JazzWriter

I'm a freelance writer by day and a working jazz musician by night, and often I am able to combine my two lines of work. This blog is for posting gigs & various rants about music and life in general.

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Location: Central Illinois, United States
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Monday, April 27, 2009

for real

Wow! Two gigs in one weekend! And I've got pictures to prove it! (I remember the days where I sometimes had two gigs in one night--that's been a while.)

The first is the annual Rootabaga Jazz Festival hosted by my alma mater, Knox College. I was only able to attend one evening of the 3-day event, the Thursday night Faculty & Friends Jam session, but as always, it was a blast. That's DH in the background on vibes...and why is it I often look like a zombie when playing? Photo credit goes to Sue Dickinson.





Here's the next night at the Peoria International Beer Fest with band jazzchocolat. I'm still not sure why these people hire a jazz group to play for this event, as it's got to be the LOUDEST event ever (not the band, but all the people packed in a warehouse yakking at the top of their lungs) but we played it last year, too, and they wanted us back. But hey, there's free food and beer (not that I could partake due to my current state but I did score a free sample glass) so who am I to complain? Photo credit goes to Pam Eaton.

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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

the gigs, they are a-comin'

Slowly but surely, my calendar is starting to look a little less bare for the summer. I just booked a couple of new dates for the awesome CEFCU Jazz Night concert series, which takes place annually on the Peoria Riverfront during the summer. (See my schedule at the left for dates/times.)

I have been hesitant to book too far into summer, though, as I'm expecting Baby#2 in late August. When I was pregnant with our daughter, I played my last gig 2 weeks before my due date. This time I'm declining all gigs in August (except for maybe my steady monthly) primarily because most of the gigs are outside and our summers tend to be hot and sticky. Playing in late July heat when I'm roughly the size of a beached whale doesn't sound all that appealing either, but I gotta earn a living. So, I'll suck it up thru the end of July, then in August I guess I'll be out of the picture for a while.

Hope everyone is doing well musically and otherwise!

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Friday, April 03, 2009

lag time

I haven't posted much lately mainly because there hasn't been too much going on. The economy has had a tremendously negative effect on local gigs, so I haven't been playing as often as I used to. Sadly, the weekly stint at Panache has been discontinued, although I am hopeful that once things look up, maybe we'll be asked to return. We had a lot of good years there--would have been 12 years this summer. That's quite a run!

I haven't attended many performances lately. It's difficult when most big gigs are in Chicago (2 hours away). I'd love to visit the new Jazz Showcase but haven't made it up that way yet. Things were easier when we didn't have to arrange for childcare! I wish there was more jazz going on in my hometown, Bloomington-Normal, where I'd feel perfectly safe hiring a sitter and going out for a few hours. But leaving town when someone else is in charge--that I'm just not comfortable with. Guess it's the mom in me, outweighing the musician.

I do have a few gigs on the books, which I'll update here in a moment. In the meantime, please make a little extra effort to seek out gigs near you, where ever you may be, and try to attend them. Musicians (and club owners) need your support now more than ever!