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Rat Pack Round-up 2009 – 1st Installment!

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Welcome to the newly re-organised blog section of the site. You’ll notice that some of the previous ‘News’ posts are here as well – I wanted to bring them over to this page since they were really blog-posts already. I hope you like the new version of the site – we’ve all been working pretty hard to bring it to you – and my busy schedule has gotten firmly in the way, as usual!

I’m taking a couple of days break at home in New York before hitting the road again on Friday with the LACJO Spring tour throughout Lower Austria. Following the tremendous fun we had at the first gig in September ’08, I’m really looking forward to getting together with the band and seeing what we can make happen with the music. I’m excited – it’s not often I get to work with such a talented AND motivated group. They have released one video clip of the September concert on to YouTube – you can see it on the new Video page on this site.

The main reason I’ve been so busy is, as usual, the Rat Pack – Live At The Sands US Tour. We’ve just played two great weeks in Louisville, Kentucky and Dallas, Texas. The show is actually carrying on without me in Schenectady, NY this week – a curious feeling to say the least. My dear friend Augie Haas is doing a magnificent job of covering for me, by all accounts!

Louisville, KY

This was such a great city to start off the tour this year. We played in the Whitney Hall at the Kentucky Center – an enormous arts complex right in the heart of downtown Louisville. With a great hotel right around the corner we were well set for a good run. The local musicians in Louisville did a great job and were a lot of fun to hang out with as well. They displayed tremendous enthusiasm about the show as well – which is always nice. Joining me in the Trumpet section were Greg Wing and David Welch, and a big vote of thanks goes out to them for their playing and friendship. We had a ball!

L-R: Greg Wing, BD, David Welch

L-R: Greg Wing, BD, David Welch

Dallas, TX

This was the third time we’ve been to Texas since we started touring the Rat Pack in the USA – actually we opened in San Antonio in October ’06. We have always received a warm welcome in that area and Dallas was no exception!

The band in Dallas was one of the best we’ve had on the tour so far, which is no more than you’d expect since most were graduates from, and many still teachers at, the famous University of North Texas jazz program, just up the road in Denton. On trumpets, alongside me, were Jay Saunders and Keith Jourdan. Jay’s name will be familiar to many following his tenure as Lead trumpet with Stan Kenton in the 1970s. While Keith may not be so well known (at least he wasn’t to me) he has enjoyed a busy playing career which involved a long stint on Tom Jones’ band – now that must have been fun!

L-R: Jay Saunders, BD, Keith Jourdan

L-R: Jay Saunders, BD, Keith Jourdan

It was particularly interesting to meet Jay Saunders as he played Lead on the recordings of some of the Kenton music we’re playing on the LACJO – funny how those things come around!

While we were in Dallas, I also had the chance to go and watch, and sit in with, the Dallas Original Jazz Orchestra, led by Galen Jeter. Galen is a fine trumpet player who also had, among his trumpet section, Maynard Ferguson alum. Ken Edwards. Ken was the featured trumpet soloist on the MF band, alongside Maynard himself, and also recorded on Maynard’s last studio CD – “The One And Only”. He sounded absolutely incredible in the DOJO – definitely a player to keep an eye out for!

Still (vaguely) with the Dallas connection, I had the great pleasure of visiting Birdland in New York last night to watch the famed UNT One O’Clock Lab Band perform. I’m still reeling from the experience! I find it incomprehensible that a college band can sound that good! The musicians, along with their director Steve Wiest, are to be heartily congratulated – if they’re touring anywhere else, or if you’re local enough in Texas, I implore you to go and see them play. You won’t regret it!

I’ll be back with more from my travels soon, as well as news about the podcast and other bits and pieces. Bye for now…

More Rat Pack US Tour Dates/End Of An Era

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Now we’ve managed to get our work visas sorted, I guess it’s safe to announce that I’ll be out on the road with “The Rat Pack – Live At The Sands” US Tour from next week. We kick off in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 7th. The following week we visit Tempe, Arizona. Further dates follow in November with visits to Omaha NE, Oklahoma City and Tulsa (both in Oklahoma!).

Before that, I’ll be bidding a fond farewell to the Rat Pack European Tour on Saturday 4th October in Preston. Ahead of the US Tour and my subsequent emigration to the United States, I’ve handed my notice in. I’ll be back in the UK from late November, primarily to finalise my US Visa to move over. It’s possible that I’ll dep on a few Rat Pack dates on the Christmas Tour in December; we’ll have to wait and see. In any case, I hope to have left the UK by sometime in January 2009.

