I disappeared from the web and practically the scene during COVID and now I'm making my return, both in the world and on-line. Why? Well, because I want new connections, new projects, new collaborators, and frankly more music in my life.
COVID-19 was a tragic disruption to all of our lives and it would be wrong to whine about how it prevented me from doing what I love. It prevented all of us from doing what we love and while I think the arts are essential, the disruption was much deeper than that, as we all know. I have no doubt that each of us was touched by some degree of personal tragedy. The sun does still come up, though and some good things are starting to happen again as we catch up to life in the real world.
My main jazz project for the last 16 years has been the DeadWax Trio with Jon Reingold on Piano and Wayne Porter on drums. We've played hundreds of gigs together and made a few recordings both as a trio and as a rhythm section for singers and horn players. It is an absolute passion project and I can't (won't) try to tell you how important those two guys are to me, but come back, because I suspect that I'll get into it in a future post.
My first gig back coming out of quarantine was with Tacoma-based jazz guitar player/singer/songwriter Keith Musig. I've known Keith for a long time and he always seems to pick the right time to call. On that first gig with Keith, I met drummer Tom Hume who was assembling a new project that I am very excited to be a part of called "Two Eyes" with vocals by Mariia Pozhar.
I failed miserably last time I tried keeping a blog up and I might again, but there is something about the 2 years of near isolation that I feel has changed me, maybe changed all of us and it seems like the right thing to do. I've also resolved to start showing up at weekly jam sessions and local shows and I hope to meet new musicians and new friends and stay sticky this time, even when things start feeling "normal" again.
Thanks for spending some time here. Please come back and reach out to me if you'd like to talk music or bass.