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The Ghost of Gigs Past
Fun gigs ... in no particular order
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6/28/07
Pete Levin Band at The Langston Hughes House, New York, NY -
a JVC Jazz Festival special event. This was an
up close & personal gig in the former
townhouse residence of Harlem Renaissance writer
Langston Hughes, performing where the writer
turned out some of his most celebrated work.
Speaking of celebration, I did the gig on my new Nord C-1
organ, running through my vintage 122 Leslie. Not only
is it a fantastic-sounding axe, but at 33 pounds it weighs
1/7th as much as my chopped Hammond B-3. I'm happy,
and my back is happy! Nord has me on their
website as a new artist. |
Ernie Colon, Pete, Harvey
Sorgen, Mike DeMicco
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Uncle Funk at New World Home Cooking
Saugerties, NY New Year's Eve 2007 |
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Tony Levin & Joe Beesmer |
Jerry Marotta |
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Jesse Gress |
Carlos Valdez |
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New World chef/owner Ric Orlando
sittin' in |
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Joe & Tina |
Pete |
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Woodstock knows how to party! |
10/31/07 Halloween!
Played an afternoon concert in Kingston, NY at the Golden Hill nursing
home with jazz vocalist/violinst Betty MacDonald and my brother Tony.
Packed house - most folks in costume. We had a ball!
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Tony,
Pete, Betty.
(Tony & Pete with hair! Betty with ... a thing.) |
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guests: Mom, Mom's friend Betty, & Tony's mother in
law Phyllis |
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| Partying
down! The lady in the photo just turned 100 last week.
Wow! |
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6/20/07 A Jam
band in a liquor store?!? Now I can say I've done
everything. This is a reunion band of sorts, fronted by
singer/sax player Pat Bianco, along with John Cariddi on guitar
and Don Gardner on drums. The gig was at Endless Vine, in
Franklin Lakes, NJ - definitely one of the hippest liquor stores
you'll find. Making it even more fun for me, this was my
first gig on my new Nord C1 organ. |
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| John Cariddi, Don Gardner, Pat
Bianco, Pete |
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8/25/07
Auburn, NY. Bassist Peter Mack assembled a great
sextet and staged a concert doing some great, mainstream
arrangements. Three of us came up from the Woodstock
'hood - sax player David CasTiglione, drummer Harvey Sorgen
and me. There was a beautiful Steinway waiting for me
there. (No shlepping!) Two great players joined
David in the front line; Chris Persad on trumpet, and
Joe Carello on alto and bari saxes.
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The Auburn Public
Theater |
Here's one way to
get into the photo |
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Joe Carello, Harvey Sorgen, Peter
Mack, Chris Persad, Pete, David Castiglione |
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2/25/07 On the road
(sort of) with the Retro Rockets.
We played a couple of
motorcycle convention shows over the last couple of weeks - another one
coming up. These shows are always a ball for us; The
playing, and wandering around looking at the incredible custom bikes
close up.
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Poughkeepsie, NY
That's our stage way in the background |
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Pete |
"Tall" Paul Verdon |
Jimmy Eppard |
Charlie Kniceley |
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Pete pinned to the boards by
Gary (festival promoter) and George "Commander Cody" Frayne |
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Home, after the Scranton,
PA show, the Rockets played at a benefit for local Rosendale musicians
Moose Dmoch and Rebekah Lowden, whose home and instruments had been lost
in a fire. No shots of the Rockets, but I also played in an
impromptu jam with Joe Beesmer and Uncle Funk. Gov't Mule's Danny
Louis was there to do a set with Machan Taylor, so we got to do some
two-keyboard groovilatin'. |
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An Uncle Funk jam
Machan Taylor, Danny Louis, Pete, Jimmy Eppard, Paul
Schiavo, Randy Ciarlante, Joe Beesmer |
Danny, Jimmy, Pete, Randy |
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MC, Uncle Willie |
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5/12/07 Making music
takes me to the greatest places. Two gigs in the same week had me
high above, uh ... everything! Wednesday the 9th I played with
Jana Herzen and Roni Ben Hur in the Rainbow Room, a beautiful restaurant
on the top floor of New York City's Rockefeller Plaza. Two days
later I played with the Bob Nieske Quartet, featuring vocalist Maggie
Galloway at Top Of The Hub, a restaurant on the top floor of Boston's
Prudential Center. Check out the views from windows next to the
piano; Makes it hard to concentrate!
