March 23rd gig at The Palms

Darren Kramer in the house!

Darren started the evening and gave us some very interesting music. People didn't know quite what to make of him at first, but it rapidly became clear. He uses loops and tracks, and then builds on them with trombone riffs that get looped in and layered up in harmonies, against which he takes great rides. Very nice.

Check out his CDs. Very creative artist. He and I talked after the show, and he's agreed to be on the next "Friends of Santa Fe" podcast. BTW, in addition ot his website, he can be found on MySpace here (great cuts on that one) and here. Cat has an impressive sheet:

Darren Kramer is an Edwards Trombone Performing Artist and is in demand as a freelance trombonist, clinician and adjudicator throughout the United States. Kramer graduated from the University of Miami (FL) and moved to New York City where he toured with Matchbox Twenty, Tom Jones, Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies. He has made national television appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Show with David Letterman and can be seen on the Matchbox Twenty VH1 “Storytellers” DVD. Kramer is an active member of IAJE and is also the Jazz Trombone Instructor at the University of Denver. In addition to teaching private jazz trombone lessons, Kramer coaches the Commercial Music Ensemble and is part of the pretigious DU Jazz Faculty Combo “The Climb”. Furthermore, Kramer is an accomplished composer/arranger/producer of many styles resulting in several commissioned works and exceptional recordings with his innovative 10-piece group DKO The Darren Kramer Organization. His most recent CD release is DKO "Electric Quartet" featuring electric trombone and B3 organ. The 3rd CD “In The Now” features Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Michael Brecker who describes Kramer’s music as "Fresh, Innovative Funk.”

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Herman Matthews in the house! He was stylin' tonight!

Save the date for this Saturday night at The Bootlegger, Herman and the cats will be back to throw it down again (see my prior blog post). Great fun, great musicianship.

Brian Munroney in the house!

One nasty guitar player, he is. And a really nice dude.
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Great crowd again tonight. Thanks to everyone for comin' to hang.

Ace photographer Christopher Sedgwick came back to make me nervous again, LOL! I'm sure I'll be sharing some more of his shots with y'all this week.

Gonna have to get my amateur ass back to a Holiday Inn Express ASAP.

;)

Slammin' set tonight. After legacy tunes such as the Earth, Wind, & Fire Medley, "Negrita," "Love Is Gonna Find You," and "Take My Heart Away," we got to hear several of the very new tunes that are gonna be on the upcoming CD: Dave's "Indian Summer Day," Nathan's "Into The Light," and Jerry's "Pack It Up." They are just off-the-hook fine.

Let's look at a few pics from the evening...

BENEFIT EVENT THIS THURSDAY

The Palazzo Pours Into Spring with Inaugural Wine Walk to Benefit Local Charity
March 13, 2009 by VegasNews

The Palazzo launches inaugural wine walk, Stroll. Swirl. Shop., featuring 7 wineries and 28 wines from across the country on Thursday, March 26 from 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. at The Shoppes at The Palazzo. All net proceeds from the event will benefit, Three Square, the Las Vegas food bank that serves more than 200 agencies throughout Southern Nevada. For additional information please visit www.threesquare.org.

With The Shoppes at The Palazzo as the scene for the stylish event, guests will taste the wines and see the designs as they stroll throughout the luxurious venue enjoying live jazz music from local artist David Van Such and cuisine from Dos Caminos and Woo. Sip into Double Helix Wine Bar + Boutique where the featured wines from the walk are available for purchase and take advantage of the following offers; receive a 25% discount on the select featured bottles of wine and a 10% discount on all bottles of wine and select vintages available by the glass at the accompanying wine bar. The wineries presenting at Stroll. Swirl. Shop. include Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines, Foster’s Wine Estates, Icon Estates, Lion Nathan USA, Rodney Strong Vineyards, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and Southern Wine & Spirits Sake...
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O/T PROUD GWANDADDY UPDATE

Gotta give a shout-out to my amazing grandson Keenan. So, he's long been a nationally competitive tennis player (ranked 43rd in the nation in his USTA age group when he was 12).

Then his mother let him go out for basketball in middle school. After that (consistent academic honor student that he is) he got a full-ride scholarship to Henderson International School, whereupon he started at varsity receiver and defensive back last fall (age 14).

Never played football before. Scored 14 touchdowns, LOL! That shot above was captured by Superbowl and World Series photographer Tom Donoghue. Next: varsity basketball. He did well, but got roughed up pretty good. He's my height now, but was not used to bein' the Little Guy, routinely havin' to throw down against dudes that were 6'-6" to 6'-9" etc.

OK, Springtime. Baseball. Never played that before either. From the R-J the other day:

Henderson International 19, Mountain View 7 — At Mountain View, Keenan Gladd-Brown went 3-for-3 with a home run, a triple and four RBIs to help the Wolverines down the Saints for fifth place in the Spring Slam.
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LOL! What a great young man. A total gentlemen, too. And, you can usually catch him boppin' around with Santa Fe blaring out of his iPod earphones too.

The ladies be diggin' my Keebo. Below, I took him to the Obama campaign rally in Henderson on Nov 18th.

LOL! It didn't take long. That is too funny.

MARCH 24th UPDATE

Keenan thought he'd try his hand at Catcher against Mountain View.

He had a slow day at bat, LOL: a single, a triple, reached 1st on a error off an infield grounder, and flied out.

So, what's next, Keebo? Mixed Martial Arts? USGA Tour? Open wheel racing? Polo? Le Tour? 17 meter yacht competition...?

Thus Endeth The Proud Gwandaddy Moment.
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