Famous Players in Lake Louise

Okay, this happened a while ago, but so has my last blog post, so I guess I have to play a little catch up!

Famous Players played for a wedding up in Lake Louise.  Unfortunately the weather was not great.  Not bad, but not sunny and "pretty".  Oh well; that's not what we were there for, anyway.

We got in the day before so there was no rush.  Definitely try to come in the day before a gig if you can squeeze it, as it eliminates any stress due to late flights or other shit like that, and it lets you rest up adequately for the performance the next day.

Chateau Lake Louise

Me & JP in our room; JP writing some new horn charts, and me, well.... doing nothing :)

Greenroom

You know, I was never much to warm up before gigs (shame on me, I know), but since I came in extra early for sound check, I found myself playing long tones, over tones, and...I sounded better!  More in tune, more relaxed emboucher, everything.  Better mindset, too!  Man, I had no idea.  I mean, I could perform without it, but this feels so much more comfortable!  Haha.

2010 Leo Awards

Leo Awards Ceremony held at the Westin Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver

I had gotten a call from internationally renowned and good friend Fred Stride to play in the "pit" orchestra a the 2010 Leo Awards.  Naturally I jumped at the offer, as all of Fred Stride's gigs are a blast!  For instance, we will be playing one of Duke Ellington's Sacred Music Suites this November, which I'll blog about later.

Fred Stride

The Leo Awards are an annual set of awards which honor the best in British Columbian television and film production.  You might have recognized some actors from TV series and films such as Stargate, Sanctuary, Stargate: Universe, Smallville, The Last 10 Pounds, and others.


The "pit", in this case, was not in a pit at all; as you can see in the photo at the top, we were instead right there on stage, staring at the audience, and the backsides of the award recipients and hosts (not always a bad thing!).  No picking your nose!

It only took us about an hour and a half to clear all the material, as we only ran each one once (and only sometimes twice).  That's one of the differences between an amateur band and a pro band; the guys around me were reading all of this material on the spot, and it sounded like they've been playing it for years!  A pro band will just get the shit done, period, and it was from these guys did I learn this lesson!

Chad Makela, bari sax; super-nice guy, but don't mess with him! :)

Left to right: André LaChance (bass), Mike Braverman (tenor), Steve Kaldestad (tenor)

In my previous posts I mentioned that you always gotta be on the spot, always gotta keep your eyes open; I cannot think of a more relevant example than this.

During the night (wearing tuxes, of course), the band played charts while the winners came up to get the prize, and also when new award presenters came to the stage.  As our eyes were trained on the presenter and Fred to cue us in, we had to be ready to play at the drop of a hat, and as soon as the presenter said "and the winner is......" wait for it....."......" and we're off at the drop of Fred's cue!

As it only takes about thirty seconds for the recipients to walk to the stage, that's pretty much how long each chart took!  So again, as our eyes were trained on the winner walking up to the stage, Fred, and this time reading the music, as well.  And as the winner was passed the trophy and stepped up to the mic, again, we had to be ready to stop at Fred's cue, right in the middle of our passage.  No time to wipe, no time to pull up your pants, just get out!  You really have to be on the ball for these kinds of gigs.

The night went off without a hitch, and I tell you, there's nothing like just sitting down and playing a bunch of easy-to-read but great charts for a night!

Seen in Bria Skonberg's Promotional Video

I had the privilege on playing on singer/trumpeter Bria Skonberg's promotional video.

Bria's a good friend of mine, and I've been grateful to play with her on numerous occasions.

Her CD is rooted in jazz, and branches into other territories.  I won't label any genres here, because I don't really believe in that (neither does she); I just believe in two types of music: music that I like, and music that I don't like (not even good/bad music, as that's subjective).  Anyway, the songs on this CD are of the former type (the good one), and you should really check them out Bria's website!

Bria's career is really starting to take off in the jazz world, playing with local legend Dal Richards, to touring all over the world with various bands including Bria's Hot Five and the Big Bang Jazz Band.  Go Bria!

