It’s been a busy few weeks, during which I’ve had little time to write or record anything for the site. This post may be some small consolation for you blog readers out there; a new podcast episode will be recorded next week, which I hope will appease my listeners who, judging by the amount of feedback I’ve received about episode 1, are a surprisingly large number!

Since last I blogged, I’ve completed the LACJO Spring Tour and also the last leg of the Rat Pack US National Tour. Both were tremendous experiences. I’ll give a more thorough account of the last 3 weeks of the Rat Pack tour in my next post.

The tour with the LACJO was great fun. It was slightly marred by some technical issues but ultimately the band really gelled and made a great job of some challenging music. My thanks go to all involved for their tremendous musicianship and their patience with my lousy German. I don’t know how many of you reading have ever been in a situation where you speak the minority language but it can be incredibly frustrating; particularly when you can see the clearest route to the resolution of a problem but can’t successfully articulate it. Unfortunately there were moments where this frustration led to anger – not something I’m proud of. I hope, as it seemed, that the rest of the band considered my playing to be of a sufficient standard that they could forgive my mood swings. I’ll be learning more German before my next visit!

Unfortunately, due to my impending immigration to the USA, I will probably be unable to join the band for the next tour(s) in the Autumn. Once in the USA, I have to wait until my residence is finally processed before I can leave again. Since this is likely to take up to a year, and I’m planning to move in July, that means that a September/October tour is sadly out of the question. I just hope that whoever takes my place doesn’t do too good a job – I’d very much like to rejoin in 2010!

Meantime, we should have news about the LACJO CD which was recorded at the ‘Premiere’ concert in St. Poelten in September 2008. Early mixes sound very promising and I’m looking forward to an album of which we can be really proud. We also filmed the last concert of the Spring Tour at Schloss Grafenegg for a potential DVD release. Hopefully that will also come to fruition.

Right now, I’m back in the UK following the end of the Rat Pack tour. I’m looking forward to getting back into the swing of teaching and playing. I already have some of my previous students coming back for more punishment(!) and a few gigs in the book. We’ll get the details posted on the site as soon as they’re confirmed. One confirmed date that I’m very much looking forward to is at the Harrogate Jazz Club, this coming Tuesday, the 28th of April. I’ll be playing with my dear friend Jim Corry and his band “A Tribute To Atlantic Jazz“. It’s a great band, with whom I played a few hits last summer. Please come out and support if you’re local – details are in a news item we posted about it earlier. I shall be trying to record some of the gigs I play in the next few weeks, with a view to adding some live audio to the podcast. We’ll see how that pans out…

For now, have a great weekend and I’ll be back with more soon.