Well, I finally played at the Blue Wisp! And we didn't play jazz.... we played rock and roll, and packed the place! The band is a kind of reunion version of 'Four on the Floor"- Tim Deardorff, Geoff Pittman, Joe Sievering, and myself reprising (pretty much) the band as it was in the 80's and much of the 90's.

Tim and Geoff have done most of the work pulling all of this off, and are largely responsible for the packed house yesterday evening. It was really great gigging with the lads again, and we'll be back there- apparantly on the first Friday of every month for happy hour.... 4.30 to 7 ish. 

Also, we'll be at Moonlight Gardens on June 11 and some Friday in August.  More to come!

going into week 2 of "the Light in the Piazza" at Wright State .... this week, shows are Wednesday, 2/24/10 at 7pm, then Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 8, and matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2.  It's quite well done, and worth a look.... the student crew and cast have done a fine job!

Now known as "the Fourth Floor".... the band name is reminiscent of "Four on the Floor" as are all of its members.  The reason for the name change is known to the attorneys, I suppose...Classic Rock with a smattering of standards and Johnny Cash songs....

Oddly, but explicably, we'll be at the BlueWisp JAZZ club on March 5 and April 2 during Happy Hour hours (5-7?).   Also, we'll be at Moonlight Gardens for two of the summer's Friday night dances (once known as "Hot Wax Hops") .... We'll be there June 11, and also some date in August which currently escapes me.

BE there!

plz.

I got this nice email today:

Dear Brian,
Congratulations! We are excited to announce that Newburg Trio has been chosen to receive the Bride’s Choice Awards™ 2010. This award recognizes the top 5 percent of local wedding professionals from the WeddingWire Network who demonstrate excellence in quality, service and professionalism.

The Bride’s Choice Awards™ are determined exclusively by recent newlyweds (brides and grooms) through extensive surveys and reviews, which means your past clients have spoken on our behalf and selected you to receive this honor.

This past Saturday, I played solo guitar at a new place in College Hill- Marty's Hops and Vines combines retail beer and wine sales with a bar/lounge + hors d’Oeuvers, and some non-alcoholic beveages.  This is a very nice place, run by nice people, and the joint was pretty busy.  This was kind of a last-minute booking, but I'm sure I'll be back there....In fact, I've never had a CD release party for "Vignettes and WarPonies", and I believe it will happen right there... maybe in March....

6110 Hamilton Ave. in College Hill.

The concert was the Miracles opening for Martha and the Vandellas. I only found out a few days before the show that Martha had her own guitar player, so I was only playing on the Miracles set. I'd have like to play Martha's set as well, as I really like some of those songs, and have played some of them in different bands, most notably Four on the Floor (soon to be resurrected as "the Fourth Floor")..

People might think the Miracles weren't happenin much after Smokey left, and I really didn't know what to expect, but they were terrific! Very nice people, great singers, great entertainers- Mark Scott, Tee Turner, Dave Finley, and Bobby Rogers brought back the real sound, and going through an hour of hits with no covers, I was reminded just how bug they are! 16 top 20 singles, 6 top 40 albums, songs covered by LOTS of other famous artists, 4 songs in the Grammy Hall of Fame, 3 songs on the Rolling Stone's list of 500 greatest songs of all time....Plus a bunch of hit songs which band members wrote, but were hits for other bands, and never even recorded by the Miracles.

I didn't play for Martha Reeves, but I did get to meet her, (and wave at the Vandellas).  She's very very nice, and they sounded great at soundcheck.

Nice gig.  Thanks, Bob!

Is this the fourth .... or fifth time that "Chicago" played in Cincinnati?  I honestly don't remember... at least the fourth.  But it's been quite a while since it was here last.  Carol Woods is still beltin' 'em out as Mama- Tom Wopat is a fine Billy Flynn, and a very nice guy.  Great cast all around, and a fab orchestra, of course!   here through Sunday, 12/6.

I haven't written on here in a while..... Haven't found the time! 2 weeks ago, I took the weekend off to get out of town with Susan for our 10th anniversary  (!)........ Last week was a concert (2, actually) in Dayton, OH- the world premiere of Jeff Olmstead's "Songs of Rumi".... This week, it's "Fame" at the Aronoff Center- an SCPA production, and it's really pretty good.  Then I'll go back to just having two jobs for awhile..... THEN- first week of December, I'll be playing "Chicago"  at the Aronoff Center.  It's been several years since I've played that show, but I've played it so many times, I expect it will all come back pretty quickly....blah blah blah......

  Update- the wedding was indeed outside, and, fortunately, the club has a conference room right alongside the deck- we played from in there and ran a line out a window to a second amplifier outside. We were as close to the wedding as usual, but behind a wall of windows!  The Granparents hung out with us- they have the perquisites of seniority!

