I played a very fun gig today at something called Artscape in Baltimore, MD. I was part of a band backing up a young, talented singer named Emma White. We didn’t have a lot of time to get the songs togethe?ß?r and there were only a handful of horn tunes but the overall vibe of the whole experience was really great. It was a great combination of Emma’s original tunes and some select covers both old and new…everything from Aretha to Rihanna. Emma’s truly a pleasure to work with and she sings beautifully. It was also special because I got to play with a lot of my favorite guys in town as well as a new guy I hadn’t worked with before named Fred Moss.
Here’s the lineup:
- Emma White – Vocals, Guitar, Keys
- Glenn Workman – Keys, Vocals
- Fred Moss – Guitar, Vocals
- Mark St. Pierre – Drums, Vocals
- Jimmy Charlesen, Bass
- Dave Makowiecki – Trumpet
- Yours Truly – Tenor
I first met Emma a few years ago when she was working on her demo reel for getting into Berklee. She wanted to record a version of What is Hip by Tower of Power and the band I was in at the time happened to do a great version of that song. We went into the studio and recorded it, she ended up going to Berklee and now that she’s back she’s starting up a music career. I play with some of the other guys in a Steely Dan tribute band called Technicolor Motor Home. Actually the same guys were together in that previous band as well…we like playing together. Glenn, Dave and Mark are great musicians and great friends and I will take any gig they are on no matter what the price or where it is. I’ve known Jimmy Charlesen for many years but we’ve only really played together a few times in all those years. He’s a consumate professional, and excellent musician and a great guy so I was happy to have another chance to work with him. Fred and I feel like we have met somewhere before but we don’t know where or when so for now I’m pretty sure it’s the first time we’ve worked together. Fred is a great guitarist and singer and also a really nice guy (I think there’s a pattern here). It is my hope that we can all get together and do this again real soon.
Artscape is something that I started playing way back when I was in college I think. It’s entirely possible that I played one of the very first ones if not the first one but then I didn’t play at it for many years in between. I was shocked at how big it’s gotten. It used to just stretch along just one street but now it covers several blocks and has branched out to include new additions like Gamescape (a computer and video game art exhibition). They’ve always had top talent…years ago I saw Gato Barbieri there and he wasn’t even on the main stage. This year the main stage featured the likes of Brian McKnight, The Rebirth Brass Band, and of course, Emma White.
