Trans-Atlantic in a nutshell

Sunday, May 13, 2007

What an amazing trip this has been! The Grand Crossing was so magnificently different from any kind of other travel; Scott and I have decided we liked it best. Luckily, there were no storms – perfect weather, in fact. There’s a calm in fewer choices of things to do. Of course, there were also more than double the number of musicians and various get-togethers during that time. The Regent Voyager is top of the line; so all the accoutrements were spectacular, service remarkable, with wonderful food!

Water slapping slides, sloshing in the center pool, extra hot whirlpools, and ice cream every afternoon. Big band every other night. They liked our shows, and the second performance night Mike Vax (whose big band is the one booked), announced that we’d become the darlings of the ship.

Funchal Island, of the Madeira archipelago, was first land after our crossing. A beautiful green vision rising out of (by that time!) all that profoundly vast sea. Neat, clean, birds, flowers, exotic, warm – everything you’d want in an island destination. We shutterbugs just walked.

Lanzrarote, Canary Islands was our second port. A lava desert, we needed to organize some music for the rest of our trip, so didn’t go into town. Seemed to be a more contemporary ship stop. If we’d paid for a tour, it would have included a couple hours ride to another town, camel ride, etc., but we decided not to.

Agadir, Morocco was a very interesting port. Another “new” place – leveled in 1960 by an earthquake. I wore a scarf in town. Good camouflage. Adventures with urchins “circling” our outside lunch table, watching the proprietor literally kick them in the butt down the street to drive them away. Found some really neat black stone imbedded with fossils made into plates and bowls and bought a few. It was from up the river in the area, in a town called, they pronounced, “Are Food”. Right, our food is gonna be in it…Yeah, I’m the only person you know who packs rocks in my luggage.

We went into port in Casablanca, Morocco and walked from the old town center to the new mosque on the seashore. Must have been 3-4 miles… This is the third largest mosque in the world. They say the sea can be seen underneath thru a glass floor, and it’s one of the only ones that foreigners are allowed inside. We didn’t go inside… The grounds outside were immense, white block rock and green trim. Gorgeous.

Malaga, Spain was totally different. Picturesque, church towers and a Moorish fortress and hill top battlements. Just the right size! After the economic neediness and accompanying squeamish feelings as a vulnerable visitor of Morocco, a blessed feeling of safety.

In Valencia – one more afternoon to explore a port – tomorrow we disembark in Barcelona. Sunday afternoon most tourist sights would probably be closed, and siesta on top of that. We took one bus about ¼ mile to a cruise ship embarkation center, but decided, however, after the disorganization of the bus departures there that we didn’t even want to go into town. Spending a lazy afternoon directly across from the reviewing stands at the America Cup festivities. Valencia definitely seems like the largest port we’ve docked in. Casablanca was the most mind boggling big city, stretching along the coast as far as the eye could see. Economic differences are light years apart.

Terrassa Big Band & Jamboree, Barcelona

“…whatever is truly wondrous and fearful in man, never yet was put into words or books.” Herman Melville

Those of you who love the muse Euterpe know Melville must have been talking about music!! Some of you know my favorite book is Moby Dick. Had a great occasion to re-read it early May while making a trans-Atlantic crossing on a Regent cruise with the Mike Vax Big Band of Stan Kenton band alums. We had a blast! The Madeira Island of Funchal rose like a sweet green goddess on the far African side, totally charming… We proceeded down to the Canaries, and back up to Morocco, including wild and exotic Agadir and Casablanca, and then thru Gibralter to Malaga, and now Barcelona.

Scott and I gigged at the Jamboree Club in Barcelona Wed. eve last. A wine cave with disco ball and arches of melting brick. Chock full of atmosphere and folks from everywhere. Hearing Scott sing “Let’s Get Lost” right where Chet Baker was a thrill! The Spanish trio was also too marvelous for words, so we had a great time, encore and everything – it was a participatory sport all around!

From Friday, 5/18/07

Tonight I sing with the Terrassa Big Band, just outside of Barcelona in a very jazz-hip town, with an octagonal high ceiling-ed Nova Jazz Cava space – cool spirit and a kickin’ band. Rehearsal in three languages was neato.

Am back in LA to gig 5/21, please check my calendar at www.gingerberglund.com .
Scott Whitfield and I recorded with our band in April before we left on the tour. We’ll do a couple of tunes from that album at his gig at Charlie O’s on May 22.

Scott and I are presenting our “Art of the Duet” at Café 322 Sat. June 9th, 8 PM. Be sure and call the club for reservations. This will be a very exciting evening of unique music, so you won’t want to miss it!

I’ve got a gig with trumpeter Bobby Rodriguez in the Bisto in SF valley 6/10 for brunch next morning. As ever, the Tracy Wells Big Band has the 2nd Monday of the month at the Alpine Village, and now there are some summer concerts in the park (Marketplace in Long Beach, and Woodbridge Park in Irvine) coming up, so be sure to check out the calendar.

