Great Friends, Great Music & Some Amazing Whales

Hello there -

It's been awhile, as many have reminded me! But hey - I'm glad someone's keeping track.

Last time I wrote it was back in November 2004. We were just back from two weeks in Japan. Next stop was Omaha at the Joslyn Art Museum for a Habitat for Humanity fund raiser. I have many memories of this theater, inside the museum as a kid. I heard several concerts there (Horowitz, for one!) and have played there several times since. My Father really does a great job helping to promote this and make it a great success. This was his last year on the Board of Habitat - I'm proud of him!

This time we asked Luigi Waits to sit in with us. He is an Omaha legend and a very swingin' vibes player and drummer. That was a kick. My band played as great as ever.

Then onto Kansas City. My friend Beena has done a wonderful job with her “new” club, Jardines Jazz Club. We had three packed nights there and loved seeing old friends.

Back to New York ... we (Danny, Todd and Jay Leonhart) played on the CBS Saturday Morning Show. Even though it was extremely EARLY - it was fun and the staff were all pros.

While at home, I got to hear some great music. I went to hear Steve Wilson and Lewis Nash at Sweet Rhythm doing a duo gig. I love both those players. And also Andy Bey at Symphony Space - what a wonderful artist! And I loved his band. Also heard my good friend Ann Hampton Callaway at Birdland on Christmas Eve. I always love her. I had family (my Mom and 12 year old niece) over for the holidays and we had many parties. Also got to go to hear the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fischer Hall - lovely. This is the main reason to be in NYC - so many things to hear, see and do if you choose. I should stick around more often!

In January I attended the IAJE conference for the first time in awhile, mostly just for the fun of it and I ended up having a ball. I 'hung hard' with my great friend Nancy King and also met some folks and signed CD's at the Concord booth. Saw a ton of friends there and heard some great music.

I also loved being home for awhile and while there did some fun 'New York' things. One was having a very good interview with the stride pianist, Judy Carmichael, on her radio show, “Jazz Inspired.” I truly like her interview approach and her piano playing is wonderful too. I heard Maria Schneider's big band at Birdland - very inspiring. Also heard the wonderful Wesla Whitfield at Le Jazz Au Bar

Then onto Hawaii. Needless to say it's always a pleasure to go to there. The Academy of Arts is a lovely and intimate venue and I love the audience there. There is truly an “Aloha spirit.” Jim Howard, Bruce Hamada and Todd Strait all played beautifully.
Seeing my sister and niece there is the true attraction! We also did some hiking and saw some amazing whales... what a place.

February brought several Concord Jazz Festival gigs which are always fun. I do like singing with other singers when I can and this is a very entertaining show. In between those shows in Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Atlanta (some beautiful theaters!) my group also played at Barnes at Wolftrap, a lovely venue with a great audience and staff. Next, Eugene, OR at the Shedd Theater (loved that place); then’ onto Thousand Oaks, CA for KCLU-FM radio live broadcast at the Performing Arts Center, another great experience.

Onto Steven's Point, WI to play with the Community Orchestra there. This was a thrill for me. Bill McGlaughlin has written some great orchestra arrangements as has Frank Mantooth. It was very cool to have my band up there with an orchestra and the orchestra played beautifully.

Then onto Porto, Portugal. The performance was in a theater within a casino there. Unlike casinos in the US, they are more “art oriented” in order to attract the public to come in and gamble (not the other way around).

Staying right on the sea which was beautiful, we were royally treated. (Except by the airlines...who lost our luggage twice, not to be seen again until Portland, OR!! - several days later...)

Meanwhile we played in San Diego - so beautiful there; the Alladin Theater in Portland - a very cool place. Next, two more Concord Festival dates: Seattle, WA and Cerritos, CA. Both gorgeous theaters. Home for a week and a half, then onto some family visits for me in the Midwest.

At the end of March we double billed with the Ron Carter trio at the Blue Note for a week. It was a great pleasure hearing them every night, with Mulgrew Miller and Russell Malone. My band did great too.-I felt it was a very good combination of styles and approaches between our two groups - and great crowds.

Meanwhile I've been planning the next recording project and am very excited about it. We plan to go into the studio again in September.

Many thanks for listening and I look forward to seeing you in the audience sometime soon.

Karrin

C'est la Vie!

Hello there -

I think the last time I wrote we had just gotten back from Europe, and were about to start "Le Jazz Au Bar" in New York. What a great place 'Au Bar' is. It's now one of my favorite places to hear and play music in NYC - a very spacious, lovely room, great sound, and very nice people. The owner (Howard Stein) actually LOVES JAZZ!

So, two weeks there (even during the Republican Convention) was lovely.

Bruce Barth sounded amazing, my guys Danny, Bob & Todd sounded as beautiful as ever. Also some friends dropped by to hear us. Among them: Laura Caviani, Steve Wilson, John Pizzarelli, Gene Bertoncini, Bill McGlaughlin.

Next were a couple stops 'out east' - Harrisburg, PA and Manchester, CT. Both very nice halls and crowds. It was a pretty part of the year to drive there. A few days off, then onto Anapolis, MD at the Ram's Head; then opened up for Steve Tyrell at the Keswick Theater just outside of Philly. Next, flew to Toledo Ohio - also opening for Steve. Both beautiful halls and great crowds.

