Wayne Wallace CD release party at Yoshi's

Wayne Wallace and Rhythm and Rhyme had a CD release party at Yoshi's to celebrate his new release called "Reckless Search For Beauty". What a kick ass concert. Yoshi's is always a very cool place to gig and that night we had a packed house with many fans, friends, family and musicians. If you're not hip to Wayne's music then you haven't lived my friend. However, I wanted to bring up something that really spoke to me about that concert. (I'll write more about the concert at another date when I have alittle more time.) Louis Fasman is one of the Bay Area's premier trumpet players and is also one of my best friends. We will have been playing together for 30 years coming up in the summer of 07. Some of you may know that Louis has been ill for the past three weeks with Viral Meningitis. He thought he had migraines and when the docs checked him out they diagnosed him with VM. It's not the same as Spinal or Bacterial Meningitis(this one is what took down our tpt teacher, the late Dr. Herb Patnoe) but still, it can kick your butt and put you out of commission for a bit. Louis had a very able backup waiting in the wings, Chris Barnes in case he couldn't make it thru. Louis mentioned to me during the soundcheck that he might have to point to his part for me to play if he faded. In the back of my mind I thought "yeah right...you never have backed down from any part". But, I said I would do what was needed if he got tired. Man....he paced himself well the first set and got stronger and stronger and pasted the last chart "Use Me" to the back wall. That chart is a chop burner and he kicked major ass my friends. What a (for the lack of a better word) "Warrior". Louis Fasman is my hero. Damn, he had to dig deep within to get the job done and succeeded. We all should follow his example. It was totally inspiring. Louis, I will never forget that night when you felt that bad and played so well. I'll be back soon my friends to talk about the rest of the concert soon.
Peace, Worl