As ever, thanks for your support as musicians and listeners in this sport of the language of music we all enjoy!

Cheers and bona dia all!

Ginger

Phoenix KJZZ with Blaise Lantana

1/31 We spend a wonderful morning with Doug Tidaback, daughter Katie, and Rodney Burton. Pancakes and lush desert tour. As ever, once we begin driving...rain! The fog blowing off the desert mountains is gorgeous and rainbows abound. Lunch with Darby Christensen and Kip Sullivan of our Summit records label. Thanks guys! Met Blaise Lantana at KJZZ in Phoenix. Scott had met her, radio hostess par excellence and singer, in Prescott the summer before. She was engaging and inquisitive and made us feel at home in the studio. I was thrilled that she played Unit 7 from my "Haven't We Met"? album. We'll see Blaise again at the Prescott Jazz Summit this August.



It was a dark and windy night as we drove home in the rain...our constant companion. And...we're still speaking to each other. Must be in the right track. Thanks to you all for checking in to our blog and coming out to hear us!!! Hope to be in your neighborhood soon. Please keep your eye on my calendar.

1/30 Tuesday. Up early again. Breakfast at the University hotel where we’re staying is accompanied by yet more snow. The dusting is deep enough to dissuade me from going back to the downtown area to wander and shop. Instead, I accompany Scott while he teaches a master class to Northern Arizona University low brass students, on the history of jazz trombone stylings. He describes the eras and styles of jazz and players and illustrates this by playing in many different trombone voices, while sharing the development of both the instrument itself and the innovations and musical choices of players. It’s a history lesson in a nutshell that we hope encourages students to start listening to players they might not have been aware of before.

By 12:30, we are racing out of Flagstaff, accompanied by the snowfall (as usual!) We have a gig in Tucson at 7:30. However, to add a little drama, Scott has also found that the Arizona Jazz Academy has also booked him to lead a trombone clinic with some of their students at the club venue just prior to the gig.

Phoenix traffic is a terror at 3 pm, and we arrive with no time for dinner. Doug Tidaback’s Dixieland band kicks off the first set at China Rose, and I sing “All Of Me” with them. Ray Templin played piano, brothers Marco and Dante Rosano played clarinet and trumpet respectively. Evan Dain played banjo, Sly Slipetsky played tuba, and young Arthur Vint played drums. The place is packed, which adds to a lot of confusion for the restaurant staff about where to seat people.

Sly Slipetsky, who played an excellent tuba in the Dixieland jazz band played piano for our duet sets. Evan Dain played bass this time, and Arthur on drums rounded out our neat little trio.





Taking the stage, we can see folks standing in the back because there are no more seats. We kick it off with Scott’s “Come To Me” little bossa invitation to come spend a little time… We sang Maceo Pinkard’s 1928 “Sugar” next, since this seemed to be a Dixieland crowd. Wolf and Landesmann’s “You Inspire Me” was especially fun because there seemed to be a lot of folks in the audience who knew Jackie and Roy. Scott has been evolving a scat section of our “fight song” , Irving Berlin’s “The Best Thing For You”, so this tune has been especially challenging for me to “keep up with” in terms of finding space to “reply” within the conversational form. We had the most fun ever with it tonight… Many thanks to Doug Tidaback and family, Rodney Burton, and the Arizona Jazz Academy for all of their efforts in putting this program together!

Albuquerque, Scalo Grill, Northern AZ Univ.

1/26 Friday. Denton to Tucumcari. Scott spent grad school in Denton, so we toured around town a bit. Kept looking for the Texas Pickup, a one-time local chili house (sure…why not for breakfast?) We finally learned it was no longer there. Stopped in Vernon, TX at the Red River Valley Museum in hopes of seeing memorabilia about the great jazz trombonist Jack Teagarden. There’s not much left on display except his horn with its altered spit valve. Jack sheared it off and customized the instrument so that it would be self-draining. There are a few more Vernon musicians mentioned, but we didn’t stay long because we still had a Texas-sized journey ahead in which the landscape appeared to be moving right along with us… I took these pictures along a one-lane country detour, just east of Quanah, TX where there appeared to be a hazardous spill that everyone was being directed around. Large trucks had a particularly difficult time navigating the narrow lanes and deep side-ditches, and we got to see some countryside and town life close up.

1/27 Tucumcari to Albuquerque was a sunny, beautiful drive. Enough snow to pleasantly cover the scene. We arrive at Sandra Goulart’s charming and peaceful adobe back house, and settle in for a nap. Scott’s got a cold, and Sandra’s library could not be more enticing for me. We meet Stu MacAskie, pianist, who leads the house trio at Scalo. Bassist Michael Glynn (left) played solidly and drummer Arnaldo Acosta (3rd from left) provided creative spark.