Our flights were very mixed up, along with lost luggage so that was a big drag and extremely time consuming but c'est la vie! on the road unfortunately. Can't ALL be good?

About a week off, and onto San Francisco to see friends before heading on to Yoshi's in Oakland, one of our favorite places. Portland based pianist Randy Porter played with us there -a real treat.

October was intended to be my 'month off' and I guess it kind of was ... BUT the ACTUAL 2 weeks (when all is said and done) went extremely fast. I did go campaigning one day for John Kerry in Pennsylvania on behalf of the League of Conservation Voters for which I am a member. That was interesting and necessary. Gotta keep that spirit alive.

Then a gift to myself, a stop in Hawaii to see my sister (and my other sister was able to join!) on the way to our tour in Japan. This was very special. Also visited the Big Island - beautiful!

Just now finished 10 days in Japan with eight concerts throughout. This is always a pleasure with the Concord/Fujitsu Festival - very well run, and also real varied in that we visit a lot of places (8 concerts in 10 days) most times taking the bullet train, some bus, some planes. Needless to say the train is the best!

Rod Fleeman sounded poetic and swinging as usual, Honolulu bassist, Bruce Hamada was a treat to work with and Todd kept us all where we should be! (Very tastefully of course.)

We were on the 'bill' with two wonderful bands on this fest: Terry Gibbs and Ken Peplowski (a very swingin' band) and the John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton Orchestra. What an inspiration they were! John Pizzarelli sounded great with them too.

Some other folks I got to hear lately: Dave Frishburg & Jay Leonhart @ Birdland, Lynne Arielle @ Birdland, Eliane Elias @ Au Bar, Gene Bertoncini @ Le Madeline, Ann Hampton Callaway at The Jazz Standard and Randy Brecker (w big band) at the Iridium.

So, now back to the 'mainland' - to my 'hometowns' of Omaha and Kansas City for performances, via MY home (now) first, New York for 24 hours. We do get around, albeit circuitously.

As always, I thank YOU for listening, it means everything to us. And as somebody once sang, “What's so funny about Peace, Love and Understanding?”

I like that.

Karrin

From Europe to Brazil

Hi there.

It's taken awhile to catch my breath since returning from all of these travels. Our European tour started in Vienna. I had never been there before. Played a cool club (actually, it was very HOT there!). We were just there for one night, so not much time to look around, but it seemed like a lovely city.

Straight onto England after a four hour layover in Milan and having some trouble in Customs. We got right on a bus ride to Rocheford - a very long day but luckily an extremely charming little town. The venue was a lovely hotel/restaurant which is owned by (booked by too) Derek Renouf, the chef! We did the gig that same evening to an enthusiastic crowd of about 50. (That is how small this sweet place is - one of my favorite, intimate ways of performing.) We had the next day off thankfully, and had a look around the town, back to dinner at Renouf's who took very good care of us.

Next day, back on the bus to the Wigan Jazz Festival, performing in a totally different setting. It was a very large hall with a crowd of about 400 to 500 folks.

Flying out the next day to Rome. After discovering a couple of us had no luggage, we met our very nice host, went on to the hotel and had a 'night off.’ The venue in Rome was a “new” one although the building is very old and beautiful outside. It is connected to a music school there. We played two nights there, then onto Vietri by train. This was lovely. On the way we passed 'Mt Vesuvius' - the volcano that ruined Pompei. Our wonderful hostess, Antonia, picked us up and we were soon climbing the beautiful hills along the Amalfi Coast to our sweet little hotel. What an amazing, enchanted place. Our gig was that same night - again, outdoors connected to a very old museum. We got to stay one more night there, had a lovely meal by the sea and walked around the city. It was like being on the set of 'Il Postino' - beautiful! They were lovely to us.

Then driving to Salerno airport the next day, flying onto Paris where we stayed for the remainder of the tour. We played at a cool little club called “Sunset.” The night before we played there, we stepped in to hear the drummer Jeff Ballard's trio. They sounded great. Of course, for me (and soooo many others) Paris is very special, no matter what you're doing. One thing we had to do was get our visas for Brazil! This turned out to be easier than getting one here. Also had a fun picnic under La Tour Eiffel, and of course always visit our friend and restauranteur Franco Della Corte. Also saw our friend Luigi Trussardi (great bass player who also sat in with us).

All of us back home for two whole days before heading to Brazil. Both clubs - Bourbon Street in Sao Paulo and Mistura Fina in Rio are great and the promoters take very good care of us. Many thanks to Inez, Herbie and Christian. The audiences were/are always glad to hear Brazilian songs and sing along which I love. It's a very special feeling when that happens. They're also very familiar with the “new material” of Wild For You (as are Europeans). This was a nice surprise to me, very welcoming.

One of the last “off” days in Rio we were invited to a friend's friend's for dinner in Barra di Tjuca - a suburb of Rio ... a drive up the coast, looking at the amazing favellas. These friends are great people who do great work for the poor children in Rio. I hope to work with her someday, she has an incredible MUCH needed foundation.

After the long trip home to the US, I had a week with my family in Minneapolis and in Wisconsin (where it was a record cold of 48! Non-stop rain) BUT we saw beautiful wildlife: eagles, loons (and heard their incredible sound too) deer, blue birds, and heron. This was lovely.

Onto California this week, then two weeks in NYC at Le Jazz Au Bar with special guest Bruce Barth.

Thank you for listening.
Karrin