Summertime means big festivals! - July 12, 2010
Epic journeys, free download, Montreal and NYC
Well, it’s been a crazy few weeks. I’ve been on the road with the Jazz Mafia sharing the Brass, Bows and Beats symphony with new audiences coast to coast. In June, our 40-piece band played at the Hollywood Bowl for the Playboy Jazz Fest. This was a special experience for me particularly because this is a stage The Beatles performed on. Wow. The stage is actually on a circular, rotating platform...it goes kinda fast, too. You gotta balance yourself. They actually will spin you off and literally rotates in the next band when your time is up, even if you’re in the middle of a song. Bang, bang, bang…very LA., and the next band is playing. We diligently timed our set, as to make sure we didn’t become part of the infamous “spinners club”.
After a couple weeks back in the Bay, we headed out to New York City. We were greeted by a very exuberant audience at Le Poisson Rouge in Greenwich Village. After the show, the band gathered on the street to load up our gear and created quite the party and impromptu jam-session on the streets of Manhattan. In would have been nice to hang out in NYC for a little longer, but we were headed to Montreal for their summer jazz fest.
Driving into Montreal last Saturday was amazing, I could tell right away that this was a special town, very reminiscent of Europe in it’s architecture, mixed in with some crazy modern buildings. After the muggy heat of NYC, the clear, crisp air was refreshing, like a perfect day back home in the Bay. I really didn’t have much idea what to expect from the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal…but as soon as our band pulled into the area of the festival, I realized this was a major international jazz festival. After getting a late start on our drive from New York, and taking a long time to get over the border, we had to rush to our first set. I was performing with Joe Bagale that night, and other smaller bands within the Jazz Mafia were slated to perform as well. Joe, The Shotgun Wedding Quintet and Crystal Monae Hall all did a wonderful job representing our slice of the San Francisco music scene that night…and the Montreal audience received us so warmly. For Joe’s second set that night, our crowd was really fired up, and I was so surprised that the plaza was packed with what I would estimate to be about 8,000 people…and this was just a side stage.
That got us all revved up for our main stage performance the following night with the orchestra…the festival organizers estimated the crowd to be 60,000 to 80,000 for the Canadian debut of “Brass, Bows and Beats”.
That Sunday night was a night none of us will ever forget, it was a great leap forward for the Jazz Mafia. We performed the symphony to a huge audience, on an insanely giant sound system, and stage equipped with jumbo-tron screens, ha!
The staff that night was amazing and professional, amazingly professional, in fact! Running the sound system and setting up a 40-piece band is no small task, and they didn’t even flinch. The folks at the Montreal jazz fest do things right. I heard from friends that the sound out front was mind-blowing…to hear that many horns and strings coming through that many watts was a first for even seasoned music fans.
We made so many great new friends in Montreal…it’s such an incredible city (haha…footnote, I probably couldn’t handle the winter there, though!). There were jam sessions every night, with our SF peeps sitting in with our new friends and their Montreal bands…among them Papa Groove, Coyote Bill, and the Kalmunity Collective. I’m seriously considering reserving an apartment NOW…so I can stay there next year for the whole 12 days or so of the festival, which brings in some of my favorite artists from all over the world. Herbie Hancock was there this year, as were The Roots, Bobby MacFerrin, Keith Jarret and many others. Of the lesser-known acts that I saw, I really enjoyed Slavic Soul Party and their 21st century brand of brass-band meets Balkan meets hip-hop combination.
Montreal is famous for it’s smoked meat, so I recommend Schwartz’s on Saint Laurent for all you foodies out there. Apartments Trylon is a great, cheap place to stay, and the rooms have kitchens, so you can eat cheap, too. There’s a huge open-air food market on the outskirts of the old city center.
After Montreal we headed to Toronto to play their Harbourfront Festival. It was a beautiful view from the stage…looking right onto Lake Ontario. Good times, but a little more of a county fair vibe then the rabid music fan vibe of the Montreal Jazz fest. I have to say, though, that the beds at the Toronto Intercontinental Hotel were crazy comfortable!