Stu (2nd from left) is good…very good. He has a gracious style on the mic. His very sensitive comping and melodic soloing made the evening a lot of fun, in spite of the fact that Scott was challenged by his cold. I sang more solo tunes than I normally would, and Ellington’s “Prelude To A Kiss” was a real treat for me, as well as for the audience to hear.



The Scalo audience was very warm and encouraging, and there is talk about our returning. Owner Elaine Blanco was especially sweet and said “You should be in the Oak Room at the Algonquin…” Well…ok, Elaine, but we’re looking forward to coming back to Scalo’s too…






1/28 Morning came very early today….up in time for breakfast, warm-up, and rehearsal before the first service at the Albuquerque Center for Spiritual Living. We sang a duet pairing of two songs with Stu, Rodney, and John Bartlett. One was an ancient Welsh carol called “Awake Were They Only”, with Thad Jones’ “A Child Is Born”. They gave us a standing ovation. I sang “Beautiful Love” for their offertory. We did this for two services and really enjoyed our morning with this beautiful gathering of vibrant people. We shared Chinese lunch at Chopstix with Sandra and the band. Albuquerque to Gallup wasn’t a terribly long drive, but it shortened the next driving day.

1/29 Third “lazy morning” of our entire tour out. We spend it trading off getting online. Next time we take two laptops on the road! Gallup to Flagstaff was a beautiful and short drive. That evening Scott lead a trombone sectional for David Vining, a professor of trombone studies at Northern Arizona University. Between times, we explored old town Flagstaff. The Weatherford Hotel’s Charlie’s Café serves a dynamite green chile posole, and it was especially charming to dine and watch the first light fall of fat snowflakes.

KETR, Commerce Texas

1/25 Thursday, Memphis to radio interview on KETR in Commerce, TX at Texas A & M University with Bruce Tater and Mark Chapman. What a kick! We met Bruce at the local gas station. He brought us home for time to freshen up and take a peek at his incredible library of jazz sounds in all forms and from all eras. Amazing! He even gave us a duplicate album of one of our favorite LA cohorts, sax player Roger Neumann. Gee, he looks so young in the pictures… The great Blue Mitchell was even in the band. Tom Rainer had dark hair, and Alan Kaplin had a moustasche.

Bruce treated us to a fantastic Italian dinner, where we met Mark Chapman, who was already midway thru his station break.



We continued to free-wheel thru our excited jazz conversations (Bruce is a treasure-trove of jazz stories and detail), and Mark adds a whole ‘nother generation of jazz observation. We continued with our laugh-a-minute zingy exchanges between spinning tunes from our albums and favorites that Bruce had brought along. Three hours buzzed by so quickly…and we honestly had a hard time deciding whether to go on for another hour, or throw on the previously scheduled syndicated show.

Scott’s beautiful trombone solo version of Nat Adderley’s “Roses For Your Pillow” was Bruce’s favorite ballad. I got a chance to introduce both Bruce and Mark to my version of Ellington’s “Prelude To A Kiss”.

Profuse thanks again to Bruce and Mark, who kept us clicking! The banter was so easy, so much fun, and totally informative besides. We hope the listeners enjoyed it as much as we did!

Memphis Music Making

1/23 This life as a traveling musician sucks sometimes. Had to be up by 5 AM to hit the road from Baton Rouge to make a noon lunch in Memphis and a 1 PM band clinic at the U. of Memphis. Of course, lunchtime at Central BBQ on Central Ave. was a major motivating factor, and in the end, worth every bit of effort! Jack Cooper directs the jazz ensemble and let us sit in with the band while they rehearsed. They were going through of Jack’s original tunes “Her Moon Rises In The East” and discussing strategies for the design of a slow crescendo during an extended passage. It just had not hit me till now about what an athletic endeavor playing in a band requires. They had some nice players with big sound – some switching instruments to fill out the band – impressive.

1/24 Scott got up early this morning to do an arranging clinic at the U. for Gary Topper’s class while I enjoyed the room at the Artisan Hotel. Gig at the Memphis Club, Zanzabar. We had a wonderful evening at Keesha’s classy art gallery/club in old town Memphis, right on Main Street’s trolley line. She’s offering a wonderful menu too. Neat part of town, and a fantastically appreciative audience. Scott and trumpeter Dave Spencer met each other at Florida State. Sax man Gary Topper was one of the first musicians that Scott met while working in New York. One could tell that the three horn players were delighted to be playing together again. They played some of Dave and Gary’s original songs – Dave’s “Monday Morning” Pianist Chris Parker was sparking, and drummer Kim Trammel and bass player Sam Shoup filled out the rhythm section. Dave’s “Monday Morning” bossa tune was melodiously reflective, and Gary Topper’s closing tune, “Interplay” was a lighthearted entwining of horn lines. Students from the U. of Memphis jazz band ensemble were there and it was fun talking with them outside of the band clinic. Thanks Memphis, for a wonderful evening - we’ll be looking forward to returning as soon as possible!

