have guitar, will travel
This past weekend was extremely hectic and at the same time highly rewarding. First a few words about the actual schedule.
Friday morning: drove to Windsor. Checked into a nice motel, relaxed for a few hours, then played a show with Amy Rivard at the somewhat faded but still fabulous Top Hat Club in downtown Windsor. The very stage I was on had once been treaded on by no less a luminary than Count Basie and his orchestra. In the trio with me were Kevin Grenier on piano and Keith Malinowski on bass. Both superb musicians, a real joy to work with. Amy sang her heart out and entertained the crowd. A real pro! An additional word about the musicians: both guys wore sharp suits and I think the trio rose to the occasion of playing in such a storied club. Kudos to Amy for organizing this gig, introducing me to her family and to two great musicians. Keith is based in Detroit and so I could truthfully say that the band was comprised of musicians from three countries. After the show I was somewhat wound up and could only sleep for a few hours before heading out to Tim Horton's for an early morning coffee and toasted bagel.
Saturday: After a four hour drive back to Toronto and a quick bite to eat, I had my wife drive me to a gig at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington. This was a trio gig with Jonathan Marks on violin and Fabrice Sicco on accordion. We played some lovely French waltzes and the usual swing suspects, such as All of Me and Bye, Bye Blues, which lend themselves well to this format. The violin and the accordion most certainly lend a romantic, Gallic appeal to the music which the audience picks up on immediately.
Later that evening, after Jonathan gave me a ride home, I had to drive out yet again: this time to play a private party in Oakville with Brandon Walker on tenor sax. Fortunately, this was only a one set deal and I was back home around 11PM. By the time I hit the sack that night I was squeezed out drier than a lemon. Almost a thousand km's and three gigs in 24 hours.
Early Sunday afternoon: I headed down to the Distillery District to play a four hour solo gig. The Distillery was packed with visitors, as the Jazz Festival was on. I wrote about this part of town in one of my earlier entries here - suffice it to say that I like it down there a lot. Toronto needs more places like the Distillery District, which is a magnet for musicians and artists and feels integral to the community.
To crown the four day gig fest, last night (Monday), I accompanied Amy once again. This time at her CD release party at the Top O' the Senator . I won't wax poetic for too long but playing on the very same stage where I saw Diana Krall, Mose Allison and many other of my favourite musicians perform was a deep experience for me. The band cooked, with Anthony Panacci on keys and Doug Banwell on alto and flute and Amy was her usual perky and professional self.
It's easy to become jaded in this business. You do three to four gigs a week, week in, week out - they do tend to blend together more than a little. I still love what I do every bit as much as I did when I started performing all those moons ago but when you've played Ain't Misbehavin' in pretty much every key (except for F# and B!!) for the three hundreth time at a gathering of overfed accountants in Kmart suits, well, it just doesn't have the same kick it did the first time around. And when you've been playing other composers' tunes night in, night out, while your own are waiting to be published and dsitributed, well, some bitterness does creep in. BUT: playing at the Senator last night, it all melted away and once again - as periodically happens, thank God - things fell into place and I knew, really knew down deep, why I do what I do. So thank you, Amy, for getting the Sen booking. It was magic!