Good morning!

The first half of October has been awesome, and SO filled with music!  It has been wonderful to see those of you who were able to come to some shows, and to play in such a wide variety of musical settings.  So far, double bass has been the main instrument, but on Friday of this week, I'm busting out the electric before returning to double bass for some more straight ahead shows.

In this morning's missive, I want to tell you about three very special upcoming performances:

Oct 24, 8pm, Listen to This at the Boston Harbor Distillery - It has been such a blast to be the bassist in Listen to This, a band dedicated to Miles Davis' electric era. Digging into some of my favorite bassists' lines, and getting inside these compositions (some very loosely defined as such) has been a great learning experience for me.  Be sure to pick up tickets to our show at the Boston Harbor Distillery - it will be super fun to be back in that space.

Nov 6, Triptych Project's debut performance at the Mad Monkfish - A year or so ago, I got in touch with friends who live nearby, Alberto Netto (drums) and Joe Mulholland (piano), and asked if they would agree to a one hour workout each week (more or less).  The idea was to get together and play something very difficult for about an hour, and then call it a day.  My hope was to grow musically by stretching physically and intellectually, and that idea worked.  Now, a bit more than a year later, we are having a great time playing sometimes very difficult music.  So, that's the deal with this group - make difficult music sound fun.  Please purchase tickets to our debut performance ahead of time, since pre-sales matter at the Mad Monkfish in Cambridge.

Nov 9, 5pm, Mandorla Collective plays the music of George Russell - This is a long time in the making, and we are thrilled to be doing this!  What seems like aeons ago, Mark Redmond (Founder, Mandorla Concerts), Jesse Taitt (phenomenal pianist, educator) and I met to discuss a new initiative.  The idea is to honor a musician who spent a good amount of time in Boston, influencing musicians here, while also performing on an international stage, thereby influencing musicians the world over.  There are so many musicians like this, so I'm sure we could honor someone every year and not run out of people.  This year, the inaugural performance focuses on the great theorist, composer and pianist, George Russell.  I can't tell you how happy I am to be playing his music again, and how grateful I am to Alice Russell for making this possible.

And, if you are a lecture/demonstration sort of person, my Trio (Sheryl Bailey and Yoron Israel) will be at the Medford Public Library on Nov 5, "Creative Process" and the West Stockbridge Historical Society on Nov 15, "Increase Your Jazz IQ".

Thanks and see you soon!
Rick