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.

I'm in the Windy City right now and it's not too windy. In fact it's hot as hell. I forgot how bad the humidity in the Midwest can be.

The shows went really well. I'll give a full report when I get back home.

Peace and chicken grease ...

I’m leaving early tomorrow to perform with The Butterfat Trio at The International Society of Bassists Convention. I’m really looking forward to it while being nervous at the same time. A lot of heavy bassists are going to be there including old teachers of mine, many professors, symphony bassists, etc. Hopefully they dig our brand of experimental funk. The convention is back in good ol’ Kalamazoo, MI at Western Michigan University my alma mater. It will be a fun trip.

Before I leave I have a really interesting gig with Tyrell today. We are playing a big scholarship fundraiser at UCLA along with a host of other big time musicians including Diana Krall and John Clayton.

Two high pressure gigs within a few days of each other. No problemo.

You have to understand, The Bad Plus to me is like Metallica or Green Day to your average pop band, the biggest group of the moment at the top of their game.
I was really psyched when I heard they were coming here, Carrie and I saw them a couple of years ago at the Village Vanguard in NYC and we both really dug the show. So we were happy to see them again.

It was an incredible show, incredible. Last time I saw them they played a lot of stuff from their first record “These Are Vistas.” Since then they’ve had another record released (“Give”) and I figured I’d be hearing a lot of stuff from that. Not the case, they played unrecorded compositions almost entirely. They started off with a tune called “Physical Cities” I believe. The arrangement was really cool, there was a part near the end of the song that sounded like heavy-metal Phillip Glass, one riff rhythmically re-imagined over and over and over and over. The rest of the new originals were great as well, they also performed “1972 Semi-Finalist” from their first record. And they included their trademark interpretations of pop songs. The first was Bjork’s “Human Nature” which wasn’t nearly as clever as their other covers, this was proven later when they closed the set with a terrific rendition of “We Are the Champions” where the melody was fragmented and played inside and out before culminated in an anthemic ending.

For the encore they played fan-favorite “Big Eater” the opening track on “These Are Vistas.” And the final song of the evening was an incredible funk version of “Chariots of Fire.” While the arrangement was very similar to their arrangement of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” it was still the perfect way to close the night.

Let me add that I officially do NOT like the Knitting Factory. The set-up for the main stage is really bad and good spots to watch the show are hard to come by. Maybe they’ll play someplace else next time.

Good show though. And a good time was had by all.

Ron Blake is the truth y'all.



I finally got around to thourhoughly chekcing out this record and let me tell you, it's some bad shit. Like I said before I was really anxious for this record to come out because Mechelle Ndegeocello produced it. Then when I went to pick it up at Ameoba they told me it was filed in the pop section as opposed to the jazz section. Then I was really curious. I was expecting a crossover-type of record with a lot of R&B influence, maybe vocals, etc. ...

But this is definately more of a jazz record than the marketing would have you believe. But you know what? That's cool. It's really cool actually. This is the type of record I want to make, just good funky music that's accessible to anyone who listens to it but is not dumbed down to suit popular taste. The compositions are great, the musicians give outstanding performances. It also came with a bonus CD featuring remixes by Carlos Mena, Dj Spinna, Jahi Sundance and others.

Dig and you will not be sorry.

Carrie, Murphy and I went to an incredibly fun BBQ yesterday. It was the birthday of one of the boys of the Woodman Crew. It was an unbelievable day and the party was at a really great house. My boy Pasta is quite a chef and he really outdid himself; pulled pork BBQ sandwiches with cole slaw, sweet potato fries with cinnamon and sugar, burgers, pork ribs with one of the best BBQ sauces I’ve ever tasted (Pasta made it from scratch even), baked beans, and a bread pudding made from Krispy Kreme donuts. You heard me. Bread pudding with Krispy Kremes. It was downright sinful. The day culminated in one hilarious baseball game in the back yard. We played with a rubber ball and had to make up rules to suit the situation (any ball caught in a tree is a ground-rule double, two bases on an overthrow, etc.). I wish we had a video recorder because not only was it funny watching us hitting balls and running around, but some of the shit-talking was priceless. The game ended after four innings with my team winning 23-19. HA! Afterwards, I relaxed in the pool with a beer. I slept like a baby last night. It was so much fun.

I still haven’t gotten the rough takes from the recording session. This is pretty annoying, I’m really anxious to hear them. I got a call from the studio yesterday saying that a CD was ready for me but when I tried to call today to schedule a time to stop by I didn’t get an answer.

Playing at the jam session tonight, I’m looking forward to it. I haven’t played in the past couple of days.

I grew up with the Indy 500. It was always a special day in Indianapolis and the month of May was always a special time. But when the owners of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway split off from CART and my favorite drivers I lost interest. And to tell you the truth I haven’t really given a flip about the 500 since my high school days.

But this year Danica got me interested again. First off, dig what a complete hottie she is:


There was a lot of hype around her. She qualified in 4th place and many thought she was a real contender. She was on talk shows, late-night shows, ESPN, you name it. So I decided to tune in to the 500 for the first time in years.

And did it ever bring back some memories; poolside BBQs with the race broadcasting over the radio, walking to the track from my aunt’s house for qualification days, watching Rick Mears win his 5th Indy 500 from seats right across from Pit Row, riding along 16th St. Memorial Day Weekend looking at all of the freaks and drunkards … great memories, great times.

Now with all of that pressure facing Danica you figured a letdown would be inevitable. But that was not the case and boy did she deliver. She was in the top five at the beginning of the race, she then stalled her car while pitting and fell to sixteenth, then she wrecked and made an unbelievable pit to keep on the lead lap, then she climbed all the way up to the lead. She was leading the race with ten laps to go and it looked like she might win it, but it wasn’t meant to be and she ended up finishing in 4th, where she’d started.

Still, not too shabby for a rookie. Or for a chick. Especially for a hot chick.

Thanks for the ride Danica. I’m a 500 fan again.

I was poking around on Tyrell's website and found this pic of myself with Stephen Stills (of Crosby, Stills, and Nash) and Jon, Steve's keyboardist. I was happy to find this one because I rememeber taking it but had never seen it. This was taken at a club in Bel Air we played at.

Here's a picture of the band from the last tour. I've been thinking of becoming Italian lately. The track suit is a good start. I'm learning to cook, pinky ring and gold chain are next.

Go to this website http://www.hyfntrak.com/johnstevens/AFF15701/

When the window pops up click on one of the album covers and watch the video. It's a promo video for John Steven's new record. When he starts to talk about recording the song "This Love" don't blink and you'll see me in the background rehearsing with him.

The session today went really well. Steve, Quinn, and Tom all played their asses off. And Kevin at f.Boo (the engineer and studio I’m using) was easy to work with as always. We got multiple solid takes of four different tracks. I have a lot to work with and am happy with what I got down.

I went in to last session having worked out basic ideas of what I was going to play for the bass parts. I had licks planned out and really knew what I wanted to play. One of the tunes we did at the first session was an original of mine called “Big Slick.” We did multiple takes of it and for the last take I threw out everything I had planned on playing for my solo and improvised off the top of my head … and that ended up being the best take. So this time I came in without many preconceived notions of how I wanted my solos to sound. I just went in and played and I think it worked out for the best.

This time we recorded some covers in addition to originals of mine. The tracks were; “Beatrice”, a jazz composition by saxophonist Sam Rivers; “The Funky Supervillain, and original of mine that is fast and aggressive; “Red Baron,” a funk tune written by drummer Billy Cobham; and “Such A Beautiful Girl,” a ballad of mine.

I should get a CD of what we did within the next couple of days. I can’t wait to hear it.

Yesterday I went into Hollywood to rehearse a little bit with the guitar player for the recording session tomorrow. Another trip to Hollywood means another trip to Amoeba Music and more new CDs.

I picked up the new Ron Blake record. I’ve been excited for this record ever since I first saw it advertised. Ron is the sax player in the Christian McBride Band, one of the hottest groups today featuring one of the baddest bass players walking the planet. I have Ron’s first record; it was good but not really earth-shattering. I could tell there was a lot of potential there though. Me'shell NdegéOcello is the producer on his latest disc. It’s really good. I haven’t thoroughly sunken my ears into it yet but I could tell from the first listening that it’s what I was looking for. It also came with a disc of remixes.

Also picked up a retrospective compilation of a band called Red House Painters. My good friend and seriously talented musician/songwriter Matt Boyer plays guitar in a band called Sun Kill Moon. The leader of Sun Kill Moon was also the leader of Red House Painters, Mark Gozalek. I saw Sun Kill Moon last year and really dug their music. So I picked up this Red House Painters retrospective knowing the music would be in the same vibe.

Last night I played at the same jam session I did last week. It was fun. Bass players hardly ever show up to jam sessions meaning I play the entire night. That can be a drag but its good for me. Like bass cardio exercise or something. Again, a lot of good players showed up which always makes things more fun.

Today I’m just going to relax and make sure I’m well-rested and that my head is in the right place for tomorrow’s recording session.

Got to the venue last night, the show was sold out. That’s what I get for not calling ahead. So much for all of that hype!

