Bonjour de Paris ...
Chers Amis,
In the last newsletter I wrote about the few days of spring weather that we were enjoying Paris. What I was afraid of came to pass and today we are back to jackets and scarves. Now I am predicting that we will once again go directly into summer with no spring transition. Can someone please tell me why they wrote all of those songs about "Springtime in Paris"?
This Tuesday we are performing an Hommage à Ella Fitzgerald in a concert at Sunside Jazz Club in Paris. That day also marks the 100th anniversary of her birth. We finished preparing the music for the concert at 4:00 am this morning. We are working with Peter Giron and Mourad Benhammou. If you are in Paris, check it out here http://www.sunset-sunside.com/2017/4/artiste/1852/4501/
Leslie, Gerard, Nicola Sabato & Mourad Benhammou at Sunset Jazz Club, Paris.
We have had a number of friends come through Paris of late. Our friend Phyllis Toney who is touring with Sting, was in town for three days. We had an opportunity to enjoy a great sushi dinner together, but the even better opportunity we enjoyed was the chance to hangout back stage before one of the concerts. Unfortunately we were working that night so we could not attend the concert but we did get to listen to the soundcheck. I was surprised, but very happy, that the soundcheck consisted of around nine tunes, so we heard a mini-concert. Afterwards while we were saying goodbye to Phyllis, Sting dropped by to say a few words to us. For those of you who are David Letterman fans you'll know what I mean when I say this was our latest "brush with greatness"!
Later in May we are going to London to meet with Karla Ross, another L.A. friend who is traveling in Europe. In a previous life she used to book us to perform at the Pelican Hill Resort in Newport Coast. We always look forward to being in London, it is one of our favorite cities. For me it is right up there with New York.
As of today the summer concert schedule is not on the "Laguna Beach Live" website. Unfortunately I don't know when the tickets for our August 2nd Wednesday night jazz concert will go on sale. Once the tickets are available you can purchase them at this link http://www.lagunabeachlive.org/concerts/jazz-wednesdays. On August 3rd we are leaving for Cleveland to play a concert at The Bop Stop followed by a short tour in that area. If you know of any jazz fans in Cleveland please let them know about our concert there. If you can't make the concert in Laguna Beach, we will be back in California for a concert at "Jazz At The Merc" in Temecula on August 17th. Peter Giron, our Paris based bassist, will be with us for most of our concerts this summer, so we are very excited about that. Peter is a great addition to the band both musically and as a friend. We have way too much fun on the hang at our gigs. We are happy to announce that Jerry Kalaf will be playing drums for these dates.
Next month we will be in West Africa to play a jazz festival in Conakry, Guinea. We are both looking forward to that experience. I am sure there will be some stories for next month's blog entry.
Please check our website for our May dates. We have the usual jazz club gigs in and around Paris including Chez Papa Jazz Club as well as Le Speakeasy and Monteverdi. While you are on our website please sign up for our weekly email blast to learn where you can hear us.
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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