Feb 16th gig at The Palms

Tonight, our dear friends comprising the incredible MOSAIC open the show. Gonna be crazy!



Be there. 10:30 pm. No cover, no minimum as always.
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POST GIG REPORT

Ya just had to be there, really.

Troy

Josh

John

Heath

Corwyn

Sean

MOSAIC!

I introduced them as "the finest vocal band on the planet." Sean came up and joked "how're we gonna live up to that?" No problem. I stand by my characterization. They blew the house down. Deafening cheers of delight from the once-again packed house.

Ya just had to be there, really.

I'll be goin' through the shots I took of MOSAIC 'til Wednesday, LOL!

They leave you groping for words. So totally fine.

Don't forget, they're at the Hilton this Saturday the 21st, 8 pm, one show. That's a great showroom, I'd love to shoot these cats there.

Guys, thank you so much for coming to share your unreal talent with us tonight! We are blessed.
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OK. reset the mics, and back off to the races. Jump right into the Earth, Wind, and Fire Medley. Slammin'

On to "Ain't That Peculiar?", "Wishing Well," Nathan's "Come With Me," Jamie's "This Time," Dave's "Land of my Sun," Tyriq doin' "I Feel Good," Jerry's "Love Somebody"...

They closed with "We are Nothing," which stomped the house into the floor. Pepe's drum ride -- trading 4's with Gabe -- nailed it.

What a night. Some random shots...

Major props to Eric Tewalt subbin' on bari tonight, and the equally incredible Dave Stambaugh on alto.

BTW- Now in town from L.A., Tasha on drums. She digs the hell out of Santa Fe.

We wish you well here.
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TUESDAY CRACK-OF-NOON UPDATE

Sad news. Legendary big band jazz drummer Louie Bellson has died in L.A. at the age of 84.

As noted in the L.A. Times:

Bellson's long, productive career stretched from his teens -- when, in competition with 40,000 other young players, he won the Slingerland National Gene Krupa drumming contest -- to the tours and seminars he continued until 2008.

Best known as a superlative big band drummer as a result of his work in the 1940s and '50s with Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Harry James, Duke Ellington and others, Bellson was also an adept small group player. His more than 200 recorded appearances as leader and sideman encompass sessions with Jazz at the Philharmonic, Woody Herman, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, James Brown and dozens of others, including Ellington's Big Four alongside guitarist Joe Pass and bassist Ray Brown.

"What makes Bellson so special," former Times jazz critic Leonard Feather wrote in 1991, "is his overall musicianship. A gifted composer and arranger who has written everything from jazz instrumentals to ballets, he can incorporate his role logically instead of banging away without regard to the dynamic or melodic structure of the work in progress."

Bellson often said that he regarded his tenure with Ellington as one of the significant points in his career. Performing with the orchestra in the early '50s triggered a forward leap in his development as an instrumentalist and his confidence as a composer...

...Bellson wrote more than 1,000 compositions and arrangements, including ballet music, sacred music, "The London Suite," the "Concerto for Jazz Drummer and Full Orchestra" and a Broadway musical, "Portofino," in addition to his numerous big band charts and small ensemble pieces. He wrote more than a dozen books and booklets on drums and percussion.

He received a Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1994; a Living Jazz Legends Award from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 2007; a Jazz Living Legend Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers; and an American Drummers Achievement Award from the Avedis Zildjian Co...
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