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New York City from the Rainbow
Room (Central Park on the left) |
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Boston from Top Of The Hub |
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| The
bandstand |
Maggie
Galloway |
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3/18/07 "It Ain't
Nothin' But The Blues" - Just finished up with weeks of rehearsals,
preview performances and an opening night at the
Capital Repertory Theater in Albany, NY. The show is sounding
and looking great. Now that it's up and running, I'm taking off
for a week to cover another project and to perform at the Baja Prog Rock
Festival in Mexico with the Tony Levin Band. Meanwhile, Aaron
"Professor Louis" Hurwitz of the Crowmatix will be in the piano chair.
I'm back on the 27th and will be with the show for it's last 2 weeks.
If you're in the Albany area, try to get out and catch it.
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Carole Troll
leads the cast in a roaring Gospel tune for the 1st act finale
of
"It Ain't Nothin' But The Blues"
with Juson Williams, Cicily Daniels, Rob Barnes, Julie Tolivar &
Jon Rosen
The on-stage band: David Malachowski, Bob Green, Gary Burke &
Pete |
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1/26/07
Finished up a great week in Petaluma, CA with a gig at
Graziano's. Peter Welker holds court there every
Friday night with his regular guys and a changing array of
guest players. I was the 'official' guest this time,
but there were several other great players sitting in.
We followed the gig with a terrific meal at Graziano's,
joined by our old friend Elliott Aronson from the Jazz
Notes, a band that Peter and I had in high school. Now
that's a reunion! |
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Here's the gang: Carlo,
Pete, Bob Johns, Jeff Oster, Kevin Dillon,
Al Molina, Chuck Sher, Peter, Randy Vincent, Michael
Whitwell |
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1/25/07 Just coming
off of a real nice day of recording at Ken Evans' Mesa Recording
Studio, outside of Petaluma. I joined Peter Welker's sextet
for a few tracks for Peter's next CD. Then I did some overdubs
for singer Jeff Oster's upcoming project. There's a great
music scene happening here - lots of live music venues and lots of
great players. I'm really enjoying being part of it this week.
Here's some shots from the recording session: |
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Peter, Randy, Jim, Pete, Chris,
Scott, Kevin, Jim - joined by KCSM's Dick Conte (far right) |
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Jeff Oster, Peter Welker & PL |
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Engineers Jim Stern and Ken
Evans |
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Peter Welker |
Jim Rothermel |
Scott Petersen |
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1/22/07 Petaluma,
California (near San Francisco). Arrived on Sunday for a week
long stay with Peter Welker. Peter's having me play on a
couple of recording projects he's producing, and then doing some
live playing with his quintet. I've barely been here for 24
hours, and have had a few terrific meals. This is gonna be a
real nice week! Photos going up as I get them.
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Looking over the music for the
coming sessions, Peter & I got into an informal jam. |
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Peter & Pete with engineer
Jim Stern |
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Peter & I hung out with Bruce
Kurnow, a wonderful harpist - blues harp and the big
stringed beast. Not only does he play them both well,
but can play them at the same time. |
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01/06/07 Did a real nice
evening of Brazilian Jazz with vocalist
Machan
Taylor
along with percussionist T. Xiques. This went down
in Catskill, NY at
Stella's
Lounge at Catskill Point, a new intimate, Jazz listening
room that's the perfect place to catch her. Lot's of fun.
I'm sure she'll be back there in a few weeks. |
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Photo: Lisa
Burklund |
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01/01/07 Happy New
Year. Just coming down from a long weekend of great gigs.