On a positive not I picked up a great CD by Ethan Iverson yesterday. He’s the pianist in The Bad Plus (one of my favorite bands right now … they are playing at the Knitting Factory next week and you can bet your ass I’ll get tickets ahead of time) and a real talent. It’s his trio with Reid Anderson (the bassist in The Bad Plus) and Billy Hart. Billy’s a legendary drummer who’s played with everyone from Miles Davis to Charles Lloyd. Billy also taught at Western Michigan while I was there so I got to talk to and play with him quite a bit. Also, his son Lorca lives here in LA and was the drummer for the first session of my record. Anyway, I was kind of skeptical of the CD, I have a record by Reid Anderson and I wasn’t that impressed. I was thinking that maybe the guys in the Bad Plus just work well together and not with anyone else. Then I picked up a GREAT CD by a band called Happy Apple that features the drummer from The Bad Plus and I dug it. So I decided to try out Iverson’s disc. And it is really good as well. Good pick-up for me, I’m glad I bought it. The jazz element is a lot more prevalent on this disc than The Bad Plus records. Both this record and Happy Apple will be seeing heavy rotation on the iPod.

One of my favorite bands in college was called Soul Coughing. They were a great, offbeat group that sort of combined poetry, sampling, and crazy lyrics and wrote some exceptional songs. They broke up back in 00’ and I missed the chance to ever see them live. When we were in Rochester a couple of weeks ago we hung out with one of the promoters the night of our show. Through conversation I found out that he was a big fan of Soul Coughing and knew their lead singer Mike Doughty quite well. He gave me a burned copy of Doughty’s new disc and I really dig it. So I’m looking through the LA Weekly a couple of days ago and lo’ and behold, Mike Doughty is playing in West Hollywood tonight. My good friend Vinnie is a big Soul Coughing fan as well so we’re going down to see the show in a couple of hours.

I don’t see rock shows as much as I should, so I’m pretty excited.

We tried out a new drummer today for Tyrell’s group. He sounded good and I think he’s going to work out well.

Finally I have another recording session for my album scheduled. It’s been over two months since the first session and I’ve been getting pretty anxious. I was having real problems scheduling something with the drummer Lorca. As a result I had to call someone else for the next session. No big deal, this guy is great too. His name is Tom and he’s been playing with us with Tyrell for a while. He also plays with Chick Corea. Not bad.

Originally I had wanted to do this session with a vocalist, Jessica. But she’s going to be out of town the day of the session. When I first heard that she couldn’t make it I was pretty bummed. Now I have another group of songs that I’d originally planned on recording with a sax player. Problem with that was I had no clue who I wanted to use. So I was considering recording those songs with just a trio; myself, Quinn (the pianist from the first session), and Tom. But I really wanted another instrument in there for a couple of songs. Then it finally dawned on me to call my buddy (and excellent guitar player) Steve. Luckily he’s available and excited to do it. I know, guitar and sax are two different beasts, but it’s more important to me to get a musician who works well with the music as opposed to a specific instrument. I’ve always wanted this to be a funk record with jazz improvisation on it. Steve is very much a jazz player and a good one. Besides, the four of us have spent two weeks on the road together playing with Tyrell so there’s already a vibe there.

Had a gig last night at a restaurant in La Habra. A bit far to be driving on a Friday but luckily I had a pretty fun time playing. The pianist (who I’d never met before) was a nice guy.

Later on today Carrie and I are going to a graduation party for one of her friend’s sons. That should be fun. I always like meeting new people.

It is HOT here in SoCal. Hope yo’ AC works.

Well, that is it. Reggie Miller has played his final basketball game.

After the Pacers lost to the Pistons tonight there season ended as did Reggie’s career. I got pretty choked up afterwards, more than I thought I would. Reggie is the reason I fell in love with basketball. It’s just a shame he’ll never get to have his Championship Ring. He’s a class act and stayed at Indiana throughout his entire career, his house was burned down by insensitive racist assholes and he had to deal with a lot leading this team for the past eighteen years. Through it all he carried himself better than anyone could’ve expected from him and emerged as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.

Thank you, Reggie. Thank you for every exciting moment at Market Square Arena and Conseco Fieldhouse. Thank you for remaining a classy person in a time where the NBA is full of greedy crybabies and selfish players. Thank you for making the Indiana Pacers a competitive NBA franchise. You will be missed.

I’ve been poking around online and I’m discovering that everyone absolutely loves Episode III.

Well, I’m in the minority.

Don’t get me wrong, I liked it. There are a lot of things you know are going to happen in the movie and it delivers in a pretty big way. The art direction is the best out of the first three, there is a lot of action, and the plot develops nicely.

But the dialogue is still really bad. Especially the parts with Annakin and Padme. And while there were many battles in the film, the pacing of it seemed pretty bogged down.

Maybe it was the crowd I saw it with. The theater was packed, I mean PACKED. Remember, I went to a 2:50AM showing. You figure if there are a bunch of people who stayed up that late to watch a movie, they’d be pretty enthusiastic about it. Not the case. No thunderous applause at the end, no hollering when Yoda kicks some ass, none of that. I guess you can attribute that to the early hour, but I just don’t think the movie is as dramatic or grandiose as it could’ve been.

That being said, it still is a lot of fun. Lucas didn’t pull any punches, this movie is dark and seeing Annakin become Darth Vader is pretty impressive.

So there you go. This morning I didn’t think I’d have an interest in seeing it again but now I’m having second thought. Carrie wants to see it of course; maybe I’ll go again with her. Maybe that will give me some more perspective on it.

I mean, it’s still Star Wars. So it’s still pretty cool.

Yesterday I ended up getting a last-minute call for a gig down in Hollywood. It was for a jam session in the house band. The session just started last week but the turnout was pretty good, quite a few really strong players. Then some of us headed to a diner in Los Feliz afterwards. It’s always good making a hang with other musicians. Jazz music is so much about interaction and communication, being part of the jazz community is pretty important.

I discovered something really great about my bass last night. When I arrived at the club and started to set up I soon realized I left my pickup at home. (A pickup is a device that attaches to the bridge of the bass so you can plug it in to an amplifier). I took my pickup on tour with me a couple of weeks ago and forgot to re-attach it to my instrument. So I thought I was sort of screwed. Now let me explain, playing acoustically (without amplification) is always preferred when playing a double bass (heck, that's why it's also called and acoustic bass). I had no qualms about playing without an amp all night especially since the club was small. But that just meant it was going to be more work for me and I'd really have to play loudly to get my sound out. But luckily I didn't have to do that. There was a P.A. system at the club and an extra microphone. So I took the mic, wrapped it in a bar towel, and shoved it under my bridge at the bottom of the bass. And let me tell you it sounded GREAT! The problem with pickups is that they don't accurately re-produce the acoustic sound of the bass. But with the mic it sounded spot-on. Every time I've used a mic in the past it has been on a mic stand pointed at the bridge. For whatever reason putting the mic at the bottom of the bridge gave it a lot more sound. I'm tempted to buy a microphone and experiment with it and my amplifier.

Didn't go to the batting cages yesterday and didn't go to the DMV either. I sucked it up and went this morning. But I was clever about it, I drove to a DMV that was outside of Los Angeles as I heard it'd be less crowded (a city called Newhall, only about 25 minutes away). It was and I was in and out of there in, like, 20 minutes. Good find for me, I'm definitely going there from now on.

Tonight I'm going to see the new Star Wars movie. I should say I'm going tomorrow morning. I couldn't't find anyone geeky enough to want to go tonight except for my friend Bill and he has a gig tonight. As a result we are going to attend the 2:50 AM showing. You heard me. 3 in the friggin' morning. I don't have any work tomorrow so I'll be cool. I'm pretty excited to see it.

It's finally going to be over. Growing up with heaps and HEAPS of Star Wars toys, reading star wars comics, drawing Star Wars battles, watching Return of the Jedi hundreds of times on videocassette, playing Star Wars video games, the new movies it's all going to end tonight. Darth Vader's story will end at it's beginning. And the mythology of my youth will finally be revealed in its entirety.

The first Star Wars came out when I was one year old and this last one comes out one year shy of my 30th birthday.

I can't think of better bookends to my youth.

While I was at LAX leaving for my trip I picked up a magazine called "Smart Computing." It had a great article in it on how to clean out your PC. I've deleted a bunch of temporary files and ran a disk cleanup. Then I just installed a great anti-spyware program a while ago and the old computer is running better than it has for a while--and with no pop-ups! There's still some things I'm going to do (clean out the registry, open my casing and dust the PC, etc.) but I can't understand why I didn't do this stuff earlier. I'm computer savvy, but I just don't know a whole lot about them. And I hate reading texts, their usually so boring they never sink in. Next up I want to learn more about the code that this blog runs on so I can add nifty things like links, audio, create my own backrground, etc.

Played cards last night with the boys, came out a modest winner. I might go to the batting cages later with a friend. I haven't swung a bat in years, it should be interesting.

Basically I'm putting off going to the DMV. I have to renew my license, it expired on my birthday and I didn't even realize it until the other night when Carrie and I were getting memberships at a video store. Man, do I ever hate the DMV. But I heard if you drive a ways you can find one that's not so crowded so if I go to the cages today I'll check it out tomorrow.

I have returned. My neck is sore from sleeping poorly, my back hurts from long plane trips and car rides, I'm dehydrated from all of the coffee and alcohol and I'm tired as hell. But I'm finally back home.

Pittsburg was a lot of fun. We got really great tickets to the Pirates game on Friday night; free dinner and seats right behind home plate. I love the perks of my job. The Pirates were playing the Brewers. It was a good game and the Brewers won it in the 9th. Since I wasn't watching my beloved Boys in Blue I decided to score the game. This is where you mark every at-bat and keep a record of how the game is played out. It was a fun and I think I'll do it again.

