Born: August 31, 1975
Height: 5'5"
Weight: undisclosed
College: Ball State University
Years Pro: 7

Drafted in the first round out of Ball State University in '98 Carrie spent one year at AAA-Kalamazoo before getting her first big league assignment in Los Angeles for Team Medeiros. Since her rookie season her offensive and defensive output have steadily increased. '06 was a career year for Carrie as she had to take over scoring duties from co-captain Lyman Medeiros who was absent for most home games and second-year veteran Murphy Medeiros whose stats diminished as he spent most of the season asleep. Carrie started every game and was never put on the IR despite her recent impregnation. Carrie was a starter for the '06 All-Star team and received 98% of the first-place MVP votes. Look for a contract extension for Carrie as Team Medeiros have a big rookie signing in winter of '07.

1. Chris Potter Underground
2. Murs Murray's Revenge
3. Jason Moran Artist in Residence
4. Christian McBride Band Live at Tonic
5. TV on the Radio Return to Cookie Mountain
6. Arrah and the Ferns Evan is a Vegan
7. Regina Spektor Begin to Hope
8. John Mayer Continuum
9. The Roots Game Theory
10. Brazilian Girls Talk to La Bomb
11. Neko Case Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
12. Medeski, Scofield, Martin, and Wood Out Louder
13. Gnarls Barkley St. Elsewhere
14. Clipse Hell Hath No Fury
15. RH Factor Distractions
16. Jackie Allen Tangled

If you didn't know, I love art museums. I'm a big fan of 20th Century art and I try to make it a point to visit art museums in each new city I go to. In the past week I've visited two of my favorite NYC museums, the Met and the Whitney.

The Met is always great. I sometimes feel bad because all I do is head directly to the modern wing. But this time they had not one but two exhibits I was interested in. One was a collection of paintings that had passed through the hands of legendary French art dealer Vollard, mostly Cezanne, Van Gogh, Rodin, and Picasso. Good stuff for sure. The second exhibit was German expressionist portraits from the 30s. Fascinating stuff. And then there's the modern part of the permanent collection which I really love. The Met's collection is concise but thorough (well, maybe not that thorough, would it kill them to hang one Basquiat?). I've been there so much I know exactly where my favorites of their collection are including a great Pollack, two amazing Chuck Close portraits, and a beautiful Modigliani nude. I must've been at the museum for three hours. It's one of my favorites in the world.

Unfortunately I didn't have a great experience at the Whitney. The Whitney is a museum of American art so there's usually plenty of modern stuff which is why I dig it so much. And like the Guggenheim there's no real permanent collection on display, it's all exhibitions. The first exhibit was fine, it featured works from two German artists (Moholy-Nagy and Albers) who relocated to the USA after Hitler closed the Bauhaus where they both taught. The second exhibit might've been the finest I've seen in both museums; Kiki Smith: A Gathering. I really loved it. Her work is hard to explain so I won't try save to say it is thoroughly modern and adventurous but direct and less confusing than most 20th Century artists.

So I was really excited to see the next exhibit which has been getting a lot of hype, it's called Picasso and American Art. It features different Picasso's hung next to American works they inspired. Sounds interesting right? Wrong. I hated it. As a jazz musicians I know that it's important to understand influences, where artists have "come from" aesthetically, etc. But this exhibition implies that artists are nothing more than their influences, specifically Picasso. De Koonig, Graham, Gorky, and Weber, names that are not very well known among the occasional museum-visitor, are made to look like they are nothing more than Picasso imitators and that is just not the case. Seeing similar paintings in the same room really numbs your eyes and you find yourself searching for the similarities (no matter how subtle) instead of really checking out the painting. The best is a room in the exhibit where works by Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, and Andy Warhol are hung. Many of these pieces bear the name (or the subtitle) After Picasso. It's like the exhibitors couldn't even make the distinction between 'influence' and 'homage'!

When I heard a lady turn to her husband and say "they all copied Picasso didn't they?" and he replied "they still do!" I knew it was time to go as I feared this exhibit was doing a real disservice.

I should say that they had a room of early Pollack's that I really loved (his figurative pre-paint-splashing phase). But at the end of the day it seemed like the exhibit was just an excuse to hang some Picasso's and get some more bodies into the Whitney.

Pretentious rant concluded.

The booty:
Sony Vaio Notebook
Cast Iron Skillet
Sauce' Pan
Paula Deen Cookbooks
101 Things Every Father Should Know
Scrabble

The food:
Honeybaked Ham
Sweet Potato Casserole
Sausage/Apple Stuffing
Mashed Potatos
Rolls
Brussell Sprouts
Cranberry Sauce

A good time was had with my in-laws and my wonderful wife. I didn't want to come back to NYC, but here I am. Only one week of the tour left.

I'm off everybody. I hope you all have a wonderful and happy Christmas. I'm getting the best present I could imagine, time with my beautiful wife and soon-to-be baby boy.

Merry, merry!

But it doesn't feel like Christmas. I don't know why. Maybe because the weather isn't cold and there's been no snow. Maybe it's because last year I lived a block away from Rockefeller Center and this year I live in a quieter neighborhood.

Or maybe it's a testament to how much your family means to you during the holidays. I'm ready to go home. For the first time in a long time I'm road weary and would like nothing better but to be on my couch with my dog at the moment.

But the Christmas party was a smashing success as it was last year. I made some food that was a real hit (bruschetta with goat cheese and caramelized onion, roasted nuts with herb butter, mulled wine, etc.). Unfortunately I didn't eat much of it but drank on an empty stomach. From what I hear I called Jason a few times at three in the morning. He was unlucky enough to be one of the last people I talked to on my phone. HA! Sorry 'bout that one bro. In spite of that the party was a lot of fun.

Last night I saw what I can only describe as a jazz dream band-Jeff 'Tain' Watts, Dave Kikoski, Marcus Strickland, and the one and only Christian McBride. If you know who these guys are then you know how thoroughly killing it was. Christian has a blog on his website, he told me he's posting today about the James Brown concert and he talks about me a bit. Can't wait to read that.

Alright, I have some Christmas shopping to do. I'm still not sure on what I should get my wife ... maybe I'll just shop when I get back to L.A. ...

Well it was only a matter of time. I mean really, how long can you live your life in this cold, dingy city riding with hundreds if not thousands of commuters on the subway ever day without catching a cold? It hasn't been terrible and I think I'm at the end of it, but being sick is never fun. My month-long gym membership ran out this week and without the energy or gumption to take my bass home I feel like I've accomplished very little over the past few days. No biggie I guess, recouping is important.

Tomorrow night is our second annual NYC Christmas Party. We had a hella-good time last year (Paul Schaeffer even showed up). And this year with a bigger pad and three roomates it should be better.

Have we all seen the article about Time Magazine's Person of the Year? It's YOU. That's right, you. I know it seems like a big cop-out and in many ways it is. But when you consider the amount of information John Q. Public is offering and digesting through websites like Wikipedia, Myspace, YouTube, and various blogs (and when you consider most of our world leaders are shit) it makes sense. The article could've been a bit clearer though.

And if you haven't seen the postcard for my big CD Release Show, check it out (big, HUGE ups to Jeff who printed up 500 cards for me pro bono):

Than ks 'Nana' Karen. WOOT!

Nancy Sinatra was in attendance. She got up and sang "Something Stupid" with Steve. Way cool man, way cool.

My week back in NYC has been okay. Some friends/fans of Steve and ours from Ft. Scott Kansas came out and we ended up hanging pretty hard a couple of nights. Friday I showed them Times Square were we visitedThe Charmin Restrooms. If you haven't heard about what it is, Charmin has set up this building with restrooms in the middle of Times Square where it's typically hard to find a place to take a leak. Upon walking in to the place you're greeted by a worker who tells you "it's not just a restroom, it's an experience!" You take and escalator up to a waiting area where there are workers dancing around to the Charmin song, places for photo ops, and a large flat screen TV displaying different countries around the world and how many visitors from each the Charmin Restrooms had had (59 from Ghana). After waiting in a short line a worker tells you to use whichever of the twenty restrooms were available. The restroom smelled great and gave you a choice of six different toilet papers. After leaving a worker rushes in and makes sure everything is okay for the next guest.

An experience it was! Pictures to come soon.

