11/21/06
Hello, Music Diggers,
"Tis the season to be jiggly, become a turkey, sweet potato pie, or even cranberry sauce, and move on to Christmas shopping for dessert...and by gum, I've already begun. Ever fighting the battle of the bulge, I briefly became a sloth(not by eating one), thus only now, finally I update the schedule. November gave me an open lane. Now, I'm gunning the gas of...
Recent and Upcoming Actions (with quip commentary by Dr. Quintin McBrubeck):
OF November 2006
From 11/15, Warren Back in The Netherlands (will wonders ever cease?)
11/17, Menno, w/Laroo and Byrd, featuring Leah Kline, Bloemendaal, The Netherlands, at Zilt Restaraunt, 9pm-12am(sweet atmosphere at which to put on airs; hot sounds to vaporize all pretensions;sultry babes sirening the blues away{go Saskia and Leah})
11/20, w/Jazzkia, Gorinchem, NL, Theatre Gorinchem, 8pm(they scorched'em at Gor'chem!)
11/22, Byrd Flies Back for Thanksgiving(...to keep his word...and become a turkey!!)
(POSS)11/22, Byrd/Porter Duo, W.Htfd, Ct., Mediza's Restaraunt, 7pm-10pm(king meets turkey on the meditterean tip)
(POSS)11/26, Salvation Army North End Chapter, 11am Service, Pastors Travis and Patricia Locke Presiding (...this Sunday, as a Pie!)
11/30, Byrd/Porter Duo, W.Htfd, Ct., Mediza's Restaraunt, 7pm-10pm(big rotundos a la turk) Into December 2006(Know well, know well, know well, know well...)
12/1, the AFRO-SEMITIC EXPERIENCE, Fri nite service at Scarsdale Synagogue—Tremont Temple, 2 Ogden Road, Scarsdale, New York(glad to be in the service...one mo' time)
(POSS)12/3, Salvation Army North End Chapter, 11am Service, Pastors Travis and Patricia Locke Presiding(one mo' time...)
12/4, BYRD FLIES One Mo' 'Gain to Amsterdam(one more time?!)
12/7, Menno, w/ Laroo and Byrd, Loosdrecht, NL, De Otter, 8:30pm
12/8, Menno, w/Laroo and Byrd, Bloemendaal, NL, Zilt, 9pm
12/10, Jazzkia, AMS, NL, Cafe Alto, Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 115, 9:30pm
12/17, Jazzkia, AMS, NL, Cafe Alto, Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 115, 9:30pm
12/22 20.30 Jazzclub Hothouse Redbad, zaal de Harmonie, Ruiterskwartier 4, Leeuwarden, NL; Jazzkia w Gene Jackson(d), Joris Teepe(b), Warren Byrd p), Ingram Washington (voc) www.redbad.nl
12/23 9p Beauforthuis, Austerlitz, NL; Jazzkia w Gene Jackson(d), Joris Teepe(b), Warren Byrd(p) Ingram Washington (voc)
12/24, Jazzkia, AMS, NL, Cafe Alto, Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 115, 9:30pm
(POSS)12/25, Laroo????(Merry Christmas!!!)(this time as an imaginary expense account!! )
(POSS)12/26--30???, Saskia Laroo Band, Georgia, Ukraine (POSS)12/31 E - Dance, Oosterhout Saskia Laroo Band
For The rest of the 2007 schedule, simply click www.warrenbyrd.com
Always remember, you are what you eat. Sincerely, Dr. Quintin McBrubeck.
