It's true! We'll be bringing the act to select cities along the East coast in the early months of the year.

At our last show we had a very major development and our trajectory may have accelerated. We'll see after our next showcase at the Gig. I hope you plan on being there. We will have new postcard flyers this week for the event. Want to see what they look like? I made them myself. So I've been busy. Bryan and I have also been practicing quite a bit. The new bass has really gotten a workout the last few days. And we're starting to cultivate some new songs. We'll probably debut them in January. New songs, new year. Makes sense to me.

Thanks, too, to our fans who have suggested color schemes for upcoming shows. That's very helpful to know what you like to see us wearing. For the next show we will be bringing back the blues. Anyone who wants to dress in shades of blue for the show on Dec. 1 is welcome.

All right everyone, I'll be back very soon. Plus I'm almost up to my 200 blog entry. I'll have to come up with something good for you.
Love, Power, Peace.