Lost count of how many notes I played! Friday was a sweet trio gig
with Woodstock's Betty MacDonald, along with Jim Curtin on bass.
(I'm putting a new website up for Betty - long overdue. If you've
got a minute,
take a
look.) New Year's Eve was with my old buddy from New York,
Steve Satten - an organ trio with Matt Finck on guitar. Laid back,
groovin'. Real nice.
The highlight of the weekend was Saturday night. I did a guest
shot with Government Mule at the Beacon Theater in New York. It's
a great jam band, and maybe the hardest working band on the planet.
I've been a Warren Haynes fan for a long time; It was a treat to
sit in with him and the band. Special thanks to my good friend
Danny Louis for hooking me up. |
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12/23/06 Uncle
Funk at the Bearsville Theater. For those of you out of the area,
guitarist/vocalist Joe Beesmer leads this hard-groovin' all-star jam
band. We perform only occasionally and only in the Woodstock area.
This past Saturday night was one of those, but marked by Joe's birthday,
so it was an all-out celebration. The regular crew - Joe, Jesse
Gress (guitar), Howie Brown (sax), Tony Levin (bass) and Jerry Marotta
(drums) was joined by David Sancious (on guitar this time out),
Government Mule keyboardist Danny Louis, and vocalist Machan Taylor.
We did rock the joint! Oh yes! |
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David,
Jesse, Joe, Tony, Pete, Jerry (hidden - sorry Jerry) |
Joe &
David |
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| Danny
Louis, Howie |
Jesse, Joe, David, Jerry |
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Machan |
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| NAMM
Winter Show Anaheim, California
Beyer Dynamic has been providing the
great microphones that the Tony Levin Band travels with. We
were happy to be here at the NAMM show on their behalf. It's a
huge show, in an incredibly large convention center. The
cacophony is constant and intense, but the energy is fantastic.
Highlight of the show was our Friday
night show with Todd Rundgren guesting with the band. Below
are some photos gathered cruising the convention floor. Shots
of the Friday night concert are coming.
THURSDAY
I cruised the room
all day; Met lots of new people and ran into many old friends.
4 times during the day, the band gathered at the Beyer booth and did
our show opening barbershop quartet number, then hung around to meet
and chat with people. |
Hanging at the Beyer booth
Tony with Phyllis & Larry Fast |
Robert Frazza and Tony |
Pete, Chris Cardone, Tony |
At the Sonic Reality booth with CEO Dave
Kerzner and drummer Danny Gottlieb |
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FRIDAY |
Pete & organist Bruce Katz with Jonas
Lofvenmark of Nord Instruments |
Pete & Bruce Katz |
Pete & Nick Moroch at the
Paul Reed Smith Guitars booth |
Pete & Fuzzbee Morse |
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FRIDAY NIGHT: THE
TONY LEVIN BAND WITH GUEST TODD RUNDGREN |
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SATURDAY |
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The Tony Levin Band barbershop
quartet
at the Beyer Dynamics booth |
Jesse with Susan & Paul
of Beyer Dynamics |
Susan trying to soothe the savage
beast.
I don't think it's working. |
Danny Gottlieb jamming with
Gary Sinese's son Mac |
Pete with Harvey Sorgen and Stuart
Spector at the Spector Bass booth |
Harvey and Jimmy Eppard |
Pete with Gil Paris and Kip Sophos
at the Cort Guitar booth |
Pete with Danny Gottlieb and Jeff
Berlin |
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09/09/06 Back to one of my favorite intimate
clubs, The Turning Point in Piermont, NY. The Nikki Armstrong Band
tore it up for two sets. In addition to singing great, Nikki is
one of the hardest working divas on stage I know. She's a treat to
work with.
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Nikki & owner John McAvoy |
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08/25/06 Union Square Park, NYC - free concert
sponsored by
Artists
For Human Rights
Back in NYC! I was part of a quartet that
backed up a whole lineup of great singers to a big crowd. This was
a great concert. Singer Nikki Armstrong put the band together for
them and did two songs with us herself. Intermittent rain couldn't
dampen the prevailing spirit. There were great photo ops, but I
didn't do too well. With only one brief rehearsal, I couldn't look
up from the keyboard book too often. And once again ... no
pictures of me. Wah!
