Review: Pearl Django at Crossroad

Posted on September 9, 2006 by Gandalfe
A number of the ‘guys’… Wait a second here, can I say guys and mean the girls too? Where’s the WordZ guy when you need him? Anyways, where was I? A number of the guys said we should go to see Pearl Django at Bakes Place in Issaquah, definitely a venue I want to experience. But what the heck is Pearl Django and what is gypsy jazz? Well Suzy and I got to experience this band at Crossroads.
 
First, about the Crossroads Mall in Bellevue, ALL THE MUSIC IS FREE. FREE I TELL YOU. Oops, did my caps key stick again. ;o) Pssst, don’t tell the yuppies, okay. Besides, they prefer to pay. I mean beside me. And the place is already hopping on weekends with the locals.
 
Pearl Django started on time and did not fail to impress. Their first song, Bellville (guessing at the spelling here folks) received a thunderous applause. And so it went the rest of the night. Check out their web site for some sound bites, but this reviewer and wife thought the music was excellent. And so did the dancers that always show up.
 
Enjoy the pics and see you at the next gig.
 
 
Posted in Band, Jazz | Leave a comment

Recommended Seattle Music Instrument Repair Shops

Posted on September 8, 2006 by Gandalfe
These are just my experiences. There are some people in the Seattle music world who talk trash about everyone one of these sites I recommend except for Northwest Winds. But I have not found that to be true in my repair adventures.

Mills Music in Redmond and Issaquah:
Steve Nelson is the tech manager for this shop. He does excellent work and stands by his repairs. He has refurbished my primary clarinet a Selmer Paris silver clarinet and my primary sax a Couf Superba I. He also saved a Leblanc bass clarinet that was dry, cracked, and missing parts. He is fast becoming popular and thus busy. But I usually can find time to call him in advance and talk with him about a new project.

Kennelly Keys in Lynnwood:
Paul Woltz is the sax repairer extrodinaire. I’ve heard his vintage Buescher bass sax whisper and roar and if that is any indication of his repair skills. Well I’m gonna have to visit this guy at his shop. The shop isn’t as friendly as Mills as you have to sign in and state what is wrong with your instrument before you see the tech. Hmm…

More on Paul: Paul Woltz – As an oboe and bassoon specialist, Paul has mastered his craft with over 35 years of experience as a professional repair technician and musician. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor in Music on Bassoon and ran a repair shop in California for several years. His work is trusted by many of Washington’s most accomplished musicians, whom repeatedly seek his expert services. As a professional bassoonist, Paul performed for 10 years at Disneyland and also worked as a studio musician in Hollywood. He currently performs with the 5th Ave Theater, the Cascade Symphony, and The Uptown, Lowdown Jazz Band; a touring Dixieland band.

World Wide Sax in Everett:
Steve Stranski is the man when it comes to vintage sax restores. He has restored a C Melody sax and a C soprano sax for me. He is fast, capable, and approachable. Oh, and you can see his vintage tenor sax collection too. There must be 20 or so tenors in his little museum.

Northwest Winds in Lakewood:

[Update: Northwest Winds is now closed.]
Brian is reputed to be the best repair guy on the west coast. I have been to his shop a number of times, but he is always way too busy. I took a Buffet SDA to the shop to get it looked at because they had repaired it before and got one of the underlings to look at it. They said there was nothing wrong with the instrument. Subsequent repair shops said that the stack was bent and some of the pads needed adjustment. I worked with this instrument for a year before I finally traded up to a Couf Superba I tenor.

But I don’t doubt Brian is good, if he is available. Unfortunately it means that his backlog for repair work is months long, or longer. He also had some very nice vintage saxes for sale too. And the smashed sax on the entrance door is a gut stopper.

Oberloh’s in South Seattle:
I took a relatively new Yanagisawa baritone in for repair. The high F# rod had been damaged when my son used it in high school. That was fixed rather handily. But from D3 and up, the bari never spoke the same for me again. Could be more about me than the instrument, but I didn’t have these problems before I took it in. I did note that a brand new Yanagisawa has the same problem. Maybe I should disable the high F#?

