It’s been a long tough slog through this year following my wife’s illness and subsequent passing last year and I really haven’t kept up on things the way I was. I’m hoping to be able to change that and I’m starting up front of the New Year so it’s not just another silly resolution. 🙂… Continue reading 2014 Review Part 1 – The Gear
Category: Horns
Crack the Sky and Getting Ready For New Stuff
Last night the Crack Pack horns (same as the Retox Horns – Dave Makowiecki, Jim McFalls, and me) played with Crack the Sky at Ram’s Head Live in Baltimore. The place was absolutely packed and we had a great time. We played two of the songs we recorded for the most recent CD, Ostrich, as… Continue reading Crack the Sky and Getting Ready For New Stuff
Busy Weekend
Friday night I got to do one of my favorite things. I played with Technicolor Motor Home at Ram’s Head On Stage in Annapolis. It’s the second time we’ve been there and the second time we’ve sold the place out. It’s not a huge venue but it has a great vibe and thee have been… Continue reading Busy Weekend
The Dreaded Sticky G# Key
I had a rehearsal on Saturday and I was having a devil of a time with a sticky G# key. I’ve had similar issues over the years but never to the extent I had on Saturday. It definitely didn’t help that it was the Steely Dan tribute band I play in and all of the… Continue reading The Dreaded Sticky G# Key
My How Far We’ve Come
I wanted to take a break from the recording stuff for a little bit but don’t worry I’ll get back to it soon – assuming you’re a fan of course. If you’re not a fan of the recording posts it’s more like, “Oh geez, he’s going to write more of that nonsense?”. But I digress.… Continue reading My How Far We’ve Come
Crack the Sky CD Release Party
Friday night we had the CD release party for the new Crack the Sky CD called Ostrich. I mentioned before that my usual horn section, The Retox Horns, is also the Crack Pack Horns when we play with Crack the Sky. We were able to record three songs for this CD and two of them… Continue reading Crack the Sky CD Release Party
Merry Christmas!
Just a quick post to wish anyone who is reading this a happy and healthy holiday season. It’s always a busy time but I did a really quick and dirty version of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas playing along with the Aebersold track. It’s just a one-take wonder but you get the idea. I… Continue reading Merry Christmas!
Always Leaves Me With a Huge Smile
Every year for the last ten years I have been lucky enough to be a part of a big band Christmas concert to benefit Toys for Tots. The band is called the Ken Ebo Big Bop Band and is lead by an incredible musician who both plays trombone and sings. It features some of the… Continue reading Always Leaves Me With a Huge Smile
News and Reviews in Progress
A couple of things to catch up on: I’m not quite ready to do a full review on my new Cannonball Big Bell Stone Series tenor but early reports are really good. I would never want to do a full review without first playing it on the gig since for me nothing I do in… Continue reading News and Reviews in Progress
Review – Haynes Saxophone Manual
This is a book I had heard about for quite a while but had never taken the time to purchase even though I was very interested in getting it. A couple months ago while researching for my recent horn purchase I stumbled across Stephen Howard’s website because he had some excellent reviews about some of… Continue reading Review – Haynes Saxophone Manual