Walter White SM@L will be at 3pm on the main stage on Sunday 9/2. Immediately following will be the Pat Metheny Quartet featuring Chris Potter! Walter will have his brand new CD available at the gig – “Breaking Good” – aka best album title ever.
FREE!
The Michigan Jazz Festival was this past Sunday night 7/15. Lots of great musicians hanging out in one place – never a bad thing. At 6pm, I performed with Walter White’s Small Medium @ LARGE. The band was on fire! This was also the premier of a new version of my arrangement of Wayne Shorter’s “Beauty and the Beast” that I made for the group. Definitely looking forward to many more performances with this ensemble. Good times!
Just finished three days in the studio with Walter White’s 11 piece big band. This will be a great record. I’m honored to be a part of it. More soon…
The House Band officially released its debut album this week to a large and enthusiastic crowd at the St. Columban Concert Series. They are such a great listening audience and a real treat to play for. Andrew Bishop, James Hughes, Mark Kieme, Walter White, Jimmy Smith, Ben Jannson, Mark Berger, Chris Smith, Paul Finkbeiner, Brandon Cooper, Matt Martinez, Steve Hunter, Gary Hellick, Jonathan Ovalle, Matt Henninger, Kris Kurzawa, and Bob Mervak played their asses off! Special thanks to the series staff and Penny Warmanen for the help.
A composer always treasures the opportunity to have his work performed by the caliber of talent and meticulous nature of the members of this band. My music is hard, but I write what I want and find the players who can pull it off with grace, style, and bravada. This was my philosophy with Saxomble, and it continues with the House Big Band.
Look for us to return to the Detroit scene very soon.
Announcing the personnel for the 1/10/12 House Big Band CD Release Concert
ANOTHER KILLER LINE UP!
Mark Kieme – alto sax
James Hughes – alto sax
Andrew Bishop – tenor sax
Ben Jannson – tenor sax
Mark Berger – bari sax
Walter White – trumpet
Jimmy Smith – trumpet
Brandon Cooper – trumpet
Paul Finkbeiner – trumpet
Chris Smith – trombone
Matt Martinez – trombone
Steve Hunter – trombone
Gary Hellick – bass trombone
Bob Mervak – piano
Matt Henninger -electric bass
Jonathan Ovalle – drums