Famous Players in Black & White Gala in Calgary

This was my first time going to Calgary with the Famous Players!  They're are a great bunch, and welcomed a relative new-comer like me with kindness.

Kelley & Lauren

Issah

Some crazy boat in the ceiling of the Hyatt Regency we were staying at.

Incidentally, our rooms didn't have water, coffee, fridge, or anything like that!  That's okay, though, I ain't no prima donna; it's just kind of ironic!

Lauren and Aimée (did I get that accent right?)

Kelley

Victor

Mike

Issah and Mike

Bell Winter Games 2010 Orchestral Commercial

Just how I like everything epic, I love the Bell Mobility ad for the 2010 Olympics which has an orchestra.



Does anybody know who composed/arranged this piece?  And what's the orchestra playing it?  Conductor?

Olympics 2010

I just finished playing a gig for the 2010 Olympics down in Granville Island for the event "Place de la Francophonie" .

The particular show I was in was called "Carnaval du Monde", or "World Carnival".  It was an hour and a half showcase demonstrating the many cultures within our French community, or at least that's what it seemed to be!  From Swiss alpine horns to Jewish Chabad Niggun music to Brazilian capoeira, feature acts would switch on and off quickly and seamlessly while they performed some of their traditional music and dance of their culture.

I was both part of a feature act, as well as part of the house band.  The house band played whatever stuff the feature acts needed to be played, and in my case as a horn player, I only played for about half of the show, including the feature act I was in.

For the Jewish act, I was to play the ol' cane o' pain, or as some people call it, the clarinet (the former name is more descriptive).  My orders were to jump around on stage while playing exciting electric Jewish music.  Fun!  No, really!

PREPARATION

I had gotten a call from the leader of the Jewish act, Jonathan Benny, to play a song for Carnaval du Monde.  There was quite a bit of rehearsal involved, including a four hour one-on-one with him, along with a full-day rehearsal with the entire cast (the house band and all of the other feature acts).  I had brought my own microphone, but the sound guy couldn't get it to work.  At first I thought it was my mic, but he eventually found out that it was a phantom power thing.

The thing about these kinds of gigs is that there is a LOT of waiting around, as one might imagine!  In about 6 hours, I probably played for less than 3!  Just remember that no matter what, you have to always pay attention, at least to the one who's directing YOU; in a matter of seconds, you could go from hours of doing nothing to a full run-through of the show.  However, after seeing all the others rehearse, I could tell that the gig was gonna be kick-ass fun.

SOUNDCHECK

Guess what?  More waiting!  This time outside in the cold.  I don't take time to tune before-hand, because the cold air will just screw it up afterwards anyway.  I only tune on-the-go.

After about 6-7 hours of soundchecking, dress rehearsal, and last-minute changes (remember: pay attention!), I went home, leaving my horns (sax and clarinet) just below the stage outside.  I don't really know much about instrument care (I should), but I believe that constant fluctuations in temperature will not be good for your axe (especially wooden ones, like acoustic guitars and basses).  Bringing it inside for a few hours to warm up only to take it back out in the cold is probably not good.  It also makes tuning difficult, as the instrument has to "acclimatize" to the environment again.

PERFORMANCE

Aside from it being even COLDER (complain, complain...), the show went very well!  There was a big screen behind the stage that projected the performers on the stage, which unfortunately caught me jumping around like a damn fool.

Remember how I say pay attention?  PAY ATTENTION!  I missed the cue to start the last song, which starts with just SAX AND TRUMPET (one of those is me).  ALWAYS PAY ATTENTION!  Enjoy the show, let your eyes wander (not hard with brazilian dancers in front of you), talk with the guy next to you, but always keep an eye on your director!  That is one of those things that separates the amateurs from the pros (how hypocritical and embarrassing that I missed my cue...).

All in all, the gig was great fun, and "worth the wait!"