Butterfat Rocks the Bass Convention

I’m back home in Los Angeles after my trip to the Midwest. The gig at the convention went really well. I arrived in Chicago on Monday then drove to Kalamazoo with Rob (the keyboardist for the Butterfat Trio … dig if you haven’t: http://www.butterfattrio.com/ ). We were both staying with B-fat drummer extraordinaire Jeffy. Monday night we watched the unbelievably lucky Detroit Pistons beat another injured team while sucking down beers then rehearsing our stuff. I went to the convention the next day and picked up the bass I was going to use that night (the fine folks at Lemur Music in OC let me borrow an instrument so I didn’t have to fly with mine). I also walked around the convention and talked to folks I hadn’t seen for a long time. Then I started to get the butterflies. This convention is a pretty big deal and I wanted everything to go off smoothly. Well, it did. That night the guys in the trio played their asses off and everyone I talked to, old teachers and big-time bass professionals alike were really complimentary of the show. And it was good to see some of the old homies in Kalamazoo as well.

What a load off of my back. I was so relieved when the performance was over I had two double Sapphire & Tonics and a beer within the span of 30 minutes. HA! Another night of very little drunken sleep.

The next day I checked out the convention in the morning then Rob and I headed back to Chicago so he could make his Wednesday night gig. I got to have dinner with my sister-in-law and her husband. We had some KILLIN’ BBQ. Good to know that Chi-town can cook up some BBQ propah!

Then yesterday I headed home. And here I am.

I should mention that the gig at UCLA where we were on the same bill as Diana Krall was a lot of fun as well. There were a lot of heavy musicians there; Kenny Burrell, John Clayton, Mike Melvoin, etc. Everyone was really cool and the show went well. And Ms. Krall is simply stunning in person. Wowsers.

I have another busy week ahead of me. I’m working today in OC, tomorrow in Carmel with Tyrell, then on Monday we start a week-long run at Catalina’s in Hollywood.