David Benoit/Charlie Brown Christmas recap December 20, 2008
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal, Weather.add a comment
For my recap of David Benoit’s show at Tarrytown Music Hall in May 2010, click here.
When I woke up on Thursday, I had no idea that there was any wintry precipitation on the way. But a weather alert from my The Weather Channel Desktop Max software noted we were under a Winter Storm Watch with potential snow accumulations of six inches or more yesterday (Friday). This brought a fear to my mind that David Benoit’s Charlie Brown Christmas concert at IMAC in Huntington – a concert I had been looking forward to for six months – would be canceled.
Later in the day, I learned from News 12 Traffic & Weather that we (Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island) were only under a Winter Weather Advisory and accumulations of only two to four inches were expected with snow changing to sleet and rain by afternoon.
As Friday afternoon began, it was still snowing and there was plenty of accumulation, or so it felt. It also felt like the snow was unstoppable. At 3:00, I went outside to shovel the snow in our (my family’s) driveway. At first, snow and sleet fell, then only sleet, and finally rain. One hour later, I went inside to grab my digital camera. Then, I went back outside, where the sleet had returned and picked up in intensity. I attached the camera to my mini-tripod, rested it on a chair in the front porch, and took a few self-timed pictures. This was the best one (despite the visible wet spots on my khakis):
Three hours later, having not received a cancellation e-mail, me and my mom – who had never been to a David Benoit concert – braved horrendous driving conditions, especially on the Long Island Expressway (I-495; L.I.E.), in the rain and sleet, and headed up to IMAC for the concert.
David Benoit and his quartet miraculously arrived at LaGuardia Airport from Reagan National (they were in Washington, D.C. on Thursday) before the worst of the storm hit.
With that preliminary information out of the way, let the recap begin.
The David Benoit Quartet was comprised of David Benoit on piano:
David Hughes on acoustic bass…
…and electric bass:
Jamey Tate on drums:
And Andy Suzuki on saxophone…
…and flute:
FIRST SET:
1. You’re In Love, Charlie Brown
2. The Buggy Ride
David speaking to the audience…
…and introducing the band after The Buggy Ride:
3. The Great Pumpkin Waltz
4. Wild Kids
The last two minutes featured a call and response between David B. and Andy.
Starting here, David H. was on electric bass for the rest of the set.
5. Human Nature
6.Kei’s Song
Andy did not perform on this.
7. Freedom At Midnight
8. Beat Street
This featured a wild drum solo from Jamey.
SECOND SET:
9. Christmas is Coming
10. Skating
11.O Tannenbaum
Andy did not perform on this. David H. had a bass solo.
Midway through, a small Christmas tree was brought out. It was a replica of the tree picked by Charlie Brown in A Charlie Brown Christmas. David left the piano to decorate it and fasten it to its stand:
Then, he returned to the piano.
The rest of the set featured the Stimson Showstoppers from Stimson Middle School in Huntington Station. They were under the direction of Ms. Terri Haas.
12. Just Like Me
This was the only original piece in the second set. It was co-written by David B. and Lee Mendelson, and first appeared on 40 Years: A Charlie Brown Christmas in 2005, where it was performed by Vanessa Williams.
Here, two of the Stimson Showstoppers, Amelia and Olivia (I hope I got their names right), doubly handled the vocals.
They got a standing ovation from an audience that seemed to my ears to feature many students, faculty, and parents from Stimson and the South Huntington School District, as well as general Huntington residents. Though I and the rest of the audience were outsiders, we were all Stimson last night.
Then, the rest of the Showstoppers came on stage for…
13. My Little Drum
Andy did not perform on this.
14. Hark The Herald Angels Sing (vocalizing only)/Christmas Time Is Here
15. Linus and Lucy
For Linus and Lucy, all they had to do was clap (and dance) to the music.
The set was complete, but the night was not:
ENCORE 1: Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Assuming there would only be one encore, I shot two curtain call pictures. The first one is blurry, but looks artsy. So, I’ve included it:
But on this night, there was a second encore!
ENCORE 2: The Christmas Song (David only)
And that was officially it.
