Gear, Part II

So there I am, sitting next to my John Monteleone Radio Flyer, a sweet, sweet, beautiful sounding acoustic/electric 16" archtop guitar. John finished it in 2002, and I received it on New Year's Day 2003, just in time to record the CD "Nature Boy" with Aaron Neville.

In my opinion, Monteleone is the greatest builder of carved-top guitars in the world today, and he offers a direct link to such great builders as John D'Angelico and James D'Aquisto, as well as Mario Maccaferri, builders who refined and extended the possibilities of the Jazz Guitar. Their guitars have been used (often!) by many of my heroes: players such as Django Reinhardt, Irving Ashby, George Benson, Joe Pass, and Jim Hall. John Monteleone learned from all three of these master craftsmen, and his instruments are informed by their tradition. Not only that, but he has gone beyond them, to add his own innovations and his brilliant sense of design to create stunning, masterpiece instruments that sound like no others. It is an honor to play this guitar.

The instrument is strung most often with D'Addario Phosphor Bronze strings (.013-.056), and is fitted with a Kent Armstrong floating pickup (a high-gain, PAF-style with adjustable pole pieces). The acoustic sound of the instrument is important to me, and is served well by the bronze strings. On Diana Krall's concerts, Dave Lawler (our front of house sound mixer and guru) uses a Neumann KM184 pointed towards the guitar to capture the acoustic sound of the Radio Flyer, which is then plugged directly into an all-tube "Belmont" amplifier made by Clark Amplification of South Carolina.
More about my Clark amp, and my 1969 Les Paul Deluxe tomorrow... Now I've got to check out of the hotel and get on the plane bound for Louisville.... Seems I heard a great song by Sam Bush about that town... Ah, and we're playing in the same theater where Allison Krauss and Union Station recorded their live DVD/CD. Good vibes there!

More tomorrow, AW

panties redux

After visiting YJ's snack bar a second time, and having a closer look at that little stretch of West 18th St. in KC, I came to the conclusion that the panties sold at the little panty shop--called Birdies, by the way--are for ANY panty-loving woman: no tatts or piercings or especially "edgy" personality required to appreciate and wear these sexy little numbers!

pork, panties, 'n' beans (Kansas City)

I might as well begin to actually use this blog. Months of touring, and not an entry since May...
Today, I am in Kansas City, on this continuing tour with Diana Krall...

We've been everywhere: all across Canada, and the US... We are playing Midwest dates now, and finish out our tour on August 24 at Radio City Music Hall in NYC. At the same time I am working on several arrangements for a 9-piece band that will perform on Labor Day at the Chicago Jazz Festival, led by the great saxophonist Bennie Wallace, in a tribute to Coleman Hawkins. The pieces I am arranging are all associated with Coleman Hawkins, such as "Bean & the Boys," "Body & Soul," "Indian Summer," "Queer Notions," "La Rosita," and "Disorder at the Border." Great music... and I hope my arrangements will be able to contribute something equally beautiful.

And of course, there's great food and great wine around every corner. Yesterday was a particularly gluttonous day.
I began by joining Peter Erskine (www.petererskine.com) Robert Hurst (www.bebobmusic.com) on a pilgrimage to one of the hallowed halls of Kansas City Barbecue: Arthur Bryant's (www.arthurbryantsbbq.com). The line was out the door, and taking our place, we were guided through the menu by the man in front of us. He and his daughter explained the differences between the various sauces they serve there, as well as the types of ribs and sandwiches. He tipped us off to keeping our pickles on a separate plate, so the juice doesn't soak the sandwich (very important), and regaled us with a story of visiting Arthur Bryant's on the day it was being robbed. According to the story, the robbers bungled the heist by not knowing how to open the cash register (or something), and were promptly arrested. When the cops questioned our guide, he told them he didn't see the need to hurt the robbers since they didn't touch his food!! It's all about the PRIORITIES here in Kansas City, and the priority is BBQ. At Arthur Bryant's we feasted on giant bbq pork and beef sandwiches, ribs, and amazing beans, washed down with ice cold beer. Fiona Mc Bain and Tony Leone from Ollabelle (our opening band for this whole US tour: www.ollabellemusic.com) came down and polished off some ribs as well. A fine hang indeed. A major nap was necessary if we were going to make it to our dinner at Lidia's restaurant, an Italian restaurant near the Union Station.

At Lidia's, the whole Diana Krall band, and our two tour managers Pete Buckland and Grant McAree, enjoyed a beautiful meal that included an incredible handmade ravioli filled with braised beef and veal in a sage/butter sauce, and a perfect pannacotta for dessert. The standout wine was a 1996 Giuseppe Quintarelli Valpolicella that was drinking perfectly. We also had a fine Tocai from the Bastianich Family winery in Friuli, and a lovely '97 Brunello which needed time. Finishing with a housemade Limoncello, we then piled into taxis and headed back to our hotel, to sleep it off.
If you're going to eat and drink like this, regular exercise is important. The thing that saves me is a daily 2-4 mile jog, which helps to keep me from fattening up, and keeps my head clear and my spirits high. If I miss a few days, I really notice it.

Today I planned my jog to end at a nearby coffeehouse that I'd seen while running yesterday. It's called YJ's snack bar and it's a little hippie-ish type of place with really good coffee and funky decor. There was a B3 organ and a little Gretsch drum kit in there, so obviously they have a little jazz there sometimes. It's on a little stretch of West 18th Street, near Wyandotte, next door to a great organic food store (I bought a perfect summer peach there), a handbuilt skateboard shop, a couple of used clothing boutiques, and a little shop that has sexy/trendy panties and bras for alternative girls, you know, the girls that are pierced everywhere and have tattoos everywhere and their hair is dyed some otherworldly shade of pink... So now you know where to go if you're one of those girls, or you like those kinds of girls; or, if you're in Kansas City and are jonesing for some good coffee and organic food. YJ's makes food as well, one specific breakfast/lunch/dinner is featured daily, and made there. Today they were grilling up sausages while I was there. Anyway, after a small snack and some coffee, I walked back to the hotel to resume work on my Hawkins-project arrangements and get ready for tonight's show.

I've received many inquiries from all over the place about my guitars & amps: what kind they are, how they are set up, etc... I will soon post a complete rundown (with some photos) of my whole rig so that those of you who have been wondering about it will no longer be in the dark...

For now, I'm signing off to do another kind of writing.

Talk to you soon.