That night in the hotel I ran into a friend of mine from Kalamazoo who is touring with this alternative folk singer. It was one hell of a coincidence, we were both staying at the same hotel on the same night. We freaked out when we saw each other. I was so happy to see him doing well. I love seeing other midwestern-types making it for themselves in the music business. It can seem pretty unattainable growing up away from a big city.

The Pacers and Dodgers both lost today. Boo Hiss.

Now for some much-needed rest.

So this is my fourth day in Washington DC and I haven't performed since Saturday night.

Nice work if you can get it.

I spent some time with my cousin Kathy at her home on Sunday and Monday. The scheduling of this unusual amount of time off while on the road was pretty serendipitous, Kathy was also having the family of her sister Beth down for a visit as well. I haven't seen those cousins in over ten years.

Beth passed away last year. She died too young, way too young and too full of life. I could go on and on about what a tragedy her early passing was ... Those of you reading who knew her certainly would agree. Anyway, Kathy had come up with the wonderful idea of planting a tree for Beth on Monday since it was her birthday and since Sunday was Mother's Day. So that made the timing of my days off in DC all the more remarkable. It was great seeing the McLaughlins again. The kids were all teenagers save for the youngest who is eleven. Seeing them again coupled with my birthday last week certainly made me feel old. The kids are smart, full of personality, and really get along well. It was a joy spending time with them.

And Monday morning we planted the tree and sprinkled Beth's ashes amongst the soil. It was the perfect tribute and I feel lucky to have been a part of it.

Then it was back to my hotel to relax and get ready for the gig later tonight. I'd planned on seeing some sights yesterday seeing as how I had nothing planned. But after going out to lunch with our pianist I get blindsided with a terrible allergy attack. Sneezing, itchy eyes, the whole nine. So unfortunately AC and rest were in order for the rest of the day. Last night I went to dinner with some of the guys and hung out a while but that was about it. We'll hit the Smithsonian tomorrow.

So there it is. I'm looking forward to playing again. I'm having a sort of bass-withdrawal. And while I love being on the road I love being with my Carrie and Murphy more, and there's only a few more days until that happens again.

Well here I am in the lobby of a Radisson Hotel in Williamsport, PA. Lots to catch up on over the past few days ...

Happy Birthday to me! I turned the big 2-9 two days ago and the even bigger 3-0 is looming large. I was working on my birthday, we were in Rochester, NY. Steve and the guys played "Happy Birthday" for me during the show and everyone bought me enough booze to get hammered afterwards. The next day was spent in my hotel room watching tv and ordering room service with the drapes pulled. Carrie made me a birthday cake the day before I left. My favorite--yellow sheet cake with chocolate frosting. Yum. Hope there's some left when I get home.

I also bought a really cool warm-up before I left. You know, a track suit like the mobsters wear. It's comfortable as hell and was a great present to myself.

Today we drove to Williamsport and played a really fun gig at a nice theater here.

And the Pacers won their first round series against the Celtics! Reggie ain't done yet!

So tomorrow we are off to Washington DC. And of all coincidences my cousin who was just out in LA visiting lives near DC. I'm going to see her and some more family while we are there. Really looking forward to that one.

Another week before I'm home. Carrie says Murphy misses me and keeps waiting by the door for me to come home. Hope the poor guy can hang in there until I get back.

I just do not understand the out-pouring of sympathy for this woman who faked her kidnapping because of her impending nuptials.

For the past couple of days I’ve seen interviews with friends and family of the girl on the Today Show. They have said they think that the marriage will still happen and that the girl is just confused. Then this morning I saw an interview with the fiancée. This out-of-touch asshole says he still wants to marry her and that she is a VICTIM in this whole thing.

What the hell?! Denial truly is a river in Africa to some people.

This lady has made national news, committed a criminal offense, and ran across the entire country to get away from this guy and this wedding and people STILL think that everything will be hunky-dory. When I first heard the story I kind of chuckled. I thought it was funny. I can just imagine that type of pressure that would come with an enormous, conservative, expensive, Southern wedding. Who wouldn’t want to run from that?

But then I see all of these folks in complete denial about the situation and I really understood what was going on. Here’s a newsflash to the fiancée and rest of the family: the type of behavior you are exhibiting is EXACTLY the type of behavior she was running away from! She doesn’t want to marry you dude! She is not a happy girl who experienced a few days of confusion! She wants to get the hell away from you people!

I pray that the girl doesn’t buckle under the pressure and guilt of what she’s done and marry this butt-head. I also hope charges are brought against her. While I understand why she just ran away, the way she handled it was inexcusable.

There’s my 2 pennies ….

I had a great weekend with my cousins. Traffic to and from my gig was a real drag and by the end of the day I was beat. But Kathy and Tracy rode with me during the day when I had to drop off my stuff so that was fun. Those two are fun conversationalists. Tracy left on Sunday and that evening Carrie, Kathy and I went into Hollywood to see “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” I was a bit skeptical about the movie, but it was really good. The director was great, he really had a handle on the book and kept it interesting throughout without delving too deep into absurdist English humor which can get really dry really quick.

Today I got some errands done. Earlier this evening Kathy and I just hung out, listened to music and shot the shit. It was a good time for sure.

**********

Lately there have been a lot of crazy highway shootings here in SoCal. Some moron just decides to pull up next to a random car and blow the hell out whoever is in the other car. Real nice. And the last two shootings have been fairly close to our neighborhood. Usually this stuff doesn’t bother me. But a couple of weeks ago there were two drive-by shootings in our little city as well. All this shooting piles up on ya after a while.

I’m sure it will be fine. But you can’t help feeling uneasy at times.

We’re celebrating my birthday tomorrow since I’m leaving for another tour on Wed. and I’ll be in Rochester on the 5th.

Twenty-nine years old … Thirty looms large!!

My gig last night at Maggiano's went really well. It was with a bossa nova group I play with called Billeeto. The singer is amazing. Her name is Jessica, she's going to record with me for my album. It's always a lot of fun playing with her. And the drummer was good too, it was Andrew the guy who I'd done all of those Middle School performances with. So it was a lot of fun. And towards the end of the night Carrie showed up with my cousins Tracy and Kathy. I was really glad they got to see me play in a setting outside of Tyrell's band. They arrived a little late as my wife is a little directionally impaired and traffic was really bad. But they made it and we had a good time.

Afterwards I drove them back to their hotel. I took the scenic route so I could drive them through the Sunset Strip and a little of UCLA's campus.

So today I'm just hanging with my cousins save for the gig I have to do in the early evening. It's a cocktail reception after a wedding. It only lasts an hour which is why I took it. But come to find out a couple of days ago that I have to load up my bass and my gear like FOUR HOURS before the gig starts! What a drag. If I'd known that I probably wouldn't have taken it, but my friend Gary got me the gig and I didn't want to back out on him.

Regardless me and the cousins are going for Hawaiian BBQ today ... I bet my mom's jealous!

The trip to Houston was pretty fun even though it was short. As I said before Tyrell is from Houston so it's always a big deal when we play there. A bunch of his childhood friends who are successful businessmen organized this really big concert. Wed. after we landed we went to a reception they were having for us. Free booze always goes over very well with the band. The guys and I all hit a sports bar afterwards. I befriended a guy from Arizona who was rooting for the Diamondbacks as they beat my Dodgers once again. He was cool and took us to a great club afterwards. There were some fine women there, unfortunately there were like 4 guys for every hot girl. Not that I would've talked to any of them ... not lil' ol' me! But it's always nicer to look at hot chicks than drunk dudes. By the end of the night it was clear that we'd all been "overserved" and it was time to head back to the hotel.

The next day was the day of the show. The soundcheck was brutal and I was stuck with a horrible bass (they've been renting instruments for me as opposed to flying around wiht my own). But we had some great BBQ for lunch and the show went really well.

I met up with a friend of mine from CBR, Crandal (CO Jones to you CBR-types). He's a great guy and it was fun hanging with him. After the show there was a big dinner (them Texans like to eat!) and it was back to the hotel. I just walked in my door a little while ago.

Now it's time to relax before I head to my gig tonight and meet up with my cousins.

Toodles!

I had a great time at the game last night. Boy is it ever nice sitting in a suite at a ball game. Free food (Dodger dogs!), comfortable seats, tv monitors ... it was a lot of fun. The only drag was the Dodgers lost. That's 5 of 6 that they've dropped and they're in a bit of a slump. They're still hitting the ball well, they just aren't driving in runners.

So I'm leaving to catch my flight to Houston in a half-hour or so. I like Houston, we always have a lot of fun there. Tyrell grew up in Houston so he has a lot of family and friends who all show us southern hospitality.

After the week of travel hell, here I am getting back on a plane. Wish me luck.

I made it over to Woodman late last night for a poker game. After a bit of a dry spell and not playing a whole lot I finally won. I was really down in chips at one point but fought back with the help of a great run of cards. Good times.

My friend Corey invited me to the Dodgers game tonight, he has BOX SEATS! I'm pretty stoked. I've sat in box seats only once before and that was for a tennis match at Indian Wells. Tyrell hooked those up after we had done a concert in Palm Springs. We watched Anna Kournikova get her ass kicked. But oh what a nice ass it is!

The Pacers won last night ... I love Reggie Miller.

I'm headed to Houston tomorrow for a quick gig with Tyrell. I'm backon Friday. My cousins Tracy and Kathy are coming to LA for the weekend. I can't wait, we'll have a good time together.