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| Actress Anne Archer, the
organization's founder and spokesperson, greets the crowd.
This not-very-flattering shot is the best one I got of her.
Sorry, Anne; I was working. |
MD David Campbell and drummer Terry Silverlight check the
show lineup. |
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Guitarist Jason Green, Drummer Terry Silverlight, Bassist
Ivan Bodley |
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the stage, I got this shot of the gospel choir that tore the
place up! |
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09/16/06 Saturday night at Jack & Luna's Cafe in
Stone Ridge, NY. An intimate little spot with an excellent
soup/salad/sandwich menu, on Saturday night they have live Jazz.
Drummer & co-owner Chris Bowman even put in a nice 5 foot Kawai grand
piano. How cool is that. Featured this week was Woodstock
Violinist/Vocalist Betty MacDonald, working her magic backed by a nice
quartet. I had people in the audience pass my camera around and
take shots. I set the camera to use available light, without flash
- clearly a mistake. Next time I'll know.
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| Guitarist
Perry Beekman, Bassist Charlie Kniceley, Betty MacDonald,
drummer Chris Bowman, Pete |
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09/17/06 The Retro Rocket at the Lyndhurst Estate
in Tarrytown, NY. The Rockets Rock! But we don't play
anything after we've played the Pennsylvania Polka. (Don't ask.)
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Pete, Jimmy Eppard, "Tall" Paul Verdon, Charlie Kniceley |
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A fan |
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09/13/06 Spent two days at the Pepsi Theater at
SUNY in Purchase, playing in a band led by guitarist Lou Volpe. We
were the backup band for an eclectic group of performers in a high end,
high tech show sponsored by Pepsi. There was one moment that was a
new experience for me; A 4-piece metal band did a tune (without
us). When they started up, the EFX crew triggered a smoke machine.
Nobody had really tested the machine out, and the smoke got excessive,
setting off all the alarm systems in the theater. The strobe
lights on the alarm system actually looked like part of the show.
But when the band stopped, the police were already there and demanded
the theater be evacuated. So we had a 2nd, unscheduled
intermission. Gotta love it!
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 12/29
It's been years since
the Brubeck Brothers Quartet kicked off
the Thursday night Jazz series at
Szechuan Tokyo in West Hartford, Connecticut. It's still going
strong and continues to be one of my favorite intimate venues to play. This
time I was back with an organ trio, along with guitar master
Joe Beck and
drummer Gene Randolph. Joe you already know - what with reviewers throwing
around terms like "legendary" and "genius". Connecticut Jazz fans
might not be familiar
with Gene, but he's widely regarded as one of the best Jazz drummers in
the Hudson Valley. Gene is the groovemeister! |
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Sunday, February 5th, Jimmy Eppard and The Retro Rockets head off to
Wilkes Barre, PA to do a show at the
Winter Blast
Motorcycle
Expo, opening for Commander Cody. These shows are a blast.
There are hundreds of custom motorcycles that you hardly ever get to see
up close. The only down side of this one is that we hit at 10:30am
- which means we have to be on the road at 7am. Yikes! If
you're in the area, it's at the Gennetti Hotel on East Market Street.
 On February 14th, I'll be playing in New York with
Angela Deniro and the Ron Aprea big band. This is a benefit
concert for Frank Foster to help with his mounting medical expenses. Great band with some great
players, and we'll be doing a lot of Frank's arrangements. As of
now, I don't know what the donation/admission cost is, but it'll be
lot's of good music for a good cause. Please try to make it if you
can.
8pm on Tuesday, February 14th
at the John Birks Gillespie Auditorium
Baha'i Center:
53 East 11th Street, NYC |
 1/31
Back at the Mason Jar in Mahwah, NJ with drummer Don
Gardner - doing the organ trio again with guitarist John Cariddi.