At the meet-and-greet, David and I saw each other in person for the first time since July 2006. At the time, I was about 80 pounds heavier than I am now. He was very complimentary of how I looked and of the weight I had lost.
Once we finished catching up, me and my mom headed for home. The roads weren’t as bad going home as they were heading to IMAC. Unfortunately, more snow is in the forecast for tomorrow. This is going to be some winter, isn’t it?
Peter White Christmas 2008 recap December 14, 2008
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal.add a comment
Friday night at 9:30, I attended the later of two Peter White Christmas concerts at IMAC in Huntington. It was the fourth year in a row that I attended the concert. I was seated in the first row of the center left section, a few seats to the right of where I sat for Guitars & Saxes in October.
For this recap, we’ll introduce the players as we progress through the set list and accompanying pictures. Here we go:
1. The Little Drummer Boy
Rick Braun was on the trumpet, flugelhorn, and percussion.
Peter White (right) handled the guitars.
Mindi Abair (third from left) played alto and soprano saxophones.
2. The Christmas Song/Greensleeves
In between Christmas Song verses: “Merry Christmas, everybody!”
Peter addresses Mindi between songs.
3. I Can’t Wait For Christmas
Nate Phillips (bass) and Peter provide background vocals for the a capella portion…
…as did Rayford Griffin (drums; above Mindi) and Rick (not pictured).
The only vocalless player in the band was Ron Reinhardt (keyboards).
4. Notorious
5. Winter Wonderland (with audience participation)
6. White Christmas (with audience participation)
7. Blue Christmas
Peter donned an Elvis Presley wig and sang in the late rocker’s style.
Another picture of Peter addressing the audience between songs:
8. Jingle Jangle Blues (audience participation for Jingle Bells chorus lyrics)
This song featured a keyboard solo from Ron Reinhardt…
…and a drum solo from Rayford Griffin.
9. Silent Night
Rayford had a moving vocal solo.
10. Lucy’s (with audience participation)
11. Cadillac Slim
Rick and Mindi came into the audience to perform.
Most of the performance was right next to my section!
They returned to the stage for Nate Phillips’ bass solo…
…and to finish the song.
12. Bueno Funk
The James Bond glasses…
13. Grazin’ in the Grass
14. Santa Claus is Coming to Town/Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
“I know if you’ve been bad or good…”
Lt. Col. Braun:
Then, the band briefly walked off the stage…
…and returned for the encore.
Encore: Happy Chrismtas/O Holy Night
And that was it.
During the meet-and-greet, I finally met Rayford…
…and caught up with Peter and Mindi.
I’m sorry I missed you, Rick. Next time.
With that, another recap is complete. Next week, I’ll have a recap of the Charlie Brown Christmas concert featuring David Benoit.
Back-to-back Friday concerts at IMAC December 12, 2008
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal.add a comment
For the next two Friday nights, I’ll be attending concerts at the IMAC (Inter-Media Art Center) in Huntington.
Tonight, it’s Peter White Christmas with Peter White, Mindi Abair, and Rick Braun at 9:30 PM. This will be my fourth year attending.
Next Friday, it’s A Charlie Brown Christmas featuring David Benoit at 8PM.
I will have recaps of both concerts within a few days after them.
Finally, a new post! November 16, 2008
Posted by Mike C. in Audiobooks, Books, Bowling, Jazz, Media, Personal, Technology, TV, Video Games.3 comments
I have not posted anything to my blog in a week and a half. So, let’s get a few things out of the way:
1. Last Saturday afternoon, I went to the Barnes & Noble in Carle Place for a book signing and discussion event. The author was Steve Doocy, co-host of “Fox & Friends,” the Fox News Channel’s daily morning show. The book is “Tales from the Dad Side.” I had purchased the unabridged audiobook on Amazon a few weeks earlier, but I bought the book itself before I went up to the discussion area.
When it was my turn to have my book signed, a female employee was nice enough to take a picture of Steve and me:
It was a pleasure to meet him in person. Thank you very much, Steve.
