Back row politics...

What a great weekend! Well, Friday and Saturday were great, Sunday....that's another story.

Friday night at Scott's Grille was cookin'. The place was wall to wall people and everyone was in a great mood. That's my kinda gig. I had one VERY interesting table. My new best friend Gina, (insert catcalls and panting here) was so enamored with my magic. (And I like to think me.) She just shrieked over and over every time something happened, sometimes BEFORE it happened. I just love people with great reactions. But alas, she's taken. It's just as well, if her and I were together, the neighbors would really complain about all the shrieking.

Saturday I headed to Pottstown for a clinic/concert with some musician friends from the Encores band. 3 trumpet players to be exact. Chris, Jim, and Jose'. Our friend John tagged along too, his wife Tammy plays lead Alto with the band and she had to work, so he came for moral support. (Or to make sure we behaved, I'm not sure.) The title of this posting comes from a new song they did called Back Row Politics. It's a trumpet feature where all 4 guys come out front and trade solos with each other. I can not say enough good things about Gordon Goodwin and The Big Phat Band. We were lucky enough to see these guys one year ago and actually hang out with them a bit afterwards. They were excited to do it again. After the concert, we said hi to the guys and I felt so great when many of them remembered me and the magic I did for them at the bar last year. Lead trumpet player Wayne Bergeron even pulled my business card out of his wallet along with an autographed 4 of diamonds. Man I was impressed. This guy is really one of the best trumpet players in the world. That's no exaggeration. The band's schedule was a bit tight as they were having dinner with some local high school kids, so most of them did not get out for a little "hang time" with us bozos. Wayne and fellow trumpet player Willie Moreno joined us for cocktails at a great Irish pub near their hotel. As the only non-trumpet player in our group, I was a little bit out of place once they started talking shop, but Willie demanded to see some of the magic he had heard about from Wayne. Any of you guys that enjoy good jazz, check out Gordon Goodwin and the Big Phat Band. You won't be sorry. The photo at the top is Jose' with Wayne. Of course my camera battery died before I could snap one with me in it. Oh well, I'll admit Jose' is a bit swankier than me, but not by much.

This weekend, I'll be making a little sweet music of my own. Saturday night takes me to one of my favorite places in the whole world to perform in. (OK, I haven't been that many places.) I'll be with Jose, Chris, Jim and all the rest of the Encores band at the Hotel Hershey. As I said in earlier posts, I grew up in Hershey and in high school performed there a lot. I still get to do magic once or twice a year there, but it's actually been 15 years since I've played music there. I'm sure it will be a blast. The photo at the top is Jose' with Wayne.

What made Sunday so bad? One word....HANGOVER! Remember kids, lots of water between cocktails.

Vegas in 17 days!