Life's Great Joys

Hi folks -

Where to begin? I can barely remember where I was YESTERDAY let alone a whole few month! Here goes...

May 1st we were in KC at a cool old refurbished theatre - The Madrid for the Ozanam Guild, a benefit for at risk children. Always great to be in KC. Then on to The Green Mill in Chicago, also one of our favorites - a very spirited place and crowd with one of our favorite club owners, Dave Jemilo. Also had a lovely meal at a friends great restaurant: Oceanique - yum! But we do like to eat well whenever possible. One of life's great joys and something that helps makes all the travel bearable.

Then back to KC for another good cause - The Coda Jazz Festival in the GEM Theater at 18th & Vine to help older musicians cope financially. Jazz Greats like Clark Terry, Jay McShann, Claude “Fiddler” Williams (and his lovely wife Blanche), The Scamps, and Bobby Watson among others were there. My band sounded swingin as usual (Danny, Bob and Todd) with the wonderful Steve Wilson joining us.

Then Brazil! Haven't been there since 1993 I think. What a special place. Both clubs were great - Bourbon Street in Sao Paulo and Mistura Fina in Rio. The folks who took care of us really did just that. Wonderful food, times, and crowds. I'd forgotten how beautiful Rio is. They were also very warm and enthusiastic when we played brazilian music.

Then to St. Paul, MN for a musical and historic tribute to a lovely and important man there: Leigh Kammon who is a radio jazz legend. My friend Bill McGlaughlin (another radio legend!) co-hosted with me which is always a great and interesting show. Also got to see my Mom and sister there. Then played in Worcester, MA for WICN-FM fundraiser which they had to do because war coverage interfered with their on-air drive. (Recently bought a good button 'War Lacks Creativity' Amen!)

Next, Steamers - another favorite club and owner - Terence Love. Had my 'KC guys' there - a real creative force! Then to Feinstein's @ the Cinegrill in Hollywood. This new room at the Roosevelt Hotel is lovely... (Also got to meet Sally Kellerman at one of our shows!) Saw so many LA friends and had a beautiul suite with a lovely piano in it! This is a great thing for me! I could actually PRACTICE (or just play) on the road - nice. Then to Canada: Montreal and Vancouver - both excellent festivals. (Drove with Bill from NYC to Montreal to see the Adoronacks, wish we would have had more time for that - beautiful!)

Then to Europe ... First stop was the Royal Albert Hall in London where we opened for George Benson for two nights - amazing place (almost 5,000 people per night). He and his band sounded really good. I had Danny, Bob, James Williams and Joe LaBarbera with me - great group. Then took the 'Chunnel' to Paris to hang until we went to Milan (another train which we loved) Played the Blue Note there for three days - really a nice club. It was HOT there too ... so when we got to Holland for the North Sea Jazz Festival, what a pleasure to step into that cool air. This fest is huge and not just a jazz fest - lots of things going on. Fortunately we played in a lovely theatre so folks could sit down (civilized!) and stay. Other venues were not like that. Heard a little of John Abercrombie - dug that band. It's a lovely place and I'd like to go back.

Then on to Santander, Spain (by the sea - another lovely place). Such a warm and enthusiastic crowd. Also wonderful hosts at this fest. Randy Brecker and the YellowJackets had been there just before us. This is when I found out that my dear 95 year old Grandmother died back in Omaha. We will miss her terribly. She and my other grandparents helped raise us.

Bob and Joe left us there, Danny and I went onto Montreux, Switzerland. This is also a huge festival with so much going on (again, not all jazz). I was part of the “Concord Voices” concert along with Diane Schuur, Patti Austin, Neena Freelon, Monica Mancini, Peter Cincotti and Curtis Stigers. It was an extravaganza! And a stunning environment. Also was on the judging panel for the vocal competition - good singers from all over. Also really dug hearing Geri Allen trio accompany them. Danny and I did a workshop as well so it was busy.

Then back to NYC for one whole night and on to LA @ a lovely outdoor venue at Marina Del Ray. Wonderful crowd and setting. Now getting ready for a week @ the Blue Note here in NYC, a double billing with two favorites: Anita O'Day and Jon Hendricks. Then to the Telluride. Colorado Festival, followed by Omaha, Seattle, San Francesco and ... yes, we're getting around.

Thank you for listening and hope to see you out and about.

Warmly,
Karrin

Wonderful Creatures

Hi there...

