The trip to Indianapolis and Gen Con was good this year. I'm just going to present some key points instead of writing a long and tedious, play by play post:
One of the highlights for me was the canal walk. Wednesday night after checking into the hotel and eating some supper, the gang and I walked all along the canal that cuts through Indy. It was relaxing, and a lot of fun, and I took tons of pictures.
On Thursday, I went to the Indianapolis Artsgarden for lunch and watched the Bruce Polson Trio play a set. They are my second favorite kind of jazz trio: piano, drums and bass. They were cool.
Running into Mark Mayhew, my old room-mate. I haven't seen him in years. I only wish we'd have had more time to talk. But now I have his e-mail.
Friday night getting together with the boys and playing in a game of In a Wicked Age.
Saturday night playing-testing Acts of Evil for Paul Czege with Ed and Matt Snyder. It's a interesting, albeit twisted game.
Staying up til the wee hours with Ed and John Harper, chatting and catching up.
Heading over the the Lucas Oil Stadium. I couldn't get too close to it (they had the roads around it closed off, trying to get last minute work done before the ribbon cutting ceremony the next day.) It's pretty awesome.
Wandering around the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art. They had an exhibit of Ansel Adams photos, which here great. I also loved the exhibit of Native American artifacts, especially the cool figures carved from walrus tusks and whale bones. I'd like to go back and check out the exhibits a bit more leisurely, as I was short on time that day.
So yeah, good time. Gotta start counting the days til we go again next year.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Saturday, August 02, 2008
JazzFest 08
So today I went to the Lansing JazzFest. I'd wanted to go before, but never got around to it, so I resolved this year to make it. And I'm glad I did.
I started the day watching Beauty and the Beat, a guitarist and singer duo. They were pretty good, but I discovered that could only take about 30 minutes of Norah Jones/Etta James/Duffy style vocals, so I ended up leaving their set early and wandered around.
I'm glad I did, because I got to see Linda Abar and the Neil Gordon Trio. She is a singer/pianist, and I really liked her a lot. Even more than her, I liked the Neil Gordon Trio. They opened the set with an original composition, which was awesome. Very much the kind of jazz I dig.
The set I liked the best was the next one, Byron Lyles' Crystal Jazz. Byron is a drummer and has a radio show on local public radio. The band is a quintet (sax, guitar, bass, drums, keys) and they were hot! They played standards, and they were tight. The guitarist, Gary Allen, and sax player Ron Fairnot really stood out for me. I really hope they'll be playing around town soon. I'd love to see them again. (The photo below is of the band.)
At this point I grabbed some supper from one of the food vendors. I went to a place that had Jamacian-style food and had some amazing curry goat. While I ate, I watched The Fabulous Heftones. I guess the best way to describe them is to say they play "old-timey" songs. They said they like songs written from about 1900 to 1930, and they play all the songs on ukulele and Heftone bass. They are a lot of fun to watch. It's amazing how many of those songs I knew, mostly from old Looney Tunes cartoons.
The last act I caught was the Joe Gloss Trio. Joe is a jazz guitarist, and plays primarily in another band, organissimo, who had played the night before, but I missed it. I really liked his trio. They seemed to have a lot of fun, especially Noah Jackson, the bassist. I was a good way for me to end up my day at the festival.
I will definitely make it next year. And I will remember to wear sun-block, because I am as red as a lobster.
I started the day watching Beauty and the Beat, a guitarist and singer duo. They were pretty good, but I discovered that could only take about 30 minutes of Norah Jones/Etta James/Duffy style vocals, so I ended up leaving their set early and wandered around.
I'm glad I did, because I got to see Linda Abar and the Neil Gordon Trio. She is a singer/pianist, and I really liked her a lot. Even more than her, I liked the Neil Gordon Trio. They opened the set with an original composition, which was awesome. Very much the kind of jazz I dig.
The set I liked the best was the next one, Byron Lyles' Crystal Jazz. Byron is a drummer and has a radio show on local public radio. The band is a quintet (sax, guitar, bass, drums, keys) and they were hot! They played standards, and they were tight. The guitarist, Gary Allen, and sax player Ron Fairnot really stood out for me. I really hope they'll be playing around town soon. I'd love to see them again. (The photo below is of the band.)
At this point I grabbed some supper from one of the food vendors. I went to a place that had Jamacian-style food and had some amazing curry goat. While I ate, I watched The Fabulous Heftones. I guess the best way to describe them is to say they play "old-timey" songs. They said they like songs written from about 1900 to 1930, and they play all the songs on ukulele and Heftone bass. They are a lot of fun to watch. It's amazing how many of those songs I knew, mostly from old Looney Tunes cartoons.
The last act I caught was the Joe Gloss Trio. Joe is a jazz guitarist, and plays primarily in another band, organissimo, who had played the night before, but I missed it. I really liked his trio. They seemed to have a lot of fun, especially Noah Jackson, the bassist. I was a good way for me to end up my day at the festival.
I will definitely make it next year. And I will remember to wear sun-block, because I am as red as a lobster.
Friday, August 01, 2008
Harsh Air
Danny Way's slam was not as harsh as Jake Brown's from last year, but damn! And then the guy gets up, stays in the competition, and gets a silver medal. Absolutely amazing.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Teraphonic Overdubs
Way back in this post from 2006, I talked a little about multi-instrumentalist and producer, Chris Joss. His latest CD, Teraphonic Overdubs, just came out. Just like last time, it's funky as hell. I can't stop listening to it! If I had to sum up the new CD in one word that word would be "sitar." It's chock full of sitar, adding a trippy, psychedelic vibe.
I would suggest going to his MySpace page and listening to some of his stuff. It's awesome. Also, a nice little interview with him can be found here. If you're feeling really crazy, I'd say go to iTunes and pick up his re-mix of John Williams Superman theme. It's crazy good.
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