Dan Levine, Chip Jackson, Rick Cutler and me at Corcovado.
June 29th, 2009
Sorry, it's been awhile. Somehow easier to leave a sentence on Facebook on a regular basis than actually sit down and write here.
Since our last episode, my big band performed at Iridium with a Tribute to Sinatra and Basie at the Sands. It was such a treat to put this concert together, hand picking the musicians and assembling, for the most part, the original arrangements played on this historic concert at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. We had a large audience, but not sold out, which is a drag, to tell you the truth. Don't know whether it's the economy, the price or whether people thought it was a cheesey Atlantic City type look alike show...whatever the reason, this was an amazing evening and it was a treat to play this music and hear Tony Babino sing the Sinatra Songbook. He's the BEST SINATRA type singer out there, IMHO. Not trying to sound like him and he understands the music and the acting behind the lyrics. Just marvelous.
The Big Band and Tony will be at Danbury, Ct. on Aug. 14th at the Charles Ives Center for their Gala. Check out their website for more information.
Just back yesterday from 18 days on the road with Ms. Minnelli. 7 Concerts and a number of very long bus rides. Frankfurt, Munich, Bielefeld, Duesseldorf, Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris.
The band was in rare form as was Liza, whose singing was wonderful at every gig. Very open and free and holding notes forever, or so it seemed. Good for her.
Frankfurt was nice, Munich, for some reason, feels like home to me, Bielefeld was a hit and run, the 4 days in Duesseldorf were great, nice people, great places to eat and boat rides on the Rhine.
Berlin was interesting, as I have never been there. Became Mikey the Tourist, in the words of Gary Labriola, taking pictures and walking my feet off.
Amsterdam is always a hoot and Paris remains a City of Magical Things. I had a ball meeting people in each city. The Concierge in Duesseldorf made sure I was supplied with bowls of cherries, which were at the peak of the season. In Paris I had fun with waiters and shop people, doing my Maurice Chevalier impression and counting off the tunes at Liza's concert in Paris in French.
It will soon be two years for me on the Liza gig. It's been a blast and I've gotten to travel all over the world, seeing cities and sights that I never thought I would see. As for the future, stay tuned...but I'm not buying any green bananas.
