Yesterday was a bit crazy.
I played in the morning for lecture series with one of the most famous lead trumpeters in jazz history (for Basie, the Tonight Show w/Carson, Thad Jones-Mel Lewis big band, and numerous studio bands), Snooky Young.
http://www.answers.com/topic/snooky-young He is now well into his 80s, and doesn't play or especially hear like he used to, but it was wonderful to meet him and hear him talk about his incredible career. Not many guys are of the vintage to tell stories about Billie Holiday cooking him pigs feet ("they were just delicious! I couldn't believe it!), famous drummer Sonny Payne getting him arrested by mistake for "stealing" his car (he drove it home for him because Sonny was loaded after a gig), or numerous gigs playing with various people.
Later that night, I played with the Zebras, led by my Canadian compatriot, JH. Fusion and funk repertoire by the likes of Weather Report, Tower of Power, Freddie Hubbard, and of course the "Pinball Counting Song" (as linked in a previous entry). That went even better than expected. Then, I raced over to the campus bar to play with a group that featured young virtuosi Brian Donohoe (as leader, sax) & Tim Goynes (guitar). Tough, tough tunes. That was fun. There was even a reasonable sized crowd for us and the previous group, a fantastic Abbey Lincoln repertoire group led by vocalist, Sarah Renfro.
Then, I've had car problems already. I'm going to get dinged ($) pretty hard to fix it. Sucks.
Spring break starts soon. Can't wait. Apparently, I'm supposed to travel to a beach and get loaded while watching wet t-shirt contests.