Yesterday Carrie and I went to the baptism of some friends of ours little girl. It was neat, I'd never been to a Catholic baptism before. Afterwards we went over to their house for lunch with their friends and family. It was a fun time.

So we get home, I make dinner, and we are on the couch about ready to call it a night (this was around 9PM I'd say) when I get a really weird phone call from a pianist friend of mine. It went something like this:

"Hey Lyman, I'm here at the Money Tree. I have a gig tonight but our bass player is too messed-up to play. He says his back hurts but I think he's too high and can't play the gig. Can you come out?"

Now I hate the Money Tree as I've said before. And I was on my couch in my jammies. But I figured here was a friend of mine who needed some help. Even though the gig payed peanuts I was totally capable of going down there and playing with him. So I said yes. The gig was okay. I really wasn't feeling the drummer. And it was a jam session so a bunch of folks sat in that weren't that great (I can be such an elitist sometimes!). But it was fine. Man, I don't want to play there again for a while.

Afterwards I went over to Woodman and caught up with some of they boys I hadn't seen in a while. Then me and my friend Pasta went to IHOP at 2AM. Real smart Lyman.

So I was home by 3:30.

I love it when your night takes a turn like that. Keeps you on your toes.

I had a gig last night at this restaurant in La Habra. It was with this piano player that I'd never met before. Now, jazz is very much like a conversation between musicians. Everyone is improvising at the same time but the improvisation doesn't';t make much sense unless everyone is on the same page. Well this piano player was a good enough player, but it was like we were speaking different languages, stylistically we didn't really match up very well. That added to the fact that it was just a duo gig for four hours made for a pretty long night. But it was good practice playing so much.

After that my boy Bill and I had a drink then I stopped by my buddy Pasta's to talk about the NFL Draft, football starts in mere months folks!!

And after a blazing start the Dodgers have lost three in a row. Ouch.

(current soundtrack: "Run For Your Life" The Beatles, "The Warmth of Your Breath" Fishbone, "Lausd" Jurassic 5, "What So Never The Dance" Bootsy Collins, "Got To Be The Way It Is" Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings)

The school gig yesterday was okay. Similar to the other ones I did earlier in the month. Fine but a bit futile. Then this morning I did a rehearsal with some guys I play with from time to time, that was pretty fun. The leader of the group is great composer/arranger and had some great new charts for us to read.

Carrie and I are going to see the new Woody Allen movie Melinda and Melinda tonight. I'm a huge fan of his but I have to admit, he hasn't made a great movie in a long, LONG time. I'd say The Sweet And Lowdown was his last great one and I think I was a bit partial to that one since it was about a jazz musician. Hopefully this will be a good one.

We saw Fever Pitch the other day. It was alright. I had higher hopes for it since it was about baseball and all but it got kind of slow and wasn't that funny and didn't parallel the drama of last year's Red Sox season very well.

I normally don't see two movies in one week. But this no cable thing has me at wits end.

Maybe they'll show Sports Center highlights before the film tonight. I can only hope.

The Lakers season officially ended last night and thank goodness. This has been the worst season in almost thirty years for the storied ball-club. And while they're not my favorite team, they are now my hometown team so I root for them all the way. Good thing the year of suckage is finally over for them. The next season starts today--so go get some talent Dr. Jerry Buss!

The Pacers play Boston in the first round. That's a winnable series for them.

New England and Indianapolis all over again! Hopefully this time we'll have better results than the football team ...

**********

After watching the final Lakers game with my boys over at Woodman I went out and saw some more local music last night. My buddy Bill was playing with his trio at this plcae called Jax. A few years ago I was playing at Jax every week but I haven't been there for a year and a half or so. It was fun. The band sounded good and I sat in and played a couple of tunes.

There were these girls there who go see Bill's shows because they're huge Buble fans. They of course recognize me from the DVD and were very complimentary of the two tunes I played ... heh.

I have another one of those school gigs today. Wish me luck.

" ... I'm leaving in November"

I'm going to be a New Yorker folks. For a couple of months anyway. Steve Tyrell has accepted a two-month residency at the Carlisle Hotel in NYC from November through the New Year.

I'm pretty excited about this. For a few reasons; NYC is Mecca to a jazz musician--the center of the jazz universe, I have quite few friends in the city (musicians and otherwise) so I won't feel like a tourist for two months, we have two days off every week, two months of steady income is a GREAT thing for a musician.

The downside of course is being away from Carrie and Murphy. But they can fly out a couple of times. When I was touring with Michael Buble I was gone for just as long (and most of it was out of the country) and we managed. This might be rough but Carrie thinks its a great idea.

Weird thing is it's so far away. But it's tough not to think about something you're so excited for.

*********

In other news Carrie and I are trying to cut back on bills since getting bent over by Mr. TaxMan. So we decided (well, she decided, I had to go along) to get rid of the cable. And it sucks. The only TV I watch are ESPN, Fox Sports, Food Network, and Comedy Central. Now I'm left with none of them. I'm missing Dodgers games, it's a total drag. Hopefully I can get it back soon.

After a pretty slow day of running errands yesterday I went out and saw some friends play in Hollywood.

I haven't really gone out and checked out local jazz music for a while. I feel like I need to get back on the scene. I'm in and out of town so much I fell like I've fallen out of the loop. I want to play more jazz, maybe get my own group together and try to hustle some gigs. I like playing with Tyrell and all, but the gig is pretty light on the creativity side. So I've decided to start going out more, like I was doing a couple of years ago. Besides, Tyrell has started recording his next record in NYC which of course means that I'm not on it. My career is going to stand still if I expect his band to lead to bigger oppurtunities.

The sun's out after a couple of grey days in LA, that's always a good thing.

The gig last night with Steve went really well. Nice crowd, nice theater. Good thing since we went through so much to get back for it.

Today was my first day off at my house in a week an a half.

Took two naps.
Walked my dog.
Went to Arby's.

And that's about it.

This was easily the worst travel week of my entire left.

The best way for me to go about this is to take you day-by-day. So let’s begin:

FRIDAY
Carrie and I leave for Des Moines from the Burbank Airport for the wedding with a layover in Denver (remember this).

SATURDAY
The Wedding Day. Good times. Carrie and I both had a lot of fun and a lot of alcohol.

SUNDAY
Time to fly back to Burbank. This is where the fun starts. We get to the airport and find out our flight to Denver has been cancelled due to a huge snow storm. I immediately start to stress out. My flight for Moscow leaves at 7AM on Monday morning and I cannot miss it. We are put on standby for a flight to Dallas then back to Burbank. But the standby list is too long and we miss the flight.

The only way we could get confirmed for a flight that would get us back to Southern California on Sunday was to fly in the wrong direction to Chicago then fly from Chicago to LAX. We had no choice; we had to do it even though we wouldn’t get back to LAX until 11:45 PM. But we didn’t fly out of LAX; our car was at the Burbank Airport! Luckily my good friend Vinnie and his wife agreed to pick us up at LAX and give us a ride to our car.

But here’s another wrinkle in the story. I didn’t have my passport yet. The Russian Embassy was late mailing them back to us in LA. I realized by the time the passport would arrive at my place both Carrie and I would be in Iowa and no one would be around to pick it up. So I told our tour manager to mail my passport to our piano player’s house.

But in one of the many ironic turns of the week, our piano player was in Denver over the weekend doing another gig. He was stuck there and in all probability was going to miss the flight to Moscow. Luckily his wife was at his house and drove my passport and ticket to our trumpet player who would give them to me at LAX in the morning before we left.

We roll in to LAX and get picked up. By the time I get home and pack it is 1:30 AM. I have to wake up at 4AM to get on the flight to Moscow.

MONDAY
After very few hours of awful sleep I leave for LAX. When I finally get to the airport it is around 5:30AM. We have a flight that leaves for JFK in New York at 7AM; from there we go to the Russian airlines to leave for Moscow.

The Airport is packed beyond belief. With all of these cutbacks the airlines have made, passenger check-in service has really suffered. Anyway, I had asked our tour manager the night before if we had to do international check in at LAX or JFK, to which he said he did not know. Well I waited in the e-check-in line at LAX for 45 minutes until I’m told that I can’t do that since I have an international flight. I get in another line but it is too late. Myself and our guitar player miss the flight to JFK. Luckily I had run into our trumpeter who gave me my passport and Moscow ticket. I was so pissed at our tour manager for not knowing the details. As if I hadn’t been through enough the day before, here I am missing another flight and trying to get on the next plane standby which leaves for JFK at 8AM. And if we don’t make that flight, we will miss our flight from JFK to Moscow.

Luck finally starts to change. Both the guitarist and I are selected for special security screening. This is usually a big drag but this time it was actually a good thing. We got to skip the enormous security line which would easily have been an hour wait (making us miss our 8AM flight) and we were at the gate for the flight by 7:30AM. And we get on. I can’t tell you how relieved I was. The flight was really bumpy but I didn’t mind.

We get to JFK and have to take a train then walk and incredibly far distance to get to Aeroflot, the Russian Airline. We get there, check in, and meet up with Mr. Tyrell, trumpeter, and our tour manager. I’m exasperated but happy to know that I’m going to make the plane to Moscow. We have a bite to eat and are off.

TEUSDAY
The 8.5 hour flight to Moscow was fine really. The plane was relatively empty and I had three seats to myself. My doctor had given me a prescription for Xanax so I was able to sleep for over three hours, which is good for me. My Game Boy was a helpful time suck as it always is on planes.