This time out we'll be joined by former Miles Davis sideman, Sam
Morrison on sax. |
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1/28 in Rhinebeck, NY at the
Firebird Lounge; Another Blues organ trio with drummer Joe
Medwick's Memphis Blues featuring Woodstock guitarist Chris Zaloom.
Chris is another one of those guys that does this shit right. I've
only played with him once before, so I'm looking forward to this hit. |
 1/27 Joe Beesmer and Uncle Funk
- back in Saugerties, NY at
the New
World Home Cooking - my favorite
Woodstock area restaurant. The Woodstock dance crowd always comes
out for these, so it's a party from square one. Tonight was the usual suspects, Jesse Gress
on guitar, Tony Levin on bass and Jerry Marotta on drums.
Chef/owner Ric Orlando is a pretty good guitar
picker and is always threatening to sit in - and this time he did.
Bassist Bruce Wolfeil also sat in, which made for a great photo op:
Three Bald Guys! Hey hey! (Bruce definitely wins the
beard competition.)
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1/26 at
J. C. Hooks in Waterbury, CT with guitarist/vocalist
Kal David
 and
singer Lauri Bono. Kal had some hits years back with his group
"The Fabulous Rhinestones" but has been pretty much dedicated to the
Blues since then - and he does that really well. He's high up on
my list of favorite guitarists, so this gig was a treat for me. We
did it as an organ trio, with Connecticut drummer Mike Nappi kickin' our
butts. I don't get to do that on a Blues gig very often, so it's a
heads-up situation - and lay off the bourbon until the end of the night!
Hooks is a small, comfortable club with real nice folks running the
store. We did a 3 hour set to an enthusiastic packed house, and I
had a blast. Hopefully I'll get to do more of these when Kal comes
to the Northeast. |
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1/25 at the
Red Door in
Watertown, CT - organ trio with Connecticut drummer Mike Nappi and
Jazz guitarist
Matthew Finck. Matt has a great new CD. The set was a
mixture of standards and tunes from Matt's CD. I'd been hearing
about the Red Door for a long time. They used to program a lot of
Jazz, and some great players and bands played there. Not the case
now. They have a lot of live music but it's mostly rock bands.
About half the crowd came to listen - and we appreciate that - but were
overwhelmed by the noise in the room, including two TVs playing
different stations. We're told that the new owner doesn't like
Jazz and wants to phase it out. No question he'll succeed at that.
From my end, the feeling's mutual. I'll give this joint a pass
next time. |
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11/13 A concert for the Pro Music series at the 1st
Congregational Church in Saugerties with Betty MacDonald, Woodstock's
own Gypsy Queen. This was a treat for me. Betty's gigs always have a magical
quality, but after weeks of smokin', loud, high energy gigs, it was
great for me to play a laid back set like this one. No drummer ...
wow! Sunday was my first time playing with John Menegon, a
terrific Woodstock Area bass player. And Beck is always killin'.
Beck. Joe is one of the keys to the CD I'm getting ready to
release. (See below.) |
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Betty MacDonald,
Joe Beck, John Menegon, Pete |
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 8/13-14 I spent Saturday and Sunday in Lee, Massachusetts
for two concerts with operatic soprano
Jennifer
Aylmer.
I backed her doing some Gershwin and Cole Porter along with bass & drums, but I was honestly more interested in the stuff I wasn't
playing
on -
like the Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brazilieros #5 for 8 cellos and
soprano, a beautiful piece that's rarely performed. Jennifer's an
amazing singer, a captivating performer and a pleasure to work with.
I wasn't surprised to learn she's debuting at The Met this season.
That's Jennifer and I on the left. On the right, Jennifer
accompanied by
Kathleen Kelly, a killin' piano player, who - when she's not
enjoying the Lee, Mass. night life - is an assistant
conductor and coach at The Met.(Just kidding about the night
life. Saturday night in Lee, they roll up the sidewalks at 10pm.