From Toronto, we headed back over the border and dropped off most of our fellow musicians at the Buffalo airport. At that point it was just the six of us in Joe Bagale’s band going to Rochester for 4th of July weekend. We played a great show for Brandon and Joe’s hometown crowd on the 3rd, then relaxed and rested on the 4th…lots of swimming in Lake Ontario, lots of Frisbee, and an amazing barbecue courtesy of Bagale’s parents, who fed us sooooo well the whole time we stayed with them.
So that’s the rundown…we’re back in the Bay now. It’s the last month of Jazz Mafia Tuesdays…so we’re going big. It’s been a ten year run (I’ve been happy to be a part of it for the last 2-3 years), but now we’ll be focusing on bigger shows around town, and more touring. Please join the Jazz Mafia email list at http://jazzmafia.com You’ll get a free 15-song sampler, and keep tabs on all the Jazz Mafia events.
I’ll be playing with Joe Bagale at the Great American Music Hall on July 23rd…we’re opening for New Orleans native Ivan Neville and the show is a benefit for the Gulf Coast oil spill relief effort. Then in August the Jazz Mafia Symphony Orchestra will continue our summer of jazz festivals at the famous Newport Jazz Festival. Stayed tuned for other upcoming dates!
Finally, this newsletter's SHOUT OUTS and FREE DOWNLOAD
Adam Theis - you write awesome music, thanks for taking us all along for the ride!
Joe Bagale - way to sing your ass off in front of thousands of people, and special thanks to the Bagale family for hosting us and feeding us in Rochester
Karyn Paige - It’s here! Congratulations. The debut single, produced by myself and Joe Bagale…available for FREE DOWNLOAD at KARYN PAIGE’S OFFICIAL WEBSITE
Puck - Thanks for the free place to stay in NYC, so good to see you and glad you got to meet the Jazz Mafia family
Jazz Mafia Symphony Orchestra - it’s a party on a wheels, a mega-extreme scene on wheels…great traveling and partying with you all…can’t wait for Newport
Montreal and new friends there – Your city FUCKING ROCKS. I can’t wait to go back, I hope to make it a regular destination. Staying up til sunrise was never so much fun.
Ben Yonas and Phil of Yonas Media – it’s a brave and courageous act to manage, tour manage, roadie, schlep-around and accommodate the needs of 20+ plus raucous musicians.
Thanks for reading..I hope to see you at a show soon!
Peace, MB
Well, it’s been a crazy few weeks. I’ve been on the road with the Jazz Mafia sharing the Brass, Bows and Beats symphony with new audiences coast to coast. In June, our 40-piece band played at the Hollywood Bowl for the Playboy Jazz Fest. This was a special experience for me particularly because this is a stage The Beatles performed on. Wow. The stage is actually on a circular, rotating platform...it goes kinda fast, too. You gotta balance yourself. They actually will spin you off and literally rotates in the next band when your time is up, even if you’re in the middle of a song. Bang, bang, bang…very LA., and the next band is playing. We diligently timed our set, as to make sure we didn’t become part of the infamous “spinners club”.
After a couple weeks back in the Bay, we headed out to New York City. We were greeted by a very exuberant audience at Le Poisson Rouge in Greenwich Village. After the show, the band gathered on the street to load up our gear and created quite the party and impromptu jam-session on the streets of Manhattan. In would have been nice to hang out in NYC for a little longer, but we were headed to Montreal for their summer jazz fest.
Driving into Montreal last Saturday was amazing, I could tell right away that this was a special town, very reminiscent of Europe in it’s architecture, mixed in with some crazy modern buildings. After the muggy heat of NYC, the clear, crisp air was refreshing, like a perfect day back home in the Bay. I really didn’t have much idea what to expect from the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal…but as soon as our band pulled into the area of the festival, I realized this was a major international jazz festival. After getting a late start on our drive from New York, and taking a long time to get over the border, we had to rush to our first set. I was performing with Joe Bagale that night, and other smaller bands within the Jazz Mafia were slated to perform as well. Joe, The Shotgun Wedding Quintet and Crystal Monae Hall all did a wonderful job representing our slice of the San Francisco music scene that night…and the Montreal audience received us so warmly. For Joe’s second set that night, our crowd was really fired up, and I was so surprised that the plaza was packed with what I would estimate to be about 8,000 people…and this was just a side stage.
That got us all revved up for our main stage performance the following night with the orchestra…the festival organizers estimated the crowd to be 60,000 to 80,000 for the Canadian debut of “Brass, Bows and Beats”.
