Hello music fans!
As I sit and reflect on the last 5 days, I am struck by how easily I settle into "tour mode" and back into "home mode". I'd like to think it has something to do with the people I work with. Unquestionably, fine musicians all. But I think there's a mutual respect there as well as the fact that I think everyone genuinely likes each other. When you consider we'll be spending weeks at a time together, it's quite a welcome situation.
Tuesday, 2/1: Arrived in Las Vegas early in the evening along with the maestro himself, Jeff Sturges. Love the 1 hour flight to Vegas but it was a particularly bumpy flight and - I don't care how many times I've flown - when the damn plane starts shaking around like that, I still tense up. I wish I had the same capacity as others to sit, get loaded on Bloody Marys, and be numb to the whole experience. In any event, we landed safely and headed to our destination - The Orleans Hotel.
Later that evening, we all converged on the showroom for a soundcheck and rehearsal. A nice addtition to the band was the 3-piece horn section (four, with our very own John Michalak on tenor sax) who were all local musicians brought in to augment the band for our 4-night run. Once again, Jeff contributed yet another fine arrangement; this time a swingin' take on the old standard "S' Wonderful". With the horns playing great (sorry guys, I don't remember your names) and Tony Savage (our fine drummer) kicking us in our collective butts, things looked good for a terrific new opening song.
Finally, hit the omni-present buffet ( I really need some sort of medicated patch to wear so I can avoid these things), and then retired to my room.
A brief note about the pillows at The Orleans; does "boulders in pillow cases" give you an idea? Sheesh!
Wednesday through Saturday, (2/2-2/5): All in all, a great way to really get the tour rolling! There was a palpable sense of growth from show to show until finally by Friday, the band sounded like a really well-oiled machine. Jeff's arrangement of "S' Wonderful" lived up to all expectations and served as a launching pad for all the great music that would follow. It might be of some interest to know that Jeff wears two hats; that of musical director and arranger. It is not always the case that the two meet. With a great deal of the horn parts remaining to be written, a lot of last-minute work fell into Jeff's hands literally hours before showtime! As usual, he seemed to meet the challenge with his usual cool head and quality of work. I was flattered to be offered the chance to help out and do some of the copy work required in extracting the horn parts from the score. Jeff says I broke some kind of speed record in how quickly I got it done, but I know there's some cats here in town (L.A.) who undoubtedly have me beat. (I swear, I'll get my notation software chops up one of these days!)
All in all, a great week capped off by the presence of my wonderful father, Irwin Cohen (who literally attended all four shows and loved every one of them - is he the greatest or what?), and my lovely lady, Beth (who caught our closing night and is always so supportive and simply the best companion). Mom, I wish you were there but I know you were looking down on us, enjoying the show, and feeling proud of me. I miss you...
Got a week off here in L.A. which, even though I say "off", I'll still be working, with several gigs crammed into the time I'm back. Most noteably, is a reunion with my good friend and fine musician, Dave Hill. Dave's a fantastic guitarist who has recently released an album of his music entitled Two Seasons. I look forward to flexing some creative muscles and sharing the stage with some wonderful musicians (Andy Suzuki - sax, Gregg Karukas - keys, Billy Hulting - vibes/percussion, and Dave Anderson - drums). I just hope I don't keep launching into "After The Lovin'" whenever it's my turn to solo.
Thta's it for now folks! Next stop...Europe!
Stay tuned,
--Adam
P.S. A big congratulations to our tour manager Max Stauffer who tied the knot with his lovely lady of many years right on the showroom stage! A tear was shed by all (mostly by the event staff who had to stay late).
1 comment:
Well, the show was fantastic, Engelbert sounded great and the crown goes absolutely crazy for him! But of course, my focus was on the gorgeous, sexy bass player who rocked the house with his solo. And E-Hump made a point to introduce Adam as "Super Bassist!" We had a wonderful time - I hope everybody can catch the show when it's in L.A. - You can count on Irwin and me being there! Bye! From Beth
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