Guess what? Another superb evening sharing the stage with two fine musicians. Nine people in the audience.
Regardless, these evenings are special and tonight was no different. Mike Dugan is a world-class blues player and fellow LV pro and now works with Jenn McCracken as a jazz duo. Tonight we explored music from the 30’s and 40’s, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, scat singing and more. There was lots of great chat about the music, the chops, the influences and more.
I found out that Mike toured Germany for Musikfest, as I did and it was cool to swap stories about our week tours of a foreign culture. Mike talked about playing on the blues circuit and how tough it was. He talked about his jazz leanings and need for a variety of guitar styles to keep him sane. Jenn talked about her high school music teacher who introduced scat singing to her when she was only a teen. I talked about finding Fats Waller 78’s in the family home and my dad singing Sinatra.
Basically, we covered a lot of commonality in our musical heritage.
I did Titanic, a blues tune to start off with. Eventually, I did Mamma Wants to Barrelhouse with Mike (which was sweet) and Wonder Where the Lions Are with Mike and Jenn that also was a departure from the swing, but turned out wonderfully.
Again, a question from the audience was great about how to scat. Jenn and Mike did a demonstration, and she did some great exposition on how she does it. Again, hats off to Ella, and how hard it is to do without an instrument in hand.
Mike said afterwards that it was a great format and should be taped for broadcast. I should look into Concert Window for internet possibilities. I remain amazed at the quality of these shows, and the obvious lack of response from my local arts community. I know how good these evenings are, and I can only leave with the feeling of doing superlative work with my appreciative fellow musicians.