TRR - ALBUM ART - APOLLO

I hope you are having a productive and fulfilling month! With the impending release of End Of An Era, 2012 has proved to be a busy year, full of hard work and dedication, and I am really excited to share what is unfolding.

I am happy to say that I have officially partnered with Truth Revolution Records. I'm really excited for the plan that we've set up for this coming release, and I can't wait to see results of our hard work come to fruition. Over the past few months, I have been spending most of my time finalizing the music for my sophomore release, End Of An Era. Thanks to the support of my Kickstarter backers, I was able to finish writing, arranging and recording strings with producer and engineer, Charles Schiermeyer. With his help, I arranged for, and recorded a full string orchestra on 3 of the 9 songs; the title track, on a composition for the aftermath of the Hatian earthquakes in 2010, and on my arrangement of the Coldplay song, What If. I then went to mix and master the record with the great Dave Darlington. (You can hear a sample of the record on the right side of this page)

Since the music has been finished, I've been working hard on the artwork for End Of An Era with the help of Paul Nguyen and Andy Neesley. I also had a great photo shoot with Jason Goodman in an old abandoned greenhouse in Yonkers, NY (how we stumbled upon the location was an adventure in itself...) and am now working hard to finish it up. Its been a long road, and there's still a lot left to be done, but we're almost there!! The release date is set for early October. More details on that soon!

Outside of finishing up End Of An Era, I have remained extremely busy playing some great music with incredible musicians. Some highlights over the past few weeks have included performing with the Captain Black Big Band, led by Orrin Evans, as well as a few gigs with Timothy Warfield's Quintet. On Saturday, May 12th, I will be performing at the Apollo theater in Harlem alongside of Wycliffe Gordon, Savion Glover and Aaron Diehl, and on Tuesday the 15th, will be performing with Orrin Evans, Nasheet Waits and Eric Revis at the Zinc Bar for the Evolution jam session hosted by Meghan Stabile and the Revive Music Group.

For the remainder of 2012, I will be spending the majority of my time working hard to plan for and promote the new record. I hope to see many of you at a few gigs, and can't wait to let you all hear End Of An Era.

Almost the End Of An Era!

We're so close! Just working hard on the album art and booking for the release. I'm looking forward to sharing the record with all of you!!

EDDIE, SPAIN & EL MUNDO

I just arrived back in New York from my Mexican performance with Eddie Palmieri's Salsa Band. Man, what great trip! We spent the day at the pool & pool bar, then later that night, played in a stadium in Veracruz for some very eager and supportive fans.

It was a short tour, but like always, I'm excited to be back in New York and am looking forward to performing again with the band at the Copa Cabana on Tuesday. I hope to see some of you there!

In other news, it had been a few years since my last European concert as a leader. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to change that this past month. On July 20th, I had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Taylor Eigsti, Joe Sanders and Rodney Green. We had a crowd of about 800 in the heart of beautiful Pontevedra, Spain. I was thrilled to find a few great articles written about the performance, most notably a feature in 'El Mundo.' You can read the article in Spanish HERE, or in VERY roughly translated English HERE (you might have to use your imagination for this one). All-in-all, it was a successful night. That performance marked the beginning of the Pontevedra Jazz Festival, and the end of the weeklong Pontevedra Jazz Workshop, that my quartet had the pleasure of leading. There were some great students of all ages, and the energy we got from them, as well as the program directors, was ouststanding. I look forward to going back and working with them again, as well as continuing to take my own bands abroad.

MEXICAN COMEDY??

Hello again!!! I hope that your summer has been as educational and exciting as mine has! I´ve had some great and enlightening experiences, and I would love to share a few of them with you! I`m writing this while sitting at the airport in New York, waiting for my red-eye to Mexico. I feel very fortunate to be doing a lot of traveling and playing this summer. In another hour, I will be in the air, on my way to meet up with Eddie Palmieri`s Salsa band to perform a concert which is sure to be phenomenal!! The band will be back in New York on Tuesday, August 16th, for the reopening of the famous 'Copa Cabana.' That performance will also celebrate Eddie Palmieri`s DVD release, which I am grateful to be a part of.

