Happy Holidays!

A "happy holiday of your choice" to all. There will be no jazz workshop on 12/26/09. The next workshop will be on 1/2/10.

'Twas the week (just about) before Christmas and just for a lark
All the jazzers were jamming down at McRae Park.

OK, I was going to do a whole rewrite of Clement Moore's classic Christmas poem but it got to be too hard to get the rhymes and the meter going well. Too much like actual work...

Today we had the last Jazz Workshop of 2009 and some might (inaccurately) even say the last one of the decade. To see the year out, we had a nice turnout of twelve people: Ira (alto sax), Bob (guitar), Owen (accordion), Kevin (guitar), Gene (drums), Candy (viola- a first for the Jazz Workshop), Toria (vocals), Wes (tenor sax), Annie (vocals), Thaddeus (bari sax), Paul (piano) and Tim (guitar).

Kicking off with the "instrumental hour," we played "Blue Bossa," "Milano," "Minority," "My Romance," "Bluesette." With the vocalists, we then essayed our way through "A Child I Born," "Like Someone in Love," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "East of the Sun," "Satin Doll," "Corcovado," "What Is This Thing Called Love," "Sannta Blues," ""Embraceable You," "Yardbird Suite," "Misty," "One Note Samba," "Pick Yourself Up," "How High the Moon," "Jingle Jam," "It's All Right With Me," "It's Only a Paper Moon," "Dream," and "The Christmas Song" (a.k.a., "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire").

Next week, on 12/26/09, there will be no workshop. Have a happy holiday of your choice! We'll be back in action on 1/2/10 (is anybody else having a hard time believing that it's almost 2010 already?).

In three days the days start getting longer! W00t!

Santa Baby

Today was the "Santa Breakfast" at McRae Park, for which the Workshop provided a couple hours of music. I was too busy to take pictures and not smart enough to give my camera to someone else. D'oh!

Present for the gig were Annie, Dick and Reno (vocals), Gene and Ken (drums), Owen (accordion), Kevin and Tim (guitar), Peter (bari sax), Ira (alto sax), Wes (tenor sax).

We covered some of the tunes listed from last Saturday plus a few more ("Rudolph," etc.).

Update for the workshop schedule: regular workshop on 12/19/09 (instrumentals 12:00-1:00, with the vocalists 1:00-3:45), no workshop on 12/26/09, and then resuming the weekly regular workshop schedule on 1/2/10.

The Christmas gig is here

Every year there is a "Santa breakfast" at McRae Park and they ask the Workshop to provide music. This week at the Workshop we found out that the Santa Breakfast would be next week. Well, that's short notice! So we spent the time today setting up songs for next week.

Today we had four (four!) new vocalists turn up for the workshop. Three of them seemed to come together and the fourth came on her own. Unfortunately since we were feverishly working on the songs for next week we did not have space for these folks to have a chance to participate. Hopefully they will come back some time! Had I known this would be the case, I would have put mention of it in the Craigslist ad. Unfortunately Annie found out about this from the Park District on Friday, so it was too late by then. I feel bad about that.

Today we had Annie (vocals), Toria (vocals), Ken (drums), Ira (alto sax), Wes (tenor sax), Owen (accordion), Jeff (bass), Norman (piano), Luis (bass), Reno, (vocals) and Tim (guitar). I think that's everyone.

The songs today were predominantly holiday music- "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Feliz Navidad," "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve," "My Favorite Things," "Sleigh Ride," "Santa Baby," "You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To," etc.

Next week we will play from 10:00-12:00 at the Santa Breakfast at McRae Park and we won't have a regular Workshop session that day. Tentatively we will have a Workshop on 12/19/09, not on 12/26/09 or 1/2/10 and will resume our usual schedule on 1/9/10.

In the photos: on top, that's Annie, Toria, Reno and Ira. We were having fun. Really. In the middle photo is Norman. The bottom photo is Owen's hand and accordion keyboard.

Jazz in Absentia, 11/21/09

Since I was out of town this weekend, I missed the Jazz Workshop. However, Kevin and Ken teamed up to provide a list of the folks who were there and the songs they played. Thanks, guys! Looks like it was another great turnout and a lot of fun once again. Sorry I missed it!