__________________
“I played the wrong wrong notes.” Thelonious Monk
Posted in Band, Music Instruments, Repair | 1 Comment

Pit Crew, Part Deux

Posted on September 7, 2006 by Gandalfe

I’ve just recieved more info on the pit crew gig. Suzy and I are scheduled to audition for the pit crew as either a primary or sub musician. How exciting! This is from the follow up e-mail explaining the time requirements:

More info about the Secondstory Rep theatre: www.secondstoryrep.org.  The “orchestra” that supports the theatre is mostly the people listed below (it’s not a big orchestra, because the space is actually very limited), and most of us are people with a “day job” who donate our time to the theatre.  (For you Microsoft people, your time spent in the performances is eligible under Microsoft’s time-matching program.)  Some actors/performers are compensated, but I don’t know how that situation works.  Everyone who participates gets a pair of comp tickets to one performance of each show for the season (either opening or closing night is excepted – I forget which).

The show runs from 11/3 – 12/2 with performances every Friday and Saturday night, and two Sunday afternoon performances during the run.  (I’m not sure which two Sundays, though.)  The rehearsal schedule is still being set up, but the orchestra will start getting together for rehearsals starting around 9/23 (most rehearsals will be on the weekend), a few rehearsals with the cast two weeks prior to opening, and then the “grind” up to opening night, which is every weekday evening for the week prior to opening night, with our final dress rehearsal (and “pay what you can preview”) on the Thursday just before opening night.

Since the orchestra is small, someone who can pinch hit various ranges often comes in handy for orchestration purposes (I often play trombone parts using my French horn), and so having experience playing multiple different types of saxes would be really awesome.

Like I said, it is a big time commitment (basically a month where you give up your weekend nights – including Thanksgiving weekend), and the compensation is, well, peanuts, but it’s also a lot of fun, you meet some great people, and it’s a really great opportunity to grow, musically.

Cross your fingers for us!

Posted in Band, Music, Theater | Leave a comment

Make Your Own Music ;o)

Posted on September 7, 2006 by Gandalfe

I really like that stuff.

Posted in Music | Leave a comment

Ever been a part of a Pit Crew?

Posted on September 6, 2006 by Gandalfe

I’ve toyed with the idea of playing in a pit crew for a theater production at least once. But I figured that I wasn’t a music major or pro so I’d never be asked. And I’ve always wondered what the time commitment was for one of these gigs.

From: Andy
Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2006 12:54 PM
To: Musicians at Microsoft
Subject: FW: Anything Goes – looking for an alto/tenor sax player

The Second Story Repertory (in Redmond Town Center) is looking for a sax (alto/tenor) player to round out the pit orchestra for Cole Porter’s Anything Goes.  It’s a fantastic learning experience and a lot of fun, but it’s also a large time commitment.  I can provide more info for anyone who’s interested.

From: Cathy

I am getting very excited about Anything Goes as I listen more and more to the music.  For those of you who don’t already know, we will be doing the Beaumont version of the musical which has very tight orchestrations and really swings.  I have six years of experience playing in jazz bands so I am very excited about this one!
 
Here is how the orchestra is shaping up:
Cathy: Conductor/Piano
Idris: Violin
Evan: Guitar/Banjo/12-string
Jamie: Clarinet/sax
Liz: flute
Dave: Trumpet
Andy: French horn
Ryan:  Drums
 
I would like to either add a trombone player or another person who can play alto/tenor sax considering the big-band sound. Ideally–I would like to add both; however, that depends on space which I am talking to Stan about.  If any of you know someone who is a good player, would be interested in a great learning experience, and free tix to shows for a year, as well as a heck of a good time :), let me know! 
 
I’ll be in touch shortly with updates about the music. Depending on when we get the score in hand, I’ll set our first rehearsal probably for either late September or first thing in October.
 
