"Leslie Lewis et Gérard Hagen" 24 Juillet 2017 Bonjour de Paris

Bonjour de Paris ...


Chers Amis,

This week we will be on the road at the La Baule Jazz Festival. This is the last big push in what has been a really busy month where much of it has been spent on the road. We are both very excited to be spending some time in California, Washington and Ohio next month. We are very grateful for this opportunity to be able to see, reconnect and catch-up with everyone. Plus we get to make music with some very good friends not to mention having Peter Giron, our Paris based bassist with us for part of this trip.

Peter Giron, our bassist in Paris.

A few images from this month's travels.

We had an unexpected addition to our July itinerary in that I spent a few days in the hospital literally in between gigs. Everything is fine now and I am heading toward a complete recovery. The time spent away from work has put us behind in terms of getting our new recording prepared for release. We managed to get the mixing and mastering done (thank you Jerry) and also to get the artwork done. Now it is simply a matter of how long it takes to get everything processed and with any luck we will at least have download cards of the new recording available at our concerts in August for anyone who is interested.

Leslie's new recording done in Paris.

On Bastille Day we had a great concert at Sunside Jazz Club in Paris. This was not at all a "for sure thing" given the way things went that day. The day started with Leslie traveling to work in La Mans while I was waking up in a hospital bed waiting to get discharged. After being discharged I made the 5 minute walk from the hospital to the train station in the Boissy-Saint Antoine suburb of Paris. During that time I became very tired making me aware of how little gas I had in the tank. After returning to our apartment in Paris I spent much of that afternoon asleep before going to the club for soundcheck around 8:00 pm. Leslie, on the other hand, sang a concert in Le Mans and then dashed off to catch a train to the Paris suburb of Massey. Once there she had less than an hour to get to the gig. She went to purchase her ticket to get a commuter train into Paris only to find a very long line of people buying their tickets to get into town for Bastille Day celebrations. By the time she arrived at the club, we had already begun the concert with some instrumental jazz. The manager of the club took one look at her and walked over to give her a big reassuring hug. As she walked to the bandstand I could see that she was really flustered, somehow between that first glance and the time she said hello to the audience (only a few seconds) she completely composed herself and proceeded to sing her ass off for three sets to a full house ending with encores that made the gig go fifteen minutes overtime. From my perspective that was an amazing thing to witness.

Sunside Jazz Club

Because we experience improbable happenings quite often, I have stopped being surprised by these coincidences that seem totally improbable. As often happens, I had received an email from Michael, a friend from California who used to come to our gigs in L.A. He was asking about our Paris concert schedule, but unfortunately we didn't have anything booked during the time they would be in town. A few weeks go by and I had completely put that situation out of my mind. Meanwhile we received a late booking at The Speakeasy. It was our only night there this month. So who walks into the club, our friends Michael, Sheila and Roy who just happen to be staying at a nearby hotel and decided to check the place out! Another coincidence that night was that we met a couple who were celebrating a birthday. Their names were Leslie and Gerard.

Speaking of last minute gigs, Leslie has accepted an invitation to work with Ron Kobayashi at Bayside Restaurant in Newport Beach on August 11th. The gig will be followed by a jam session so please take the opportunity to drop by and say hello. I plan to be there to listen to them and perhaps play during the jam session as well.

We are making a big push to get people to our Aug. 3rd concert at Cleveland's "Bop Stop" jazz club. Please help us to get the word out by telling anyone you know in the Cleveland area. Tickets are available at http://www.themusicsettlement.org/calendar/2017/08/03/leslie-lewis-quartet-with-special-guest-jack-schantz-bop-stop

There are only a few seats available for our "Jazz At The Merc" concert in Temecula on August 17th. Tickets are available at https://tickets.temeculatheater.org/eventperformances.asp?evt=244.

Please check our website for news and updates. While you are there please sign up for our weekly email blast to learn where you can hear us. http://www.surfcovejazz.com

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. 
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http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/LeslieLewis
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http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/leslie-lewis/id27976719
http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/gerard-hagen-trio/id312875736

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