Attendees:
Kevin , guitar
Owen, accordion
Peter, bari sax
Wes, tenor sax
Gene, drums
Craig, drums (first time)
Ken, drums
Dan, bass (first time)
Margo, bass
Annie, vocals

Set list:
Fly Me to the Moon (both 3/4 and 4/4 arrangements)
Fools Rush In
These Foolish Things Remind Me of You
Black Orpheus
Got My Mojo Workin
Stella by Starlight
St. Thomas
My Funny Valentine
Satin Doll
In Walked Bud
The Nearness of You
On The Sunny Side of the Street
Lullaby of Birdland
How High The Moon
Misty
Cousin Mary
God Bless The Child

Next Saturday I have been told the park building will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, so there wil be no workshop. May you all have a safe and happy Thanksgiving with the opportunity to appreciate the things you have and the will to help others have the things they need to live a dignified and productive life.

The photos: Pete's baritone sax and a chart up top; Jeff (bass) who wasn't there but it's a good photo.

The Ides of November

Well, a day after the Ides anyway. You've maybe heard of the Ides of March (as in the soothsayer telling Caesar to beware thereof, and also the pop band of the 60s) but every month had an Ides which fell on the 15th in months with 31 days and the 13th in other months. OK, that's enough obscure stuff for one week, eh (I've just finished one of Steven Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa books)?


November 14th saw the Jazz Workshop getting together again at McRae Park in South Minneapolis. We had a great turnout with three first-timers (John on bass, Ann on vocals and Kevin on guitar) joining the usual suspects (Sheila on vocals, Steve on trumpet, Owen on accordion, Ken on drums, Norman on piano, Margo on bass and Tim on guitar). We met in the small room at the park which makes it easier to hear.

The set list today included "Blue Bossa," "Naima," "Satin Doll," "Scrapple From the Apple," "I'm Old Fashioned," "E.S.P.," ""It Could Happen To You," "Laura," "You Stepped Out of a Dream," "Lullaby of Birdland," "God Bless the Child," "Out of Nowhere," "Imagination," "Doxy," "Just in Time," "Sunny Side of the Street," "Song for My Father" and "How High the Moon."

Next week (11/21/09) the Jazz Workshop will meet without Tim, so hopefully someone will take notes about who shows up and what happens. Looking ahead to Thanksgiving weekend, there will be no Workshop on 11/28/09 as the park building will be closed.

The photos: On top we have Norman, Margo, Sheila and Ann; in the middle are Ken and John (with the cubist bass and matching cubist hat); and at the bottom are Steve, Owen and Kevin.

Saturday Afternoon Jazz

A few days ago when I was writing the weekly ad for Craigslist about the workshop, I was reflecting that we "play" music rather than "work" music, and that maybe the Jazz Workshop should be the Jazz Playshop. Well, that's maybe just a little too precious but maybe it makes the point- this is fun!

Today it was a lovely, atypically beautiful November Saturday. 64 degrees, sunny, deep blue sky. We all had a choice to make: play outside or play jazz. Maybe we should have played jazz outside! We had a good turnout anyway: Gene and Ken on drums, Jack on trumpet and also drums for a couple of tunes, Ira on alto sax, Wes on tenor sax, Pete on bari sax, Rob and Tim on guitar, Owen on accordion, and on vocals we had Dick, Toria and Sheila (and also Jack on one tune). One such a beautiful day, ten musicians was a great turnout.

The Workshop kicked off shortly after 1:00 with the "instrumental hour." Songs played included "I Remember You," "In Walked Bud," "When You're Away" (an original by Tim), "I Thought About You," "It's Only a Paper Moon." The second part of the workshops with the vocalists swung into gear with "It Could Happen to You," "Days of Wine and Roses," "I Cover the Waterfront," "The Very Thought of You," "I'll Remember April," "Lover Man," "Dancing On The Ceiling," "The Midnight Sun," "What Is This Thing Called Love," "How Deep Is The Ocean," "Four," "The Song Is You," "Again," and "Embraceable You." 19 songs in four hours.

Upcoming workshop schedule: next week (11/14/09) Norman will be playing piano. The week after that, which is the Saturday after Thanksgiving (11/21/09), we are not sure whether the park building will be open so watch this space for news about that. We also had some preliminary discussion about looking for some occasional gigs out in the community. Nothing concrete yet, but a few possibilities were identified.

In the photos: that's Jack (trumpet/drums/vocal) up in the first photo and Tim (guitar and nothin' else) in the middle photo and Toria (vocals) in the bottom photo.