Let’s talk about Dave Spencer for a minute… one of Scott’s closest friends during his Florida State days, Dave is a great trumpeter. Scott had always referred to Dave as the “Godfather of Seoul” Of course, I always heard that as “soul”, and didn’t understand until just now… Dave was principal trumpet with the Seoul philharmonic, and gained a reputation for R & B style arrangements which were new to the Korean culture….so they called him the godfather of Seoul… Dave’s a magnificent cook too, and hosted us in his elegant loft digs in Memphis Heights. What a view!

1/25 This life as a traveling musician is brilliant sometimes, in details that would matter to no one but us. Set the scene.... Water everywhere on I-40 westward just over the Mississippi. No wonder they call this delta land. Birdwatching heaven. A lot of over-filled trucks and trailers. Looks like they’re moving west. A bleary-eyed stop at a Waffle House for quick breakfast. As the grits are waking us up, patrons are comfortably jokin' & joshin' employees in ways we've not heard at other food stops (feels like home...) we listen to RB songs we've heard forever. On "My Baby's Back In My Arms Again", I hear something new. Bass clarinet??!! Is this a new mix on this tune? I keep it to myself for a minute, and then ask Scott if he had ever heard that bass clarinet in that place in that arrangement too? You heard that too?!! We figure someone in this Waffle House has tweaked the bass, but laugh about the musician in the session - his little bit finally came through. Audiophile bliss. There are few I could travel with that this would have any meaning to at all. We're on the right track.

Baton Rouge routes

1/21 The road to Red Stick. Long drive from St. Louis to Baton Rouge... Frozen water fall flows squeezed out of the layered rock formations on either side of the highway as we headed south, wishing our temperature gauge would rise as fast as our driving. A Boiling Point restaurant below Memphis provided our first taste of really good jumbalaya, and three kinds of cooked oysters, Rockefeller, Bienville, and St. Charles style. Biggest oysters I’ve ever seen. Chased them with a cup of the hottest gumbo we’ve ever eaten. Names like Bogue Chitto and Tickfaw kept us entertained during the constant rain.

1/22 Baton Rouge. A long way to go for no gigs, but dear friends are worthwhile to connect with no matter how far. I wanted to see my long-time musical mentor and instigator of inspiration, Jim Coday. I met him during an audition in junior high school when I was determined to get into his extra-curricular singing group called the “Choraliers” which had put on a spring “Broadway In Revue” show that I’d seen and flipped over. I sang with his high school groups at Blair High School in Pasadena, and with his “Vanity Fair” performing group. We went out to lunch at the French Market Bistro – excrellent! Jim is hale and hearty and thoughtful and as funny as ever. Just as ever, I’m trying to cajole him into taking a trip back to LA to visit many of his students over the years who still keep him close in their hearts. Some have even started a Jim Coday Foundation for the Arts group that funds efforts to enhance musical education in Pasadena.

Another dear friend and colleague of Scott’s, Jeannie Little, teaches trombone at Louisiana State. We attended a concert of their faculty brass quintet. They were adventurous and the evening’s repertoire included a Charles Ives piece and an original piece by another percussion faculty colleague. Later, Jeannie introduced us to a local brewhouse’s etoufee, a southern specialty made with crawdads. Yum!

Cookie's Jazz And More, St. Louis

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1/20 The spirit of St. Louis is alive and well and generous and effusive and friendly and...! Wayne Coniglio and Elsie Parker welcomed us into their home with our first home cooked meal. Cheers to chef Wayne – although he’s a trombone buddy of Scott since their New York City days, he also played bass for our gig at Cookie’s. Elsie is a very accomplished woodwind player and chanteuse of all songs French. Her repertoire is impressive and it was fun to spend time sharing music and a plunge in their local Richmond Heights family recreation center. The pool was refreshing with a huge slide and I went up and down it like a crazed kid, streamlining for speed. Here's a picture of me and Elsie in the middle, and Carolbeth True, who played piano on the Cookie's St. Louis gig.




Cookie’s Jazz! We had a great gig in beautiful Cookie’s jazz club in a charming suburb of St. Louis called Webster Groves.

The impressive Carolbeth True played piano, Kevin Giannino (right) played drums, and as mentioned, Wayne Coniglio (left) played bass. What a groove! Tunes felt great and the audience was receptive. We had some Jackie and Roy fans who liked what we were singing, and I visited with an old friend from Girl Scout daze, Jeannie (Skipper) Rowe. We would have been her guests on the Springfield, MO leg of our journey prior to St. Louis, except that the ice storm had knocked out the power to her entire county.

Halfway through the gig the snow started falling in huge beautiful petals. Trains would slide silently by a few times that evening, seen by the band thru the back window, but unseen by the audience facing the stage, and totally inaudible. A very interesting juxtaposition…

My friend Jeanne Rowe, from my Girl Scout summer days and her daughter Katie were there.



