The long-awaited release party rolled around on Sunday at Godfrey’s with my good friends on stage with me, my son and daughter (and former wife) in the audience. Remarkably few kids and remarkably many adults.
It was the first time ‘the band’, the players on the CD, had played the songs together live, and in some cases, had never even met. So it was a curious situation but one we were all comfortable in.
I started with two solo pieces ‘Finger in the Air’ and ‘Tutti Tah’ and set the tone for the afternoon. I then introduced Kevin on drums, Ansel on harp and Wendi and Robbi on vocals and we played ‘Skip to My Lou’ and ‘Jimalong’ and we were on a roll. A good, full sound.
I then introduced Rob Stoneback on trombone for ‘Giants’. This is the part of the show that I was salivating for, Rob being an idol for me. His big band is to die for and his musical knowledge and performance portfolio is immense. Ansle played the first lead twice and Rob followed with two great leads, the gals doing the back ups. Splendid all the way around.We followed with a funky ‘Jelly in the Dish’.
I pulled it back to do ‘Three Slow Snails’ with Ansel and it was a treat to perform live for the first time. I then invited Rosalie to come up and do ‘Rosalie, where are you going’ and got some of the audience to take up her part, including an older gentleman who did his part from the audience.
We then did another first take with the Jump Rope Mashup, with Rosalie, Robbi and Wendi and myself doing the short rhymes with Kevin on drums. It had a nice feel to it live. We then rolled into ‘All Around the Kitchen’ and it cooked with Ansel and Rob doing solos and getting everyone up to dance.
Someone asked for ‘Baby Shark’ so I leaned on Rosalie to lead the movements, which she did most wonderfully. We then finished with ‘Shoo that Fly’ in a rollicking manner. It was a tidy show and was a good format for future ‘band’ shows.
I sold about 20 CD’s, signed them all and encouraged folks to get the other players to sign as well. I was proud of my friends and their support on the project and the release party as well. I was disappointed that it wasn’t a full house, especially with the newspaper article last Monday. But such is the life a local artist.