I'm sorry, but that's barbaric. People sometimes get hungry at
10:30! Nice place to visit, but more than
24 hours ... you can keep it.) |
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11/29 Back at the Mason Jar in Mahwah, New Jersey.
This is the trio led by drummer Don Gardner, with John Cariddi on guitar
that I do every other month or so. This time we were joined by
former Miles Davis band member, saxophonist Sam Morrison. Sam's
playing is electric! He's sat in with us there a couple of times,
but this is the first time he's officially done the gig. An
enthusiastic crowd braved a torrential downpour - much appreciated.
I could describe the challenge of getting my Hammond back in the truck
in the rain ... but why go there? The photos are by our friend
Pahaka September, who's been documenting every Tuesday night band at The
Jar for a couple of years now.
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| Sam Morrison,
John Cariddi, Don Gardner, Pete |
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 9/11
The 2005 Saugerties Music & Art Festival. Once a year, Saugerties
Village closes off the main streets and throws it open to art and food
vendors, with 3 stages of live Jazz and Latin music. Once again, I
played the gig with trumpet player Steve Satten - "Satten From
Manhattan". The band included guitarist Mike Demicco,
 Rich
Syracuse on bass, Sal Giorgianni & Pete Yellin on saxes, and Ernie Colon
on drums. Smokin! We were playing on an uncovered stage, but
the weather promised to be nice, so I hauled the Hammond out.
(And the #45 sunblock!) Didn't get much in the way of photos this
year, but I copped a nice one of Steve and one of the crowd - although
we were at the end of a long street, so it's hard to see the scope of
the Festival. Saugerties' Tara Ryan is the lady behind this
wonderful local festival. She's always on the move, so I never get
a picture of Tara. Next year. |
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The
unstoppable band! Jimmy Eppard and the Retro Rockets at Tony's
Pizza in Kingston, NY. Definitely the best partying band I play
with, with the best band photo - and Tony's is my favorite local joint
to party in. Sharp eyes will spot the facial hair connection in
the photo. "The band that shaves together .... etc." Now if
I could just get these guys to apply the razor a bit higher up, we'd
really look like a band! Just a thought. Anyway, that's
"Tall" Paul Verdon in back, Charlie Kniceley in the middle, and Jimmy at
right/front.
Related news item: After waiting for a couple of years for
a replacement kidney, Paul got the go-ahead a few weeks ago, and got his
new kid. We're thrilled to spread the word that he's doing great
and back playing. We're doing a couple of sets at Tony's on Sunday
the 21st as part of a benefit show. |
 Monday, 8/15 in Woodstock at
Joyous Lake, 8pm: An organ trio with master guitarist
Joe Beck and veteran drummer Gene Randolph
- playing to a packed house. This was straight ahead Jazz
- the first of a Monday night series - not even close to what usually goes down at The Lake,
but it was slammin'!
The owners are committed to keeping the Monday nights happening with no cover charge.
C'mon, folks. If you're in the area, you've gotta come out for
this. Bands coming up ... Betty MacDonald, Ali Ryerson, Mike
DeMicco, Jeremy Steig & Vic Juris, Mambo Kikongo. It's gonna be a
good thing. |
Tuesday, 8/16 at The Mason Jar in Mahwah, New Jersey: Organ trio with
guitarist John Cariddi and drummer Don Gardner, with special guest Jerry Niewood on sax.
Jerry's came on the scene years ago doing Chuck Mangione's band, and
still tours with Chuck. It's too easy to judge him by that gig;
When he gets the green light, Jerry
burns! He did just that on Tuesday. (That picture is a
reminder that I've gotta do something about that plywood repair job on
my Hammond. Nobody will ever accuse me of doing fine cabinetry
work!) |
Woodstock Blues Festival - Memorial Day Weekend
 I
was fortunate to be doing hits with three separate bands this year - and
sitting in with a 4th.
Whew! On Friday night, the 28th, Mike DeMicco reconvened the organ
trio we do with Woodstock drummer Peter O'Brien. We did two
slammin' sets at the Landau Grill to an enthusiastic crowd, with
saxophonist, Miles Davis alumnus Sam Morrison sitting in.
