Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Thank You, Cleveland!

I just got back from a jazz tour. We hit five cities in about 30 hours. How is that possible, you ask? Well, I'll provide the itinerary:

Saturday, 1:30am. Flight from LA to Houston - city one.
Saturday, some-other-early-hour. Flight from Houston to Detroit - city two.
Saturday, late-morning. Flight from Detroit to Akron, OH. City three.
Saturday, 2pm. Drive from Akron to Cleveland, pick up rented bass from a violin shop that has no idea about basses. Good news, it wasn't that bad. Bad news comes later. By the way, Cleveland is City four.
Saturday, 6:00. Set up for gig with sound guy, who goes by "Ramhog." Yes, that's "Ramhog" of "Ramhog Productions, Inc." Once again, his moniker is "Ramhog." And here's the bad news: good bass, lame pickup, and Ramhog decided that it's a good idea to run an upright through a 12'' KEYBOARD AMP! So, the lesson is: don't hire a guy named Ramhog to do your sound for a jazz gig.
Saturday, 6:30. Play the gig at Mentor Lake Yachting Club. Good food, good folks, fun band. Good local drummer. Good free JWBlack on the rocks.
Sunday, 1:30am. Nighty-night.
Sunday, 3:30am. Up-and-at-'em.
Sunday, 6:30am. Flight from Akron to Chicago. City number five.
Sunday, some-other-time. Flight from Chicago to LA.
Sunday, 10:15am. Land in LAX. End of insane rite of passage into an actual travelling musician. Phew.

5 cities, one gig, a day and a half. Yeah, I'd probably do it again!

The highlight by the way was the pulsating, electronic, tunnel of space love in the Detroit Airport. Just ask the singer, Chris Williams.