RECENT WRAP-UP | December 2011

It’s been a busy couple of months, with lots of fun gigs. The high point for me was the week at the Village Vanguard with Tom Harrell’s bands. As always, he is a brilliant player and composer and playing with him is truly inspiring. I especially enjoyed getting to play with his quintet and Wayne, Ugonna and Johnathan were both great to play with and a ball to hang out with. I have some gigs with Tom coming in 2012, this time with my own band, so please watch for those and when you find out when and where they are, attend them many times with your family and friends (and their friends if possible). 

A couple of nights ago was the annual Vandojam, jazz blow-out and holiday party with a stellar cast of players including: Mark Gross, Christopher Brown, Ralph Bowen, Steve Wilson, Adam Kolker and Mike Dirubbo (among others) with special guest Branford Marsalis. It was thrilling to get to play a bit with Branford, someone whose playing I’ve followed for many years. Other highlights of this last fall for me include getting to play with Tom Harrell’s band on the road in Poland, Italy and Spain, a nice hit at the Duc Du Lombards in Paris with vocalist Elene Dee, and a terrific night playing Billy Drewes’ music in November. I look forward to a lot more with all of these folks.