Hello folks, happy summer to you all! I hope you're all OD'ing on corn dogs and peaches and outdoor shows while the gettin' is good. I wanted to give an update on my upcoming, soon-to-be-but-not-yet titled new album.After an outstanding house concert in the spring, we learned the sad but exciting news that the great Evan Francis was heading for New York, and decided it would be a crime to put this new music on disc without him. We were lucky to find a single day prior to Evan's skipping town which worked for all six of us (plus our engineer Dan Feiszli), so we filed into Studio Trilogy in SF for an 11-hour, nine-tune marathon in early June. This challenged chops, fingers, tempers, and attention spans, but at the end of the day (literally), everyone was very happy with the result (or so they said!).
Currently Dan and I are knee-deep in the mixing process, and it's looking like the album will be released in January (kind of a long wait but we have to avoid the jazz radio Christmas music crunch for obvious reasons). The disc will feature all new 6-piece compositions and arrangements, including six originals plus reworkings of music by Ives, Stravinsky, and Neil Young.Look for more details soon about the CD release and show dates. (And I'll be back soon with a fresh installment of "New to Me.")
Ah, summertime by the Bay--the cold, the rain, the rock-hard peaches. Hope you're all making the most of it. I wanted to drop a line to let you know about some exciting shows coming up in the next month--many of them free!As you may know, and as my wife likes to say, "Ian ran off and joined the circus!" Specifically, I'm playing with the Circus Bella All-Star Band, which accompanies the local independent circus of the same name as they go about their Death-Defying feats of Derring-Do. The band is led by composer/accordionist extraordinaire Rob Reich, and features a fine cast of Bay Area perennials (including the amazing multi-instrumentalist wizard Ralph Carney). The music is an eclectic (I know, but in this case it's true) mix of early jazz, brass band, Balkan, Gypsy, and indie rock influences, chock full of improvisation and surprises.You can catch Circus Bella (& yours truly) at the following dates & places during their 2011 Circus in the Parks series, beginning THIS WEEK! (All free, unless otherwise noted.)
- Thurs 6/30, 5:30pm: Outside Revolution Cafe, West Oakland (preview show)
- Fri 7/1, 12pm: Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco
- Sat 7/2, 12pm & 2pm: Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco
- Sat 7/9, 2pm: Pickleweed Park & Community Center, San Rafael
- Sun 7/10, 12:30pm: SF Sunday Streets, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
- Fri, 7/15, 6pm: Studio One Art Center, Oakland
- Sun 7/24, 12pm: Dimond Park, Oakland
- Sun 7/24, 8pm: CD RELEASE SHOW--SEE BELOW
- Sun 7/31, 2pm: Napa Valley Opera House, Napa ($15)
The band has also recorded a fine new album (click here to sample or purchase) featuring an expanded version of the group, and will be having a CD release show on July 24th (Happy Birthday to me!) at Berkeley's Freight & Salvage at 8pm. There may even be assorted juggling and other unexpected circusness!Finally, with the assistance of my lawyers, I will close by saying, Come one, Come all, one of you should come, all of you should come, to the Greatest Show on Earth! to a very good show on this planet!