Brazil
Today I got the call: I will be part of a select group of dutch musicians that go to Brazil in May! Representing a micro credit organisation and working together with young musicians from the suburbs of Fortaleze this will be a big challenge for me. After three weeks a CD will be recorded and the whole process shall be filmed for Brazilian television as well as for a documentary.
Though the project is subsidised by the ministry of foreign affairs I am still looking for a sponsor. In return for sponsorship there is numerous ways to generate name/logo exposure (on the CD, the DVD, on television, on the STROhalm website, background projection during concerts.. use your fantasy I would say)
Practise, practise. practise...!!
When we don't play..
Of coarse musicians are always thinking about music. But sometimes we also meet for other purposes: EATING!
One of the things most musicians generally love doing is cooking. Last week I had the fortune of eating with friends twice. On Tuesday fellow musicians prepared me a very nice italian pasta with dutch shrimps and a very nice oven dish with fresh salmon.. They served a very very very
very nice bottle of
Brunello de Montalcino to go with it..
On Friday I had some other friends over at my place where I made them a mixture of several starters (escargots, fresh peas with pancetta, oven baked mini pomodori with fresh basil and grilled peperoni) followed by an oven dish with wolffish
on wild spinach topped by bechamel..
And some coffee and grappa to finish it off with... Life is fine..!
New Generation Big Band
Sunday February 12th the NGBB played in Toomler with guest soloist Benjamin Herman. The place was crowded. The audience was cooking and the band was steaming. The repertoire, which consisted of a lot of Benjamin Herman originals, was sparkling and the atmosphere was just amazing.
The day after that we had a last minute call to play in the Sugar Factory in Amsterdam. A totally different setting, but definitely a hip place to be! The band was - again - in top shape and.... so were the dancers! A great dancing crowd as an audience is something that works well with the band.
Let's see what happens when we play with Pete Philly April 23rd :)
Ze zijn er weer!
Het doperwten seizoen is weer begonnen! Snel weer eens lekker mijn eigen boontjes doppen!!
My recent activities
So what is life about lately
- I played a bit of Handel on a funeral
- I made ribeye steak for a friend, listening to Lennie Tristano and Jimmy Giuffre
- I played at the Promenade Jazz Gala with the Beau Hunks
- For one song Bert de Kort and Frits Kaatee joined 'Dim Kesber and Friends' in Warmond
- We played in the Meervaart for the 'Westars Gala Awards' with the New Generation Big Band
- I rehearsed with the Residence Bigband, just across the street where I live ;)
- I showed a bunch of children how to play trumpet
- I visited a little housewarming party.. yeah!
But this evening I spent a whole lot of time watching one out of a total of three DVD's with concert registrations of
Alice in Dixieland. Since there is a documentary being made we had a camera traveling with us for a few concerts. Tonight I watched a concert in the danish town 'Silkeborg' and rehearsal shots made in Weesp. Marking comments about every single song I judge to have worked very hard. Tomorrow I shall reward myself with a nice workout at the gym.
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