Home after lunch

Today: solitary lunch of white bean soup, braised beef with baby onions & carrots, simple carafe of vin rouge, dessert of pot au creme, and after, an ethiopian coffee: all at Regalade, casual, but perfect, bistro, even since sold by its former owner and chef, Yves Camdeborde. Took the long walk home from the 14th to the 1st arrondissement, mostly along Boulevard Raspail, and passed Sofia Coppola walking on the street. She's a beauty, for sure, a rather special creature. I'm a bit lost in my own translation, but slowly entering this time zone and able to feel adjusted and bright, rather than dull and totally out of sorts.

Dreamwalking in City of Lights

"strange days indeed" said maestro john lennon, not in reference, but applicable, to my situation here in paris beginning this tour. non-synchronization of day and night stinging me, sudden bouts of excitement in the night (not sexual, just up, awake, ready to go!), and low lows during the day. a need to sleep comes over me, each day at a later hour, thank god. but still, after playing my heart out for two hours straight: i'm up again! no need to sleep. diana recommended the soothing chocolat chaud of paris, a shot of pure pleasure, and not ovaltine or nestle quik, which i relished last evening; and today, an early morning jog (haha, 11 AM!!!) helped set me up for the day. lunch alone at a brilliant small restaurant--"au trou gascon"--where Jeff Hamilton and I enjoyed Cassoulet in December 2001, today reading kerouac's "big sur" and crying at the longing he is so deft at describing, and knowing that longing in myself as well. thinking what would be my next recording, where am i going next with my music, and with my life; reviving sweet memories of here and also the city of my birth and my current incarnation as a man. embrace life, longing and all, go faithfully in the direction of the light, floated by the rhythm and the energy of song.

The Perfection of Paris

After being "off" in Los Angeles for ten days, I'm back out, this time beginning a European tour with Diana Krall. We've returned to the "scene of the crime"--- Paris, France. We'll do a five-night stand at the Olympia Theater, where we recorded DK's live album. You can't believe the beauty of this city... It's immense, it's stunning, it's poetic for sure.
Flew overnight, direct from LA, and arrived in the late morning today (Thursday). I showered and beat a path straight to one of my favorite restaurants of all-time: "L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon." If you saw my list of favorite things from last year, you might recall my description of this almost temple-like space, quiet and serene, with small, intensely-flavored dishes such as "Les Palourdes" (small mussels with garlic and parsley, in the fashion of escargot), or Carmelized Quails with Truffled Potatoes. I sat beside a woman from Dallas, who is on a 2-day layover before she heads to South Africa, and we enjoyed our parallel meals. She is a "food stylist" by trade---which means she arranges food for photo shoots---so together we admired the way these exquisite dishes were presented, e.g. my palourdes on a bed of sea salt on a glass plate, or her pigeon, covered with some kind of beautiful leaf... I walked back to the hotel, ready to nap until dinnertime.

There's lots to write, about music, about wine and food, and my thoughts of what I'd like to do in the future... And I have time now to do it, so you'll be hearing from me soon.

Be seeing you!

A few days' labor

It's Saturday of Labor Day weekend. I'm in a Hyatt hotel in Chicago where, among other things, there is a "Romanian Convention" being held. The place is crawling with lovely young Romanian girls. But that's not why I'm here. I'm here for the Chicago Jazz Festival. I'm playing a concert with Bennie Wallace today, a Centennial tribute to Coleman Hawkins. Yes, I managed to write the arrangements that I began earlier this summer, though I procrastinated quite a bit. But there's no denying their quality, so I'm glad of that. The music is fun to play, and quite adventurous. I wrote arrangements for "Body and Soul," "Bean and the Boys," "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho," "La Rosita," and "Disorder at the Border." Bennie Wallace did a great chart on "Honeysuckle Rose." We also play "Under a Blanket of Blue" as a small group number. In the band we have Gilbert Castellanos (trumpet), Adam Schroeder (baritone sax), Jerry Dodgion (alto sax), Ray Anderson (trombone), Donald Brown (piano), Danton Boller (bass), and Herlin Riley (drums). It's a great band, and just a shame that we can't do a full-fledged tour at this point.

Since Kansas City, I've been all over the map... Well... all over the Midwest, at least. A particular highlight was a five-day stay in Chicago, where I diligently wrote music during the days, and went to some amazing restaurants at night. Arun's Thai Restaurant is always a peak experience in Chicago, and our visit there this time was no exception. The food is like no other Thai food you've had, and the people there are gracious and down to earth. Their wine list has some real gems: we had a Garretson Rousanne, a Littorai Pinot Noir, and Sine Qua Non In Flagrante Syrah! What a night.

Then we headed east for a couple of days. Diana Krall's tour ended with a great show in NY at Radio City, and the next day I headed out to Long Island to spend a few days writing and seeing friends. After that, I met up with Bennie Wallace at his home in Greenwich, CT to finish writing the music for the Hawkins tribute. We imported Adam Schroeder from L.A., who helped us with all the last-minute copying of parts. Really rewarding work. We played a show in Mount Vernon, NY on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Bennie, Danton and I rehearsed for a gig the following night at Shanghai Jazz in Madison, NJ. That was a fun show, because we had Victor Lewis on drums. Wow, in one week I will have played with three of the greatest drummers today: Victor Lewis, Alvin Queen (in Mt. Vernon), and Herlin Riley. That's crazy! I'm so lucky! There's nothing I love more than playing with great drummers, and I get to do it all the time.

Tomorrow I head home for 10 beautiful, peaceful days off. After that, it's another heavy round of touring with Diana, this time in Europe. As well, this Fall I will also work with my own band, as well as a couple of recording dates. I'll post the dates for my own gigs soon on the website.

OK... that's a little update. Maybe not too entertaining, but just a rundown of what I've been doing. More to come soon.