10/19/06
Hello, Music Diggers,
I've come back from Kathmandu; the tidings I have are not so bankable in the World of Toys. I recommend that for anyone who truly seeks perspective in life, travel is the intensive way...unfortunately I did not fashion a camera but I bet ya' that Saskia did. The Saskia Laroo Band was a smash at the sold-out benefit for Bhaktapur Hospital(I believe one for Cancer Treatment) thrown at The Garden of Dreams(near the U.S. Embassy and The King of Nepal's Pink Palace...yes, PINK ). We played after a Nepal-based international unit, Stupa, a great group, and a cool bunch of dudes. We were part of a festival that consisted of traditional music artists, crafts, lectures and much more. Saskia and I also went to Kamell, the tourist borough of Kathmandu Valley, and were treated to a demonstration by a music shop owner of Nepalese instruments. Bandasangpure?? It's a crime how bad I can be with names, but he was more charming than a magician. There's to much more too tell here. Come see me sometime...if you can catch me...
I'm only briefly back. Next I'm cross country to the Bay Area with the Afro-Semitic Experience for a Shabbat service, then a concert at University of California at Berkeley's Hillel. Next, onto Bolzano, Italy, again with the Saskia Laroo Band for the Steinegg Live Fest, a couple other things, then back home. It's always sweet to touch back home...Hartford, Connecticut, the land of covert musical giants...
That would bring me to November2006, the period of my tummy cocoons . I'm still shaping it, and so far it shapes up like this (for those who more than skimmed the last blurb, take note of 11/8-11/12):
· 11/2, Warren Back To Hartford, Ct!!!
· 11/4(Sat), AFRO-SEMITIC EXPERIENCE, 8:00 p.m., Allentown Jewish Community Center, 702 North 22nd Street, Allentown, Pennsylvania, for more information please call 610-435-3571.
· 11/5(Sun), AFRO-SEMITIC EXPERIENCE, time TBA, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pennsylvania,
· 11/8, Byrd/Porter Duo, W.Htfd, Ct., Mediza's, 35b Lasalle Rd, 7-10pm
· 11/ 9, the AFRO-SEMITIC EXPERIENCE, University of Vermont, details TBA
· 11/10, the AFRO-SEMITIC EXPERIENCE, Friday night service at synagogue in Burlington, Vermont
· 11/11, Tom Parker, Bloomfield, Ct., The Blue Smoke Grill, 6-10pm
· 11/12, the AFRO-SEMITIC EXPERIENCE, 4:00 p.m., CD release event and concert to benefit Christian Community Action at Congregation Mishkan Israel, 785 Ridge Road, Hamden, Connecticut, for more information please call
· 11/20, w/Jazzkia, Theatre Gorinchem, The Netherlands
Poland is still to be determined; I haven't forgotten you, either, Ms. Saunders or Latanya Farrell; and Thanksgiving in Ct., for at least one pithy reason, is becoming an imperative...(There that boy goes again, thinking aloud ).
So far so good. I'm grateful for all these issues; much better than no shoes. Praise God.
I just wanted to say to Pastor Travis T. Locke, one of my spiritual mentors, that the glitter never got as good as the gold (God Bless, Pastor Locke).
Contact me about life, gigs, Ikea, food, blunders but especially gigs at 860 997 2410 cell, 860 524 9910 hm.
6/14/06
Hey, Happy Spring, Music Diggers,
I'm convinced of one thing; that is I can't even begin to predict how flexible I must be when life rolls. Yet now I write from the standpoint of survival. And acceptance. And tolerance. and maybe even a sense of humor? No more promises(and that's a promise).
What the h[eck] is Warren babblin' 'bout now?!
I said I'd be regularly reporting; ain't been--so so sorry...and Now What Then??
Artists tend to thrive on psychodrama, chaos...and on some mellow, subdued level...I'M THRIVING!!
Alles is good. God is good; all day, everyday.
What Time Is It?