Many thanks to Cookie and Harold Whitfield for inviting us to make their hip and classy club our home in St. Louis. We are very fortunate that Scott has such warm and supportive “cuzzins”, and we hope to return as soon as possible.

UNO to OSU to Springfield, MO

1/16 Drive from Des Moines to Omaha, and the University of Nebraska, Omaha. Roads are clear but it was about 12 degrees. Beautiful snow covered stubbled fields edged with milkweed pods sporting a mouthful of snow each. Scott had a workshop with the brass students (including a few curious woodwind players…), and Ginger listened to the new jazz vocal ensemble and worked with the singers.






We shared a great dinner with the vocal jazz ensemble director, Kim Weiser, Pete Madsen, professor of trombone and director of jazz studies, and the marvelous faculty group that played with us later that evening. Andy Hall, bassist, Carlos Figueroa, drummer, pianist Mark Misfeldt, and Darren Pettit, saxes gave us marvelous support during the concert. It was especially fun to see workshop students again in another context, and answer further questions about the music and performing.





1/17 Oklahoma State University, Stillwater for a clinic with trombonist Paul Compton’s jazz students. Drove all day through Missouri, and a pretty desolate Kansas. Roads started getting a little slushy/gooey in Oklahoma. Seems municipalities down south don’t have the snow moving equipment for occasional storms like this. It had warmed up to about freezing when we arrived. We sang a few tunes with pianist Todd Malicoate, bassist Charles Peterson, and drummer Pat Bubert, and then went into a freewheeling Q&A about the life of musicians and our choices as jazz artists. The trombone ensemble of students brought out a fun little arrangement of an original tune in honor of Scott’s visit by bass trombonist Noel Seals. Cool tune! Scott is still moaning about sight reading without glasses… We really liked it…called “A Lil’ Payne County Funk”. Noel Seals is the bass trombonist in the gold shirt.








1/18 Free day on our way to St. Louis! Eve in Joplin. Every bit of vegetation is encased in ice. Fairyland.

1/19 Springfield, MO is clearly about ground zero for this ice storm. Hills and dales of whitened forests become more and more dense with heavily frosted bowed boughs. The entire tops of some tree groupings are snapped. My friend Jeanne Rowe (of Springfield) said that the sound of cracking branches was pretty loud and terrifying (she lives out in the woods near a river). Apparently the entire county is without electricity. Moving eastward to Rolla, much of the hoarfrost had melted.

Des Moines Big Band: Hot Band, Cold Land

1/15 Ginger and Scott with Des Moines Big Band at Adventureland in Altoona. We arrived on the last snow flurries of a minus 2 degree day. This is forehead freezing cold. However, the band was as hot as the day was cold. Jim Oatts, trumpeter (on the right in our trio pic), leads this band that’s been playing together in the Des Moines area for nearly 50 years.


They played a number of very interesting charts, including a “Moonlight in Vermont” that tenor Wayne Gage soloed on beautifully. We had the good fortune to hear a little known Thad Jones tune called “Let’s”. Sax man Steve O’Brien was featured on multiple instruments, and they brought Scott up to join them on an arrangement of “Beautiful Love” that another trombone player, Paul McKee arranged. I had the pleasure of performing Bob Florence’s beautiful arrangement of “We’ll Be Together Again” for the first time, and that is certainly a sentiment I will carry with me until our return visit to play with the Des Moines Big Band!

Into The Ice Storm

1/13 Packed up Sat. afternoon, after moaning with hosts Dean and Elizabeth that morning about having to leave them. Bid them a fond fare-thee-well and headed into the ice storm. It started raining before we left, and we made it to Du Bois, PA by 1 AM.

1/14 Spent all day driving in various stages of rain and falling temperature. By nightfall, however, it was below freezing and the roads were starting to clod up with snow clumps on the road and no plows in sight. We made it to Davenport, IA through a couple of inches and fairly fat flakes that at travel speeds made it seem a blinding snowstorm. Davenport is the birthplace of jazz legend Bix Beiderbecke, with whom Scott shares a birthday. The Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Society holds an annual tribute festival to Bix every July. Naturally Scott wanted to hit town and find his grave…not in this whiteout.

The Casa Loma Inn that we found felt like home, with high ceiling log cabin feel and a sitting room upstairs. When they offered to print entire 17 piece big band charts for Scott, they topped our list of hospitality houses. Late that night we shuffled powder snow as we crossed the road to the 24 hr. diner across the way, using an umbrella to shield us from the storm. (I’ve lived in snow, and I’ve never used an umbrella in the snow…) LA ice storm rookies...

Savoring The Apple

1/12 Spent till mid-day at the IAJE convention. Greetings to our new friends in Scandinavia and Hilton Head, SC. We’ll see you there when we come to town!