We land in Moscow and are met by the concert promoters and translators. The language barrier is tough. Not many folks speak very good English and we sure as hell don’t know any Russian. The promoter takes us to dinner and that night I walk around the city with a couple of the guys soaking the place in. Moscow is a different world, that’s for sure. The best word to describe it is stoic. The buildings are stoic with Spartan decoration and façade. The people are never smiley or gregarious but are all very nice. The whole place just has a very stoic vibe to me.

We hit the hotel bar for a nightcap and I’m off to bed.

WEDNESDAY
This is the day of our first concert. I wake up at 4AM due to the jet-lag. I just can’t go back to sleep. I read, play my Game Boy, nothing helps. At 7AM I decide to go to the gym and get on a treadmill before breakfast. A few of us meet up for breakfast (which is really good European-style buffet with Russian and Japanese food thrown in there too …caviar for breakfast—nice!) and afterwards walk to Red Square.

It was fantastic. Seeing all of the old buildings and churches with spires … I don’t really know how to describe it. But it was breath-taking. I’ll have some pictures soon. I heard a lot of rumors before I left about crime and danger in the streets of Moscow. None of that seemed to be true.

Moscow traffic is awful, maybe even worse than LA’s. In the afternoon we head to the sound check at the theater. We realize that the drive is too long due to traffic and by the time we get there we have to turn around, go back to the hotel and grab our suits as we realized we wouldn’t have time to do it after the sound check. Another organizational snafu! Frustrating. We do the sound check which is tough since the sound-man doesn’t speak English and we have to communicate through a translator. But we get through it. And our piano player makes it to the theater just in time for the sound check. He finally made it out of Denver and got himself to Moscow. Everything was shaping up.

We did the show in this enormous theater and I think the turnout was a bit disappointing. The place was less than half full. During our performance it was tough to gauge weather or not the audience liked the show. They were respectful but didn’t applaud as much or “get in” to the music in a way we usually expect from our crowds. And Tyrell talks a lot in between songs. He had to do this through a translator of course. Who knows how that came off?

But by the end of the show it was obvious that the people dug it. We did two encores. After we were done playing a bunch of folks ran up to the stage to get Tyrell’s autograph or a picture. They were all quickly turned away by the security. They wouldn’t let anyone stay in the theater once the music stopped and ushered everyone out quite abruptly. What a drag. Here we had all gone through so much to get there and give the concert and we couldn’t even talk to the fans afterwards. Disappointing for sure.

The next day we were supposed to give a concert for a private audience of 50 people or so. But the show was cancelled as the Russian government required the venue for some reason. The promoter told us that when the government wants something, they get it and there’s not much negotiating with them. So the show was canned and it looked like we had a day off in Moscow before heading back to LA on Friday.

But Tyrell starts to get nervous about the flight. We have a really big show today (Saturday) in LA and he doesn’t want to take the chance of missing it. So instead of a day off in Moscow, we have to fly back a day early. Bummer.

THURSDAY
So we get up and leave for the airport. Our tour manager had bumped all of our tickets up and we were flying back to JFK a day early.

Here’s the problem. We didn’t know if we could move up our JFK to LAX flights. In all likelihood we would have to spend the night in NYC. Great. Instead of a day off we get an added travel day.

This time the flight from Moscow to New York is 10 hrs and the plane is packed, fairly uncomfortable for me. We finally land at JFK and indeed we can’t get on a flight to LA. We sit in the airport for over two hours while our tour manager tries to figure everything out.

I’m convinced that there is no worse feeling than waiting around in an airport and stressing out because of the uncertainty of your travel plans.

It was awful. At this point I was about ready to break. We realize that we are indeed going to have to stay over that night and we head to the city to get a hotel. By the time we get there the flight plans are worked out. We are going to fly our Friday morning at 11AM. We get to the hotel and I ended up having a really good night. Our guitarist and I had dinner with a friend of his who is a great guitarist as well and a musician who I’ve admired for years. It was good meeting him. Afterwards I went to a new jazz club at Lincoln Center to hear my friend Quincy play. It was a lot of fun. This layover certainly wasn’t as bad as the one in Des Moines.

FRIDAY
We get to the airport and in one final slap in my already bruised face I don’t have a seat assignment meaning I could miss the flight if it is oversold. I get to the gate and am ready to go postal on somebody when I’m finally given a seat.

The flight back home was fairly easy. And I’m finally here with my wife and my dog. What a good feeling.

In a little while I’ll be leaving for another gig with Tyrell. Thank goodness I’m driving to this one.

(I wrote this blog entery before I left but blogspot was acting funny and wouldn't let me post for some reason, here it is now.)

Let me start out by saying that even though I've been a huge comic book fan for years I'm not the type to get all excited about comic book-based movies. The Spider Man films are great as is the first Batman. I liked the X-Men movies and Daredevil was pretty cool. I haven't even seen The Hulk or Elektra. And my favorite comic movie might be Road to Perdition and not many people even know that it's based on a comic.

More than the superhero stories, I love the idiom of comics themselves. Author Scott McCloud calls it "seqential art" which I think is a very appropriate name for the art form. Comics force you to take part in the story. There are a series of pictures but the action BETWEEN the panels, how Batman gets from one end of Gotham to the other, how Spidey moves his body between kicking Green Goblin and punching Doctor Octopus, is totally up to your imagination.

That's why I dig comics. So I don't geek out very hard for comic movies, it's just not the art form the stories were meant to be told in. I don't read comic prose novels, I don't watch comic TV shows.

But Sin City is nothing short of brilliant. The greatest thing about this movie is that it's actually a COMIC BOOK adaptation, it doens't merely take the story out of a comic and make a movie out of it. The story is only one small part of what a comic book is. This movie takes the "art direction," the mood, the color, and the dialougue right from Frank Miller's brilliant graphic novels.

I was very leary of this movie. I love Miller's work and have for years. The Sin City books are among the best comics ever made in my opinion and the opinion of many others. One of the great parts about it is the art. Miller draws shadows, not outlines of forms. I thought this would never be translated into film. You can read an entire 60-page Sin City story in mere minutes. The action and dialougue move quickly and there is heavy emphasis on the art. And it is not one continuous story but a series of different stories with the same setting. And this film captures all of that.

Not to mention the hard-boiled violence, the strict noir attitude, and the camera work. It's all there. And it is a dark pleasure to watch. Mickey Rourke gives the best performance I've ever seen him give. Bruce Willis is as solid as he always is. Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez, and Tarantino direct the stories brilliantly.

I usually hate sequels but I'm actually hoping for another Sin City. Particularly because there's more of Miller's original Sin City stories that weren't used (especially "A Dame to Kill For," I really dig that one).

Two thumbs up.

***********

I'm off to Iowa early in the morning. The brother-in-law's wedding should be fun. The trip will be a nice warm-up for Moscow. I hope to blog again before I leave for Russia.

Cold!

http://search.weather.yahoo.com/forecast/RSXX0063.html

I lost my winter coat on a flight from Kentucky to Los Angeles back in January. It dawned on me this week that I hadn't replaced it. Good thing I remembered, winter coats aren't easy to find in Los Angeles.

Last Friday and yesterday I did gigs at a couple of Middle School. They were with a trio put together my the Mancini Institute, we played some songs then talked about jazz and our instruments and stuff.

It got me thinking. I really feel it's only a matter of time before we see rock and hip-hop in academia like jazz. I'm sitting there listening to the drummer (who was the speaker for the group) talk about jazz and explain the music and I'm thinking "this is pretty far from where jazz was in the 20s and 30s."

You have to understand jazz started in nightclubs and brothels. It was the music of African-Americans who were expressing their need for freedom through their instruments since they couldn't do it in society. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with teaching jazz in schools like this. But it's rarely an accurate representation of what the music really is.

So when you think about a prof standing in front of a classroom and breaking down the rhyme schemes and lyrical subject matter of Notorious B.I.G. it's not unlike a prof who these days is in front of a classroom explaining the creative genius of Charlie Parker and Duke Ellington. That's hard for us to swallow, I mean, Biggie was a drug dealer and a thug who probably was murdered because of gang relations--how could that be brought into academia!? Well, Parker was a terrible heroin addict and a horrible person who would steal from his friends, lie, and cheat for his habit. Ellington hosted notorious orgies. I'm sure Biggie's ties to the street will be noted in classrooms as Parker's habit is. But lip service does nothing for context sometimes.

Well tonight the first game of the 2005 baseball season began.

For those of you who might not know I became a big baseball fan last year. Growing up Indiana we never had a baseball team. And even though I played T-ball and Little League when I was really young the sport never interested me much. Even after I moved to LA where the historic Dodgers play I wasn't all that attracted to the sport.

Then three years ago the Angels won the World Series. When a hometown team wins a championship it will make you pretty enthusiastic. (This is how I became a Lakers fan. After years of watching the Pacers get so close yet so far it was really nice to see everyone in the city excited about a ball team and happy about winning a championship ... although whenever the Lakers play the blue and gold I'm always rooting for the Pacers). But even that wasn't enough to get me really interested in baseball.

