Bonne Année ...
Chers Amis,
We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and feel as excited about the possibilities for new experiences in 2016 as we do. For us this year is off to a fast start! But before we get to that I want to let you know that after we returned from L.A., Leslie had a great three night run at the Jazz Club Etoile in Paris with jazz organ great, Rhoda Scott. Last year in December Leslie worked with Rhoda at the same club. The club is in the Hotel Meredien so one of the perks of the gig is that Leslie was given a hotel room during the three night run. We took advantage of that for a little mini-vacation two weeks before Christmas. Since we were away from home, 20 minutes away, but still away from home, we used the time to do some things we normally don’t do, like Christmas shopping and relaxing a bit during the day. Leslie and Rhoda’s band were killing it during their evening performances and I was a very proud, somewhat relaxed, husband. Jerry Kalaf was able to join us in Paris to welcome in 2016 with some great music. Louis Durra traveled from Berlin to join us for an “L.A. expat” hang for a few days. Leslie, Jerry and I were joined by bassist Peter Giron for three nights at Chez Papa Jazz Club concluding on New Year’s Eve. Those gigs were followed by a sold out concert at Sunside-Sunset Jazz Club on January 2nd. New Year’s Eve was a blast. We had a play list that included everything from jazz to R&B and 70’s dance music. We finished our last set at around 2:15 am. The club put on dance music after we finished and the revelers kept on with the party. It was around 4:00 am when we were offered plates of cheese, bread, oysters and chocolates. I think we got home around 5:30 am. The concert at Sunside-Sunset was a reprise of the “Billie Holiday” concert we did there last spring. It was the same band as the previous concerts at Chez Papa Jazz Club. I was really grateful that Jerry was here and could perform that show with us. Beyond that, the time we weren’t working was all about eating and walking after eating. We found a great Mexican place called “Fajitas”. Eating Mexican food for dinner was a common thing we all did for many years in California, but it was a little disorienting doing the same thing with the same people in Paris.
Leslie outside Sunside-Sunset Jazz Club, Paris.
Leslie, Gerard, Peter Giron on stage at Sunside-Sunset Jazz Club, Paris.
Jerry Kalaf & Peter Giron, Sunside-Sunset Jazz Club.
Leslie sings Billie Holiday.
Leslie enjoys the packed house, we had a great audience.
Another view of the Sunside stage.
Speaking of eating, we did not work on Christmas this year so we had friends over for dinner. I made stuffing to go along with rotisserie chicken and sautéed vegetables. I usually look at recipes and then improvise with whatever ingredients sound good to me. This was my first time making stuffing and it required way more improvising than I had expected. Fortunately we had the right things in our very, very small pantry and it turned out with a really nice crispy crust but otherwise was very moist. We put that one in the “win” column.
This month we have a number of “Cotton Club” shows in and around Paris. We have the usual jazz club gigs so this is a busy, and therefore good start to 2016. February is filling up with bookings including a trip to London to work at the SoHo Jazz Club. This spring and summer we will hitting the road again to play some jazz festivals.
Please remember to mention to any London based, jazz-loving friends about our concert at SoHo Jazz Club /Pizza Express on Dean St. in London on February 28th. Word of mouth is a very valuable promotional tool for us so… we would very much appreciate it if you could pass along this information if you know any jazz fans in London.
Until next time,
Leslie and Gerard
Please if you have any comments feel free to contact me at <gerard@surfcovejazz.com>. I enjoy hearing your thoughts. This email also appears on our website where you may comment as well. http://www.surfcovejazz.com/blog/
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