Ok here’s the Birdland story…. Can you imagine – thrill of trills in a cab?!! Scott learned through a phone call from a friend that they couldn’t come to see us at Birdland because it was SOLD OUT. Whoopdedoo! When we walked in the “back door” into the club area itself, Scott mentioned that he was “home”. For me, this was a dream come true – perfect sized club with a very friendly and “international family-style” staff. We arrived early enough to go through some programming notes with Tommy Igoe, the Friday Night Big Band’s drummer and leader (first picture backstage w/ Scott). Scott recognized some of the audience regulars from a few years ago, and had a ball reconnecting with beloved band mates.

The band blazed and the audience was enthralled with every punch and hit. Sounds like a boxing match – in a way, harmonically, it is. A KO, so to speak, is the aim of a song’s arranger and the entire band is the instrument they get to work through. This band is wonderful! These are some of the best musicians in town, and it shows in the dynamic detail and nuance that they bring to reading each chart. Tommy picked some great repertoire, and he also has a really nice announcing style and rapport with the audience. Stepping off the stage to hands outstretched in congrats and murmurs of “good job…sound great…” This meant all the more to me, since some of these jazz fans had heard the duo of Jackie Cain and Roy Kral. The sound system was great, and singing with Scott and this band was a thrill of a lifetime for me.

A number of people in the audience asked me if my last name was Birdland. Funny they should ask… Berglund is an unusual name and is never pronounced correctly in the U.S. Sven Nyquist (Ingmar Berman’s cinematographer) taught me on the set of the “Postman Always Rings Twice” that the correct pronunciation of my name was Berry Loon. The first time I ever saw my name in print – in a 7th grade gymnastics competition listing – it was noted as Ginger Birdland. Little did I know…

I’m going to post pictures on my website, although I won’t be able to caption any. Regrets, you’ll just have to try to match them up. The first for Birdland will be of Scott and Tommy Igoe conferring in the back room over tunes and tempos before the set. I got pics of each section (saxes, bones, trumpets), and three of the bone players together, Mike Boschen, Scott, and Dale Turk.

IAJE Convention notes

Pics: #1 Frank Wess, #2 Mark Murphy, #3 Bill Watrous, #4 Benny Powell, #5 Summit Records group


1/11 We attended the International Association for Jazz Education annual conference at the NYC Hilton. Jam packed with familiar faces… Marvin Stamm, who plays trumpet on the “Speaking of Love” CD was there playing with his group, and our photographer’s husband is pianist Bill Mays, was playing there with Marvin’s group.

We heard an amazing collection of saxophonists that afternoon, led by the great lead alto player, Jerry Dodgion. Jimmy Heath sat right in front of us. Frank Wess was the featured guest soloist and conference attendees were primed to hear one of the great legends of jazz music. Here’s a picture of Scott and Frank Wess, the man he can’t stop talking about…”listen to that Basie sax lineup!”…”one of the funniest guys I know…”

Although 85 years old, and having recently suffered a heart attack, Frank played both flute and tenor sax like the ageless wonder that he is. The audience cheered each creative phrasing, and would gasp at each moment when it was clear he was going to grace us with yet another inspired chorus.. At the end of the concert Scott pointed out the obvious…that we had all witnessed someone and something absolutely magical

We ran into one of our all-time favorite singers, Mark Murphy. Giacomo Gates, another great singer, took the picture with Mark holding up our CDs.

Mark’s version of Jobim’s “Waters of March” kicked off my obsession to learn the song and record it on the “Haven’t We Met” CD that Mark is holding up. Mark has a very original, adventurous, and spontaneous style of interpreting songs, and I’ve enjoyed every one of his recordings that I could manage to find and listen to. His inventive expression is what I aspire to, so you can imagine my excitement at finally meeting him!

Bill Watrous and Scott are old trombone buddies - we were thrilled to see Bill hale, hearty and happy.

Benny Powell, another trombonist with Scott, was in the Basie band with Frank Wes. When Scott lived in NYC, the two of them played in Dean Pratt’s Pratt Brother’s Big Band.

Check out the picture taken at the Summit Records booth at the IAJE. Pictured are Kip Sullivan (l) and Darby Christensen (r). Summit has been Scott’s label home for a number of releases. We’re looking forward to an October release of our duo album.

Don't Tell Mama eve pics

Ginger and Scott at the Don’t Tell Mama gig. Thanks to all of you who came out to support us! Let’s see how posting pics on the blog works…

The musicians playing at Don’t Tell Mama were also the players on the album, “Speaking of Love”. Ted Kooshian, pianist, bassist Mary Ann McSweeney, Willard Dyson, drummer, and saxophonist, Scott Robinson.

True to New York transportation style, Scott Robinson, his brother Dave, and the monster bari sax caught a ride back to Teaneck with us. The two Scotts regaled us with great stories about life on the road with Toshiko Akiyoshi! Thanks again to all for a great evening!

