Update

It's been a while since my last post and I neglected to post a few gigs that have happened since then. It's been an extremely busy time getting the last stages of the "Formation" record completed (compounded by many other factors including a fried hard-drive), but it makes me that much more excited for the release party February 17th at the Blue Whale. If you're facebooking around, you can check out the event here.

"Formation" CD Release Party
Thursday, February 17th
8:30pm
The Blue Whale
123 Astronaut E S Onizuka St. Suite 301 (Park in the structure w/ a yellow "P" sign off of 2nd street and take the elevator up)

$10 gets you in, and I'll be selling fresh copies of the new album at this gig for a discounted price. Shortly after the release party, the album will be available digitally through CDbaby, Diggstation, and more (details as I get them).


Last week I played two nights in a row at Cafe Roma in Beverly Hills. First with a new group led by trumpeter Phil Fiorio, with trumpet/flugelhorn, bass clarinet, marimba, drums and bass. We had a great time playing Phil's latest compositions, one of my own, and some standards. I'm looking forward to more gigs with this open, "woody" sounding group. The second gig was with Juanma Trujillo's latest quartet formation: Juanma on guitar, Emilio Terranova on bass, Cameron Hicks on drums, and myself on saxophones. We had tons of music prepared and rolled out an eclectic mix of originals and standards. Both of these groups have provided me with new musical challenges, something I always look forward to.

Post-CD release, I have a smattering of fun performances coming up, including Orkestar MEZE, Mahadev, some recitals, and my trio in Santa Barbara. Come back often for details and updates, and I hope to see many of your smiling faces on February 17th!

2011 Kickoff Blog! Woah!

Happy New Year! Where's my flying car, future?

I know I'm a day late, and didn't post on the oh-so-cool date of 1/1/11, but I've still got the 11th, right? I am so excited for this year, going to put out my first album and move forward with a lot of musical ideas. I got together with my good friend and artist Derek Schultz in the last days of 2010 to work on the visual design for the album, and I can't wait to get this thing out! The artwork Derek has done is incredible, be on the lookout for a preview soon. I've got to get myself together and name this record...it is so difficult to sum up even one piece of music in a few words, no less an entire collection of different pieces. Again, you can hear an audio sampler of the album here.

I'm playing with Mahadev this Wednesday evening, January 5th, at Cafe Roma in Beverly Hills. This looks like a fancy place, so bring a date and we'll entertain you with a fun mix of Indian, Eastern European, Blues, and more. You can get some details on this event on Facebook here, or just check out this little blurb:

Caffe Roma features excellent Italian cuisine in a fine dining setting. You can see their menu at:
http://www.cafferomabeverlyhills.com/

There is no cover!

Mahadev is:
Michael Mull: saxophone & clarinet
Dave Cipriani: Indian slide guitar & classical guitar, voice
Eric Klerks, upright bass
Aaron W Chavez: riq, kanjira, tombek, etc (hand percussion)

 I recently got tenor saxophonist Donny McCaslin's latest album, Perpetual Motion, and have been giving it numerous listens since. It's a more "plugged in" record, and the band is tight but never complacent. Donny sounds ridiculously good as usual, but keyboardist Adam Benjamin really stands out to me here. Adam has an incredible melodic and textural concept that I think shines particularly bright on this recording. I'm just now listening to his wonderful solo piano album, Alphabets and Consequences, highly recommended. I'm planning to do a full review of Perpetual Motion soon, keep your eyes open.

Happy 2011 everyone, let's make this a good one!