Sunday we had to go to Jersey for a gig. This turned out to be a total drag. Our driver got lost, the gig was lame. All of this on top of the fact that the Colts got embarrassed really put me out. But last night we went downtown and heard some great Brazilian music so at least the day ended well.

The gig starts again tomorrow. Time really seems to be flying by this year as compared to last year. I guess I'll be home in no time.

... in the form of one badass new Sony Vaio Notebook for yours truly. That means a whole lot more posting from the road. Man is it going to be nice to finally have a computer with me.

It even has a built-in webcam for long-distance messaging with me son.

... or a punch, or a head-butt, or something.

I've had my hands on Carrie's belly since I got to LA and hadn't felt a thing until this morning. He's in there alright ...

I'm headed back to LA tonight (or more like tomorrow morning I guess). I'm really excited to see Carrie, Murphy, and Lil' Porkchop again. My flight leaves at 6:45 AM so I figure I'll just stay up through the night and sleep on the plane. I've been getting to bed around 4 AM each night anyway so it seems to make sense.

I'm worried about my flight back. I'm supposed to land at JFK around 3:00 PM and I need to be to the Carlyle by 8. I've heard everything from snowstorms to tornadoes (HA!) from people but weather.com says nothing of the sort. As of now, I think I'll be cool.

It's starting to get cold in the city. Perfect time for a trip back West.

Things are going well here in NYC. I'm starting to get in to a rhythm that makes it feel more like home than it has in the past. Before when we were playing at the Regency for a month the neighborhood was way too ritzy and I always felt like some tourist visiting for a while and pretending like I was rich. Last year during the Carlyle gig I stayed in Midtown right by Rockefeller Center which turned me into a jaded New Yorker really quickly. I was bugged by all of the crowds and there was nothing 'homey' about the neighborhood. All the businesses were there for tourists, grocery stores and dry cleaners were blocks and blocks away.

This time things are more convenient. The area is vibrant but far away from the insanity of midtown. There's a cleaners down stairs (Miss Lin already knows all of our names and asks how are performances are going before charging a ludicrous $16 for dry cleaning a suit with a smile on her face), a grocery store a block away, and a subway stop quite close which makes it much easier for me to bring my bass home and practice. I've joined a nearby gym and have a little routing going, work out, practice, errands, gig, etc.

Plus this neighborhood is filthy with dogs. Makes me wish Murph-Deezy could visit like he did last year. He did well in the city and had a good time here. There's a restaurant called Fetch a block away where everyone goes with their dogs so I see so a lot of them every day.

But as good as things are here I am really looking forward to flying home to LA Sunday morning. It's been way too long since I've seen my wife's belly.

So I guess the CBS Early Show is a little bush league and not on in some markets (namely INDIANAPOLIS!). Not only that but it started at 5AM in LA.

Luckily here's a link to us playing one of the songs. Enjoy:

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/earlyshow/saturday/secondcup/main500256.shtml

So we're going to be on the early show in between the hours of 7-9AM. From what I understand we'll be playing a couple of songs and some 'bumpers' as well (bumpers are the short performances going in and out of commercial breaks). Let me know how tired I look.

I've really been consuming a lot of art lately. I've been reading quite a bit, novels, tearing through GQ articles. This is kind of unusual for me. Not that I don't I read, but most of the time my reading comes accompanied by pictures and sound effects (don't laugh! comics are a valid art form, natch!!). I don't nearly read as much as my wife or my sister-in-law (I don't know anyone who reads as much as Kelly), but for whatever reason I have been reading a lot. And seeing movies as well. Here's a little rundown of what I've been in to recently:

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safron Foer
One of the best books I've read in years. Creative, Modern, Post-Modern, touching, and on and on. Even better than his first book Everything is Illuminated (which is also brilliant). If you've had an inkling to read it, do so.

Less Than Zero by Brett Easton Ellis
Fantastic. If you're expecting something similar to the Robert Downey Jr. movie then brace yourself, the book is even more haunting and shocking. It's all about rich kids in LA with too much money and drugs. It might've resonated more with me since I've met a few kids who could've walked out of the pages of the book.

For Your Consideration
I love Chistopher Guest movies. Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman are some of the funniest movies you'll ever see. But For Your Consideration was a disappointment. It veers from the mockumentary format and tries to read more like a movie. But it's just not as funny as the other outings. The cast has gotten so enormous its like no one has any time to be funny. But if you're a fan of his other movies I'm sure it will keep you amused.

The Departed
Best movie I've seen this year. Incredible. It can stand right along Goodfellas as one of Scorceses' best, and that is saying quite a bit.


The Fountain comes out today, I'll probably see it tomorrow or Friday. I'm also in the middle of reading Fight Club again. Big news, I'm going to be on the CBS Early Show this Saturday with the bossman. I'll let you know more details as they come. Happy Thanksgiving Eve everyone.


p.s.
If you haven't switched to Blogger Beta yet, do so. the new spellcheck is reason enough.

The first week at the Carlyle was quite fun actually. The band is really sounding good and the audiences have been enthusiastic. Wednesday night Regis threw us a little opening party, celebrities there included Susan Lucci, Clive Davis, and Israli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (of all people!). Regis's wife Joy said I was a star. HAH! Later in the week Katie Couric and the host of either Entertainment Tonight or Access Hollywood came. I forget which one.

Friday after the show we flew to Detroit to play a very rich man's birthday party Saturday. How rich was this guy? We flew in his private jet from NYC to Detroit. I hope I work with an artist rich enough to have their own jet one day because holy moly, that is the ONLY way to travel. Comfortable, quiet, I could go on and on. I took some pictures I'll have up soon.

I'm blogging from our hotel here in Michigan, about to head back to NYC.

Good news is we land just in time for me to watch the game.

The end of the Europe trip was tiring even though we didn't have to play. At the last minute our Germany shows were cancelled because of some miscommunication with the record label and promoter. But we went anyway. Berlin was nice, it was eerie seeing where the wall used to be and the holocaust memorial, I should have pictures up soon. By the time we got to Hamburg I was pooped and had a cold, too many 4 AM lobby calls. I didn't do much besides walk around the red light district (yikes!) and have some damn good German food.

But now I'm back in my home away from home, New York City. It feels good to be back but I'm sure I'll be missing LA soon enough. Opening night at the Carlyle was last night and it went really well. I think this is going to be a good run.

Two countries,
two television shows,
about 4 hours of sleep.

That's what I've been up to the past 24 hrs.

My days off in London were nice and uneventful. Got some laundry and dry cleaning done, rested a lot, and that's about it. Some friends of mine were playing at Ronnie Scott's with a great vocalist Curtis Stigers so I checked them out on Monday. It was a great show and good to see them.

Yesterday I got up around 4AM and headed off to Heathrow. We arrived in Stuttgart and quickly got in a couple of vans to head to the television show we were taping. We were pressed for time so the driver was going about 110 mph on the Autobahn to make sure we got there. A bit of an uneasy ride, but I managed to sleep for a little bit. When we got to the venue I discovered we were playing the German television show Stars on Ice (or Star Aug Eice). It's like the American version with celebrities teaming up with pro skaters and being judged. It was actually pretty fun. We played on the ice (more accurately, we pretended like we were playing to prerecorded music). Katarina Witt was the host if you remember who she is. What a beautiful woman (the rest of the skaters looked quite nice as well). But as soon as we were done (11PM) it was back to the hotel.

This morning I was up at 3:30AM to fly back to London. Once again we were pressed for time so it was more fast driving to Stuttgart to catch our plane. We quickly found out that our plane was cancelled but they had rebooked us on a BA flight and we made it to Heathrow only a little late. We quickly rushed to the BBC to tape Parkinson. The taping was quick and painless and we're finally back at our hotel here in SoHo.

I'm ready for a nap.

But before that I must comment on the outcome of the election. And my comment is--HOOOORAY! FINALLY A SEMBLANCE OF SANITY IS RETURNING TO OUR GOVERNMENT!!! It looks like the Dems are going to take over both houses of congress and I couldn't be happier. Bush will no longer have free reign for his war mongering and maybe something can be figured out for the Iraq situation. America has spoken and it looks like everyone has wisened up. The future is finally bright. Congrats everyone.