Biting the Apple, part 1

1/7 All the way to Indiana yesterday, drove from dinner in Pocantas Illinois to an eve in Cloverdale, then the rain came…When Dean Pratt opened the door at 1:30 AM he quipped that they “hadn’t had a good rain in quite a while, and thanks for bringing it.!”

1/8 Ginger learns about storage locker culture. Scott emptied pocket after pocket for the keys, only to discover he hadn’t brought the right keys, nor even all of the necessary ones! 3,000 miles and we didn’t have the right keys… Discovered that if you haven’t seen or used whatever for a couple years, you probably don’t need it….unless it’s got some promo reference, is a festival poster, or is a picture. Sounds easy, eh? In Scott’s case however, this means mountains of reviews, correspondence from fans, telephone notes and points of contact written on hotel letterhead, and oh, yes, the music. Stacks of staff paper with ideas, transcriptions, lead sheets of original composer’s handwriting, collections from this band and that pit orchestra…whew! Scott cruised his old neighborhood of Chelsea and kept pointing out folks along the street he knew. A wonderful dinner at Don Giovanni’s on 10th Ave. made everything worthwhile.

1/9 Breakfast today and yesterday with Dean and his lovely wife, Elizabeth Boleman-Herring at Louie’s in Teaneck. We discussed vacations in Greece (Elizabeth is an expert about and a writer of all things Hellenic…) and talked about Dean’s Pratt Brother’s Big Band (he’s a trumpeter and long time friend of Scott’s). Photoshoot in the afternoon with Judy Kirtley. We had a blast! Got some great pictures, so stay tuned to see how the fruits of our afternoon develop…so to speak.



1/10 Scott picked up Scott Robinson’s monster bass saxophone that he played later in the evening with us at our opening NYC show and CD release party at the cabaret “Don’t Tell Mama”. Booker Sidney Meyer welcomed us and showed us around, (they have a couple performance rooms). Sound check with Curtis that afternoon (he did a great job!) and wondered if we needed a “tech rehearsal”…oh, right, that’s something that they do in the theatre…. Went over a few parts with piano player Ted Kooshin, who played on the “Speaking of Love” album.

In fact, all the players that night were from that original recording. They all played wonderfully and we had a really great time! We must mention how neato it was to hear that bass sax on the tune “Suger”, and of course it was Scott R.’s playing that brought that amazing instrument to life. Stu Hamstra, of Cabaret Online.com mentioned it was the “biggest saxophone he’d ever seen!” Mary Ann McSweeney, bass player sight read and nailed Jennilfer Leitham’s tricky arrangement of Henry Mancini’s Dreamsville. Willard Dyson, reminded us that that his creative drumming is impeccable and unparalleled. Ted’s chile pepper tie underscored his solidly hot playing.

Thanks to the Summit Record crew for showing their support at the late show after just stepping off the plane from Phoenix! Ginger’s Girl Scout camp friend, Amy (Kelly) Comport, two daughters and a friend came out from Connecticut. Scott Robinson’s brother Dave was there, and an old friend of Scott’s, Sarah Hayes, from their Orlando days.

Yes, Dean and Elizabeth were in the audience too…We played Bill Evan’s “Bill’s Hit Tune” and it was especially sweet to play, since it is on the new CD, but even more so because Elizabeth wrote some really smashing words for the song. Her version is called “Adagio in Pearl” and is a beautiful collection of images from the Greek isles.

Kick-off Concert, Pasadena thru Twelfth Nite Tulsa Time

12/30/06 Six geese a laying day. I migrate flying in a jam-packed van from La Jolla to Sun Valley to Pasadena, laying boxes at the latter destinations like eggs to be cracked upon our arrival home in February. Trying to remember the adaptor cord for this and that that we’ll need on the road, or the address book, or the camera (which remains missing).

12/31/06 Seven swans a swimming day. Love this Finale program playback for practicing, but there’s some sort of build up of random notes that ends up sounding like a bagpiper drone in the midst of the jazz band. Oh, maybe that’s the swan’s songs? Honk, honk. Scott arrives midday from Guadalajara after a Mexican style (meaning hours long) big band gig down there. I’m trying to track down big band charts to fill out my book.

Scott’s got a New Year’s Eve gig at Charlie-O’s with the John Heard trio featuring Don Menza and Scott. I’m playing with the Tracy Wells Big Band at the Long Beach Marriott.

1/1/07 Eight maids a-milking day…We need eight maids a-filing today. We spend the morning organizing. Tweaking and printing charts, going through mail from three locations.

Musing on the Tracy Wells gig, which was as sweet as ever. Classy black and silver balloons matched my new dress. I can lean over and read the music on Bill Journey’s stand. He plays the opening solos on Anita O’Day’s Boogie Blues and I know this is our tribute tune to her this evening. Charlie Orena, Kim Richmond, Ed Valasco, and Karen Z. filled out the sax section. She mentioned that Fred Peters wasn’t feeling well, and she was filling in for him. Hooray, another woman on the bandstand!

