Catching up

Has it really been a month since my last post? Well, just been busy, with some personal stuff on top of the usual music and bike mix.

My fabulous high school music teacher, Wally Atwood, who was so helpful in encouraging my music, passed away in June at the age of 78. Then, my father died on July 9. I'll have separate posts later on both of them.

The IJO played a great set on the final full day of the Ottawa Jazz Festival on June 30th. It rained on and off but the crowd stayed on (and even grew, awaiting the headliner Gladys Knight) while we played the music of Stan Kenton. I could not hear the sax section or even my fellow rhythm mates very well , but thankfully everyone was miced up and I could get a feed through a nearby monitor. It was interesting hearing both the trumpets very well acoustically, then the trombones a bit less so, from right in front of me, then have the saxes and others coming at me from my right side. But hey, at least I could hear everyone...

My Sunday Brunch gig with the quartet continues at the Metropolitan Restaurant, as does the Thursday gig there with Steve and Tom as "The Orbiters". The Orbiters have now picked up a Wednesday evening gig at the Foundation Restaurant in the Market, where we play on the patio if the weather's nice and inside if not.

Also, for the next bunch of Tuesdays I'm playing in Gatineau at the Restaurant Fiorentina on Blvd. St. Joseph. This is with a quartet comprising of myself, Mike Mullin on sax, Dave Arthur on bass and vocals, and Ian Clyne on keys and vocals. This too is a patio gig and dependent on nice weather.