Tonight we play a jazz gig...

Tonight, at 6:30 pm, the Jazz Ambassadors hold court at Patrick's Pub in Pittsfield to kick off the start of the Pittsfield Jazz Festival.  The mayor, Jim Ruberto, will be there as will a variety of other folk from the area - including a ton of jazz players. So, more than is often the case, we're going to play a LOT of jazz.  I suspect that there will be a few guests sitting in, too and that is always fun.

I had to learn 14 new songs for this gig - my mind is still spinning - and I suspect I'll blow a few. I recall, however, that sometimes Monk would simply rehearse his band on stage!  (I won't be that bad.) And there are a lot of great tunes that we nail - from "Night in Tunisia" and "Tenor Madness" to "Summertime," "Watermelon Man" and "All Blues."  We've got standards like "Paper Moon" - we've got blues like "Stormy Monday" - we've got ballads like "Someone To Watch Over Me" - and we have been known to improvise around some Rumi poems as well as bossa nova, bop and soul jazz, too.

So, if you are in the area and want some fun, please stop by starting at 6:30 pm. Patrick's Pub is right on the Square (which is actually a circle now but...) It should be a total gas... here's a clip from our last night in Istanbul.