In non gig-related news, I started taking an improv comedy class two months ago, and I have been recommending it to EVERYBODY!!! What an amazing way to get out of your comfort zone, relate to yourself and others more honestly, and just rid yourself of your insecuritites. It truly has changed my life both on and off the bandstand. The way I feel standing in front of 1500 people holding my trumpet is now %100 better after being completely vulnerable making a fool of myself on stage with 15 other aspiring improv comedians. If you`ve ever thought about taking part in something like this, JUST GO FOR IT!!! It will most likely change your life too!

Ok, now back to music...

Since it`s been a while since my last update, I`ll rewind a few months. In June, I had the wonderful opportunity to perform with Wycliffe Gordon`s Big Band. Wycliffe and the rest of the cats were exceptional, and I`m excited to be performing with them again later this month (August 26th at Miller Theater in NYC). Also, Wycliffe asked me to be a part of an amazing concert in London, later this year. On November 13th, I will be performing music that Wynton Marsalis was commissioned to write for a new silent film entitled, "LOUIS: Louis Armstrong, Charlie Chaplin, and the Birth of Jazz." This concert, to be held at the Barbican Theater, will be the European premier of this piece, and will be played alongside of the film. Wynton will not be in the band for this event, and I am MORE than honored to be performing his role on this occassion. Truly a humbling opportunity.

 Another notable performance in June was opening for Dee Dee Bridgewater. It`s always fun to share a stage with Chrisette Michelle, and this time it was at Town Hall - an incredibly beautiful venue!! Also, in my last newsletter, I failed to mention a wonderful concert I played in March. I had a great time performing alongside one of my musical heroes, Ingrid Jensen, with the Christine Jensen Big Band at Dizzy`s Club. What great music and great energy!! Unfortunately, it was an emotional week for me with the passing of my Grandfather. Having someone like Ingrid to bounce personal and musical ideas off of during that time was very enlightening.

Well, I have a plane to catch, so this will have to do it for now. I have a lot of VERY exciting updates so you can count on hearing from me soon!!! Buenos noches mi amigos!!!

SOPHOMORE ALBUM IN THE WORKS

Happy Spring to all!! I hope everyone is enjoying the change in scenery as much I am. I have regularly been finding myself in my new spacious practice room (playing to the open waters of the Hudson River). Nothing like serenity to help you focus your ideas, and overcome personal obstacles!!

A lot of great musical and personal events have been happening since my last newsletter. Along the same timeline, I have had some personal loss. The latter has cracked me wide open, and I am very excited to continue my growth as a communicating musician and human.

This month's mantra.. "What is a city, but the people." -W. Shakespeare

The personal relationships I develop with everyone I encounter are very important to me, as well as the way I communicate with others. Which is why I am thrilled to announce the progress of my sophomore recording. Last month, I headed to the studio with 4 of my favorite musicians on the planet (Sam Harris - piano, Jake Saslow - Saxophone, Joe Sanders - Bass and Justin Brown - Drums) to record my second album. The rough mixes sound amazing, and I am very grateful for the way my fellow bandmates helped bring life to my compositions!! The next steps I am going to be taking are editing, mixing, composing and overdubbing string, vocal and percussion parts, mastering, artwork, liner notes... the list goes on! In the next few weeks/month I will be sending out more info on how you can hear and be involved in the project. Stay tuned!

A few days after my April recording, I headed out to Europe with the great Eddie Palmieri and his Latin Jazz band, subbing for the incredible Brian Lynch.

We had a great and exhausting time performing twelve shows in two weeks, with concerts in Bastia, Corsica; Milan, Italy; Zürich, Switzerland; Istanbul, Turkey; Vienna, Austria; Cologne, Germany and London, England. It's truly on honor to perform alongside a true master of the Latin Jazz genre. I came back a little tired.. but full of wonderful experiences that have fostered progress in my musicianship.

A few other March/April highlights... I had the priviledge to perform with the Nicholas Payton Big Band for the first week of March at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Jazz @ Lincoln Center. It's always an honor to be put on the same stage as my musical mentors/influences. Playing with Nicholas was definitely no exception! Later that month, I performed at the Blue Note in New York with the Neo-Soul singer, Chrisette Michelle. We had a three-night tribute to Billie Holliday, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn.

Other gigs and projects and recordings have all been thrown in the mix, but that'll do it for today. Now get off your computer and GO OUTSIDE!!! ;)