the jazz band – summer 09

I’m a huge jazz fan and enjoy attempting to play and sing it.  Making music is also very therapeutic for me.  Three years ago, while living in Athens, GA, some friends and I formed a band and have played together in the Athens area since then.  The past couple of months brought us several gigs, which allowed us to get together and rehearse and play more than usual.  The guys I play with – Art Grider: tenor saxophone/EWI, Tracy Reynolds: keyboard and Justin Reynolds: guitar – are fantastic musicians and great friends.  Our personalities and careers are as diverse as the music we play – everything from jazz standards to Stevie Wonder.  But, when we get together to play, it just works.  I count it a privilege to play with them and to call them friends.  For us, the past two months have been filled with late night dinners, many, many laughs, and some fabulous music.  I thought I’d share a few photos I took from our recent gigs/rehearsals…

jazz gig

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I recently had the opportunity to do something I really love, which is playing jazz.  Some friends here in Athens, Tracy Reynolds (keyboard), Justin Reynolds (guitar), and Art Grider (tenor sax) and I (drums) have played several gigs together over the last year and we were invited to play a wedding reception last Saturday.  As always, it was a blast.  We played mostly standards and threw in a few fun ones such as, Affirmation, Isn’t She Lovely?, and Chameleon.  Can’t wait to do it again!

andy mckee

I recently had the chance to visit my good friends from college Dr. Eric and Julie Duncan and their sons Paul and Will.  Eric and I have been friends for 15 or 16 years now, going all the way back to our trip to Russia with the Lee Singers in May of ‘92.  Eric introduced me to some great music in college, including Bela Fleck and The Flecktones.  Eric is himself a talented guitarist and bassist and the other day he introduced me to Andy McKee.  Andy is an acoustic guitar marvel in the vein of Michael Hedges.  He is unbelievable.  The musicality of all he does with an acoustic guitar is unreal.  I won’t even get into the harp guitar.  His song “Drifting” has had well over 13 million views on You Tube.  If you are already aware of him, I don’t need to say anymore.  If you haven’t – assuming you do like good music – then run, don’t walk and simply You Tube Andy McKee  and thank me later.

one man band

In addition to previewing lots of new worship/choir/Easter music for church, I’ve been listening quite a bit to James Taylor’s newest, One Man Band.  I’ve been a JT fan for years, so it’s no surprise to me how good this record is.  No one writes a song like James Taylor.  I don’t agree with all of his religious and political views, but musically, he’s the man.  If you’re a James Taylor fan, you probably already have it or have at least heard it.  If not, check it out.  It’s just James and his guitar and Larry Goldings on piano.  It’s awesome.