Then on Saturday afternoon on the Woodstock Village Green, I did the
opening set with guitarist Chris Zaloom and the band. Next I sat
in with Rennie Cantine's band, and finally wrapped up the afternoon with
Joe Beesmer and Uncle Funk. Then came the tough part of the day -
a hectic 2 hour drive to Norwalk, Connecticut to
join Richie Hart and the band at the Silvermine Tavern. Hours of
great music for me, though. I wish there was a way I could get a
count on how many notes I played between noon and midnight. I can
tell you that by late afternoon I was clean out of solo ideas for the
Blues.
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On Stage (or
rather, On Flatbed) with the Chris Zaloom Band. |
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Chris, Billy
Reed, Alicia, Jack |
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Joe Beesmer &
Uncle Funk. On the right, that's Jesse Gress, Bruce
Wohfeil & Joe. |
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Drivin' the
train ... Randy Ciarlante |
My friend
Pahaka September came up from New Jersey for the day with
hubby August - who took this shot and several others here. |
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Billy Reed sat
in with Uncle Funk to wind up the set.
He usually does vocals from the drum kit. It's rare to
see him up front like this. |
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The rain held
off, and it turned into a great day to hang out on The
Green. |
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Tuesday, May 31st The Mason Jar in Mahwah, NJ. I do
this organ trio periodicall y for drummer Don Gardner, along with John
Cariddi
on guitar, but this one was unusual. Don had another obligation
and our old buddy, New York studio legend Jimmie Young covered on drums.
Lew Soloff on trumpet made it a quartet. As a nice surprise, Sam
Morrison stopped in on his way home from New York and sat in on sax.
We had a ball! |
Saturday, April 30th, 2005
 Uncle returned to Keegan Ales in Kingston, NY. We
do this every 6 months or so. If you're unfamiliar with it, Keegan
Ales is a local microbrewery that, among other things, makes a
wonderful, sweet dark ale to die for. The guys there love live
music and have frequent concerts right in the main room, with the
audience hanging out between the brewing tanks. The deal is that
they're not allowed to sell beer, but there's nothing to keep them from
giving it away ... so that's what they do! A capacity crowd packed
the room this time out. In the photo from left to right;
Jesse Gress, Jerry Marotta, Joe Beesmer, Tony Levin, and Pete. |
Thursday, March 31st, 2005
Back at one of my favorite places, Paul Lewis'
Szechuan
Tokyo in West Hartford, CT. This time, playing piano for
vocalist Angela
Deniro - pictured here with her husband and musical director, Ron
Aprea. A couple of years ago, I did the piano work for Angela's
Grammy-nominated album, "Swinging With Legends". |
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January 29, 2005  Back
at the Rosendale Cafe
with Charlie Kniceley - this time with the
quartet fronted by the innovative Jazz French Hornist, John
Clark. John and I go way back; I've been in his band, he's
been in mine, and we recorded and toured together for years with the Gil
Evans orchestra. After all these years, John's technique and
musical approach to the French Horn remains totally unique - he does stuff
on the instrument that nobody else does. The Rosendale Cafe was a
great setting for this band. Groove provided by drummer Gene Randolph, one of the Ulster Valley's
hidden treasures.
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| Charlie
Kniceley, Gene Randolph, Pete |
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December 16
 Vocalist
Nikki Armstrong occasionally flexes her wings a bit and touches more on
Jazz stylings. Finally making it official, she brought a band into
Trumpets, a wonderful, intimate club in Montclair, NJ. The band
featured Gil Parris (guitar) and Rob Chaseman (sax). An extra bonus
for me ... I got to walk into a club and play the grand piano! Not
that the gig wasn't musically memorable, but I tend to look back warmly on
gigs where I get to play a good instrument that I don't have to shovel
into the back of my truck. (Old and cranky and proud of it!)
Anyway, I love working with Nikki, and it was great to be in a classy
venue with her.
