My new record “After Forgetting” is finally out. This one took a while to get together. It features my dear friend Bill Brennan on piano. Bill and I have a great relationship on and off stage. We know how to make each other laugh and we’ve really been there for each other through the years....
Big bands are more about people than music. Ellington wrote specific parts for specific sounds people made. Freddie Green played with Count Basie for 50 years. In buses, hotels, and in rehearsal, players learned to live and work together against all common sense. The twenty-two hours off stage is fuelled by the two hours on...
Travel by plane 45,926km Proudest Moment Helping my wife Jenny Ambrose move The Makehouse into its new location and seeing it do so well. Honourable mention: getting to know Shane Kelly and learning how to take better photos with him. Funnest Gig (witnessing) The single best gig I was at was Eugene Chadbourne at Logan’s Pub, Victoria BC. Honourable mentions...
There are the truly great, impossibly lovely gigs at the top. They often have nothing to do with music. If July 23, 2001 was not the very best gig I've ever been a part of, it surely ranks way up there. More than that, it always will remain at the top. I didn't really join The Discounts...