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 ÞorgrÃmur 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.
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, ÞorgrÃmur Jónsson
Coincidences with a Purpose?
August 8, 2010 12:12 am | Filed under: Music | Comments (0)
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, ÞorgrÃmur 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…)
The Fun of Making Do
May 7, 2010 1:59 pm | Filed under: Music | Comments (0)
Tags: compositions, Gigs, jazz, performance, Scott McLemore
This week was an unusual one for me because I played four nights
in a row, at the same venue, with the same jazz quintet, Scott plays Bop//Scott plays Scott. That is unusual in Iceland. We were premiering music by drummer Scott McLemore and I was playing both Wurlitzer electric piano and an acoustic piano. We had a great time playing and were pleasantly surprised by the attendance every night and most delighted with the review in the Morning Paper. Scott can not only play drums, write music and cook great food, he also a very creative designer and he designed his own poster. I love it! Don't you?
Today I'm reaping the emotional satisfaction of the project but also paying for the late (read more…)
Scott Plays Scott
May 5, 2010 1:19 pm | Filed under: Music | Comments (0)
Tags: Gigs, performance, Scott McLemore
I've been a terrible host lately but in my defense I have been busy preparing a new CD (to be released in June), booking tour dates in US in June, taking care of travel arrangements and rehearsing new music with the Scott McLemore quintet. We are playing 4 nights this week in Reykjavik and it is really great music. So if you are in the greater Reykjavik area don't miss this unique opportunity to see a band develop new material. The event is called "Scott plays Bop, Scott plays Scott"