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December 17, 18
 I
filled in for Dan McKinney on a couple of gigs with the Jim
Weider Band. Jim, if you don't know him, took over for Robbie
Robertson in The Band a while back. Now doing his own band, he's a
treat to listen to. The sound he gets from his guitar is
amazing. The band as usual was anchored by one of my favorite
drummers, Randy Ciarlante, who also does lead vocals for the band.
Add Big Mike Kemp on bass and it gets totally rock solid. This is
the shit, babe! I love it. Also, Jim had his regular guest
guitarist, Sid McGinnis. As if this needed to somehow get better for
me, the Friday night gig was at Black Eyed Sally's in Hartford, CT - long
since my favorite BBQ joint in Connecticut. 'Pork fat rules!'
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| Thursday 12/30
 Periodically,
Blues guitarist/vocalist Danny Draher
comes to New York
from Chicago. One of the hits this trip was at Joyous
Lake in Woodstock, in organ trio format. I'm
always up for that, but I usually do it in a Jazz setting.
This was down and dirty Blues, and no doubt about it! Danny's
a great player and a ball to work with - but making the evening even more special
was having Mike Clark on drums.
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 Friday 12/31
New Year's Eve with my favorite Woodstock Band at my favorite
Woodstock club with my Hammond already on stage and my favorite
bourbon at the bar ... works for me!
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8/21/04
After doing the Chester, NJ Jazz festival with guitarist Lou Volpe's
band, I beat it back up to Woodstock for the Woodstock
Guitar Festival, joining Joe Beesmer and Uncle Funk to
tear it up at
the Colony Cafe. Jesse Gress was the featured lead guitarist,
and Festival organizer Rennie Cantine sat in. Samantha Levin took the photos ...
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9/12/04
For the second year in a row, I
played the Saugerties Music and Art Festival with the Steve Satten
Band. More often than not, I travel for hours to get to a gig, but
sometimes the local gigs are the best. You never know. It
was a perfect day in Saugerties Village; Blue skies, high 60s with
a breeze, streets closed off for
walking and hanging out, and a large, enthusiastic
crowd. The legendary Al Foster headlined the show with a slammin'
quartet. A whole box of gold stars to the Festival organizer, Tara Ryan for
putting this all together.
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Steve Satten, Pete, Sal Giorgianni |
Derrick James, Marvin "Boogaloo" Smith |
Matt Fink |
Pete |
Steve, Rich Syracuse, Sal |
"Mambo" Bob |
Sal, Pete |
Marvin, Steve, Rich, Matt |
Partition Street in Saugerties, a very cool little town.
Kind of like Woodstock but without the blitz of Tibetan souvenir
shops and bogus hippies. |
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10/2/04
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UNCLE
FUNK: Jesse
Gress, Jerry Marotta, Joe Beesmer, Tony Levin, Pete |
Uncle Funk returned to a packed house at the Keegan Ales Brewery in Kingston to
celebrate their 1 year anniversary. The crowd indulged in the music and all the Keegan Ale
they could drink! Uncle Funk was led as always by Joe Beesmer with Jesse Gress
on lead guitar, Jerry Marotta and my brother Tony in the
rhythm section, and me doing the fingerpainting. Co-billed
with U.F. was the Jim Weider Band
featuring Randy Ciarlante on drums and vocals and Sid McGinnis on
guitar. There on the left, that's me, Tony and Sid
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8/13/06
Cobleskill, NY at the Sunshine County Fair. (I didn't know where
it was either - I had to look it up.) Motown revisited! I
was part of a band backing former Temptation vocalist Richard Street,
playing the strings/horn keyboard book. Shows like this are fun.
Roll into town, quick soundcheck, an hour and a half of classic hit
songs, go home. What's not to like? Bassist Ivan Bodley hooked me
up for this one. I reconnected with drummer Tony Lewis - it's been
a while - and met a great pianist, Jim Dower. I didn't get any
photos of the show or of Richard, but there was a food stand where a guy
was making Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches with thick cut ribeye steak.
Not authentic Philly fodder, but excellent! I had two.