This is what did it. Last year Carrie got me tickets to a Dodgers game for my birthday. Great gift! We went to the stadium and it was simply fantastic. They were playing the Cubs, Sammy Sosa was there. And then in the 7th inning Dodgers 2B Alex Cora fouled off fourteen consecutive balls. CONSECUTIVE! The pitch count was at 18 and on the last pitch he knocked it right out of the park. The stadium went crazy. One of the most exciting sports moments I've ever witnessed. I was hooked after that. I went to two more games and have been a Dodgers fan ever since. They won their division and made it to the playoffs, a feat nobody thought they'd accomplish at the beginning of the season.

Of course now the Dodgers have gone the way of the Lakers. Just like Lakers ownership traded Shaq, ran Phil Jackson out of town, and ended a true basketball destiny, Dodgers ownership traded away and didn't bother to resign a majority of the scrappy, over-achieving team of last year that won their fans' hearts by showing so much character. Let's hope their season is not as painful as the Lakers.'

And while I'm talking about sports let me just add that my soul will be saddened to see Reggie Miller retire at the end of this season. He is without a doubt one of the most exciting basketball players to ever grace the courts of the NBA. And as the Pacers team has been decimated by injury and the terrible fan-incited riot in Detroit (whoo, don't get me started on that!), Reggie has stepped up to the plate and is playing like the #31 of 10 years ago. He's simply phenomenal and I believe he has some good basketball left in him. But if he thinks it's time to hang up the sneakers then that's what he should do. I just think it's a tragedy that Reggie will never be able to bring Indiana the World Championship is so richly deserves.

My head is starting to clear up and I don't feel as tired. Good thing. This whole sick thing was getting pretty old.

I did and interesting gig tonight with my good friend Gary Matsumoto. We played (along with a singer) for a Korean wedding reception. I was the only non-Asian there. And when I say I was the only non-Asian there I mean the ONLY non-Asian there, Jack. I told Gary, "Man, I'm outnumbered."

He says, "Now you know how it feels."

Pretty funny. It was a good time though. I love being put in situations like that, totally different culture, everyone speaking a different language, and the real-deal foreign foods. Didn't get many experiences like that in the midwest.

I feel like poo-poo.

I was just sick a couple of months ago and somehow I got it again. What a drag. I'm sneezing all the time and my nose won't stop running. I'm so tired. It's the same routine. You wake up with a tight throat and the next day your nose is chapped from blowing it 150 times an hour. Then after a few days the crap finally moves down to your chest so you have an attractive wet cough. From there you just pray it doesn't move back up to your head so you have to start the whole process over again. I hate it.

I'm going to call the doctor tomorrow and get on some antibiotics ASAP. I typically like to hold off for a week on that, but next weekend I leave for Iowa for my brother-in-law's wedding then I'm off to Moscow. I definitely don't want this hanging around for the 20 hr. plane ride.

For a while there I was really wondering how I caught it. I take a multi-vitamin and ecanacia every day. And I've already been sick this year! But I soon realized how when Carrie and I went back to the accountant's office and half of the people there were either blowing their nose or coughing.

Yes we went back to the accountant to inquire about our enormous tax debt. After waiting over an hour and a half in the hallway (you heard me) we finally got in to see the accountant. See, the first time I went a couple of days ago we met with one of his assistants. We were really blown away by how much money he said we owed. How much was it you ask? How does $5,000 sound?! But we saw the head accountant today and after looking through our paperwork and making a few quick slashes with his pencil he had our tax down to a much, much, MUCH more manageable total. How did he do it? I have no clue. And I really don't care.

Accountants rank right up there with lawyers and car salesmen if you ask me. All are professions that can seem really shady.

Early tomorrow morning I have a gig at a Middle School. It's one of these gigs where you give a concert then talk with the kids about the instruments and music. I usually look forward to stuff like this. But this cold is going to make things tough.

Tax day ... not go ... so well ....

... owe much, MUCH money ...


lots and LOTS of money we have to pay to the ... IRS *groan*





another joy of being self-employed ...

... was pretty fun. Saturday I went to the gym then that night Carrie and I had dinner with another couple, friends of ours from back when we lived in Michigan. We went to Cheesecake Factory. I usually am no so hip on huge chain restaurants, but you have to give it up to this place. It was great. I ate too much as usual.

Sunday Carrie and I went to church. We go to a simply enormous church in Bel Air and there had to be close to 1000 people at the service. The music was great as was the sermon. The only negative was the babies crying ... or more accurately the mothers and fathers who didn't take the crying babies outside. After church I took Murphy to the park. It was absolutely PACKED with people. There were families EVERYWHERE grilling carne asada and hot dogs, throwing footballs, hunting for Easter eggs. Carrie and I live in a really poor area mostly 2nd or 3rd generation Mexican immigrants. It was really good to see so many people enjoying a public park like that. You don't see that everywhere. Afterwards we went over to another couple friends' place for dinner. Had a good time, ate too much again.

For some reason I fell asleep really early, 10:00 or so. That's early for me. I'm a napper, not the kind of guy who sleeps for 8-10 hours a night. So of course I wake up at 3:30 AM and can't go back to sleep for close to an hour. Our bed is a piece of crap. Maybe if we had a better one I could stay in there longer, but I had to move to the couch since I was so sick of tossing and turning.

Tomorrow is tax day. Today I have to add up all of my deductions which are extensive. What a drag. Hope we don't owe too much.

The next two weeks are pretty light as far as gigs. Then once the first week of April hits it seems like I don't stop until the second week of May. Going to my brother-in-law's wedding in Iowa, touring Moscow, Houston, upstate NY, Atlantic City, and Pennsylvania with Steve, and work in town.

Feast or famine with my job.

So I'm trying to nail down another recording session for my record, this time with the singer.

I desperately want to write another song for the session. But the absolute worse time to find inspiration is when you trying to hard to get it. I have some musical ideas, but nothing I really love. And lyrics? Fuhgettaboutit! Writing words is not something that flows naturally out of me.

Hopefully if I quit trying so hard something will come to me.

I can handle seeing low-carb commercials, looking at silly "carb-conscious" menus at restaurants, watching people eat a hamburger with no bun, and sifting through a million different "low-carb"-labeled items at the grocery store. But last month I realized that the shit had gotten out of hand.

I lost a little over ten pounds last year. I did so by working out and eating Slim-Fast bars. I tried every kind of bar they had, chocolate, nuget, vanilla, fudge, etc. They all sucked. Then I finally found a couple that I really liked. They weren't dense and chewy like the other bars, they were like granola bars. So that's what I ate, peanut butter and chocolate chip flavored Slim-Fast granola bars. They were really good too and I was successful in shedding some pounds.

Well, I've put some of those pounds back on. So I figure "I'll try eating those granola Slim-Fast bars again." I go to the grocery store. I find the Slim-Fast bars but can't find my flavor. I'm looking and looking. I soon realize that every Slim-Fast bar is "carb conscious." They are smaller and have entirely different flavors. And no granola bars.

That's right folks. Diet bars have become "carb conscious." DIET BARS!!!!

Take the bread off the ham sandwich, I get that. But to say a DIET BARS isn't as good for you because it has a few grams of carbs!?!? Ludicrous.

***************

Last night Carrie and I saw a play down in Hollywood starring one of my friends and written by another friend. It was good. We had a great time and it was good seeing m'boy in action.

I love drawing parallels between artistic disciplines. There are certainly quite a bit between acting and music.

The gig tonight was in the most magnificent mansion I've ever been in my entire life.

The owner of the home was a billionaire. One of the five richest guys in L.A. which is saying a helluva lot. I forget his last name, he's one of these rich guys that doesn't make a lot of noise about himself so I doubt you would recognize him anyway. He's a movie producer and television mogul from what I gathered. All I know is he has more money than I could even fathom. He's the largest landowner in Malibu, and that's some expensive real estate.

The mansion was on twelve acres in Bel Air. The place was enormous. The head of security used to be Chief of Police in Malibu. Full-time staff. A parking garage that could easily hold 30 cars. Pavarotti is a good friend of the family and stays in the guest house whenever he's in L.A. There were pictures of this guy with Reagan, Bush, and a whole mess of other important people.

But the most incredible part about it was his art collection. I saw three prints of Lautrec's. Pieces by Monet, Degas, Pizzarro, Kahlo (he produced the movie Frida), Picasso, and a really great Magritte. It was just amazing.

We played for a dinner party after everyone was done eating. Sly Stallone and Jacki Collins were there. Didn't get a chance to mingle though. I don't think they wanted the bum musicians fraternizing with any of the guests. Typical monkey-boy treatment. Oh well. That's rich folks for you.

But the house really was fantastic. I've been to the Playboy Mansion before. That place looks like a shack compared to the mansion I was in tonight.

Carrie comes back tomorrow. While Murphy and I have had a good time running the place it'll be good to have her back. We don't sleep as well without her.

Yesterday was fun in that I didn't do anything at all. I worked out in the morning. Then I stopped by the grocery store to get provisions. When I got home I fixed an enormous sandwich, chips, cookies, and a couple of brewskis. I then sat my ass down on the couch intending to watch the ENTIRE Lord of the Rings Trilogy back-to-back-to-back. I'm talking the extended versions now. This is over 10 hrs. of movie.

And I'm ashamed to say that I didn't make it. I got through 3 of the 6 DVDs and had to retire. I love those movies to death but I just couldn't hang. Maybe if I hadn't already seen all of them at least 3 times apiece I would've made it through. Oh well. It was fun trying.

