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.