Last night's gig, April 9

Last night at the Heathman was pretty awesome. The room was packed, the tunes were fun, and the vibe was great.

The ensemble was an interesting mix of old and new players:

On drums was Ken Ollis, and he was rock steady as always. He really gets my music and I feel so comfortable when he’s supporting me at the drum set. Just last night we remembered our first gig – back in May 2008 at Bauman Auditorium. Almost 2 years of gigging! He’s a great drummer, and he doesn’t mind when I pepper him with questions about the music industry. Plus, his original compositions are brilliant. I keep bugging him to do another performance of some poetry he set to music. I forget the name of it, but he performed it with his wife (she was the singer) last summer, and I’d love to hear it again, plus invite all my music-minded friends that would really appreciate his style.

On bass was Willy Barber, and I just met him last night. Usually people are surprised to find out that jazz groups often don’t rehearse before gigs, even when someone is totally new to the group. That’s just the way it goes in jazz sometimes. Willy brought his electric bass, which was a unique change to the usual line-up, but I thought it sounded great. And when he took solos, his fingers really flew. I wished I could have watched him play, but I had to face the piano. Well, at least I got to be the closest person to his amp.

Our guest artist was Lucia Conrad, on violin. She is a classical player, so she had taken some time to prepare some really nice solos over the chord changes. She also threw in some double-stops and trills. I have always felt that jazz violin is such a great fit for our group. It was truly a pleasure to have her in the ensemble.

In attendance were the loyal regulars (you know who you are) and a bunch of new faces. Plus, a friend I knew in high school was there with her husband (thanks to good ol’ Facebook). I hadn’t seen her since high school, which is unbelievably half my lifetime ago. Sigh. It was fun to reconnect.

Thanks to everyone who came out to hear us, it was a great night. I hope to see you at our next gig, May 14 at the Heathman.