Greetings One and All,
Some new things to report on so here goes. First of all, the Gene Krupa Band will be appearing at Iridium Jazz Club in NYC on October 14th for 2 shows. Joining us will be Hilary Kole,
http://www.hilarykole.com/ She's an amazing singer and I'm thrilled she'll be with us at Iridium.
The Band is:
Tony Kadleck, Brian Pareschi, Bud Burridge and Craig Johnson on Trumpets.
Clint Sharman, Bruce Eidem, Pete McGuiness and George Flynn on Trombones.
Steve Kenyon, Chuck Wilson, Dan Willis, Ben Kono and Ed Xiques on Saxes.
Chip Jackson on Bass and Ken Ascher on Piano, with me on drums and perhaps a special guest.
Liza and the Minnoolians were in Louisville, Ky for one performance and then big two shows in St. Charles, Mo. (outside of St. Louis).
We were in downtown Louisville in a older hotel...small rooms and odd food. The big event was the moving of the secret recipe of Colonel Sanders' KFC to a new location. It was the lead story on all the local news shows, showing a gentleman emerging from a black car, with a briefcase, containing the 11 secret herbs and spices formula, (salt, pepper, MSG, paprika, onion salt? What else?) shackled to his wrist. Ah, the Midwest. Why did I ever leave?
We took a bus to St. Louis on Wednesday. 7 plus hours, including two rest stops and lunch in Evansville, Indiana at Liza's fave, Olive Garden. She had the Apricot Chicken, I had the Chicken Parmigiana. Lovely folks and the food was surprisingly OK for chain Italian.
We arrived at the Ameristar Hotel in St. Charles, Mo. It's a large Casino, technically on the River, so they can have Gambling. The rooms were wonderful. The food was pretty swell too.
Although we stayed at the Casino, we played at the Lindenwood College Performing Arts Center's Opening. Two nights of sold out audiences. Had a few friends in the area so was nice to reconnect. (Forgot to say that we saw John LaBarbera in Louisville, arranger for Buddy Rich and now part of the Jazz Program at U of Louisville...Great hang and lot's of funny stories.)
Off for a week or two, so doing Library work at home and enjoying the time away from the Airport.
Will probably be going to Rome with Liza for some Press prior to our Italian tour that begins Oct. 29. Check out the schedule on http://www.officiallizaminnelli.com/ so you know where we're playing.
Oct. 25 & 26 will find me at the Santa Rosa Symphony for the Opening Concerts of the new Pops Season, 2008/09. Mancini Magic is the concert and once again, it's all Henry Mancini's greatest hits.
I'm tempted to start a Keith Olbermann type portion of this blog to the Worst People in the World...I'm too nice to actually do that, but you know who you are.
No pictures this time...nothing exciting to show but I promise some great shots from Italy and after.
Hopefully Liza will be on Broadway in December with our present show, featuring the Kay Thompson section as well as Liza's hits and some surprises. Will let you know as soon as the theatre is announced.
That's it for now.
Facebook anyone?
Best,
Mike Berkowitz