That Sunday night was a night none of us will ever forget, it was a great leap forward for the Jazz Mafia. We performed the symphony to a huge audience, on an insanely giant sound system, and stage equipped with jumbo-tron screens, ha!
The staff that night was amazing and professional, amazingly professional, in fact! Running the sound system and setting up a 40-piece band is no small task, and they didn’t even flinch. The folks at the Montreal jazz fest do things right. I heard from friends that the sound out front was mind-blowing…to hear that many horns and strings coming through that many watts was a first for even seasoned music fans.
We made so many great new friends in Montreal…it’s such an incredible city (haha…footnote, I probably couldn’t handle the winter there, though!). There were jam sessions every night, with our SF peeps sitting in with our new friends and their Montreal bands…among them Papa Groove, Coyote Bill, and the Kalmunity Collective. I’m seriously considering reserving an apartment NOW…so I can stay there next year for the whole 12 days or so of the festival, which brings in some of my favorite artists from all over the world. Herbie Hancock was there this year, as were The Roots, Bobby MacFerrin, Keith Jarret and many others. Of the lesser-known acts that I saw, I really enjoyed Slavic Soul Party and their 21st century brand of brass-band meets Balkan meets hip-hop combination.
Montreal is famous for it’s smoked meat, so I recommend Schwartz’s on Saint Laurent for all you foodies out there. Apartments Trylon is a great, cheap place to stay, and the rooms have kitchens, so you can eat cheap, too. There’s a huge open-air food market on the outskirts of the old city center.
After Montreal we headed to Toronto to play their Harbourfront Festival. It was a beautiful view from the stage…looking right onto Lake Ontario. Good times, but a little more of a county fair vibe then the rabid music fan vibe of the Montreal Jazz fest. I have to say, though, that the beds at the Toronto Intercontinental Hotel were crazy comfortable!
From Toronto, we headed back over the border and dropped off most of our fellow musicians at the Buffalo airport. At that point it was just the six of us in Joe Bagale’s band going to Rochester for 4th of July weekend. We played a great show for Brandon and Joe’s hometown crowd on the 3rd, then relaxed and rested on the 4th…lots of swimming in Lake Ontario, lots of Frisbee, and an amazing barbecue courtesy of Bagale’s parents, who fed us sooooo well the whole time we stayed with them.
So that’s the rundown…we’re back in the Bay now. It’s the last month of Jazz Mafia Tuesdays…so we’re going big. It’s been a ten year run (I’ve been happy to be a part of it for the last 2-3 years), but now we’ll be focusing on bigger shows around town, and more touring. Please join the Jazz Mafia email list at http://jazzmafia.com You’ll get a free 15-song sampler, and keep tabs on all the Jazz Mafia events.
I’ll be playing with Joe Bagale at the Great American Music Hall on July 23rd…we’re opening for New Orleans native Ivan Neville and the show is a benefit for the Gulf Coast oil spill relief effort. Then in August the Jazz Mafia Symphony Orchestra will continue our summer of jazz festivals at the famous Newport Jazz Festival. Stayed tuned for other upcoming dates!
Finally, this newsletter's SHOUT OUTS and FREE DOWNLOAD
Adam Theis - you write awesome music, thanks for taking us all along for the ride!
Joe Bagale - way to sing your ass off in front of thousands of people, and special thanks to the Bagale family for hosting us and feeding us in Rochester
Karyn Paige - It’s here! Congratulations. The debut single, produced by myself and Joe Bagale…available for FREE DOWNLOAD at KARYN PAIGE’S OFFICIAL WEBSITE
Puck - Thanks for the free place to stay in NYC, so good to see you and glad you got to meet the Jazz Mafia family
Jazz Mafia Symphony Orchestra - it’s a party on a wheels, a mega-extreme scene on wheels…great traveling and partying with you all…can’t wait for Newport
Montreal and new friends there – Your city FUCKING ROCKS. I can’t wait to go back, I hope to make it a regular destination. Staying up til sunrise was never so much fun.
Ben Yonas and Phil of Yonas Media – it’s a brave and courageous act to manage, tour manage, roadie, schlep-around and accommodate the needs of 20+ plus raucous musicians.
Thanks for reading..I hope to see you at a show soon!
Peace, MB
