We’re leaving in the morning for Reno — Sticks plays at the Reno Jazz Festival this weekend. We were supposed to fly but couldn’t get flights that were reasonably priced and got us in and out of Reno between Friday and Sunday. That means leaving earlier than we anticipated and returning later than expected because we will be driving.

In addition to a dearth of flights available, hotels have been booked solid for months. It seems that in addition to the Jazz Festival, there’s a big bowling championship this weekend. Yep, it’s a hot time in beautiful downtown Reno. No hotels to be had, just Motel 6 leaving the light on. It could be a pretty weird weekend.

We’re hoping to arrive in time to hear John Scofield play tomorrow night. It’ll be a close run, but we’re aiming for it. Randy Brecker played tonight — I was bummed that we weren’t getting there in time. Sticks’ band is hoping to win first this year. Last year they were fourth. We’ll hope for their best.

Have a great weekend.

Technorati Tags: reno jazz festival

The title of this post does not mean you’ve reached a dead link. This is the clever name that Sticks has dubbed the trio he put together for his high school concert and upcoming festival performances.

By way of explanation, I just have to say that if anyone told me that Sticks would stand on a stage in front of a big audience and actually SPEAK and be FUNNY, I’d have laughed until I cried. He could be described as someone who’s shy and doesn’t really talk much, but I’m almost afraid to do that because of the negative connotations given to that personality type right now. Suffice it to say that for all of his public performance experience on drums and in dance, speaking in public has been painful for him (to the point of meltdown in younger years), but to his credit, he is overcoming it.

He stood on stage last night and intro’d the group by saying he went to one of the random name generator sites on the Internet looking for a name for the group, and the only suggestion he got was 404 Error - Not Found. To play on that, he switched the hyphen. I liked it. They played their three numbers on the program and were well-received, with a call for an encore. This is their encore, entirely improvised — just one big jam. There are some familiar themes in the piano jam — if you don’t recognize them, ask your kids if they hear anything familiar. If you do, post it in the comments, and sometime tomorrow I’ll tell ya what I heard.
Enjoy a little Sunday “Last Minute Jam”, courtesy of the 404 trio:

Technorati Tags: jazz, funk, jam session, drums, piano, bass

RIP to jazz greats Michael Brecker and Alice Coltrane.

Technorati Tags: michael brecker, alice coltrane

In case you’ve had enough of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, are a wee bit hung over and are up to here with roses, parades, and football games, here’s a nice mellow podcast for your listening pleasure. Today’s selections are from our own Seniors of Note (the senior citizens’ big band that Sticks plays for), and include New York, New York, Witchcraft, Montego Bay, Ole Devil Moon, Jalousie, and a couple of surprises.

The camera was located near the drumset (behind it, actually), so despite my best audio editing efforts, you do hear drums more than you should, until Bigdog set up a couple of mikes in front, when it gets more balanced.

Enjoy, and if you like it, send it on to your friends and leave a comment here letting me know that you liked it. The seniors will get a kick out of knowing they have fans on the Net.

Technorati Tags: audio, podcast, seniors of note, odd time, jazz, big band

Sticks competed with the Salsa Band he plays with for the chance to open for The Rippingtons Saturday night…they didn’t win but I did get some fun photos. This is their conga player — he was fun to photograph.

…and Sonny Stitt in two little mini-podcasts from the Moorpark College Jazz Festival May 13th. Yet to come: Buddy Rich’s Big Swing Face.

• (congas/percussion)
• (drumset)

* Via AllAboutJazz.com

Well, the Big Weekend is past, with mixed results. Dancergirl gave a great performance, but unfortunately needed 3 out of 3 judges to watch her in order to place well. One of them didn’t wake up to her presence until Round 3, when it was too late. She was 7th overall, and pretty disappointed, but it happens to everyone. She’ll get over it, but it was a setback for a kid who’s been on a roll.

The drumline placed 8th of 31 — a respectable finish, but not the top three they were hoping for. Their enthusiasm was infectious, but it was a tough, tough competition and the schools that won did a great job too. Still, it was a lot of fun to watch those kids in action and well worth the time spent.

The college jazz band was the success story of the weekend, breaking into the top 5 with a 4th place finish and a fine performance. I’m extracting the audio from T’s videotape and will upload it later in the week as a podcast for anyone who might be a jazz fan. It’s worth the listen, they were really good! Sticks came back flying high and itching for the next challenge. We’re encouraging him to start submitting audition tapes to these different festivals in the hopes of being chosen as a featured artist. I have absolutely no idea how he compares to the big, big world out there, but his teacher at the college and his drum teacher seem to think he’s got a shot, so we’ll see. Can’t hurt those college applications to try!

The hardest part about weekends like this as a parent are standing apart from your kid’s disappointment and letting them work through it. It’s so easy to feel it with them, but I’ve learned it does no good and really robs them of an opportunity for growth. Stifling the mommy bear instinct when Dancergirl was disappointed with her championship result and Sticks with his championship result was hard, but I think they’re past the sting and ready to move on.

And Sticks brought me a Reno Jazz Festival T-Shirt, so it’s all good.

(MP3, 3MB)