My time here in London has been really good so far. The crowds at Ronnie Scott's were enthusiastic and I think we did pretty well there. Our hotel and the London weather are both nicer than they were when we were here a couple of months ago.

Once again I hung with London's finest host, my buddy Dom. Last Tuesday he took me to a poetry reading he reads at regularly. It was fun and there were some pretty good poets there (some mediocre ones too). Unfortunately I had to go to the club before he performed.

Saturday was the best, Dominick and I went to an actual Premier League Football Match (that's soccer to you Yanks, HA!). We had a great time even though Dom's team Evarton lost because the American goalkeeper I was rooting for let a ball fall right over his head and into the net. It was a great experience, hope I can go to another sometime.

I saw Borat last Thurs. Please go see it. I don't think I've ever laughed so much at a movie before in my life. Funny stuff, not for the easily offended.

So we have today and tomorrow off then the rest of the week is about as hectic as you can get. Wed. we fly to Hamburg to tape a television show (the German 'Dancing With The Stars'), on Thurs. we fly back to London to tape another television show (Parkinson, the English Johnny Carson), on Fri. we fly to Stuttgart for a concert, on Sat. we take a train to Berlin for a concert, and on Sun. we finally fly back to the good ol' USA, NYC to be specific. Next Tues. begins our long run at the Carlyle.

I don't know what it is about road musicians, but it seems like most of them that I've worked with want to seek out the best food in each city they hit. Everyone knows of a great Indian place or a great Sushi place. Don't get me wrong, I dig it. Heck, I love food. And I've been lucky enough to eat at some fantastic restaurants in my career (including an Indian restaurant today that prompted me to write this). Here's a list of some of the best restaurants I've been to on the road. In no particular order:

Pizzitola's Barbeque, Houston, Texas
I love barbeque and fancy myself a bit on an expert. In my mind there is nothing better than Texas barbeque and the best Texas barbeque is at Pizzitola's. Jerry Pizzitola is a childhood friend of Steve's and caters all of our sounchecks when we play in Houston. The best brisket around, and his mother's vanilla pudding is the perfect dessert.

Fourteen Carrot Cafe, Seattle, Washington
Just a great breakfast and lunch. The Eggs Benedict is a favorite of mine. There's plenty of laid-back, hippie, student vibe in the joint and the waitresses are smartasses but a lot of fun.

The Dakota Jazz Club, Minneapolis, Minnesota
The best thing about this restaurant is that it's a club too, so you eat there for free when you play. They have a carpaccio that is unreal, the lambchops are also great. The cook and the staff are also really friendly and like to hang after the gig.

Hell's Kitchen, Minneapolis, Minnesota
They take food seriously in Minneapolis. The most unique breakfast place you'll ever eat at. They make their own peanut butter, ketchup, and jams. I suggest the shrimp egg scramble with goat cheese.

Kaiten Sushi, Ropponghi, Tokyo, Japan
This isn't the name of the place, I don't know if I ever knew the name of the place as it was in Japanese. But it was some of the best sushi I've ever had. A kaiten sushi place has a conveyor belt that goes around the sushi bar and you pull off whatever you want. Each sushi is on a different colored plate and each color is a different price, when they ring up your bill they simply scan the plates to tally the check. This isn't the greatest sushi you can get in Tokyo, I don't have the wallet for that. But it certainly is some of the best I've had.

The Red Fort, London, England
This is the Indian restaurants I ate at today. It was really good (or as the English would say "its quite nice"). The Chicken Tikka was perfect and the spinach was some of the most flavorful I've ever had.

Carnegie Deli, NYC, New York
I know it's a tourist spot. I know there's usually a line around the block during the tourist season. I know you've probably heard about it from countless television shows. That doesn't make it taste any worse though. The Corned Beef is a classic, the Matzo Ball soup is amazing, and the cheesecake is the best cream cheese cake I've ever had.

House of Nan King, San Francisco, California
My favorite Chinese place ever. Just go in and let the cook bring you whatever he wants to bring you. You'll love it.

Ruthie's, Brooklyn, New York
One of my favorite places ever. The best soul food on the planet, fo' sho'!

Honorable mentions to: Fiorlinni's, NYC, New York; The Mayflower, London, England; 13 Coins, Seattle, Washington

Greetings from London town. We left Boston Sunday night, got into Heathrow this morning and are playing a show in a couple of hours. I think I've slept a total of 3 hours in the past two days. Needless to say I'm gonna crash out tonight.

The show in Boston was good, just a small show for a not-for-profit benefit. Boston is such a cool town.

If you missed the Colts/Broncos game you better ask someone about it. Best game I've seen in a long time. The ironic thing was I watched the game from Logan Airport in Boston. When Vinatieri hit the game winning field goal for the Colts with 2 seconds left on the clock I stood up and thanked the city for letting him leave the Patriots and sign with Indy.

Cheers everyone!

Well folks, I'm off on my winter touring adventure that won't bring me back home until 2007.

First off we're headed to Boston for a gig over the weekend, then to London on Sunday. We're playing the week in London then headed to Hamburg, Germany to do a television show. Then it's back to London for another TV show then over to Berlin for another gig. After all of that we head to NYC for our long run at the Carlyle.

It's really tough leaving Carrie and Murphy and Little Porkchop (that's the working title for my son's name). I'll be coming back to LA for two one-night visits in December, but it's still tough.

Wish me luck, I'll be "talking" to you from the road.

After the travel debacle we finally arrived in Kansas City with no time to spare. As soon as we got to the club (at a Harrah's Casino) we immediately started getting attitude from the sound men and the crew. I guess they thought we were playing rock star and wanted to be late to hang them up as opposed to running all over the greater Chicago area to catch the last possible plane out to KC. That sucked. But the show was good.

They fed us at a Toby Keith's restaurant. I felt kind of gross eating there. The menu actually said "Freedom Fries". But I have to admit even amongst all of the narrow-minded, uninformed, conservative propaganda the sweet potato pecan pie was pretty damn good. After dinner I proceeded to drink to much and overslept our noon call.

But that wasn't a big deal because our next stop was Fort Scott, Kansas. This town has a population of 8,000 but for some reason this is the second time we've been there in the past 8 months. They love Steve. We get the rock star treatment there, for sure. We met a lot of nice people, almost got in a bar fight, played a solid show, and had a good time.

Today I flew home just in time to see the Colts unleash a beatdown on the Redskins.

So here I am in Hotel Los Angeles for a few days before heading off to Europe and NYC for the rest of the year. Needless to say I have much to do before leaving.


Oh yeah, PLEASE stop by my website (linky to the left), I've added a guestbook and updated some things.

It's been one of those travel days. Our flight from Milwaukee to Chicago was delayed, as a result we missed our connection to Kansas City. No flights from O'Hare would get us to KC in time for the show so we hopped in a couple of cabs and here we are in Midway. We should arrive in KC an hour before the show starts. Hope I have a shirt that doesn't need ironing.

Minneapolis was really great. The Dakota is one of my favorite jazz clubs in the country now right up there with Yoshi's in San Fran. The food is fantastic and the staff are really cool. Our show last night in Milwaukee was cool but I didn't get a chance to see much of the city or anything.

Almost time to board.

I'm sitting in the lobby of a Holiday Inn in St. Cloud, Minnesota. I don't know what it is but every since I moved to LA whenever I fly east or north and feel the cold it's like I'm experiencing cold for the first time. It's actually refreshing in some ways.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Music Mill in Indy the other night, it was really great seeing you all. I love playing at 'home'. Afther Jr. arrives I'll be able to actually take a vacation in Indiana instead of working.

Friday morning after the show we all loaded in the bus and drove up to Chicago. Soon after we arrived it was time for soundcheck, dinner, and another show. This show was special though because my sister-in-law and her husband came out. And an old, OLD friend from back in my Ball State days came as well. We all went out for drinks afterwards and had a spectacular time.

This morning it was off to Midway for a flight to Minneapolis. After landing we again jumped in the van, drove to B.F.E. just in time for another soundcheck and another show. I'm beat. Luckily after we drive back to Minneapolis tomorrow we will be playing at a club for the three days ... which means no travelling.

Wed.-Fly to San Jose. Drive through beautiful rolling hills and blue skies. Play in gorgeous Saritoga

Thurs.-Drive to Napa. Drink great wine.