2. Last Saturday night, I bowled another 200+ game playing Wii Sports’ Bowling for Nintendo Wii. You may remember back on August 31, I bowled a 257. On this night, I wasn’t able to match that score, but I did come close: 219. Here’s the final scorecard, as seen from a picture of the TV taken after the game:
3. Though I had said in early June that my computer was working and “back to normal,” nothing could have been further from the truth. The blue screens of death (BSODs) continued, becoming a matter-of-fact occurrence. I would get at least one per day. On some days, I would get up to four BSoDs! I mistakenly believed they were the result of my NVIDIA nForce Serial ATA drivers not working with Windows Vista Home Premium Service Pack 1. Then, in mid-October, it finally hit me: it’s faulty memory causing the BSoDs. That’s what I get for buying four discounted 1 GB (gigabyte) memory DIMMs in late May. I replaced two of them with Dell DIMMs after ordering them from the Dell website. They were made exclusively for my computer, a Dell Dimension E521, based on my Service Tag. I have not had a blue screen since installing them (knock on wood).
4. Since my last pre-order update, I’ve ordered a few more CDs:
Tom Scott, “Desire” (Wounded Bird; re-release)
David Benoit, “Jazz For Peanuts” (Peak)
Kim Waters, “I Want You: Love In The Spirit Of Marvin” (Shanachie)
Saxophonist Tom Scott’s “Desire” was originally released in 1982 on Elektra, but was re-released on October 14. The tracks on the album are: the title track (re-recorded on “Them Changes” in 1990), “Sure Enough,” “The Only One,” “Stride,” “Johnny B. Badd,” “Meet Somebody,” “Maybe I’m Amazed,” and “Chunk O’ Funk.” I’m hooked on “Stride,” and also like “Chunk O’ Funk” and “Johnny B. Badd.”
“Jazz For Peanuts” was released on October 29. Six of the tracks were newly recorded by David Benoit:
- “You’re in Love, Charlie Brown” (Vince Guaraldi); This track features horn player Christian Scott on trumpet.
- “The Great Pumpkin Waltz” (Vince Guaraldi)
- “Wild Kids” (re-recording of track from “Urban Daydreams” in 1989); This track features pianist Taylor Eigsti. 2:16 into the song, David and Taylor kick into a lively improv section. Like Tom Scott’s “Stride,” I’m hooked on this section.
- “Be My Valentine” (Vince Guaraldi)
- “Rollerblading”; This track also features Christian Scott.
- “Re-Run’s Theme”
The non-Benoit tracks were:
- Wynton Marsalis Septet – “The Buggy Ride” (unreleased, recorded for “This is America, Charlie Brown: The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk”)
- Dave Brubeck – “Benjamin” (from “Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown!” in 1989; recorded for “This is America, Charlie Brown: The NASA Space Station”)
- Kenny G – “Breadline Blues” (from “Happy Anniversary, Charlie Brown!” in 1989; recorded for “This is America, Charlie Brown: The Smithsonian and the Presidency”)
- Vince Guaraldi [Trio] – “Linus and Lucy” (from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” in 1965)
Kim Waters’ “I Want You: Love In The Spirit Of Marvin” was also released on October 29. I just got this in the mail today. So, it’s too soon for me to review it. But I like the instrumental tracks I’ve heard so far. The “Marvin” is the late, great Marvin Gaye.
5. Tomorrow, I turn 27 years old (or young).
I think that covers everything that needs to be covered for now. Hopefully, it won’t be another week and a half until the next post.
Ken Navarro interview feedback November 5, 2008
Posted by Mike C. in Interviews, Jazz, Personal, Radio.add a comment
Last night, Ken Navarro left a comment on Facebook to my picture of me and him at during the meet-and-greet following April’s Smooth Jazz for Scholars concert. Not only was he complimentary of the picture, but he had positive feedback about our October 18 interview:
FYI – I posted links to both parts of our interview on the home page of my web site and I have had a lot of emails from people telling me how much they enjoyed it. I still can’t get over how you spotted the “Try Again” intro sample showing up in “On My Way To Somewhere”. You’ve got good ears my man…
The interview was indeed posted on his homepage (screencap with circle from me below)…
…and on his media page (screencap with circle from me below):
I am so proud to learn that so many people have written to Ken expressing how much they enjoyed our interview. It makes all that work conducting the interview on September 26, editing the interview in the days that followed, and airing the final cut on October 18 worth it. Thank you very much to all of you, and once again, to Ken.
