Ahhh, Friday. It's been a busy week, but once tomorrow hits things will slow down a little and we can all relax. TGIF!!

It's been a good week for gigs. Two of them were actually in town! (This is rare...most times I'm driving to Peoria for work.) The first was on Wednesday night at Fat Jack's, a club downtown. The owner has been booking jazz groups on Wednesdays since February, trying to establish an early crowd--and preferably a jazz crowd. So far, it seems to be a struggle. I hate to sound pessimistic but I'm truly beginning to see a very narrow window of opportunity in this town for jazz outlets. There are a few gigs here and there, but aside from a few local folks that enjoy the music and a handful of other musicians, there just don't seem to be many people who like what we're doing. It's not difficult to listen to at all...but then again, it isn't loud and obnoxious like the stuff most places blare from their sound systems, either. *sigh* I guess we're just old school, even though most of us aren't yet "old." Born to the wrong generation, I think.

On the other hand, Kevin and I played a duo gig yesterday afternoon for the Rotary Club. We played one tune while the members were getting their lunch and two more at the end of the program. Several people came up afterwards and said they liked our music selection (we just played a few standards), which was nice. And later that night we played at Panache and had an appreciative audience. But then again, we usually do at Panache. It's an unusual place (in a good way). Coffee house settings usually go over much better than bars, anyway, if you're playing jazz.

I could analyze this forever but I don't want to sound grumpy so I'll quit. Maybe it's because of the rain that I'm feeling cynical today.