Fri.-Wake up early, drive to Oakland Airport, fly to Seattle, soundcheck, play show in exhausted state. Drink the rest of Napa wine.

Sat.-Hang with my aunt and uncle. Play show. Hang out on the balcony of our condo (which the club owns, nice change of pace from hotels) enjoying the beautiful view and cool weather.

Sun.-Watch the Colts play shitty defense at Hooters. Nap. Play show. Do laundry at the condo (free laundry on the road is a special, special thing).

Mon.-Fly from Seattle to Chicago (4hrs), drive from Chicago to South Bend (3hrs). Try not to kill your bandmates.

Tues.-Have lunch with your buddy Jeff's parents. Drive the 1990 Iroc-Z that they let you borrow (how freakin' cool is that) to Kalamazoo. Visit your OTHER buddy Jeff and his new baby boy. Drive back to South Bend. Play pool, darts, and Megatouch 2000 (who here knows about Erotic Photo Hunt?) at a bar. Go back to the hotel and blog.

Well all of this time at home has been fun and all but its time to go back to work. Tommorow morning I leave for 2 1/2 weeks; we're going to Napa Valley, Seattle, all around the Midwest, and Kansas. It's a busy little tour so hopefully it will go by quickly.

We had an appointment with the doctor today. Carrie is doing great as is the baby. She was happy to learn that she's only gained 12 lbs. so far. We got to hear the hearbeat as well. Pretty exciting.

I'll be blogging from the road hopefully.

The ultrasound gave us quite a clear shot. Little Junior is on the way.

The Science of Sleep is a fantastic new film by Michel Gondry the director of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." It's unlike anything you've seen before. If you like good movies, you'll dig it.

New post on the baby blog. Go dig.

Well I've spent the last three days working. And it wasn't just a few gigs around town, I hauled my ass all the way down to Orange County twice, the southern part down by Laguna. That's around 70 miles. And the gigs didn't even pay great, I just knew they'd be fun. Thursday night I played at a private function at the Getty Center, some reception for Merril Lynch (I guess they'd just donated money for a new exhibit or something). Friday I played at a restaurant with this band I work with whenever I can (that is to say whenever I'm in town). They play a lot of older-style pre-bebop jazz which is a lot of fun for me; old standards, Louis Armstrong type stuff--plus the people in the band are really cool as well. Tonight I played with the same band at the trumpeter's 40th birthday party. Carrie went with me. A good time was had by all.

I don't know what it is, I think I take all of the gigs I can because I still kind of think I'm this struggling bassist trying to make it in LA as a professional musician and I need to take advantage of ever opportunity presented to me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to sound like a rock star or anything, but I'm at a place in my career now where my time is worth a lot more than some of the gigs I take. I dunno. It's a good problem to have.

Earlier in the week I was in computer hell. My CPU wasn't working so I found a guy in the phonebook (I can't remember the last time I had used a phone book) whose price was very reasonable. He told me I needed a new power supply and had one there for me. He also said that my OS was corrupted and fixed that (or so we thought). Like I said he was really reasonable but I was at his shop for like four hours or something. Total waste of a day. And the bitch of it is my computer still isn't right and it looks like I might have to wipe the hard drive to fix it. Drag.

Colts have a big game tomorrow, I gotta go to bed to make sure I get up in time to make it to the sports bar for kickoff. g'night!

After I came home from Europe and Carrie and I's vacation I was looking forward to doing a whole lot of nothing around the house this month before I hit the road again with Tyrell. By "whole lot of nothing" I mean practicing, playing video games, playing cards, just chillin' out. Well, it hasn't really worked out that way. Besides doing all of that work for Christian at the Hollywood Bowl I had quite a few rehearsals with Tyrell for some gigs we had this past week (the rehearsals were for a substitute pianist as Quinn couldn't make the dates).

But it finally looks like the next couple of weeks will be pretty light. That's good, I have a lot of things I want to do before October. Once October hits my road schedule gets really heavy.

And by the time November rolls around I'll be back in NYC for another engagement at the Carlyle.

This is both good and bad. Good because that much cheese is going to be really nice for the pocket book. Bad, of course, because my wife is pregnant. I asked her what she wanted and she wants for me to work, so there we go. I'll be able to fly home for my days off (Sundays and Mondays) a few times. I think we'll be fine.

I must admit, I'm looking forward to living in the city again for another couple of months. But we're traveling quite a bit before then including dates in the Midwest and northeast and a trip back to London.

So for the next couple of weeks, chill is all that's on the schedule.

I got this from the esteemed Mr. Brady's blog (linky to the left). Our friend Michael Pullman came up with this.

If you haven't noticed (and I'm sure you have), many people (starting with our wretched administration) will use terrorists and terrorism to try to convince you do whatever they want you to do. Mike did a fantastic job at poking fun of this:

For those of you living under a rock, football season started last week. I'm happy to report that the Colts won their first game of the season, a game where for the first time two quarterback/brothers played against each other.

I like Eli Manning, but he's not Peyton.



I'm not sure if I'm ready for the extreme highs and exterem lows of another Colts football season. Maybe I'll try to get less passionate this year.

Yeah, I'm sure that will work.

So Tuesday was rehearsal day for the Christian McBride Big Band/James Brown concert. I arrived at Christian's hotel and quickly figured out that my gig was to carry around Christian's axes while he and his wife tooled around in a Mercedes coup. Hey man, you're playing with James Brown you gotta walk the walk, know what I mean. So we go to the rehearsal studio and I set up Christian's basses, a little later on in the day he actually let me play a tune with the big band. This was great for me since the band was made up of all heavy L.A. players.

No one knew what to expect when Mr. Brown showed up. We've all heard the stories about what a taskmaster JB can be and how hard he can be on his band. Well when he finally showed up he was really cool towards everyone. He sounded fantastic, I got goosebumps seeing the Godfather singing less than ten feet away from me. He talked a little bit too, here are some gems of his:

"It's great to be playing this music again. This is where I started before I got sidetracked with the funk."

"It's good to see so many people playing this music today. Don't get me wrong, I love rap music ... I invented it."

The next day was the dress rehearsal and concert. Once again I set up Christian's axes and made sure everything was going to be cool for the concert. As it turned out I didn't have to turn his music for him onstage which was cool. I watched the show from some really good box seats and it was killin'. The band sounded great and Mr. Brown is still a fantastic performer. While most of the concert was him with the big band he closed the show with his own group performing "This is a Man's World", "Sex Machine", and "I Feel Good." It was really great. I schmoozed a little at the afterparty and headed home.

So right now Christian is in Canada visiting his in-laws and I am keeping his basses for him. Can you dig that? He asked me to keep them for him until Monday when he comes back to L.A. before heading to Japan. He told me "if you have a gig this weekend, you can play my bass." I did have a gig last night but there was no way I was going to use his instrument. I would've been too nervous.

Instead I've been practicing with it all day. Steve Cotter came over and we jammed a bit. It's so much fun. You gotta understand he played this bass on some of my favorite recordings, it's a phenomenal bass with a really rich and big sound. Not many people get to play on the instruments of their hero's, how lucky am I.

So here are some pictures from the week. I have one of myself, Mr. Brown, and the rest of the band but I'm going to have to scan it.

Dig:

I'm sure this will be all over the news soon, I just heard about it around midnight PST, but Steve Irwin has died.

Say what you want about how goofy he was or how he shouldn't've been messing with dangerous animals, but he seemed like a real 'top bloke' who loved animals and loved his family. I was quite a fan of his show.

Hats off everyone ...

As you've probably heard me say before, in this humble bassist's opinion,Christian McBride is the baddest bass player walking. If he's not the baddest then he's definitely my favorite. I've had the pleasure of hanging with Christian a couple of times and we've stayed in touch a bit ever since we met.

Christian has recently been appointed Musical Director for the Hollywood Bowl's Jazz Series. I know the first concert was last month, his band played but I missed it because I was on the road. Well next week he is giving a big band concert with none other than James Brown at the Bowl. James Brown recorded a fantastic big band record in the 70s called Soul on Top, they will be doing music from the record at the concert. I've been meaning to get tickets to the show for a while now but have been lazy and hadn't got around to it.