Guitars & Saxes 2008 concert recap October 26, 2008
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Music, Personal.3 comments
Click here for my recap of the Guitars and Saxes Smooth Cruise in August 2010.
On a very windy, very rainy Saturday night, I attended the 9:30 concert for Guitars & Saxes at the IMAC in Huntington. This was the very last stop for their 2008 tour. And since it was the second of two shows that night, it was the very last concert.
The headliners were:
Peter White on guitar #1…
Jeff Golub on guitar #2…
Gerald Albright on saxophone #1…
…and Jeff Lorber on a pair of keyboards.
Though not a headliner, the woman on saxophone #2, a rapidly rising star in contemporary jazz, is a headliner to me: Jessy J!
Rounding out the band, Nate Phillips on bass…
…and Rayford Griffin on drums.
Here was the set list:
(Nate and Rayford performed on all songs.)
Introductory medley:
1a. Tune 88 (Jeff Lorber)
Original heard on: “Water Sign,” 1979 (with The Jeff Lorber Fusion); “Flipside,” 2005
Featured musicians: Jeff Lorber, Jessy J
1b. Promenade (Peter White)
Original heard on: “Promenade,” 1993
Featured musicians: Peter White, Jeff Lorber, Jessy J
1c. Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I Got) (Jeff Golub; Four Tops cover)
Original heard on: “Grand Central,” 2007
Featured musicians: Jeff Golub, Peter White, Jeff Lorber, Jessy J
1d. To the Max (Gerald Albright)
Original heard on: “Kickin’ It Up,” 2004
Featured musicians: Gerald Albright, Jeff Lorber, Peter White, Jeff Golub, Jessy J
2. Rehab (Jeff Lorber; Amy Winehouse cover)
Originally heard on: “Heard That,” 2008
Featured musicians: Jeff Lorber, Gerald Albright, Peter White, Jeff Golub, Jessy J
Jeff’s version is much, much better than the original (which I would never listen to since I’m not an Amy Winehouse fan). The song featured a lively call and response section, as all featured musicians called (musically, of course) to Jeff and he responded.
3. Who’s That Lady (Peter White; Isley Brothers cover)
Originally heard on: “Glow,” 2001
Featured musicians: Peter White, Jeff Lorber, Jessy J; Jeff Golub joined in later
This song initially featured Jessy J on bongos:
Then, we segued into “Oye Como Va,” a Tito Puente cover (notably covered by Santana), and Jessy moved to flute:
As stated above, Jeff Golub joined in for this part:
4. Dangerous Curves (Jeff Golub)
Originally heard on: “Dangerous Curves,” 2000
Featured musicians: Jeff Golub, Gerald Albright, Jeff Lorber, Jessy J
5. My, My, My (Gerald Albright; Johnny Gill cover)
Originally heard on: “Dream Come True,” 1990
Featured musicians: Gerald Albright, Jeff Lorber, Jeff Golub, Peter White, Jessy J
The picture of Gerald when introducing the players was taken during “My, My, My.” This song featured background vocals from Rayford Griffin (not pictured), Peter White, Jessy J (both below)…
…and Jeff Lorber.
It also featured two big solos by Gerald. The latter solo mellowed to the point where he merely blew air into his saxophone’s reed. It was very close to beatboxing. A few players prompted the audience to snap their fingers to the beat. Then, Gerald resumed generating notes from the sax and the song was completed.
Next, the lone song by Jessy J, seen here addressing the audience:
6. Tequila Moon (Jessy J)
Originally heard on: “Tequila Moon,” 2008
Featured musicians: Jessy J, Peter White, Jeff Lorber
7. Naked City (Avenue Blue, Jeff Golub’s former group)
Originally heard on: “Naked City,” 1996
Featured musicians: Jeff Golub, Jeff Lorber
The picture off Jeff Golub from the player introduction was taken during this song.
