Last September I headed over to Germany with my quartet for some gigs. We landed in Frankfurt and when we stepped off the plane we saw a suitcase fall from the luggage compartment and hit the pavement. We made some jokes about it then went inside to wait for our luggage. After waiting for a while and a bit longer than that we started sharing lost luggage stories and instrument related mishaps. We were quite relieved when our luggage including the double bass finally showed up. The bass was in an over sized flight case which we had to store at the airport. When we opened the case Toggi, the bassist, almost fell on the floor crying, (read more…)
Long Pair Bond
October 22, 2011 2:39 pm | Filed under: Music | Comments (0)
Tags: albums, kickstarter, Long Pair Bond, Scott McLemore, Þorgrímur Jónsson
A new blogpost has been due for a long time. I do have a very good excuse for my absence. I've been putting together a new CD release with my trio and yesterday I launched a campaign on Kickstarter. Yay! (read more…)
The Joy of Music
August 18, 2010 2:47 pm | Filed under: Music | Comments (0)
Tags: Nordic House, Óskar Guðjónsson, Reykjavik Jazz Festival, Scott McLemore, The Dream, Þorgrímur Jónsson
I gave a concert at the Reykjavik Jazz Festival last Monday. I was presenting my new album "The Dream" with an Icelandic version of the quartet. Scott and I had 3 rehearsals with bassist Þorgrímur Jónsson and saxophonist Óskar Guðjónsson. When you change half the members of a jazz quartet the music unavoidable takes on a new shape with the personalities of the new members, (and these guys have great personalities). Therefor there was a sense of freshness and excitement around the performance.
Coincidences with a Purpose?
August 8, 2010 12:12 am | Filed under: Music | Comments (2)
Tags: Bláa Kirkjan, Blue Church, Scott McLemore, Seyðisfjörður
Several months ago, before I knew how busy my summer would be, I scheduled a trio recording in the east of Iceland in August, about a day's drive from Reykjavik (where I live). The other members of the trio, Þorgrímur Jónsson (pronounced Thorgrimur or just Toggi) and Scott McLemore had played at a church in the town of Seyðisfjörður and thought that the acoustics were amazing. We got ourselves booked on the church's concert series and planned to record the day after. Well then summer hit. I was releasing "The Dream" and touring in the US, my girls were off from school and before I knew it it was August and time to go record. Where the hell did the time go? I'm not ready! I have been playing on swings and slides lately and not the piano. (read more…)
US Tour Day 4
June 22, 2010 6:54 pm | Filed under: Music,Road Stories | Comments (0)
Tags: Alexis Cuadrado, Cafe Grumpy, Dan Fabricatore, jazz, Park Slope, Scott McLemore, Trumpets, US Tour 2010, V spot, William Paterson
Day 4, Friday June 18th. Baltimore to New Jersey. A Day of Driving.
Driving to New York today was pretty smooth. 
We were shocked by how much we had to pay in road tolls and glad we didn't hit much traffic. We dropped Loren off in Brooklyn since he had another gig that night. We drove around the old hood a little, past our old apt. building and ended up having a great lunch at the V spot on 5th Avenue. (read more…)
