Welcome!
Welcome to my first newsletter! I have lots of fun and creative projects in progress, and this service will help keep friends updated on my musical musings.
I’m proud to announce the release of the new Walt Weiskopf record, The Way You Say It. This was the second recording I had the pleasure of playing on for Walt. He’s a consummate professional, a prolific writer, and an incredible tenor saxophonist! For this project, we met in Manhattan on Sunday, 9/27/15, for a 2-hour rehearsal to work out solos and details for each arrangement. As you can imagine, Walt’s music is very challenging to play, with lots of “sharp turns” rhythmically.
We recorded at Acoustic Recording in Brooklyn, NY, on 9/29/15, and laid down the record over the course of one 6-hour session. As we were about to record the last take of the night, “Candy” (made famous by Johnny Mercer), we received the news that legendary alto saxophonist Phil Woods had passed. Growing up in Northeastern Pennsylvania, not far from the Delaware Water Gap, Phil was a larger-than-life jazz icon. He was also a childhood friend of my teacher, the great Joe Morello.
As we recorded the final take, I had many memories of Phil and Joe circling my psyche. I know you’ll dig this record! Please check out an audio preview on iTunes and read a recent review at http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=53304. Also, we’ll be performing live next month at An Die Musik in Baltimore, MD, on Friday, 6/3/16. We hope to see you there!