Today I went to Hollywood Park Casino and played a poker tournament there. I didn't win but I had a real blast playing. I always have a lot of fun playing the tournaments there. I grinded out for over 3 hrs. and made it to the final 7 tables out of 20 or so but still didn't finish in the money. Doesn't matter. Still had a good time. And more importantly I played fairly well and didn't make any huge mistakes.

Big day tomorrow. Got a last minute gig with Tyrell, somebody's having us play at their home for a party or somethin'. And I have to pick Carrie up in the morning. Traffic is going to be hell.

I was going to stop by this jazz club called the Baked Potato tonight for their jam session that some friends of mine play in. But it's really raining here and with the early morning and all I think I'll just call it a night.

More driving, more driving, more driving, more driving, more driving ...

Last night I hauled my ass down to Newport Beach for the gig with Gary. While the drive took over an hour each way, I had a great time playing. The trio sounded really good and we got into some really good grooves and improvisations. Wish I had a tape of it. I love playing with Gary. I want to start a jazz trio with him when I'm done with my record.

Then today I drove down to Long Beach for WizardWorld L.A., a comic book convention. It was fun. I love comic conventions. You don't have to worry about getting your geek on. I saw a buddy of mine Koop who I know from this online comic message board I post at. His wife is a big fan of Tyrell's and they've come out to see the show when we played on the East Coast. I think he's seen us 4 times. Then I see him at the LA and San Diego comic conventions as well. Koop is a comic dealer so he goes to all of the conventions, sets up a booth and sells books. He's a good guy and a good friend. It was good seeing him again.

I also saw Jim Mahfood. It was good talking to him face-to-face. He was again really complimentary of the music I sent him which was cool. He also laid some music on me including an album that he did the cover for. It looks great and I'm excited to work with him.

By the afternoon I was wiped. I had to head home and take a nap. All that driving can wear you out. Since Wednesday I've driven:

from the Valley (where I live, in northern Los Angeles) to Palm Springs
from Palm Springs to San Diego
from San Diego to the Valley
from the Valley to LAX and back
from the Valley to Newport Beach and back
from the Valley to Long Beach and back

I bet that's around 20 hrs. Yikes.

*********

Before the gig last night I stopped by this used CD place in Newport Beach. I picked up this record called "4-Sight". The lineup is Peter Martin, keyboards; Ron Blake, sax; Greg Hutchinson, drums; Rodney Whitaker, bass. I had never even heard of this record. How did that happen?! These are some of my favorite players on the planet! The album came out in '98 and I'd never heard one thing about it. Ron Blake is in the Christian McBride Band, one of my favorite bands at the moment. Greg Hutchinson used to play with Ray Brown in his trio and Rodney Whitaker used to play with Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. But more importantly to me the two of them used to compromise the rhythm section of the Roy Hargrove Quartet. I love the records they did with Roy. At one point Whitaker was my favorite bass player. They just swing so hard.

I'm listening to the record now. It sound pretty good. Reminds me a lot of Ron Blake's album that came out a couple of years ago. Not so much traditional be-bop, a lot of different grooves and creative compositions. I dig.

*********

The bachelor pad is in full effect. Murphy and I are in total control of the place. Dishes stacked up in the sink, dirt clothes on the furniture, a bed that hasn't been made in days. I love it. Nothing's getting cleaned up until Tuesday.

Eventful week for me so far. Wednesday I ran a bunch of errands in the morning before making the long trip to Palm Springs. It's a pretty nice drive, better than the drive to Vegas (mainly because it's only half as long). Everyone in the band got caught up in traffic but we made it to the theater with plenty of time to soundcheck. Steve Tyrell does really well in Palm Springs, this is the fourth time we've played this theater and it was really packed. Nice venue.

That night we were staying at a hotel/casino (there are a lot of those out by Palm Springs, probably because there are a lot of retirees as well), I was all excited to play poker until I realized that I didn't have my ATM card. Yet another thing to add to the long, long, long list of my belongings I've lost. So no poker. What a drag.

Thursday there was another long drive to El Cajon (which is by San Diego). The theater there was nice enough. The crowd was really energetic and excited about the show and the band played really well. All in all I had a good time on the trip.

Friday brought yet another long drive home. I was pretty wiped when I finally got back to my place. Driving can take a lot out of you. So can beers from the night before. I relaxed, did some more errands and fixed Carrie dinner before taking her to the airport. Murphy went along for the ride and after we dropped her off we went over to Woodman to hang with my boys over there and play video games. Good times. Everyone loved Murphy because he's the coolest.

This morning I had a breakfast an old friend of mine Evin. We actually lived together for a year back at Ball State University. He transferred to Indiana University and we kind of fell out of contact with each other. Then coincidentally enough he moves to Los Angeles right before I do and we end up out here together. He's since moved to Madison and I haven't seen him in a couple of years. It was really great catching up with him.

Tonight I have a gig down in Newport Beach with my boy Gary. Even though the drive is a bit much I always like playing with him.

So Carrie is gone until Wednesday and Murphy and I have the condo in full Bachelor Pad mode.

Watch out!

Tomorrow I leave to do a couple of concerts with Tyrell. We're playing in Palm Springs tomorrow night and San Diego Thurs. It should be fun. It will be a lot of time driving but that's okay. I have my iPod. What a miracle that thing is. Brilliant design, brilliant interface, brilliant software. It's like having a portable radio station where you are the PD. Or a portable song library with readily available and ever-changing compilations.

I had a weird gig tonight. No need to go into details but sometimes I feel really uncomfortable on the bandstand. When bandleaders are acting like jerks, or the venue isn't cool, or the sound is bad, or if the vibe is just bad. Tonight was one of those nights.

I heard from Mahfood today. He digs the music and is charging me a great price for doing the album cover. Hopefully I'll get another rehearsal and studio session booked by the end of the week.

Carrie leaves for Indiana on Friday. She'll be gone until the middle of next week. So as soon as I come back from San Diego I'm taking her to the airport. Then on Saturday I have a gig with my buddy and excellent pianist Gary Matsumoto down in Newport Beach. There's also the LA Comic Book Convention this weekend that I'll need to hit. Busy week for me.

While LA is great, there is a place I know very well that is even better. On wet, rainy, and cloudy days such as this, I'm reminded of it. Here I am in Kona, Hawaii last summer grindin' on shave-ice braddah! 

It's funny being a musician. Most of the time, your weeks are reveresed. Slow weekdays and busy weekends. Today I did the recording session for the USC film department. It was pretty fun but the day was long. I had to get up at 7:30 AM which just doesn't happen in my world unless I'm catching a plane. I got back at 5 PM and just crashed. Woke up and haven't done much since. Carrie is busy with schoolwork.

So it's a slow Saturday for me. I have the next couple of days off which will be nice before heading into a big week. Gig Teus. night here in town then back-to-back dates with Tyrell in Palm Springs and San Diego before heading back on Friday to take Carrie to the airport for her trip back to Indiana. Then next weekend will be busy too.

Went over to Woodman tonight and played poker after having dinner with my boy Bill (In n' Out, one mo' time!). It was fun but I busted out pretty early. Made another bad all-in call for a lot of chips. I gotta stop making these big mistakes when I play. I'm really solid then *bam* one mistake and I'm down for the count.

I got my amp back yesterday (my big one I should say, I have a couple). It was at the repair shop. I had dropped it on a gig like a moron and busted it. $120 later and it's back in action. I usually only use this amp with my electric bass so I haven't really missed it as I haven't been working much on electric. But the session tomorrow requires both axes.

Bed-time for Bassist.

night-night

So I took Murphy to the park today. It really was an amazing day. 70s, sunny, not too much smog. There's a damn close to my house that has a big park and golf course next to it. I've never been there until today. Murphy had a good time.

When you walk around parks like this in Indiana you see chipmunks, rabbits, and the like. I noticed nothing but lizards at this park. They were small enough not to gross me out though. I'm a wuss when it comes to stuff like that.

The gig last night was fine. I think it'll lead to more work with those guys.

It's Friday night and I have the two best options in front of me regarding how to spend it. Poker with friends or music with friends. We'll see what happens. I do have to get up early tomorrow unfortunately. I have a recording session at Paramount studios for a composition class at USC from 9 Am-4 PM. Ouch. Guess I can't have too much fun tonight ...

I just noticed something odd about the Jason Moran disc I was talking about ealier--it's signed. I bought it used. The front cover says:

(blogspot was screwy for me yesterday, looks like it's cool now)

I played at the No Money Tree again last night. It was pretty fun. Good thing too since the bread suck. But I like to say playing the bass is always better than not playing the bass.

This morning I did a "rehearsal band" at the Musician's Union. These are big bands that meet every week to rehearse and run through charts but never really gig. People do them because it's good to keep reading music (so much of jazz is from memory and by ear, which is the way it should be ... but knowing how to read on the fly is a great skill) and talking with other musicians. It was cool. I wouldn't want to do one every week that's for sure. But every once in a while is alright.

Then I stopped by the greatest record store on the planet, Amoeba Music in Hollywood. It's really close to the Union and I can't help stopping by there every time I do a rehearsal band. I also can't help spending at least $30 when I'm there. This place really has it all. Today I picked up James Brown's Soul on Top, Central Avenue by Danilo Perez, and Soundtrack to Human Motion by Jason Moran. This James Brown record came out last year and I can't believe I waited so long to get it. It's James singing with the Louie Bellson and arrangements by Oliver Nelson. The bassist on it is one of my all-time favorites Ray Brown. Ray is one of the reasons why I play the bass. But that's a story for another time. Central Album is Danilo Perez's follow- up to Panamonk which I think is his best record and one of my favorite jazz records ever. When I was at WMU I saw Danilo and his trio who were touring for Central Avenue and they were great. I never bought it because I heard it so many times back then because all of my friends had it. You know how that is, all of your boys have a record so there's no real need for you to buy it. Well I haven't heard it in a long time and it's good to have it. For my money Jason Moran is one of the very few musicians on the planet who is doing something new and unique with jazz music. His record The Bandwagon blew me away when I heard it and this is the second record I've bought of his since hearing it. It's one of his first I believe and it was recorded back in '99. I dig the musicians who are on it and am anxious to hear it.