Well I got an email from Christian today saying he needed a big favor from me and could I call him on his cel. Needless to say I was intrigued, guys like that don't give their cel numbers out. So I called him and left him a message. He soon called back and asked me if I would be his assistant for a couple of days helping him set up for the rehearsals and helping him turn pages (for his sheet music) onstage at the Bowl since he will be playing and conducting.

I said yes, of course.

This should be a blast, I'm really looking forward to it ... Being able to see Christian play up close, watching the band rehearse, meeting James Brown ... I'm pretty excited. Part of me thinks that being a little errand boy for a couple of days might be a little bit lame, but C'mon, I'm going to be onstage with James Brown. I don't care if I'm laying rose petals at his feet while he walks across the stage, that's pretty damn cool.

Carrie and I took Murph to our friends' daughter's third birthday over the weekend. It was fun and a friend was there taking some pictures, some of them turned out quite well. Carrie starts school tomorrow, unfortunately our vacation time together is over.

If you're wondering why there hasn't been any new posts on the baby blog it's because Carrie hasn't been able to make one due to the fact that she forgot her Blogger password. So she's started a new one here.

Our trip was really fun. You can read more about it and see some pictures on the baby blog.

Earlier this week I watched Spike Lee's documentary on New Orleans and Hurrican Katrina. Everyone should see it, it's really moving. I could expound forever on Bush's ineptitude and the Army Corp of Engineer's stupidity and the racism/classism that surrounds the whole issue, but I won't. Maybe another day. Just see it.

How many times have I flown from LA to New York? Man, at least twenty, at LEAST. I tell you, it has to be the worst flight to take. I'd rather fly to London, the flight might be almost twice as long but at least you get a meal and a bigger plane with some room to stretch out. Add this to the fact that both flights had a delay, both flights had a guy as big as me sitting in the middle seat, and on yesterday's flight I experienced one of the worst allergy attacks I've had in quite some time. Plus the gig we flew to kind of sucked. Vent over, I'm home now.

Carrie and I are headed to Catalina Island tomorrow for a little vacation. A 'babymoon' some might say.

After the disappointment of Clerks 2 Carrie and I saw Talledega Nights earlier this week. It's freaking hilarious. If you like to laugh then you should see it.

So I'm off for a quick gig on Long Island. I'll be back on Sunday so it should be an easy trip.

I've been doing quite a bit since I returned from Europe (aside from spreading the news about my wife's pregnancy).

Last week I worked quite a bit. I had a few recording sessions both for the Mancini Institute and a couple of friends. Thurs. and Fri. I played for a cocktail party on the roof of the Regent Beverly Wilshire. The party was for the movie press after a screening of the upcoming film 'Hollywoodland'. I was hoping Diane Lane would show up but, alas, no celebs were present. As a matter of fact I don't think much press was present either, both nights there looked to only be 20 or so people in attendance. Hope that doesn't mean the movie sucks.

Saturday Carrie and I saw 'Clerks 2.' Those who know me know that 'Clerks' is one of my all-time favorite movies. But I think that the original is Kevin Smith's best movie and every film he's released since then has been increasingly bad. They've all been pretty mediocre with the exception of 'Chasing Amy'. 'Mallrats' was funny but shallow, 'Dogma' badly needed some editing and about a half hour chopped off of it, 'Jay and Silent Bob' featured two characters that were much funnier and effective as secondary characters, and 'Jersey Girl' was fun but not much more than stock romantic comedy fare. When I heard 'Clerks 2' was being made I was disappointed. Smith had said that 'Jay and Silent Bob' was to be the last film he made featuring the New Jersey characters from the first four movies. Obviously not the case. But I had to see it anyway, I couldn't help myself.

I was right. I got the feeling the Smith was doing nothing more than clinging to the characters, jokes, and plotlines that made him a success in the first place. Kind of sad really. But the movie was fun and did make me laugh a few times. Carrie went with me, she enjoyed it even less than I did.

Yesterday we went to a friend of mine's hockey game. Today I played poker.

Not bad ways to spend some time off.

Our story begins in 2000 in a small one-bedroom apartment in Encino, after our marriage and after the exodus to Los Angeles ...


Carrie: I want to have a baby.
Lyman: No, we don't have enough money and our apartment is way too small.

*******

Carrie: I thought I might be pregnant, but I'm not. So I bought this hamster to love and nurture.
Lyman: Ummmm, okay.

*******

Carrie: I want to buy home, that way we can get a dog for me to love and nurture.
Lyman: Ummmm, okay.

*******

Carrie: I'm graduating from college soon, afterwards I want to get pregnant.
Lyman: Ummmm, okay?????

*******

Carrie: I want to get pregnant.
Lyman: No, we don't have enough money and our condo is way too small.

*******

Carrie: No really, I want to get pregnant.
Lyman: Ummmm, okay.

*******

Carrie: I'M PREGNANT!!
Lyman: That was quick.

*******

Carrie: I want to start a blog about the baby.
Lyman: That's a great idea.


... and this part of the story ends here, in our home in Pacoima that's about to get a lot more crowded.

Batten down the hatches and buckle your safety belts folks, I'm going to be a father.

Back home! I'm already caught up with my jet-lag. Not bad. Here are more pictures from the trip.


In front of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, the largest Mosque in the city.



Me and the guys onstage in Vienne, France.



At the Blue Note in Milan, Italy.



Jammin' in Vitoria, Spain.


At the beach in Alicante, Spain looking up at the Castillo De Santa Barbara.



At the Castillo De Santa Barbara in Alicante, Spain looking down at the beach.



In Alicante downing my new favorite drink, Coronitas Perparadas. ie Corona with a shot of white Tequilla and lime juice.



Me and the boss in front of the helicopter that took us to our hotel in Inverness, Scotland.



Me and Steve Cotter in the 'copter.



Nairn, Scotland from the sky.



This is me in the gardens of some castle we went to in Nairn, I forget the name of it.



Me Quinn and Kevin at the bar in Nairn. I suggest the Glenmorangie 15.



Dom presents the British Museum!



Looking very scholarly in the Reading Room at the British Museum.



On top of the tour bus tooling around London.



The gang at Ronnie Scott's on our final night.

There's no place like home!

London has been fantastic. Ronnie Scott's is a really nice club and the people who work there are very cool (except for one asshole who works the door and has given us a hard time about geusts and the like ... but everyone else is a'ight).

There is a house band at Ronnies who play sets before and after us. At the end of the night things get loose and it turns into a bit of a jam session. That's such a good idea, I wish jazz clubs back home had house bands.

I've been able to see quite a bit of London the past week. On Friday my good friend Dom showed me around taking me to some great comic book shops and the British Museum, that night he and his lovely fiancee Sally came to the show (I'd like to mention that their first date together was to see me play as well, three years ago when I was with Buble ... I'm a bit of a Cupid I geuss). On Saturday Tina Sinatra got us all tickets to see the Sinatra musical that is playing in SoHo. It's a live band and dancers performing to video footage of Sinatra singing. It sounds hokey but it really is great, I enjoyed it quite a bit. That night I met with another Londoner friend of mine Wasim who attended the show that night as well.

On Sunday I had a fantastic 'English Lunch' at Sally's flat. Dom described it a bit in the comments section of the last post, but I had a really fun time. Going out to clubs and doing the tourist thing can be fun, but getting a taste of real London life is better. Thanks guys!

Yesterday I took a bus tour of London. That's how I like to see the sights, while sitting down! It was a really nice day (luckily, the heat was unbearable last week) which made for a great tour.

So that's it baby, today is our last day at Ronnie's and our last performance in Europe. I've been gone for four weeks and can't wait to get home. This has been a fantastic month and I love Europe so much, but being away from Carrie and Murphy for this long sucks.

I'll see y'all back in LA.

For the past two weeks I've been looking forward to coming to Britain. Not that I was ready to leave Spain neccessarily, but it was so freaking hot down there it could be unbearable at times. I thought the UK would be a nice cool-down at the very least.

Geuss what? Record-setting heatwave up here. And in a way its worse since not many places have AC.

Regardless, Scotland was fantastic. As some sort of promotion for the festival we flew in a helicopter from the airport to our hotel after we had landed. It was a lot of fun and I got some good pictures. Nairn, Scotland was beautiful. We saw an old castle, walked along the beach, played a great gig for hundreds of people, and sampled some fantastic Scotch. All of this lead to me not getting to sleep until around 7 AM, but that has been par for the course for this trip.