8. Bueno Funk (Peter White)
Originally heard on: “Glow,” 2001
Featured musicians: Peter White, Jeff Golub, Jeff Lorber, Jessy J
Initially, Jessy went back to the bongos, as you see in the upper-right portion of this picture:
Then, Jessy brought out the sunglasses…
…as Peter played the opening riff from the “James Bond Theme”…
…before switching back to “Bueno Funk,” featuring an organ solo from Jeff Lorber (or “J-Lo,” as Gerald refers to him) and a return to the sax for Jessy.
The picture of Rayford Griffin from the player introduction was taken during a drum solo for this song, which ended on the opening melody from Deep Purple’s “Smoke On The Water.”
9. Surreptitious (Jeff Lorber)
Originally heard on: “He Had a Hat,” 2007
Featured musicians: Jeff Lorber, Jeff Golub, Gerald Albright, Jessy J
10. Georgia On My Mind (Gerald Albright; Hoagy Carmichael cover; Ray Charles, best known cover of it)
Originally heard on: “Live At Birdland West,” 1991; “New Beginnings,” 2006
Featured musicians: Gerald Albright, Jeff Golub, Jeff Lorber, Peter White, Jessy J
After a few minutes, the tempo and energy picked up with solos from all featured musicians.
That was the last song of the set, but shows like this rarely end without an encore.
After a 20-to-30-second standing ovation under darkness, the band returned to the stage:
And this was the encore song:
11. Cut The Cake (Jeff Golub; Average White Band cover)
Originally heard on: “Do It Again,” 2002
Featured musicians: Jeff Golub, Gerald Albright, Peter White, Jeff Lorber, Jessy J
This featured a Nate Phillips bass solo, which is where his player introduction picture came from.
Rayford Griffin, Gerald Albright, and Jessy J provided brief background vocals.
And that was it; concert over, tour over.
What a way to close things out.
During the meet-and-greet, I got to catch up with Gerald, Peter, and Jeff Lorber, and meet Jeff Golub and Jessy. Here I am with all five:
And here’s a picture Gerald shot of Jessy and me:
Before we said goodbye and I wished her best of luck, she told me to check out her blog, which doubles as a vlog (video log). I told her I would do so the next day because I was worn out after that concert, as we all were. I’m a man of my word; I checked it out once I turned my computer on after I got up on Sunday (the day this post is dated). It’s quite interesting. It almost inspires me to start vlogging. We’ll see.
Meanwhile, I hoped you enjoyed this recap, which turned out to be as detailed as my Smooth Jazz for Scholars recap back six months ago. (Six months ago already? Boy, time flies.) As that recap was, this one, too, was a labor of love.
By the way, once I left IMAC around midnight, the rain had tapered off, the winds had died down, and the sky began to clear.
Guitars & Saxes tonight at IMAC October 25, 2008
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Personal.1 comment so far
Tonight, the 2008 incarnation of Guitars & Saxes will be performing at the IMAC (Inter-Media Art Center) in Huntington, New York.
The headliners are Gerald Albright on sax (and probably bass on a song or two) (10/26 UPDATE: no bass), Peter White and Jeff Golub on the respective guitars, and Jeff Lorber on keyboards. Though not a headliner, Jessy J, the second saxophonist, should not be discounted. She is a rising star in contemporary jazz.
I have the good fortune of seeing all five musicians, plus the other players, when I attend the 9:30 concert. As I typically say before going anywhere or attending anything, I hope I have a good time. And hopefully, I’ll plenty of pictures to share. Wish me luck.