Scott’s big band played Charlie-O‘s the eve of New Year’s Day. We sang a couple duo songs each set. Jennifer Leitham’s solo on the main title tune of “The Fox” was especially inspired. Alisha Ard sat in for Gary Tole on 2nd bone – many members in the band mentioned how much they enjoyed hearing her solid playing. Kim Richmond and Roger Neumann, Glenn Morrissette, Bryant Byers, Bob Summers, Larry Williams, Jamie Hovorka, Kendall Kay, Jennifer Leitham, and Corey Allen played.

1/2/07 Happy Birthday Kendall Kay! Nine ladies dancing day while my dream team rehearsed at the Pasadena Jazz Institute. They’ve now got a pool table in what we called the rehearsal room.

We’re talking tours coming up…about what we’ve begun to call the “Are We Ever Going To See Dry Land Again” tour…which is the Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona cruise in late April/May. This is the Mike Vax Big Band, and there will be a fun collection of Stan Kenton band alums, including Kim Richmond, Carl Saunders, Mike Suter, Kenny Shroyer, Dale Devoe (who I met and played with years ago at Manhattan Jazz), Roy Wiegand, and Gary Hobbs.

We talk about the up the coast “Checking On The Kid” Tour, or “Are You Ever Going To Graduate” Tour....gigging reasons to go and check up on my son, the almost-got-a physics-degree-but-likes-school-too-much, actually making-money-with-his-power-trio Furlong and too-busy-to-post-changes-to-my-website-to-force-me-to-learn-how-to-be-a-web-mistress kind of son. Best kind…thanks Schell…

1/3/07 Ten Lords a Leaping on my birthday! Roger Neumann’s birthday too. My friend from Girl Scout camp, Chris Olson’s friend Lisa’s father, Richard was at the gig too, celebrating his birthday.

The birthday concert was wildly successful, and a lot of fun. We all felt so good about being there with friends and family, sharing what we do best in a really unique and, honestly, magnificent setting. Thanks Paul! What a thrill for me to be able to do the song Amazonas (for which I wrote the lyrics) with a group that’s rehearsed it towards full effect. We sang a particularly inspired version of “You Inspire Me”, after having heard that Harry and Terry Lloyd, Flip Manne, Gisele and Gilles Mongeau had heard Jackie and Roy in person. We’re looking forward to seeing Jackie Cain at “Don’t Tell Mama” in NYC.

Juliana Gondek, my long-time-since jr. high school, UCLA opera vocal dept. teacher and friend, and Marcus Hess, one of my St. Olaf friends was there. My sister Karla, her husband Larry Hughes (a clarinetist), and their daughter Elina, my mom and dad, and brother Len were there too. My son Schell and his squeeze Misty were there, and Roger’s family came out in force. Herman and Virginia Moreno were there too.

Roy McCurdy surprised us and dropped by, as well as our dear friend, Barbara Martin. Gary Tole, trombonist and bandleader of the Legends of Swing band was there and delivered the cake, which said “Happy Birthday Ginger Roger’s” to the bandstand.

We asked Jennifer to sing her tune “Stick It In Your Ear” at the last minute. When I called her late in the afternoon, she was covering for the fact that she was actually on her way to pick up the cake, and didn’t know if she’d get home in tome to get the charts for the tune too. As usual, she brought the house down singing and playing…

Special thanks again to Paul Lines and Jaz and Jenny of the PJI bunch. What a team and what a place!!

1/6/07 Twelve Drummers Drumming Day. Happy Twelfth Night! Oklahoma City is mighty pretty the morning after a 24 hour driving marathon. Scott, who now is warming up on a newly repaired beloved old horn welcomes me to the road warrior club…but I’ve done this before! Flora Purim & Airto Moreira (Brazilian jazz legends extraordinaire) April 1982, LA to NYC. Scott and I took a moment in Amarillo, TX to find a wireless connection at a Starbucks and try to accomplish a bit of office correspondence. It was a real treat to pick up an email from Flora and Airto (!) to congratulate me on my retirement. I can assure you….a wonderfully sweet retirement so far!

44 degrees F on I-44 North. Close cropped golden grassy highway corridors, reflections of bare trees in the sloughs and ponds off the side of the road – yup, this is the Midwest. 70 miles to Tulsa. Texas flats giving way to rolling hills.

Tulsa time is pretty cloudy, sleepy…”and various other dwarfs”, Scott says. The wide and flat Arkansas River is the forefront of a great view of the city as we sail over the I-44 bridge. Last time I was in Tulsa was on tour with Flora and Airto, where we had to leave our rental car in town because of a snow storm and catch a train to Buffalo, NY to make the next gig…

This is getting to be blog-zilla, Scott says…signing off for now…but, dear reader, we shall return. Keep swingin’!