We arrived in London yesterday. There was a big debacle with the hotels and after shuffling us around for a few hours I finally got to my room where I proceeded to crash out.

The soundcheck is today. I'm looking forward to this final week of the tour. Not only do I love London, but I have some friends here and the club we are playing at is a world-renowned jazz club. It should be a nice way to end the trip.

It has been a pretty good week. Mostly I´ve been at the beach during the day and out at bars at night. Not bad for a week off. The beach here is really beautiful and the water is really warm (I´m on the Meditarranean Sea if you don´t know). The nightlife here is fun as well, there is an area called El Barrio which is where we´ve spent the most time, bars with outdoor seating and a lot of folks around, we´ve met some nice people. I actually went dancing tonight, that´s the second time in one week ... Pretty rare for me.

In the middle of Alicante there is a beautiful old castle on a huge hill called Castillo De Santa Barbara. We walked up the other day, I got some pretty good shots that I´ll post eventually.

I think Spain is my new favorite country besides the US. Beautiful land, beautiful people, and a relaxed attitude toward life. One more day of coolin´ out then it´s back to work and off to Scotland on Monday.

The rest of our time in Vitoria was just fantastic. I think it's my new favorite city in my new favorite country. We met some great people and went to some local bars and clubs in additions to playing every night and seeing concerts by Serio Mendez and Sonny Rollins.

Sunday(after going to sleep around 6 AM) we hopped on a plane to play the San Javier Jazz Festival. It was fun despite being exhausted. Delfayo Marsalis and his group played before us and sounded great. I had actually met his bassist years ago and got to catch up with him.

Now we are in Alicante with the week off. Alicante is a tourist spot, today I went to the beach and plan on seeing some sights tomorrow. It will be nice to unwind after two very busy weeks. Here are some pics fo' ya'.

On stage in Vitoria


Downtown Vitoria


At the club

We are in Spain right now playing the Vitoria Jazz Festival. The town is really beautiful and the weather has been fantastic. We play every night around midnight here at the hotel after the big concerts at the arena are over. Its been a lot of fun.

The best part about the festival is that all of the musicians are staying at the same hotel so there is a big hang and jam session every night. Wynton Marsalis and his band were here jamming all night Tuesday, it was fantastic. I had breakfast with Ben Wolfe a fantastic bassist who's played with Harry Connick and Diana Krall. I've hung with the legendary Sergio Mendez, Ronnie Mathews, Alvin Queen, and Victory Lewis ... But the best story so far is me doing laundry with the Bad Plus. Ive mentioned a hundred times how they are one of my favs right now. I go to the "lavendaria" to wash clothes and there they are, they are super cool guys.

We are here until Sunday when we head to the south of Spain to play another festival and some time off.

So before you look at these pictures let me say you should read the post below about Montreaux, Vienne, and Milan first. I have many more pictures that Ill post later but this will give you a great idea of what Ive been up to. So here we go!


Istanbul:


On the street in Montreaux


Vienne:


"Whattsa Matta fo You?" eating my prosciutto in Milan


The scene at Duomo Square, watching the World Cup:


The party after Italys victory,
"ITALIA, ITALIA, ITALIA!"

The past few days have been pretty incredible. We've been busy and on the move and I've been pretty tired, but they've been incredible nonetheless.

Our last day in Montreaux was fantastic. We gave a clinic for students during the day and had the rest of the night off. Since we were artists we had backstage passes to any of the concerts we watned to attend. We saw the incredible John Scofield, Jack Dejonette, and Larry Goldings. They have an organ trio that plays some pretty experimental stuff. The music was really inspiring. Afterwards we went to the Jazz Cafe (the venue we had played the first two nights) where we knew all of the folks who worked there. We partied with them while watching a great Cuban trio. I met up with a friend Id known from Kalamazoo who was there performing as well, small world. I ended up jamming with the final act of the night, a singer we had met earlier at the festival. His bass player had bailed so I helped him out. It was a lot of fun playing some other music. I think I got to bed around six AM.

The next day we traveled to and performed in Vienne, France. It was nice and the gig went pretty well but we were in and out of there so there wasn't much time to see anything.

Yesterday we flew to Milan where we played the Blue Note last night. The gig was okay, there weren't many people there and Steve had to shush the crowd at one point because they were so loud but cest la vie, you always have gigs like that here and there.

Today we had the day off in Milan. As you all probably know Italy played in the World Cup championship against France today. So we headed down to the middle of town to watch the game. We ate a bit, walked around a castle, hung out at a cafe and then proceeded to Duomo Square to watch the game with approximately 10,000 insane Italians. You heard me, 10-fricking-thousand. The place was packed, everyone was going crazy, Italian flags and bullhorns everywhere. Once the game started the people were in a frenzy. France scored first which shut everybody up but it didn't take long for Italy to even it up. The game went to overtime then to penalty kicks. When it was all said and done Italy was victorious.

I wish I could truly convey to you all what the celebration was like. It was absolutely crazy, I doubt Ill ever see anything like it again. Thousands upon thousands of people walking, cheering, dancing, yelling, singing, waving their flags, sounding their horns, cars honking with people hanging out of them shouting at everyone on the streets ... It was the largest, purest celebration I've ever seen. I have pictures that Ill post eventually that will hopefully do it some justice. But the experience was a blast and one I will never forget and I feel lucky to have been there.

Getting home was a chore however. The city had shut down so there were no taxis and many of the subway stops were closed. Luckily we were able to catch a train for part of the trip then talk a concierge at a different hotel into calling a cab for us. We made it home safe and sound.

So that was my incredible day. Tomorrow we head to Spain where Ill be for the better part of two weeks. Hopefully Ill be able to talk my one of my bandmates into letting me use their laptop so I can get some pics up then.

Hope everyone is well. Besides missing my wife and my dog terribly, I am sparkling.

Here I am in gorgeous Switzerland. Im on a computer in the hotel lobbzy, the computer is french and quite annoying to type on so ill keep this short.

Istanbul was fantastic. The people were great, the weather was wonderful, the gig was a lot of fun. We got to see some beautiful mosques. I have plenty of pictures that i hope to post soon.

Today we traveled to Swityerland where we are playzing the world famous Montreaux Jazz Festival. We have all access backstage passes to attend whatever show we want (namelz Diana Krall and John Scofield) and we dont play until midnight.

The trip is going well. The jet lag is all but gone as is the cold.

The cold is almost gone and the driver is almost here.

The European adventure is underway.

I have a cold. Runny nose, chills, I'm tired, the whole shebang. Luckily this comes right before I'm going to spend countless hours on planes travelling to the other side of the friggin' earth.

I arrived home today. My sister-in-law Kelly and her husband Mike are in town for a visit, their visits are always a good time.

They brought the DVD to the extended music video for R. Kelly's "Trapped In The Closet." This masterpiece is both absurd and brilliant at the same time. I strongly urge you to watch it if you have the means.

So I leave Saturday for my big Europe trip. Luckily I don't have any work between now and then so I can focus on running some errands and preparing for the trip.

First stop, Istanbul.

Our show with the Boston Pops went really well last night. It was a long day, we had to wake up at 6:30 to drive from Greenwich, CN (where we played a private party at an art gallery Thursday night) to Boston to make an 11:00 soundcheck and 1:00 rehearsal with the orchestra then check in to the hotel and get ready for the show.

I have to be honest, I was expecting some attitude from the orchestra. Lots of times these musicians don't really like playing pops concerts and look down on the music. It can be a drag. But everyone I've talked to in the Boston Pops has been cool and enthusiastic. Glad I was wrong.

We have another show with the orchestra tonight then a concert in northern Mass. tomorrow.

I'm headed out to the east coast tomorrow for another little tour with Tyrell. We're headed to Greenwich, CN, Boston, MA, and North Shore, MA. It should be a good tour, we're actually playing with the Boston Pops on Friday and Saturday. That's certainly the biggest orchestra we've ever played with, I hope they're cool.

And it looks like my NBA Finals prediction was right, the Heat won it in six games. Good to see GP and 'Zo get a ring finally.