It’s odd to be leaving all my friends on the show after 4 and a half years. I’ll still get my Rat Pack fix, of course, with the US Tour with which I’ll continue for the time being. That’s a curious situation though, because I’m so used to playing with the same band in the UK whereas we meet new musicians in every venue in the States. I’ll really miss the guys and a huge vote of thanks goes out to all of them, particularly the Brass section: Kevin Ferris and Dave Ford (trumpets), and Keith Hutton, Andy Watson and Bruce Douglas (trombones). What else can I say? You guys are awesome to play and hang with and it’s been a huge honour to know you all! Thanks for putting up with me!

So where to next? The short answer is New York! My long suffering fiancee Cynthia and I are getting married (at last) and I’m joining her over there rather than vice versa. At least, that’s the plan – the Visa isn’t completely finalised yet, although it seems to be running smoothly at the moment. So, if you’re in the New York area, or indeed on tour anywhere in the US, and need a Trumpet player from mid-January on; please give me a call. I’d love to here from you.

More news about all of this will follow in due course….

Rat Pack Roundup #2 – Los Angeles

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Following all my good intentions at the end of 2007 about keeping up with News updates, I singularly failed to actually write anything! Here’s the next installment of my Rat Pack US Tour ’07-’08 adventure.

Los Angeles – Dec ’07

Los Angeles, Dec.'07.We had a great time playing at the Wilshire Theatre in Beverley Hills for the first 2 weeks of December. I previously mentioned that I had the legendary Rick Baptist and Dan Fornero joining me in the Trumpet section but that turned out to be just the beginning of the story!!

We had a great time playing the show and I count myself as extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to listen to, play with and learn from these wonderful musicians first hand. Both are players I’ve admired on records for many years and it took me some time to get over the fact that I was playing with them at all! To put it in context; I was asked on the rehearsal break, by one of my friends and colleagues on the stage crew, how the band was in LA? My response: –
“I might as well be sitting between Santa Claus and Superman!”

More important even than the musical side of things was the friendship they both showed me. I was invited on various excursions with them throughout our stay in LA. Rick did me the honour of taking me to work with him one day! Sounds ordinary when you put it like that but, in fact, he took me to the recording stage at Fox Studios to watch a session for the TV show “American Dad”. That was a tremendous thrill! Not only because it’s the same production team that works on my favourite of the current US cartoons, “Family Guy” but also because of the living legends I met in the band! The other Trumpets flanking Rick on this occasion were none other than Warren Luening and Charley Davis! The trombones were no slouches either: Bob McChesney, Charlie Loper, Ira Nepus and Bill Reichenbach! It was a fantastic day out – thanks Rick!

Dan was kind enough to take me on an equally star-studded excursion the following day. We met up at the Musicians Union building in Hollywood where I had a chance to sit in on the rehearsal with Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band! It was definitely an experience to sit back in the Trumpet section with Dan, Wayne Bergeron and a pair of stellar subs; Willie Murillo and Serafin Aguilar. Willie, who also subbed for Rick on the show for a couple of days, is best known as Lead Trumpet with Brian Setzer’s Orchestra, and Serafin was a member of the last Big Bop Nouveau band led by the late, great, Maynard Ferguson. Of course, the particular thrill was to hear Wayne Bergeron who is undoubtedly one of the greatest trumpet players out there, and a really nice guy! It was awesome to watch them all put through their paces by Mr Goodwin’s wonderfully complex music – I’m glad I didn’t have to play!! It was also great to meet the other guys in the band as well as seeing some familiar faces; the two Tenor saxophonists, Brian Scanlon and Jeff Driskill, were playing the show with us in LA, and Baritone saxophonist Jay Mason had been with us a couple of weeks before in San Diego. The rehearsal was for a gig the following week, on the day we were due to leave (!), but it was such an experience to see this band live that I changed my flight and stayed the extra day – well worth the expense!!

While we were in LA, I was delighted to be invited to head down to Fullerton College to coach their Jazz Band I. The Director of the Fullerton Jazz programme is Bruce Babad, a fine saxophonist who also played the show when we were in San Diego. More importantly, Bruce is better known for playing in the Big Band of legendary composer/arranger Bill Holman! Bruce has been doing a great job at Fullerton and the band was really good. We had a lot of fun and I particularly enjoyed having the chance to give my demonstration of “what not to do” as a member of the trumpet section. That can sometimes be as important and useful as demonstrating the right way to do things and has proven helpful in previous workshops I’ve participated in. I’m also pleased to say that Bruce has invited me to come back and be Guest Artist with the band in October ’08. There will be a proper announcement about that in due course.