Last time I wrote we were just on our way to work with Matt Catingub (conductor, arranger, musician extraordinaire) and the Florida Orchestra. Just took Danny with me on this one as Matt had his very good rhythm section. Really a great sounding orchestra!!! Working with orchestras is certainly another type of performing experience which I really enjoy. Then, onto West Palm Beach. We met up with Paul, Bob and Todd for this.

Driving from Tampa to West Palm we stopped at a wonderful bird sanctuary. Since I'm a 'fledgling' birder, watching them so closely is fascinating to me. (Didn't know pelicans nested in trees - what wonderful creatures.) Gig in West Palm was good and we hosted to a lovely after-party @ our friends, the Aspers. Back home to NYC to help celebrate Marian McPartland's birthday at Birdland. Lots of wonderful players showed up and I sang one of Marian's tunes with her (Twilight World) which was very touching for me. (Talk about 'wonderful creatures' - Marian's one of them!)

Next day, to Spivey Hall in Atlanta - loved this great old hall, and the audience was amazing. Played in Pittsburgh next (just now flew over it again! ahhh...the road) at Dowe's on 9th - always enjoy that club and Pittsburgh audiences too. Reading PA next at the 'Burke's Jazz Festival - double billed with the wonderful Cyrus Chestnut trio.

Then onto another favorite club, Jazz at the Bistro in St Louis. It's a treat to be at a (good) club for several days in a row with favorite players. It gives us a chance to try new material (actually had a rehearsal!) and get a real groove going for the whole week. Since I was so close to KC, I went to my 'hometown' (going there several times this month) to help my friend Beena open her new club - Jardine's. We invited so many KC players/friends - that was a real great night of music.

Saw my family in Omaha and then on to Minneapolis (all 3 cities were 'hometowns' so I got my FIX!) for more family and also played and did masterclasses for my sister's kid's schools there. Now THAT'S work! How I admire teachers! The kids were good though and seemed to dig it.

Finally back home to NYC for a whole week. While there, I did an interview for Jazziz Magazine with Diane Schurr and that evening performed a couple tunes with her at the Blue Note. One tune was for her upcoming CD on which we sang a tune together called 'Stay Away from Bill.'

My good friend Ann Hampton-Callaway joined me (and Bill :) which was great fun. Diane and band sounded fantastic- really enjoyed that. Then onto Philadelphia - another fun club, Zanzibar Blue. (The staff there is a great group of people!) After our Sunday performance there, we got to hear an amazing gospel choir who were in the audience. We started to talk and then they started to sing, then we all did til about 2:00 AM. That was a special night - what energy and talent ... hope to do something with them someday. (Their minister of music's name is Tamira Devlin - she's a FORCE!)

Philadelphia has a rich heritage that I really love. We also did a small tribute to Nina Simone, I loved her unique style (and of course, Coltrane songs too) Yesterday, I did a performance/interview with Ann Hampton-Callaway at 'Sirius' Radio-cable. We'll let you know when that will air.

All for now, onto KC again for the Ozanam Guild benefit, then the Green Mill in Chicago, back to KC for the Coda Jazz Fund benefit and later this month - Brazil!

Thank you for checking in and I wish you all PEACE....
Karrin

Back to Reality

Hi folks ...

Here we are well into a new year. Our political climate is just as scarey as ever, if not more. I'm fervently hoping that PEACE will prevail over war, heartache and destruction.

I had some down time in Hawaii - which was lovely. Went to the Big Island - Kona for a few days, then back to Honolulu for our performance at the Academy of Arts with Danny, pianist Jim Howard, bassist Bruce Hamada and drummer Noel Okimodo. It was great to add Noel. He added a lot to whole groove, and the rest of the band sounded wonderful as always. Back to reality - jury duty- (someone's gotta do it!)

Then to Texas - first Houston's Sambuca Jazz Club, then to Dallas' Sambuca (actually the one in Addison. Fun and lively places, nice people and incredible food! Played with Danny, Todd and bassist Gerald Spaits, all swingin and I enjoyed meeting new listeners - THANKS for coming.

On to The Kennedy Center's Jazz Club and Ram's Head in Annapolis. Both very good clubs, great crowds and the snow didn't stop people from coming! Danny, Paul, Bob and Todd sounded great as ever.

Also had a 'blindfold test' while there for JazzTimes (May issue I think?). Interesting to see what is chosen and good to hear other artist's projects. It's hard to keep current when working and traveling yourself so much.

Back home to NYC and the one of my favorite places - Birdland. Played with Danny, bassist Mark Helias and drummer Ron Vincent. We had a great time. (MORE snow!)

Now it's to warmer 'climes' with the Florida Orchestra with Matt Catingub conducting, looking forward to that.

More later and thank you very much for listening.
Karrin