Long Time No Blog

The inspiration to blog has not been present the past few weeks. Thats not to say there hasn't been lots of great and inspiring things going on. I think the backlash from NYC has finally faded and I can move on from what was one big learning experience. I learned a lot about myself during the trials and tribulations and I certainly learned a lot about taking 9 guys to the big apple so when and if it happens again it will be absolutely perfect. I have to say the 9 guys that I took there were and have been gems given some of the crap that they had to deal with and most of them were able to see at least a small amount of positives. It is however a trip that we would all like to move on from and thats that!

Bassist Jodi Proznick released her CD Foundations on Friday and Saturday, November 17th and 18th at The Cellar and it was a massive success. The club was packed both nights and we sold a record 87 CDs that night which is absolutely fantastic. The disc has been moving well on CD BABY as well and we're just waiting on some reviews to come out and hopefully that will make the CD move well in the stores. As do all our cds it has been getting great radio play on CBC etc. Way to go Jodi. A CD to be proud of for sure.

Speaking of CDs the ZAPATO NEGRO CD has just arrived at my office and it sounds and looks incredible. It will be available at the club as of this Wednesday and the official CD release party is on Wednesday, December 6th. A great band for sure and this CD is a wonderful representation of the group. A fiery disc! Our compilation CD 'Best of The First Five Years' should be availalbe in the next couple of weeks and if you're undecided on what to buy from our catalog or you just don't have the energy to make your own Cellar Live mix, this CD is perfect. Its actually a 2 CD set that features a tune from all of our releases in the first five years.

The club has been enjoying a very good run of late with pretty much every night being very very good attendance wise which is fantastic. There have been a few slow nights here and there but the Tuesday Classical series has exceeded everyone's expectations, Monday's have been good and Thursdays through Sundays have been very solid and its showing no signs of slowing down which is fabulous. Brad Turner was there this weekend and although the statement I'm about to make is kind of obvious I need to exaggerate it. THESE GUYS ARE GOOD. There is something about the way this quartet sounds that makes you fully aware that they have been playing together for a long time and refining their band sound. They all sounded wonderful.

I was at a good friend of mine's art show on Saturday night. It was wonderful. Her name is Norah Johnston and she is a fantastic artist and I always get a kick out of going to her shows because you see the displayed art and then you look down and there are red dots under almost every painting. That means they have sold! It was awesome to see a plethora of red dots all over the house. She really is a fantastic artist and judging by all the sales other people agree. Ross Taggart was playing with Bill Coon and Paul Rushka which added a nice touch to the festivities.

As for whats in the CD player lately. I haven't been listening to much music lately for some reason. I have been checking out some TUBBY HAYES who if you don't know is a great tenor player / vibist who hailed from London,England.

Thats it for now!

A Success?

Well, my first effort as a promoter has come to an end and am now in the position of looking back and asking myself whether or not it was a success. Let me put it to you this way. Logistically it was a huge disaster and financially it was a huge disaster but this is jazz in NYC and those aren't necessarily the best things to measure success by. Musically it couldn't have gone any better. The Chad Makela Quartet and UGETSU did Vancouver, Canada and Cellar Live proud. They played unbelievably. Im proud of all of them and am also so glad that they didn't give as hard a time as they could've given what transpired. THe Uptown Quintet tore it up as well! The Fat Cat also had a near record night on the Saturday and Friday was also very busy.

If there was one defining moment however that made the weekend it was that Ira Gitler, hands down the most foremost jazz writer in the history of the music sat in the third row and had a great time. He will be doing a concert review in the upcoming weeks.

Very cool!

The Start

Well, I have to say that everything single possible thing that could've gone wrong on this trip so far has gone wrong. Honestly I don't have the desire or time to get into it at this point. I finally had some sleep after having none, absolutely none in 48 hours so I am feeling a little bit better. The Chad Makela Quartet played the Fat Cat last night and absolutely tore up the stage. That was the first thing to go right on the trip. I was really proud of those guys for getting up and doing what they did after having to deal with the crap they had to deal with. The way they played you would've thought that they were staying at the Marriott on the Upper West Side and having free massages before the gig. The sounded wicked! The crowd was pretty decent although it didn't really reflect in the pay at the end of the night but oh well. The crowd loved it and thats what matters.

Basically what happened was that the accomodations that I worked so hard at confirming, reconfirming and double reconfirming were not even close to what was advertised. I spent at least 10 phone calls with the lady explaining who we were and exactly what was required. What was acceptable and what was not. She assured me that we would absolutely love the place. IT WAS HIDEOUS. So I was in the middle of Queens Village with 9 musicians looking at me wondering what we were going to do. We found a hotel for $80 per night that offered 3 hours for $40 so its pretty obvious what goes on there. So basically we were in NYC for 20 minutes and my budget was shot as the acccomdations price quadrupuled. That my friends was just the beginning. The good news is that everything that could've gone wrong has gone wrong and I think there is only one way to go at this point and thats up.

New York, New York

Well the day has arrived. Im going to NYC with Ugetsu and Chad Makela's Quartet. I have to admit I'm a bit nervous. I have never taken any bands on the road before today. At least none that I haven't been a part of and 9 musicians??? Eeesh. They are all pretty much friends but I really hope things go smoothly. I did all the pre planning I can do and now I just have to hope that all works out. There are definitely some things I could've done differently but thats why I like doing these things, I learn how to do it better the next time. At first I was really excited about that article that came out in the Vancouver Sun on the weekend and although Im still very greatful for the press, after reading it again this morning I realize how what Im trying to do is somewhat unprecendented and I think that makes me more nervous. Oh well.

I just got an email from Ira Gitler, perhaps the foremost writer of jazz in the history of the music and he will be down to check out both bands which is cool. A few other media will be coming down as well so I have at least made an impression somewhere. Some old friends will be stopping by as well like Tyler Summers, Roger Lent etc.

My sister will be there which is cool. I haven't seen her in 6 months since she moved to Toronto so I can't wait to see and hang out with her a little bit.

I will be writing in the blog the whole time and hopefully posting some pictures os stay tuned here!