In other news, some Holiday-y music (trio by duo+looper):

Busy crazy weekend!  Friday night I played tenor banjo for Sycamore HS 50th reunion at the Museum Center...Another group was setting up as I walked in, and the facility had a bit of confusion about when the guests were to make it down to the landing (they won't be down here until 7.30, she said as guests were pouring in at 6.15)...but everyone was good people, and a fine time, and a few collaborative efforts, was had by all. Diagram THAT sentence!

Saturday, Amy and I had 2 weddings, one near Dayton, and one in Mt. Lookout- the latter along with an organist and trumpeter, who were both fine players, and fortunately, Tibby had all the music in her head!  Traffic and bad directions from googlemaps nearly conspired to make us late for the first one, but that's why we leave extra time- it went great, and the second one did, too. Once they figured out how to turn on the organ.  And once the bridesmaids figured out that the ceremony wasn't over yet (some of them started recessing when they's just been excused to return to the pew- it was hilarious if you'd been there).

Sunday Church service went quite well... my third as sort of the interim bandleader for the contemporary service.  Now I have to go write cello parts for next week...... and practice some Bolling (that music's hard!)...

Onward,  bd

I actually didn't work Friday night! Susan and I went to see Tommy Emmanuel at McCauley High School, and he was incredible, of course! Some people call him the best acoustic guitarist in the world- you really can't say that about anyone, IMHO, but he certainly has a great combination of jaw-dropping chops, stage presence, and personality. Compadres Rick Price and John Knowles contributed to the excellentness!
Saturday night-  the Kentucky Symphony's Boogie Band reprised the "Down to the Nightclub" concert as "Saturday in the Park"..Just and incredible band, and I'm honored to continue to swim in their wake. I asked two of the trumpet players if they could do a Mariaci gig for OchoCinco on Sunday, but one had to fly to LA to play with Lionel Richie, and the other is running (trumpet great) Vinnie DiMartino's band. and I"M workin' with THESE guys?!?  BTW, I'm still sitting by the phone waiting for Ocho to call......
Sunday a.m. - marked my debut as interim Praise Team/band leader  at Madeira-Silverwood Presbyterian Church. With not enough time for preparation, and a substitute sound system, and 2 sub band members, everyone helped out and made the music in the combined Service a real joy! Thanks to all!
Sunday p.m.- Newburg Trio played at a wedding at the Savannah Center, and everything was just great- it was a large, culturally diverse group of folks, who were all very very nice, and we got some music requests which made it clear the bride and groom were no strangers to classical music! In fact, one of the groomsmen is a recent Eastman graduate. (that's a very good music school!)

Good times!

Saturday eve, Amy and I played at a wedding in Music Hall lobby which was an exceptionally nice service- bride and groom are both very nice folks, and the service was not long on pomp or trappings, but was very long on sincerity and emotion (and humor).  And I always love working with AmyG on cello....

BUT....
I bumped AmyG from Sunday morning's gig at the tennis tourney brunch, as we had a very special guest cellist. Also, Lauren was groovin' on violin, and we pretty much rocked the tent.  and it was a big tent! Federer won in str8 sets, but the 2nd set was no gimme......

• It was actually 40 years ago on Sunday (2nd day of Woodstock) that Gary's parents drove us as close as they could (we thought it was about 7 miles walk, but it may have just felt that long), and Pablo, the other Gary and I followed the crowd to the 'concert'. It's too long a story to tell here- I was 14, and it's amazing what kids could be allowed to do in those days.... of course, nobody knew what it was really going to be like until we were already upstate and almost there..................
• Any electric guitar player who doesn't think that Les Paul had a huge impact on their lives has an inadequate sense of history.  Get that looked at.....

August 7-9..... long hot weekend.... Friday night, Amy and I played at a ceremony and cocktail hour at Drees Pavilion, which is gorgeous (esp. outside overlooking the river and city)-The weather cooperated, and I really like when we get to play the cocktail hour, and can play the tangos, Beatles' songs, and general fun stuff....

Saturday, up EARLY to drive to Marion, IN, and watch my stepdaughter, Tara, receive her diploma from Indiana Wesleyan- Congrats!!

Sunday- the praise band is back at Madeira Presbyterian Church, so, up early again...nice outside service!

THEN, a "classical" guitar concert/chat at Bridgeway Pointe retirement center- a lovely time!

THEN- 2 meetings with brides, who were both absolutely delightful! (AND slightly unconventional regarding music choices, which is very cool....) I honestly haven't had a bad experience with a bride in a couple of years...

THEN, up to Mason to listen to "Aja", the MOST excellent Steely Dan tribute band, who are sounding even more excellent as time goes on.  Langemo absolutely wails, but, really, they all do.....

Nice weekend.

Last night Susan cooked Lasagna, Sheri (violin) brought salad, Amy (cello) and Holly (viola) brought homemade cookies, and we played through quartet music- Passereau to Purple Haze! I mostly played 2nd violin parts on mandolin.
All this in comtemplation of expanding the Newburg Trio's offerings to include quartets, traditional string trios, and mixed groups, like with lute, mandolin, and such..... we must have more meetings like that one! 

Good Times- good food- good wine for the rest of 'em...............