My big amp has been in the shop for a couple of weeks. The repairist called me today and said it's going to be finished this afternoon. Good timing because tonight I have a gig where the guy wants electric bass and my big amp works better with electric. This thing tonight is a taping of a public television show I think. It's weird. It's with a bunch of older guys I don't play with that often. I guess I'll find out what it's all about soon enough.

I've been in contact with the comic artist who is doing the cover art for my album. I sent him some materials yesterday including the rough mixes of the recording session I did a couple of weeks ago. His name is Jim Mahfood and he's the shit. Definately the funkiest cartoonist around. Check him out at http://www.40ozcomics.com/

Gorgeous day here in sunny Los Angeles.

Had a good day yesterday. Carrie and I went to the grocery store then came home and cooked a big breakfast. I just lounged around the rest of the day playing video games and messing around on the computer. That evening we went over to some friends of ours house for dinner. They barbequed, it was really good. Came home and went to bed early. The way a Sunday should be.

I had the worst experience I've had on a gig in quite a while last night. I don't feel like going into it. Let me just say that for some reason there are some folks who hire musicians for jobs and enjoy treating them like monkeys who are only to be paraded out for entertainment ... Like they are to be "heard but not seen" to reverse a well-known parlance. Well, these folks either need to UNCLENCH or just bring a stereo to play music on. It would really save a lot of drama for all parties involved. 'Cuz the bread ain't worth the stress.

Besides that, yesterday was okay. And actually, playing music on the gig was a good time. There was only myself, a piano player, and a drummer and we had the place rockin' and the guests dancing. Hard to do with an acoustic jazz trio, but what can I say? When you got the funk, booties move no matter what axe you have in your hands. Everyone dug us except for the uptight lady who hired us. But I've already moved on from that.

In other news in a few short months I will have a baby niece. By brother-with-another-mother Jason and his wife are expecting a little girl. Congrats to them. Good news indeed.

I had a pretty good day considering the fact that I had to drive so much and it was raining outside. Road travel and precipitation do not mix well in Southern California. Nonetheless I made it down to Laguna Niguel in plenty of time to check out the bass shop and see a movie before my gig.

The bass shop was great. It's the mail-order bass shop in the country, when you're in school and your teacher tells you to order some specific sheet music or a bass method book and some etudes or anything like that, you call Lemur. If you need a pickup, rosin, bows, anything bass-related you call Lemur. Well I never knew they had an actual shop until I moved down here, and I had yet to check it out. So I finally made it down there today. The owner recognized me from a Steve Tyrell gig he had met me at so he gave me a tour of the entire facility including their bass workshop, machine workshop, offices, library of music, etc. Very cool. But the best part was playing all of the basses he had there. I was checking out all of these wonderful instruments (all in the $10,000-$20,000 price-range) including this great Italian bass. It had a really big sound and a nice, rich tone. I loved it. Only 15 dimes. Next time I have that kind of money lying around I'll go pick it up. I love my bass and all, but it's really not that quality of an instrument. It would be great to have something really nice.

Then I saw this new movie Be Cool. A friend of mine saw it and said it sucked but I still really wanted to see it for a few reasons; it's a sequel to Get Shorty which I really dug, Uma Thurman's hot ass was in it, and it's really the only thing that was playing down there that I had an interest in seeing. Well I liked it, good movie. I mean, it's a gangster movie about the music industry and Los Angeles. Right up my alley. I like movies about L.A. Not just set in L.A., but about L.A. I dunno, strikes more of a chord with me since I live here. (Best L.A. movies include The Big Lebowski, L.A. Confidential, Magnolia, and Bowfinger).

And the gig was fun too. Even if it was a haul to get down there. The group plays an older style of swing, it's fun to put that hat on and really play stylistically. Good times.

Sleepy time ...

Last night I hop into Carrie's car planning to drive and meet her at her school. She and a couple of other teachers were taking some kids she mentors to a basketball game at CSUN. Well her car wouldn't start, at all. I assumed it was a battery/electrical problem and was not looking forward to attempting to get it fixed. But the stress was for not, I jumped the car this morning and drove it to a nearby auto shop. The guy messed with the connection wires a bit and said I needed to clean the posts because the connection was bad and that was it. Easy enough. You'd think I'd be able to figure something like that out on my own. But I'm just not savvy when it comes to cars.

I have a gig tonight WAY down south in Orange County. It's a 1.5 hr. drive with no traffic (which is never the case). Once again a gig that I thought twice about taking, but the guys in the band are really nice and fun to play with. There's also a bass shop down by there that I've been meaning to check out. Might see a movie too. That's the thing I've learned about taking gigs so far away on Fridays. Better just to leave early and do something when you get down there rather than driving in rush hour traffic.

So I had a gig tonight at a place in Toluca Lake (near Burbank) called the Money Tree. It's known around town as the "No Money Tree" because of how little they pay the musicians. Really, it's embarrassing how little they pay. I had a weekly gig there for a few months when I first got to town. I hated the place and swore I'd never play there again. Not only is the bread terrible but the piano is bad and the way the place is set up, all of the people at the bar have their backs to you. Stupid. But I got a call to play there this week with a friend of mine Gina who is a really good singer and who I hadn't seen in a long time. So I decided to do it.

The No Money Tree is a funny place. A lot of B and C-list actors hang out there. Like tonight this comedian I dig Zack Galifanakis was at the bar. He had a really good show on VH1 five years ago or so (it was probably the last good show VH1 had). He left before we started playing though. There were a couple more actors whose names I didn't know, the guy who played the judge in "A Few Good Men" and the guy who played the cook on "A Different World." You get the picture. Anyway these guys were really nice and tipped really well and we ended up making as much in tips as we did from the club. So that was nice and made the gig a little more worthwhile. And Gina sounded great. It was good playing with her again. So it was a good night.

I just got home a few minutes ago. Carrie's asleep on the couch. That's always bad news. Moving her from the couch to the bedroom in the midst of deep slumber is quite a chore.

Wish me luck.

Look at this guy! 

I'd been in my house too long and hadn't really done much besides work and go to they gym the past couple of days. So earlier in the evening I went over to Woodman to hang with some of my boys.

Wouldn't you know, a poker game broke out. I did pretty well, won some big pots early. I was sitting pretty until I lost a lot of chips in a hand against my buddy Pasta. He called me down chasing a flush and caught it on the river. I lost over 3/4 of my stack on that hand. That sucked. So I had to just wait around and try to double up. I had to go all-in when I flopped middle pair, top pair called me and I busted out in 3rd place out of 6 guys. Not too bad, it was a pretty fun game. The pot for the winner was $60 but 1st and 2nd place just split the money.

So now it's late, gotta go to bed.

I tell ya, it's either feast or famine with my job. Either I'm on tour totally consumed with my career or I'm at home doing a whole lot of nothing. And for some odd reason it seems that whenever I get busy with gigs here in LA I get really busy for a week, then really slow, then busy, etc. When it rains it pours.

Well right now I'm in a slow week. I do have a gig tomorrow night and one Saturday but that's about it. Like I've been mentioning I was knee-deep in marketing and business aspects of my career for the past couple of days. Boy that can get boring.

But now that it's done I can start getting a rehearsal together for my next recording session. I think I'll do this one with the vocalist Jess. I still haven't found a sax player although I think I have a guy that might work out. We'll see.

Carrie and I went to In n Out burger tonight. The best burger joint ever. I'm totally comfortable saying that and trust me, I've sampled quite a few. It's funny, Carrie just finished
Fast Food Nation and the author mentioned how In n Out is great because they don't use heat lamps, they use real beef, real potatoes, food is cooked when you order it ... it's good to know but it's also dangerous. The last thing I need is more incentive to go.

Here's a picture for my profile. 

Well I finally finished my press kit. Boy is it nice to have that done. I haven't had so much as a decent bio since I started playing bass full time a few years ago. Now that that's finished it's time to start working on taxes. I hate tax time. One big drawback to being self-employed and doing what you love.

I started reading The Business of Music yesterday. A great book about the legalities of the music industry, a must read for professional musicians. Between reading that and working on my press kit, taxes, finances, etc. I began to wonder, why didn't I learn about any of this stuff in school? I have a masters degree and not once did I hear anything about how to market yourself, how to file taxes when you don't have a regular salary, how to run your "business", music publishing and copyrights, what a touring musician should know, and on and on and on. It's like school prepares you to be a musician and that's it. Well, that ain't enough. Sadly these days with organizing my own album and being a homeowner and trying to go for bigger and better gigs, it seem like I spend more time of the business side of my career than the artistic. That's not a terrible thing, but it would've been nice to be made aware of it sometime throughout my six years of music school.

Oh well, I have a feeling it's the same for other professions as well. In fact, I was talking to a lawyer after a Tyrell concert in Kentucky. He was saying the same thing about law school. So there you go.