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	West of One Brubeck Brothers Quartet
	Once Lost Pete Levin
	Songbird Michael Franks
	Tired Of The Blues Professor Louis & The Cromatix, w. Tom Malone

 

Dan Brubeck & Mike at The Jazz Standard, New York City

I wrapped up 2007 with three Brubeck Brothers performances. We played for the Salt Lake City Jazz Society, hosted by our good friend Gordon Hanks; The Seasons in Yakima, WA, which was hosted by journalist and friend Doug Ramsey; and returned to the Gulf coast of Florida for our annual New Year’s Eve gig at Ellington’s on Sanibel Island.

 I just returned from a California tour with the BBQ. Our first concert was in Torrance at the Nakano Theater, an intimate venue that seats about 300 people.

Photo: Barry Schwartz

We played a nice show to a full capacity crowd and also had a photo shoot with  photographer Barry Schwartz. Our next gig was a four-hour drive away, at the beautiful new Gallo Arts Center in Modesto. We played another sold-out show to 800 enthusiastic people!

Up early the next morning, we drove to San Jose to play an afternoon gig at The Improv Club. I was surprised to see so many people come out for an afternoon show. It was great to see Nancy Eigsti (pianist Taylor Eigsti’s mom) at the gig. Afterwards, we chilled, had dinner and grabbed some sleep. The next day, we headed to San Francisco to play the new Yoshi’s.

The club is beautiful, the sushi was killing and pianist Chuck Lamb said the nine-foot Steinway was amazing

Photo: Barry Schwartz

The next day was a travel day, and we headed up Route 1 to Point Arena. This 3½ hour drive never ceases to amaze me.

Every mile is incredibly breathtaking. This ride inspired my composition “West of One” a few years ago . . . and we played it to a packed and enthusiastic house at the warm and intimate Point Arena Theater. There’s always a great vibe in this little town, and it was great to reconnect with some good friends there as well.

The spring semester is starting up and I’m back at Bard College teaching guitar. I’m looking forward to some warm weather and the release of the new Brubeck Brothers Quartet CD, “Classified,” which will come out in March (Koch Classics). The new recording features The Imani Winds on four cuts. I also played two tunes on Pete Levin’s new CD – look for it this spring.

Best,

 

The Imani Winds & BBQ “Vignettes for Nonet” Recording Session at NRS, August 2007