Six degrees

Today I'm in NJ as part of an executive management training program through Columbia University. Tonight we had a great treat and were able to see Chris Washburne and the Sytos Band, a Jazz combo, as part of the program.

Tonight was part of our leadership training and the Jazz combo was used to illustrate team dynamics. Some of the questions we asked centered around how does a Jazz team prepare, what happens if you don't like your team members, how does the team recover from mistakes, along with questions to the band regarding the popularity differences from country to country of Jazz worldwide.

Chris Washburne and the Syotos Band
November 11, 2008
The Heldrich Hotel
New Brunswick, New Jersey

Epistrophy (Thelonious Monk)
Killer Joe (Benny Goldsoon)
I Thought About You (Frank Sinatra / Miles Davis)
Caravan (Duke Ellington)

This combo was as good as it gets, and the environment in which it was presented were ideal including the setting of a hotel bar, 20 ft high ceilings and carpet with only 30 people. This made for the perfect acoustics although in an imperfect environment.

Over dinner the band sat with us and by a stroke of chance I ended up sitting by the drummer, Vince Cherico. We had a fantastic conversation and talked about his experiences, my experiences, and some of his friends including Kenny Aronoff. As we talked I discovered that Rufus Philpot was a bass player that he played with in his past and is someone that I'll be playing with in Seven Seraphim in Feburary. It is such a small world. I can't believe that as part of an executive training course through Columbia University that I met a Jazz Drummer from New York CIty that has performed with a bass player I'll be performing with in Los Angeles. This makes me only 2 degrees of separation from the band tonight. David -> Rufus (1) - Rufus -> Vince (2).

Vince and I exchanged information and I hope to meet up with him next time he is performing in Los Angeles. In addition to seeing him perform I hope that I'll be able to take some Jazz / Latin drum lessons from Vince.

The band was extremely generous with their time and even gave us CD's. I can't wait to hear it when I'm back home.

This week has required significant focus and a lot of work, but after an evening like tonight I feel that I've been rewarded through music which is so important to me, and I've made a connection with many of my team mates that are part of the organization I just joined.

I have one more day left in NJ but I don't see how it can get any better than this.

In NJ

I am in NJ all week. On the flight in I had a great view of the city and was able to see the Statue Of Liberty on the approach.

I am not sure if I will get to see the city this week but it reminds me of how much there is to see and do herem

President Elect... presented by the KISS Army

KISS has been running on their website a Choose Or Lose campaign to encourage people to vote. As part of the campaign they have been selling Obama and McCain KISS Army shirts and will be publishing the winner of the KISS Army vote by the number of T-Shirt sales.

In recognition of the President Elect here is Obama presented in Paul Stanley makeup by the KISS Army!

Enjoy.

PS. Mom - there is always 2012 :-)

Celeb sighting at Molly Malone's

Tonight Jacki invited me to her regular after work hangout Molly Malones. She had a tip that a special guest would be performing there tonight. I was getting in from San Francisco and drove straight from LAX over to Molly's.

Jacki and I were sitting at the bar eating and we saw Dennis Quaid walk in. A few people walked up and talked to him. He was just a couple of bar stools down from us. After our celebrity spotting we headed into the live music room.

The band that was playing was called Ghost Hounds. They were a good blues rock band and the lead guitarist had a very Rolling Stones type style. About half way through the set they even covered Gimme Shelter which was dead on.

They finally announced their special guest and it was Dennis Quaid. He gets up on stage and leads the band on guitar and vocals through a couple of songs. Not who we were guessing would be the special guest but it made for an entertaining night.

I voted

I just completed my absentee ballot and will drop it in the mail tomorrow.

Now on iTunes!

The Superlatives are now on iTunes! Buy it now.

		The Austin Avenue Recordings The Superlatives Release Date: Aug 15, 2008 Genre: Rock ℗ 2008 The Superlatives

Announcing Seven Seraphim at the Keyclub

Seven Seraphim announces their first ever show for Wednesday February 18, 2009.

I joined this band earlier this year, and although I didn't play on the CD that was released I have been asked to be part of the performing band. If all goes well we will record a live CD that will feature me on drums.

Andrew Szucs is an amazing guitar player and is the mastermind behind Seven Seraphim. So if you enjoy guitar virtuosos and like your music progressive then come check out Seven Seraphim at The Keyclub.

I have always set little goals in my sparse music career. Earlier this year I accomplished a big one with the release of my first CD with The Superlatives. This show knocks out several more of my music career goals. This will be the first gig I've booked on the legendary Sunset Strip. A place I made my Dad drive me through when we were out in LA on vacation in 1988. This is the first time I've opened for a national touring act. In fact I have a couple of Powerman 5000's cds. For those that don't know the singer in Powerman 5000 is Rob Zombie's brother.

And this is the first time a band I'm performing with has tickets sold through Ticketmaster. Look at the ticket! I can't believe my band is on the official Ticketmaster ticket. And to make things even better The Keyclub is my favorite venue in LA.

As we approach this show we will be playing some warm up shows and Andrew will be re-releasing the Seven Seraphim CD Believe In Angels through your favorite digital stores (iTunes, Amazon, etc...) soon.

If you can make it out to the show then hit me up for discount tickets. Ticketmaster sells for $27 with service fees. I'll be selling them for $15. So come check out Seven Seraphim and get your discount tickets to Powerman 5000.

Been too busy to post

All though I haven't posted much lately things are good. One of the bands I'm in just landed a big show on the sunset strip. Details will come shortly. Work is good, although extremely busy. It is better to be busy than wondering what's next but I've been working some long hours.

I just returned from Korea, and have been traveling back and forth between the NYC area and San Francisco areas quite a bit.

Once things slow just a bit I'll post more.