When the cats do a hit, then hang on the grounds long afterward to elate in joyous inventory of our musicians' life, competing and sharing in the spirit on high raconteurship, something's going really right. That's what's been happening on Tuesdays at Dishes, located at the corner of Farmington Ave. and Laurel Street in Hartford, Connecticut. The band plays at 9:00pm. That's when the games begin. Somehow, the spirit of true jazz seemed to leave Kenney's Restaraunt then float over the place that was once The Comet, long before the Aetna Diner ( recent years it's been a gaggle of other repass entities)...perhaps because a great spirit who embodies much of what true jazz is all about saw to it along with other hosts-- Trombonist Steve Davis. Tuesday nights, cool hang cats, Porter, Dez, Nat, Fuller Brushes, Summer poetry, Papa Stevis, Maurice, long lost Linda Ransom, litl' Emma, Lummie, Torian the Terrible, Ben, the Hartt Cats, who am I forgetting? I can drop names all the while. I'd be droppin' the ball if I forgot to mention Toni Williams the Great, Dishes's entertainment manager who loves the way we play.This hit could become "legendaric". See my Upcoming Appearances below.
Congratulations Edwin, I have nominated you as Male Vocalist Most Deserving To Be Nominated In the Advocate Readers' GrandBandSlam Poll. Just remember, hallow victories make petty tyrrants...click www.edwinwest.com
Oh! By the way, It's been so long that I almost forgot to mention that Ms. Laroo is officially a bearer of a visa with O-1 status again which means she can be a pro-musician here in the states again (...queqe in one-line, please). Share in her joy. Click www.saskialaroo.nl
Meanwhile note the change in format. I will only send out what's "sooner" as a newsletter. The rest you can see at www.warrenbyrd.com . That will surely save some space in your e-mails.
For those of you without ease of internet, if you'd prefer I do send you the rest of the dates (i.e. from the present thru to Kingdom Come), just reply with "PLease Send The Rest", and I'll see to it.
4/14/06
Hello, Music Diggers,
A nod of deep reverence on the evolution of one of America's finest artists' and educators, Jackie McLean...welcome home J-Mac...
As Nat* said to me, "...we gotta keep this music alive, the music goes on...", Stevie D., silence was golden...If I myself would start to try and measure what influence on me Mr. McLean has had, I'd need a laser beam with more light-years than my soul...light speed is apprx.186,000 miles per second...
And on that note, the thing to check out is how much serious, stone-cold Jazz was in town last week...Jazz is not dead, and not even it's support system. One weekend: Stevie D, Jason Moran, Tido Holtkamp, the Memorial jam at Louis's, Jay Schwartz group, me, Alvin CarterProject, and new Jazz, like Charmagne and Ed West(Warren, is this Nepotism??!!)...fact is fact:There's lots of Jazz in Southern New England, and lots more where that came from...
That Afro-Semitic weekend in North Carolina was an Elysian experience! We played like we were God's trombones, revered and conjured our ancestors, and spread joy vibes in progressive ecumenical contexts...even while hovering the graves of long-departed slaves. I haven't felt like that since Bali...
*Nat Reeves, Bassist
I promised more frequency. My bad. I'll get it right next time--this time.
3/1/06
What's New, Music Diggers,
It's been a while, ain't it? This changes now, with this update at this moment, March 1, 2006. It'll really change once I obtain a computer...God willing...Yet much has happened since the last issue of "Where's Warren...".
What Has Happened?
Like kids chasing their angels and we, our ghouls
I spin sounds on the Alps, and by the springs
of Maryland, Mass, and Pennsylvanian Schools
with Saskia, Stacy, Baba and Alvin's things
Magic found in muses high and low
with Chevan, Edwin, Nick... I'm bewitched
Mr. Sax and making wax we go
and I, the better than if roles were switched
Now we just have to wait on God and see
The fate of Jazz in Hartford, Stevie-D,
and Fuller brushes with the fuel of bombs
as he makes gigs like E-mac hits the toms
The music scene at large needs sure support
for Tomaca, Pastor Locke, that is high sport
Fellow Musicians keep your ears perked;due to the burn to brighten our capitol's star(), change both good and otherwise than good is on short fuse. Shall we hip-hop-ize all our Real Books?!! Maybe not, and just know that the Great concepts are resilient and do recycle;As surely as things die, their seed is planted in what's-to-come...
Coming Soon: A Format Change