C.W. Post/WCWP Homecoming 2008 recap October 21, 2008
Posted by Mike C. in Airchecks, Interviews, Jazz, Personal, Radio.5 comments
Later recaps: 2009, WCWP 50th Anniversary (2011), 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
Before I begin the recap, here is the aircheck of my alumni radio show…
2008 Alumni Show aircheck audio
…and both parts of my previously discussed interview with Ken Navarro:
Ken Navarro Interview II, Part 1
Ken Navarro Interview II, Part 2
2/3/13 UPDATE: Ken Navarro Interview II-Final Cut
With that out of the way, let’s begin. I arrived on campus at 2:00 on Saturday, a cold (for October), windy day. First, I went to WCWP to put down all my equipment. Then, I walked to Hickox Field to take in the Homecoming atmosphere.
On the field, the C.W. Post Pioneers football team were playing the Millersville Marauders.
WCWP (highlighted in this picture by the black oval) provided the play-by-play:
Bored, and hardly seeing anyone I knew, I walked back to WCWP to prepare for my radio show. It turned out to be a good thing I left when I did, as you’ll find out three pictures down. (By the way, the Pioneers won 55-38, extending their record to 2-5.)
Earlier this year, fellow WCWP alumnus Kevin Jeffreys passed away. This year’s Homecoming and alumni weekend were dedicated to him:
All four news production TVs were tuned to the Studio 1 webcam used exclusively for alumni weekend. Below, you see the football postgame in progress.
The game, and subsequent postgame coverage, ended much sooner than I, and several alumni, thought it would. So, instead of coming on the air at 3:30, I came on at 3:00. Luckily, I found a handful long tracks on the CDs I brought for the original playlist to fill the extra time. Here are some camcorder vidcaps of my show, as seen in the video I linked to at the top of this recap:
Toward the end of the show, I went to the myWCWP website to see what the webcam looked like on the internet stream:
Then, Phil, a current WCWP member, took this picture from one of the news TVs:
Craig Stern, another fellow alum, shot this picture of me at the board:
After the show, it was off to the Pioneer Room on the first floor of Hillwood Commons for the Friends of WCWP Alumni Dinner, where Bernie Bernard hosted her alumni show (Craig Stern is in the first pic):
Here I am with Bernie and Alan Seltzer, who, as the Homecoming Coordinator, is responsible for putting alumni weekend together (updated after Alan’s comment):
With Jamie Mazzo:
Jamie and Bernie:
Then, it was back to Studio 1 at WCWP for Jay Mirabile’s special four-hour “Disco and Funk King Show”:
Here I am with Jay:
One last picture: Jay in action.
And that was my Saturday at C.W. Post for this year’s Homecoming. It was a long, but worthwhile day.
Headed to C.W. Post today! October 18, 2008
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Personal, Radio.add a comment
Today is finally the day of my radio show at WCWP. As I’ve said in previous posts, the show starts at 3:30 or immediately following coverage of the C.W. Post Pioneers’ Homecoming game against Millersville University. I plan on checking out the festivites next to Hickox Field about an hour before I go on.
At the same time as my show, there will be an Alumni Reception two studios down in the Abrams Communications Building. I should have time for both, especially with the long Ken Navarro interview. Speaking of which, Part 1 is scheduled to air at 4:29 and Part 2 at 5:00.
Shortly after the show, I’ll be headed to the Pioneer Room on the first floor of Hillwood Commons for the Friends of WCWP Alumni Dinner.
I’m hoping all goes well, or at least, well enough. I should have a recap of my day, along with an aircheck of the show and both parts of the Ken Navarro interview, by some time next week.
Ken Navarro interview editing process progress October 7, 2008
Posted by Mike C. in Jazz, Personal, Radio.1 comment so far
And no, the above title is not a typo.
It took me three nights and three days, but I have finally completed editing my alumni show interview with Ken Navarro. It’s 30:34.030 long. The next step will be inserting excerpts where necessary from “The Grace of Summer Light,” plus “Lakes,” the studio and live recordings of “Try Again,” and a few songs from other artists I mentioned in the interview.
And after that, then I can finally make the playlist for next Saturday’s show on WCWP. (I can’t believe it’s next week already!)
10/8, 4:20 PM UPDATE: I’ve completed that next step and now I’m completely 100% finished with the editing process. The interview will air in two parts. Part one is about 16 1/2 minutes; part two is about 18 minutes.
MikeChimeri.com 