God's Frozen People

Good Evening from cold Balmville, NY. While not unseasonably cold, my ancestors were a tribe of desert nomads and I think the gene for cool temperatures is missing in my DNA.

No matter. The heat is on and I'm wrapped in some nice warm clothes from the local Marshalls. 

I love Marshalls. They have a line of products from THE PALM restaurant, cookware, glassware, dishes, etc. that the lovely Deirdre and I are addicted to. The square dinner plates are to die for.

My new drum set from Gretsch is the best I've ever played. My opinion, your mileage may vary.

Shell layups and hardware like the old Gretsch round badge sets from the 50's and 60's, they sound very Tony Williams, which I love. Not to denigrate any of the other drum manufacturers that are making drums in the style of Gretsch, but, if you want Gretsch sound, you must buy Gretsch drums.

Most people think I'm a long time Buddy Rich acolyte but my love of Mr. Rich came rather late in life. Prior to that my faves were Tony Williams, Pete La Roca, Billy Higgins, Joe Chambers, Joe Morello, Sol Gubin and Alvin Stoller.  An eclectic bunch to say the least. Krupa is in there some where too.

I always find that a different set up or changing the tuning makes me think differently about what I'm doing and how I'm approaching the music. Great fun to change things up. 

Clark Terry always talks about IMITATE, ASSIMILATE, INNOVATE as the path to one's Jazz identity and I couldn't agree more. I'd be happy if the last one was just CREATE. When you get a chance to play, go for it. COMMUNICATE...(maybe CT would like to add communicate).

Always thrilled whenever I'm somewhere on the road and some player in the local band plays in the style that we're playing and communicates to the audience. It's lovely when that happens.

Have changed agents again for my Symphony dates. Back to my tried and true team of pros. Sometimes you try something and it doesn't work out. Of course, an elegant leave taking is much preferred to a vitriolic email but what can you do? Moving forward.

Our new puppy, Maisie, is now 5 months old. A Havanese, she has changed our lives and our routine.

She's just the greatest addition to our home and Deirdre and I are glad we finally joined the World of Dog Owners. 

Acquired a snow rake for this year's snow storms. Put it to good use on Thanksgiving Day when we received about 8 inches of heavy wet snow. Clearing the roof prevents ice dams and giant icicles, which I detest.

TV...we still love Person Of Interest, NCIS, Alpha House, Elementary, some BBC three parter with Bill Nighy, Forever and we're on the fence about the new show State of Affairs. Funny how the other NCIS' don't do it for us... Modern Family is a late discovery...yes, I know. Not sure about the Claire character. Might be a deal breaker in the long run. And last but not least, SHARK TANK.  We love this show...not crazy about all the Sharks but really enjoy watching this...even the reruns. Why does Barbara Corcoran always looks like she's smelling something really bad?

Much new music finding it's way to my Library. Great arrangements for Pops concerts of all types. Can't wait to hear them played.

Just finished Frank Foster's autobiography. Reading the new Bob Hope book now. Also read the Peggy Lee bio. She might have been among the most eccentric of all great stars. Nice to see Mike Renzi's name mentioned so frequently in the book.

OK, time for dinner.

Back soon, y'all.

In the meantime, sleep warm.

Mike Berkowitz

Note from the Road, 2014 Edition.

Summer 2014

Direct from Capstone Production's HQ's in beautiful downtown Balmville, NY, we bring you the long awaited first post of 2014.

Thankfully, Summer has arrived and we are enjoying all the pleasures of the Hudson Valley, which seems impossibly green this year, owing I assume, to all the moisture from the snowy Winter and the wet and cool Spring we had in these parts.

Part of the enjoyment has been in attending concerts by John Pizzarelli, Eddie Izzard, Adam Nussbaum and assorted other events here in our area. John P and his Quartet were magnificent at the Town Crier in Beacon. If you've never seen John live and in person, go! In addition to his amazing musical talent, his patter and affable demeanor are as good as it gets...funny and never corny.

I'll be conducting the Rochester Philharmonic July 3/4. I'm very pleased to have been asked and the program includes a lot of fun music...1812 Overture, of course and a pice by my old friend Jim Beckel, "Liberty For All"...in addition to works by Mancini, Hamlisch, John Williams, Alan Silvestri,
Sousa, Percy Faith and to top it off...Tommy Newsom's arrangement of "Strike Up The Band", written for Buddy Rich. (On that one, I'll be playing drums.)

Concert in Hackettstown, NJ on July 12th at Centenary College...Tribute to Gene Krupa. Great band and featuring vocalist Amy London. We'll be doing some Krupa tunes that we haven't performed before, such as "Melody in F" as well as music from the movie "The Gene Krupa Story" and Quincy Jone's charts from the classic album GK did in 1956, "Drummer Man". Cincy native Amy London will be singing some Anita O'Day tunes as well as some Nelson Riddle/Rosemary Clooney charts, in honor of her hometown favorite.

End of July finds me at the Green Music Center with the Santa Rosa Pops, performing a concert with Mariachi Sol de Mexico. Should be an exciting evening of the best in Mariachi Music and some Orchestral faves like "Andalusia" and Overture from "Man of La Mancha".

Looking forward to upcoming concerts with Byron Stripling, Haven Burton, Cady Huffman, Karen Mason, Carmen Bradford, Lisanne Lyons, Tony Babino, Five By Design, The Music of John Williams as well as Holiday concerts and ABBA Tribute.

Krupa date in Seattle area in October...booking more gigs around that one so I'll have that info next time  for all. Looking forward to working with my good friends from the Seattle music scene. They're great and they know how to swing and have a good time.

OK, that's it for now. Enjoy all the Summer has to offer and keep in touch.

Best,
Mike B