The concert last night went well. Tony Bennet still has it for sure.

Everyone stop by my website and check it out. There are new photos, the calendar is updated, and there is a new little video montage of some of my television performances.

I saw Al Gore's documentary on global warming, An Inconvinient Truth, on Friday night. It was fantastic. Please everyone don't dismiss this film as liberal propaganda, global warming is an epic problem with devastating consequences. Go see the movie. More knowledge never hurt anyone.

So we had our first rehearsal today for the Mancini Orchestra concert this weekend, the one we are doing with Tony Bennett.

Turns out I won't be playing with Tony at all. He's bringing his own rhythm section. That's fine, Tyrell does it as well. I think a lot of singers do. Still it would've cool to play for him.

Because of that I'm only playing on three songs the entire concert. Easy work. As a matter of fact I don't even have to go to the next rehearsal. The concert should still be fun. If you don't know what the Kodak Theater is it's where the Oscars are held so it will be fun playing in there even if it is only for a few tunes.

... because there ain't a lot happening. I've been hanging out, practicing/writing, playing some cards, watching Food Network ... just kickin' back basically. I did see X-Men 3 last week and was not nearly as disappointed as most folks who saw it. This coming weekend I'm doing the concert with the Mancini Orchestra playing with Tony Bennett. Looking forward to that one.

I'll check back when there's more excitement to be had.

I remember when I was at Ball State studying music there was a fantastic jazz trumpet player. This guy was really smart and really cool. And oddly enough he wasn't a music major. I asked him once why he wasn't going to pursue music as a career and he said something to the effect of "I love music so much I would never want to rely on it as a means to make a living."

I thought he was friggin' crazy. I mean, a lot of people only dream of doing something they love as a career.

Well I must admit I have a clue as to what he's talking about. Before I go into my rant let me preface by saying I am one of the luckiest guys in the world to be making a decent living playing music and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but at the end of the day it is my job.

Most people get vacations from their job. I will never get a vacation from music. Not because my playing obligations slave me to taking every single gig that comes my way, but because music is so ingrained into the fabric of who I am that I would never want to escape it.

But the sideman work, the endless driving, the phone calls, the networking, the constant self-promotion ... that I could use a break from sometime.

Thing is I'm not talking about taking a couple of weeks off and heading to the Bahamas or something (although that would be nice, I played there a couple of years ago with John Stephens and it was fantastic). I'm talking about having some time to do nothing but listen to music, write music, and play the bass. But even that stuff is can turn into work for me (I can never fall asleep listening to music you know, I just lay there and analyze everything I hear).

I don't know what I'm trying to say other than I don't have a gig until Sunday and after that not until Thursday. It's nice. Yesterday I played with a friend of mine (not a gig or anything, just jamming) then went to see the fantastic guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkle at the Jazz Bakery. I need more days like that, playing for fun and appreciating the music of others.

I know, I know ... pity the poor artist. I'll quite my gripe now.

p.s.
The NBA Finals start tonight, I like the Heat in 6.

No sooner am I back from my busy two-week tour when my in-laws come to visit.

I think for most folks this might seem like a big drag. Luckily I get along with my in-laws quite well. We've had a pretty good time this week, my father-in-law is a big sports fan and we've been to an Angels game, a Dodgers game, and will see the Dodgers again on Monday. My first baseball games of the year, I don't know what took me so long.

But their visit is second bannana to the big news of the week. Carrie is now an official, masters-degree-holding graduate! Not only did she make it through a full-time two-year masters program while teaching 8th graders full-time, she graduated with honors as well. Do I know how to pick 'em or what?

(This reminds me of a funny coincidence. Within the past year or so it has come to my attention that I have one ex-girlfriend who is a doctor, one ex-girlfriend who is a lawyer, and I'm married to a girl with a graduate degree on her way to being a school counseler ... me? I'm a bass player. Granted I have a masters as well but it is in Jazz Performance ... really, do they make a more worthless degree? Something doesn't fit there does it?).

Next week I have nothing at all to do. After today I won't have another gig until the 15th. Boy am I ever looking forward to that time off.

I've finally made it back home. Even though I've been gone for less than two weeks it seems like I've been gone for two months.

The tour was a success. I couldn't be happier with the way it went. Here's the rundown;

Wednesday after the Today show and my glimpse of Halle, I packed, had lunch, and was off to LaGuardia. I got to the airport with plenty of time to kill before my flight (this is a must when traveling with your bass, you never know how long check-in is going to be). Unfortunately my plane was delayed over an hour, I don't know if you've ever been to LaGuardia before but it's small and there's no restaurants or anything. It was a drag. I finally made it to Chicago, my sister-in-law Kelly picked me up from the airport (she really saved my ass) and we went to dinner. Steve, the Lower Level guitarist, had flown into Chi-town earlier in the day, we picked him up before heading to the bar we ate (and drank!) at. And old friend of mine met us out too. That night we stayed at Rob's (LL keyboardist). When we got back to his pad it was probably around 3 and we were a little hammered, as I recall we played some music but I can't attest to how good it actually was.

The next day Jeff (LL drummer) drove up from Kalamazoo and we rehearsed my music. The rehearsal went well and I could tell the shows were going to be good. That night we drove to Indy. I'd forgotten what a dull drive that is--geez! We got to Indy where we were greeted by my mom and my aunt Kathy. We talked for a little while and then we crashed. My mom had acquired four AeroBeds somehow. I slept on the kitchen floor ... Very un-rock star.

Friday was the day of the show. I'd learned the day before that the show was sold out. Can you believe that? My first big show as a leader and it was sold out. I'm telling you, my mom is the best PR agent anyone could hope for. We soundchecked in the afternoon then ate at the New Orleans joint a couple of doors down from the Jazz Kitchen. Some of the best food I've had in Indy, it's really great.

The show is a blur for me. I was a little nervous before playing but I think we did a good job. It felt good anyway.

Here's the thing, I NEED PICTURES!! I didn't turn on my camera once, I don't have any shots. So if you have any please email them to me (lyman_medeiros@hotmail.com).

The amount of support I got was incredible. I was amazed at how many people came out and how many CDs I signed. I wish I could've talked to more people, but you know how it is. It was a fantastic experience. After the show me and the boys headed to the bar across the street to put back a few with my cousin and my uncle. What a great time that was, I hadn't gotten a chance to hang with my cousin and his fiancee in a long, long time. I ended up drinking more than my fair share of scotch ... *whew*

That night we stayed at the fabulous Barnett residence. Jason and his wife Corinne were nice enough to let us all crash at their place. It was really nice, after waking up Saturday morning Corinne made us breakfast and we got to play with my beautiful niece. Then we were off to Michigan. Another dull drive.

Saturday was all business. By the time we got to Kalamazoo we had enough time to pick up some equipment from my old teacher, take a shower, and head to the show. The Kalamazoo show was fun. There weren't a whole lot of people there but I didn't mind after the high-pressure night before. We had a good time and got to play for 3 sets instead of one.

Directly after the show we drove back to Chicago as Steve had an early flight to catch. Rolled in to Chicago around 3:30 or so. I sacked out. Kelly took me back to the airport (saving my ass once again) and here I am.

So if you were at the show thank you so much for coming out. And if you have PICTURES, let me see 'em!

I'm in Chi-town at the moment ... the band rehearsed today and sounded most kick ass. Indianapolis, prepare to be funkified.

I had to get up at 4:30 this morning to do the show. I can't remember the last time I got up that early. I can however remember the last time I went to bed that late and it wasn't that long ago.

Halle Barry is totally hot ...

" ... the Bronx and Statten Island too"

Anybody ever heard that song?

Anyway, I'm here in the city with a couple of days off before the Today Show. Although being here was such a last minute event that I wasn't planning for I think it works out well for me. I have two days off at a great hotel in a great neighborhood (upper westside) with my bass so I can practice. I think it will be relaxing, the calm before the storm.

I did my first live radio interview yesterday. I think it went really well. I didn't stumble over my words or anything and I said pretty much everything I wanted to say. I can't wait to hear it.

Today I think I'll go to Macy's and look for some shoes or clothes or something before heading back to play my bass and maybe see some music this evening. I already dropped way too much money on a great dinner (and drinks of course) last night. Luckily there are some great places to eat cheaply and our saxophonist "Blue" Lou Marini has invited the band to his pad for dinner tomorrow night.

