WorlView Live at Espresso Garden & Cafe

All I can say about our gig at Espresso Garden & Cafe is Wow! We had a great time playing for all of the folks that came out to see us last Friday night. Bev and Greg, the founders of TrueWind Music know how to throw a party. From the honor of being the “Hot Ticket” in Thursday's SJ Mercury News to Friday's interview with Yoshi Kato, we were almost able to sell the venue out!
We opened with Horace Silver's "Out Of The Night Came You" and ended the evening with "Autumn Serenade", dedicated to my wife Susan. The crowd was pretty damn feisty. We had quite a thing going at times, and it made it tough for me to play at times because I was laughing so hard. I have a habit of putting my foot in my mouth and that's all I'm going to say about that!
There were so many friends that fell by to see us and many new ones that we met for the first time. Tim and Gordon from Open Path Studios, Joe Doll, Cheryl Hopkins, Andy and Stephanie, Mike and Ann, Matt Beasley (the best artist rep a guy like me could ever hope for) and everyone one else, thank you all for making that gig, one I will remember always.
Skyline alumni (19**) and old friend, bassist John Hettel joined us for the evening and played his butt off! The upright bass he played on came from Gordon Stevens. During the break, Gordon climbed on stage to say hi to his old friend and played a couple of notes on it. Dr Wayne Wallace was on fire as usual and Kris Strom brought the house down on her solo on Stanley Clarke's "Why Wait". Greg played her new CD, "Intention" during the breaks and what a masterpiece that is. Look for it on CDBaby.com and Amazon.com soon. She is so talented and I confess she is my musical horn playing soul mate! From our work with Wally Schnalle to our present day musings with Ed Johnson and Novo Tempo, there is no other I would choose to work with. So Kris, if you get totally famous from your CD going triple platinum, I hope you still will play with us.....
Murray was his usual incredible playing self, weaving in and out of every style with grace and ease. Paul VW and Michaelle had the crowd on the edge of their chairs more than a few times with their dynamic interactions. On a different note, this was Paul's first gig back since the passing of his wife Carmen. She was a beautiful person and will be missed by all of us. I didn't say anything that night to Paul, the band or the audience but that evening was silently dedicated to her memory.
Thank you all again for coming out to see us at Espresso Garden & Cafe. Our next WorlView gig is on the evening of September 27th at Santana Row. This show is being presented by the San Jose Jazz Society. Stop by, check us out and come up and say Hi. See you then!!!
Ps. I’ll be back soon with blogs on my upcoming performances at the San Jose and Monterey Jazz Festivals.