Let me know if you have any questions and enjoy the rest of your summer!
Cathy

Posted in Music | Leave a comment

The Automobile Gene

Posted on September 3, 2006 by Gandalfe
Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?
— lyrics from "Mercedes Benz" by Janice Joplin
 
I’ve always driven very nice cars. My first car was a used, mellow yellow BMW sedan. It was a very nice looking car that broke down on the way home from purchasing it. After putting a new battery in it I drove it another six months before trashing the trany in a street race.
 
I’ve even leased a BMW Z3 for two years to enjoy the convertable experience. But I really can’t justify three cars so Suzy and I make do with her ‘like new’ ’97 Jag and my ’04 Lexus small SUV. We used to have a Lincoln Navigator, but since we don’t travel to Vail much anymore, we really couldn’t justify the relly big SUV.
 
I’ve driven some very nice cars that my friends owned like Mom’s Mercedes 560SL and a race car that Laurence owned that was so loud the maker didn’t even bother putting a radio/CD player in. If the love of a fine automobile or just autos in general is an American thang, then I’m very American.
 
I don’t try to justify my love of cars or the expense entailed in exploring my fantasies. It’s like the many saxes I own–I enjoy them so much, each in their own way, that it makes me happy. Hey, it could have been fine wine, women and song… or worse.  ;o)
Posted in Hobbies | 1 Comment

Vintage Saxophone Gallery

Posted on July 31, 2006 by Gandalfe
Pete Hales runs this ultimate Web site with collections of pictures that have been collected over the years. It is also a good resource for trying to place the year an instrument was made. Here you can see such rarities as the plastic Grafton that Bird played and the Eppelstein Tubax. Enjoy.
Posted in Music, Oddities, Photograph, Saxophone | Leave a comment

Superman and the Quartet

Posted on July 31, 2006 by Gandalfe
Suzy and I went to the Superman Returns movie and then Matt’s grill as part of her birthday. Spoiler alert: so Superman and Lois Lane had a baby. Way cool. I also took Suzy shopping and she bought some nice shirts and a gold lame jacket. Happy birthday sweet Suzy.
 
The Quartet’s first gig wasn’t that good. We only played two tunes and messed them up a bit. At the very least we’ve done the first gig thang. Suzy played her Selmer Ref 54 Limited edition Hummingbird alto sax that I bought her while we were in Las Vegas. It is a very impressive step up from her first horn.
 
I forgot to bring Aaron’s bari sax to Utah so we have to ship it. Darn!
Posted in Health and wellness, My World | 2 Comments

Sousa On The Strip

Posted on July 19, 2006 by Gandalfe
Suzy and I are headed to Vegas tomorrow for the National Community Band Sousa on the Strip concert. After a 30-year hiatus we are once again passionately participating in music again. I’ll be back mid-week next.
 
Tonight before we take off, our quartet, the Bis Keys, are practicing. We’ll have our first gig next week. It will be a low pressure, two song presentation at the WJE BBQ. Everyone but I am worried about the performance. We are so ready for this.
 
Cheers.
Posted in Band, Community | 1 Comment

SWOJO Rocks

Posted on July 19, 2006 by Gandalfe
We went to hear the Seattle Womens Jazz Orchestra (SWOJO) on Bainbridge Island. It was a small, select audience playing at the Bloedell Reserve. The group played a number of jazz songs, mostly latin, with a view of the Puget Sound too. As I watched the soloists I was struck with the ephiphany that the soloists owned their presentations and did them their way. There was no feeling that hey, she is copying Getz or she is copying Bird.
 
The solos were as varied as the players. Jeremy Jones was on drums and he was phenominal. His solos practically stole the show. They were startling as well as sublime. Tina Richardson was hot too. She was dramatically different from what you might expect a tenor sax solo to be about. With great sense of timing and a clear understanding of the jazz progression, her solos were a joy to listen to.
 
SWOJO can also be found on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/swojoseattlewomensjazzorchestra. They are also one of my friends at mySpace_Gandalfe. Enjoy the music.
Posted in Band, Music | Leave a comment