RECORDING BOOTH

The Diane von Furstenberg or the Romeo & Juliet? While trying to decide which dress to wear for our upcoming jazz concert at Blues Alley, I had the thought to write a post about jazz fashion. I had planned to work with our intern and research the subject. Then, I stumbled upon Vintage Black Glamour. It does a lot of the work for us. Published in 2014, this stunning book was written by Nichelle Gainer. I came upon

My first time at Blues Alley was on a weekday afternoon with a videographer. The club was empty, quiet and, despite it being daytime, dark. It had just opened for the staff to begin getting ready for the night’s show. My video friend recorded me sitting on the piano stool on the stage singing “I Got It Bad” a cappella. The club had given me permission (thanks Harry!), after I told them I needed a video for an auditio

In June, me and the guys had the pleasure of performing a private concert for members of The Arts Club of Washington. Like the Nasar Abadey event that I attended there a year ago, the evening was magical. One of the first things the guys were drawn to at The Arts Club was the Steinway piano. Its sound was beautiful. Lincoln (trombone, Music Director) and Clifton (piano) walked straight to it upon their arrival. A coc

Clothier, Paul Stuart, presented John Pizzarelli in a fun-filled performance with the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Ensemble. The company’s Washington, DC store dressed the musicians in gorgeous suits for the intimate concert held at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. In his remarks, Paul Stuart’s Chief Marketing Officer, Thomas Mastronardi, spoke of how cool jazz musicians are, c

I was awed when I saw the Picasso exhibition at MoMA. I am an art collector but adore contemporary art. Ever since that exhibition, I became a MoMA subscriber, and their new offering of music instruments inspired this post. The pocket synthesizers have clever design and are the ultimate in portability. And the Seaboard keyboard places sound manipulation in the silicone keys, as you play them. See the entire collectio

My latest CD Love received a raving review this week. It was so rewarding to read that AllAboutJazz.com Senior Editor, Chris Slawecki, could decipher the amount of hard work that went into the 13-track, jazz/R&B project. Producing, musicianship, and more is mentioned. This is what recording artists and record labels hope for. Check out the review here. Thank you, AAJ.

This summer, jazz bassist, Michael Bowie, ingeniously offered donors to his band’s — Sine Qua Non — upcoming CD, attendance to their recording session featuring iconic trombonist, Fred Wesley. With my Music Director, Lincoln Ross, being a trombonist and huge fan of Wesley, I went for Bowie’s offer. But quite honestly, my craziness for Parliament Funkadelic may have had something to do with the

My recent CD release, Love, was created by a team of incredible people.  To try to show them how much I appreciate their support and what they brought to the project, I had them over for dinner before releasing the CD to the public.  There was even a Part II on July 4th, where I was invited to dinner! Gathered together were donors, writers, musicians, management, marketing, publicity, and graphic design.  People who

When Dr. William E. Smith sent me a LinkedIn connection request, I couldn’t wait to reply in hopes of an opportunity to chat with him about his work as Assistant Professor of Music Technology at Bowie State University, in Bowie, Maryland.  After a little Googling, I realized that he is the saxophonist from The W.E.S. Group, an established, jazz band in the Washington, D.C. area. I enjoyed interviewing Will and hearin