The Lower Level tour approaches ...

Two weeks later and I'm back in New York. We played an outdoor festival in Rochester last night for what turned out to be one of the worst gigs I ever did. The crowd was great and all but it was so friggin' cold my fingers felt like they were being stabbed every time I pressed down a bass string. It was bad. Memo to festival organizers in upstate New York: wait until July to have outdoor concerts. Today we flew in to the Hamptons where we will be playing tomorrow.

So there is more promotion in the works for the Indy show on Friday. I will be interviewed on a jazz radio show (I don't know what station yet) on Sunday and Wednesday there will be a featured article on me oon indinapolismusic.net. Hopefully all of this buzz will translate into a packed house.

Tomorrow I leave for what I thought would be a short East Coast trip with Tyrell before coming home then flying out to the Midwest for my big CD release shows. I just found out today that is not the case.

Tyrell is going to perform on the Today Show next Wednesday. This is great news for me. Any time you are on national TV its a good thing but I'm hoping that being on TV a few days before my show might drum up some more interest somehow. The only bad thing about it is that I'm leaving for the East Coast tomorrow and will stay out there until after we film the show. Then I will fly directly to Chicago for my little tour instead of coming home to LA first.

This means that I have to take everything with me for the tour. And I have a lot of logistics to straighten out before next week; I need to work out rides from the airport, I need to figure out where the heck we (the band) can stay in Indianapolis as there's no room for us at my mother's and most every hotel is booked, I need to figure out how to get a guitar amp for the Kalamazoo show, etc. That's a lot to deal with when you're on the road. But I'm pretty sure it will all come together smoothly.

So tomorrow I am off. After I do these gigs with Tyrell I'll head back to my hometown for my big gig. For all of you Indiana types I hope you can come to the show. Be looking in Wednesday's Indianapolis Star for an article on your's truly. I'm both nervous and excited about the whole experience.

Wish me luck everyone.

Friday night Carrie and I hosted a birthday party here at the Casa de Medeiros. It was a lot of fun and quite a few friends showed up. I made pizzas for everyone. Good times were had by all.

I also made out with some pretty nice birthday scratch. Carrie got me a "skoolabatz" which is one of those pasta pots with a collander inside. She also got me an apron that says "Kiss the Cook" which I had been asking for. Also got a Colts T-shirt, Colts coffee mug, Colts hat, and iTunes gift certificate. Not too shabby.

Today I'm giving a concert with the Henry Mancini Institute Alumni Orchestra at the highly regarded Disney Concert Hall in downtown LA. We've had rehearsals the past few days and the concert should be pretty good. I actually had to miss a gig with Tyrell on Friday to do it. No biggie.

We're only a week and a half away from the big CD Release show in Indy. The countdown is on.

I had a great time in New York last week. Playing at the Blue Note was really cool even if it isn't the same Blue Note that all of the jazz greats played in in the 50s and 60s and it is somewhat corperate now. It was still great. And the weather in the city was the best it's ever been on one of my visits. Sunny and cool, just like LA. People were out walking everywhere and there was a great energy. It's enough to make you want to move there ... but I know better. I've spent the winter months in NYC, and that can be hell.

My birthday was nice. The everyone in the club sang happy birthday to me and some fans got me a really nice gift (a money clip from Tiffany). Afterwards I somehow got overserved some Scotch and spent the next day nursing a birthday hangover. Carrie is throwing me a party here at the Casa De Medeiros on Friday.

But the week was great, I saw old friends and made new ones. Saw some great music, ate some great food and played to packed houses.

But no matter how much fun I have I always look forward to coming home.

The past few days have been pretty busy; Friday in Buffalo, Saturday in Philly, Sunday in Alexandria. Luckily today is just a travel day and I had a chance to sleep in a bit. We head to NYC tonight for a run at the Blue Note. It is a world-famous club but I have to admit I really don't like the set-up there. The stage is in a weird place in relation to the tables and the green room is more of a green closet.

My birthday is looming large. In mere days I will turn 30. I figure once you're 30 you're no longer young. I mean sure, your elders will still say you're young, but "young" becomes a relative term, not a common one. I'll be in a different demographic ... I'll no longer be able to say "in my twenties ..." ... and the next landmark birthday will be the big 4-0. Yikes!

But on to a more exciting subject I hope everyone has been watching the NBA playoffs lately, especially if you are a Kobe-hater. The man has been playing out of his mind and there's no way you can gripe about what he's been doing on the court.

Good news regarding the CD Release show in Indy. I got an email from a writer at the Indianapolis Star, they want to do a little article on me a couple of days before the show. That's fantastic, what I like to call free advertising.

see y'all when I see y'all

Just got back from Indiana today. I had a great time at Ball State getting my award and working with the bass students there. I also got to see family which is always nice. Pictures to come.

But I'm back on the road tomorrow. All you New Yawkahs, I'll be back in the city next week, so mark it!

Well here it is. This is the weekend I head back to Ball State to get my alumni award.

I would be more excited but I've been really busy and stressed lately working out flights, itineraries, promotion, and press releases for my CD Release Show in May. Not to mention getting a little stress about the flight this weekend and working all week long. But I am really looking forward to it. I'll be heading to Muncie (where Ball State is) on Monday, attending a luncheon and reception for myself and the other award winners (Mom and Carrie get to attend) then the convocation is that afternoon. Afterwards I'm giving a masterclass for the bass students. And that evening I'll be seeing some family that lives in Muncie. It should be a lot of fun.

I'll be back on Wednesday with a full report before heading out on a two-week East Coast trip with Tyrell on Thursday. Wish me luck.

Happy Easter everyone!

Carrie and I had some friends over for dinner after going to church. I don't know if I've mentioned it but I've developed a real love for cooking recently (probably has something to do with my love for food). We had four geusts and I cooked up a storm. I made baked chicken with sauteed squash, mushrooms, and garlic, my Aunt Mary's sweet potato casserole, aspargus with parmesan cheese, and an apple pie for desert. Carrie made deviled eggs and bread in the bread-maker. We had a feast, I'm so stuffed I want to go to the bathroom and pull a Lindsay Lohan. (was that in poor taste? good!)

Of course for you midwesterners and east coasters the day has come and passed but I hope everyone had a good holiday.

You may recall me and my Aunt Kathy talking in the comments section a while back about a festival in Spain Tyrell was booked to play. I was told it wasn't going to happen but I just got an email today that says otherwise.

Looks like we are going on a full tour of Europe in July. Countries include Spain, France, Turkey, Italy, and England with possibly more dates to come.

Needless to say I'm looking forward to it.

So I haven't really caught up on my sleep yet. Yesterday I had a bunch of errands to run; get a new external hard drive for my comp, get a replacement iPod (mine was locking up on me, Apple doesn't fix iPods they just replace them), pick up comics, pick up Murphy, etc. Carrie had been in Chicago last weekend visiting her sister so I picked her up from the airport last night. Today I went to the grocery store.

I've got a lot of work coming up the next few months. Lots of stuff around town as well as tours with Tyrell and my CD release shows in Indy and Kalamazoo. I have two concerts booked with the Mancini Institute Alumni Orchestra. One of them is performing with Tony Bennett. I'm really looking forward to that one.

Okay, nap time before I head to my gig tonight.

Vegas Thursday, Kansas City on Friday, St Louis Saturday, and today in Jacksonville. This has been one busy trip, enough planes to make you sick for sure. I finally have some time to relax and sleep. Last night I only slept for two hours and I think the most I've had in the past three days is six. Granted I could've gotten more sleep had I chosen to go right to bed after the gig and not hang out having drinks with the boys. But what are you going to do? With so much to do you gotta let out some steam somehow.

Today we played at an outdoor jazz festival. There were two stages, geuss who was playing at the other stage while we were on ... Herbie freakin' Hancock. It was a wonder that anyone was there to see us at all.

And not only has the schedule been busy but the shows haven't been very good for me either. We have been renting basses on the road to save the hassle of flying with mine. Well this tour I've had to play some really crap instruments. And we haven't had good luck with the sound at any of the venues.

Back home tomorrow, that will be nice. It feels like I've been gone for longer than I have. Right now I need to get to bed.