Guess The Trumpet Player Winner

Thanks to all who listened to Thursday’s track and to those who ventured a guess. A few of you guess the correct trumpet player but only one answer came in quick enough to capture the prize. The winner of the seventeenth edition of the Outside Pants Guess The Trumpet Player contest is…….my mom. And the coolest thing is that not only did she guess the correct trumpet player but she even knew the name of the tune! And the answers: Harry James performing “Memphis Blues” from the 1952 live album “One Night Stand.” I’ll get more into Harry in tomorrow’s post, but if you didn’t get a chance to listen to this track, go back and give it a listen. It’s some (perhaps) deceptively brilliant and virtuosic trumpet playing. And the blues feeling is there full force, not some kind of pastiche. Harry James was truly one of the baddest of the bad. Again, more on that tomorrow.

For today, I want to put in a few plugs for gigs I am playing this week:

On Wednesday, May 18^th, I’ll be performing at Tritone (1508 South Street) as part of the Avant Ascension series. I’ll be playing duo with one of my favorite Philly musicians, guitarist Tim Motzer. Tim and I really enjoy our duo collaborations, but it has been a couple of months since we have played so we are really looking forward to this show. Tim will have just returned from a European tour and I will coming from a rehearsal so yes, we will be warmed up and ready to create some soundscapes and compositional improvisations. There are two other bands on the bill (both guitar-centric I’m told, but I don’t know their music). Tim and I start our set at 10pm – just two dudes with loop pedals and effects boxes. Hope you can make it.

On Friday, May 20^th, I will be back at Philly’s newest jazz spot, Little Bar (8^th and Fitzwater), this time with Matt Davis’s Aerial Photograph. Aerial Photograph has been around for six or seven years or so, I believe. The genesis of the group came out of Matt’s undergrad experience of writing for a guitar trio plus a string quartet. The band soon added a saxophone and then a five piece wind section. The music is all Matt’s. Kind of a chamber jazz vibe. Beautiful, quiet, moody, elegant, sometimes simple, sometimes complex music. I’m very excited to hear how Aerial Photograph sounds in Little Bar. Plan to arrive early, the parking stinks in that part of South Philly – might take you a few times around the block to get a spot. Our set starts at 9:30pm.

On Saturday, May 21^st, I will be playing in Wilmington, DE at the brand new World Café Live at the Queen venue down there with Philly Bloco, a 22-piece Brazilian Carnival band. This band is a blast to play with. Crazy high energy party band. All covers – about half Brazilian tunes and half a mix of New Orleans tunes (Dirty Dozen, Dr. John, Meters, etc.) and American pop/R&B tunes (some Stevie Wonder and some Otis Redding) that get a samba treatment.  If you like to dance this would be a good show to come to. And the new venue is supposed to be amazing. If you are in that neck of the woods, please come out and dance. Show starts at 8pm.