That just about wraps up my highlights of the Rat Pack trip to Los Angeles. I’d like to thank all the guys who joined us in the band and I’m pleased to say that I can name them all for a change! They were:

  • Trumpets: Rick Baptist/Willie Murillo, Dan Fornero
  • Trombones: Jim Sawyer, Bob McChesney & Craig Gosnell
  • Reeds: Brian Scanlon, Jeff Driskill, Gene Cipriano & John Mitchell
  • Guitar: Mike Higgins
  • Bass: Kenny Wild/Chuck Berghofer
  • Keyboards: Nelson Kole

…and not forgetting our regular travelling team of:

  • Andy Rumble – Piano/MD
  • Dave Bryant – Drums

More Rat Pack Roundups shortly….

Rat Pack Round Up

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News updates have been few and far between around here lately, mainly due to the fact that I’ve been so busy playing the show in different corners of the planet! Here’s a little round up of what I’ve missed out on passing along….

St Louis

Following our opening week in Atlanta, the Rat Pack – Live At The Sands US tour made it’s next stop in St Louis, Missouri. We had a great time during our two weeks there with a really good band. A big thankyou goes out to Andy Tichenor, Dan Smith (Andy’s emergency sub!) and Bob Ceccarini – trumpets, for a great time playing the show. Bob also contracted the rest of the band which was amongst the best we’ve had in the US since Oct 2006!

While in St Louis, I also had the chance to meet, and sit in with, the folks of the Sessions Big Band during their Monday residency at BB’s Jazz Blues and Soups! It was particularly nice to meet trumpeter Steve Shankmann, who also happened to have been Manager to the late, great Maynard Ferguson for the last several years of his life.
Later that week I also had a chance to go and hear, and sit in with, the extraordinary Jim Manley during his Friday night gig at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. If you don’t know who Jim is, you are REALLY missing out – he’s quite simply the most remarkable jazz/high-note trumpet player I’ve ever heard!!!

San Diego

Mid-November saw us returning to the US for our six week run which takes us to the end of the year. It was great to visit the wonderful city of San Diego. The local musicians we encountered were not only fine players but some of the nicest people we’ve met thus far. My thanks, as ever, go to Frank Glassen and Jack Houghton who joined me in the Trumpet section.
Another great pleasure in San Diego was the chance to catch up with my good friend Allie Laurie. Allie played Sammy Davis Jr on the European Rat Pack Tour for almost 2 years until an ankle injury forced him home. He’s been living with his partner down in San Diego for a little over a year now. It was great to see him again!

Tucson

Tucson, Arizona, was our next stop on the tour. It was one of the more bizarre weeks we’ve had in the States as we were in the desert and it rained for most of the week!! Most odd. Thanks go to trumpeters Kenny Smukal and Michael Harrison for their hard work and fine playing. It was a pleasure to meet Ken – a name I was familiar with from his tenure as Lead Trumpet with the Airmen of Note, the premiere US Air Force Big Band. A wonderful player and true gentleman. I also had a great time with Michael Harrison who was kind enough to let me sit in on his late-night gig on the Saturday evening with Salsa-engue. It’s been far too long since I’ve had the chance to play any Salsa music which has long been one of my favourite styles! Thanks Mike!

Los Angeles

We’re currently, at time of writing, halfway through our first of 2 weeks in LA. The band here, as you might expect given the thriving Studio scene, is just astonishing. Can I say more than to say that joining me on Trumpets are none other than Rick Baptist and Dan Fornero!! Wow!!

I’ll be back with more LA news as it occurs. Exciting times indeed!!

Rat Pack – Atlanta

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We had a great start to this year’s Rat Pack – Live At The Sands US Tour in the fine city of Atlanta, GA. It was a pleasure to meet and play with all the local musicians, in particular the brass players. My thanks go to ‘Lee’ King and Andy Hagans (trumpets), and Eric, Jason Altieri and Lee Watts (trombones) for making the first week back so easy for me. We had a great time hanging out after the show too!!

One particular thrill for me was the chance to go and help Lee Watts out with coaching the Trumpets at the Wheeler High School band program. Mark Hoskins runs a great program over at Wheeler and we had a great time working with the concert band section. All fine young players whom I look forward to hearing again in the future!

It was also great to have a chance to catch up with some returning Rat Packers. Alonzo Saunders rejoined us for a brief stint as Sammy cover and we even had a visit from Henry Prego; who returned as an emergency Frank cover at the end of the week. Great to see the guys again.

The next leg of the tour took us to St. Louis, MO. More about that shortly…