The Kravis… West Palm Beach is very proud of its Center for the Performing Arts and well they should be. The Kravis is absolutely state of the art, a huge stage which I tried to photograph and just couldn’t get it in the lens. Attached a few photos from today’s two shows (11am and 2 pm, um… early bird specials) we played to full houses (ca. 2,000).

Both shows were special to me because of visitors from back home. The first show I had Joe and Jane Belanger and Joe’s brother, Bob, as backstage guests. Joe and Bob actually played with Mel Tormé way back when. Tony and Ginnie Guzzi and Tony’s mom showed up at the second show, looking all Floridian and fit. Good to see ‘em.

Tonight: just chillin’ at the hotel. Tomorrow: depart for Naples, FL.

Photos: l.to.r, Jane, Jeff, Joe, Steve, Bob; interior of the Kravis.

Clearwater, FL… The day dawned clear…and cold! 38ºF, whooda thunk it? We had to get going early cause we had a 1 pm show at the fabulous Ruth Eckerd Hall. First-rate house, stage crew, equipment and sound: all were excellent! And a full house of 1500+ gave us a warm enthusiastic reception. The audience was very well versed in the Mel Tormé songbook and again responded avidly to the choice of songs and the stories Steve told between them.

It was also Steve’s umpteenth birthday (how many? No one knows…) and during the show we surprised him with “Happy Birthday” sung by the band, and after the show we all shared his birthday cake. The photo below actually contains the whole touring company, one of the few I have with everyone in it.

L. to r. (seated) Pete Dake, co. mgr.; Nicole Dessin, stage & lighting dir.; (standing) Charles Trundy, sound; Michael Meza tpt.; Jeff Fuller, bass-ketball; Winston Byrd, tpt.;
Mike Fahn, trb.; Steve March Tormé, vocals and birthday boy; Bob Wiescholek, driver; Wendell Kelly, trb.; Eric Erhardt, ten sax; Steve Rawlins, piano, cond.; Gary Herbig, alto sax; Ron Krasinski, drums; Vito Chiavuzzo, bari sax.

Beaufort, SC, turned out to be a real pleasant surprise for me. First of all, the weather was rather pleasant. 60’s and mostly sunny. The motel was poorly managed and maintained -- my room door lacked an security eyepiece, there was just an open hole instead; the whole place looked liked it hadn’t been seriously cleaned in months.

Nonetheless, among the Spanish moss draped trees, two or three positive things emerged from my experience here. I found that the pre-packaged chef’s salad sold at the local supermarket (Bi-Lo) was an inexpensive and delicious lunch and dinner (I had two, with Ranch). The complimentary wine given to us in Galveston, actually a pretty good Merlot, went down well with the salads. At the local Kmart – 10 min. walk from the hotel -- I finally broke down and bought a basketball (10% off, Pam) so that I could at least dribble and pass even if we haven’t yet found a hoop.

Lastly, I dropped by the bookstore in the mall next to the hotel, and a local author name Roger Pinckney was signing his books. I bought a delightful story about Daufuskie Island, about 6 miles off shore from here, where it’s a completely different world. One of the last of the undeveloped sea islands off South Carolina, it is home to the Gullah people, descendants of former slaves, who don’t very much care to go to the mainland they call “the other side.” Wish I could have gone there. Also, Beaufort and the sea islands is very close to where they filmed “Prince of Tides.”

The concert last night was yet another pleasant surprise. The audience of about 300 was rather sophisticated and knew a lot about both Mel Tormé and his music. Very heartfelt applause and ovation at the end for Steve and the band. We gave one of our better performances, very swingin’ and spirited. The tech crew once again came through despite a serious lack of facilities and personnel.

Today we are en route to Clearwater, FL, about a 450 mi. drive. Obviously the weather is getting nicer as we go: warm sun, puffy clouds in the sky, fresh breeze – FL in Jan. We stopped at a Flying J rest stop – my god! It looked like a convention of RV’s. All shapes and sizes, driven by youngsters and oldsters, all mavericks of the road.

Arrived in Clearwater around sundown. A bit cloudy and breezy... am using night off to do laundry in hotel... yippee!

Very nice weather here, about 60 and sunny. I hear it's 14 in NYC and heavy wind chills in New England. I guess this is one of the reasons I came on this trip! Today I'm nursing a sinus-type head cold: achy and stuffy, very low energy. Gonna take a quick nap before the 5:15 bus call to the theater. Tomorrow we leave for Beaufort, SC, at 8 am -- our longest drive yet.

Tonight's the night my students back in CT give their school recital. The Small Jazz Ensemble I coach is being very well looked after by my colleague, Jim Martin. Good luck, guys!

Tonight’s concert in Meridian was a real surprise. We played again in one of those old opera house/burlesque type halls (seating for 1000), this one totally restored and looking and sounding beautiful. We also had a full house, one of the few so far on this tour. People were very receptive and gave us many heartfelt congratulations afterwards in that slow, broad Mississippi drawl.

One day… four states! Whew!

Well, today (1/26/07) represented the longest travel day to date. Luckily, no concert tonight. We left Meridian, MS, at 8 am, and by the time we arrive tonight in Beaufort, SC, we will have entered the Eastern time zone and crossed four states: MS, AL, GA and SC. These aren’t New England-like states either. This is a “12-hours on the bus day,” no getting around it. We had two 15-min. breaks, and a 1-hour lunch break, but that’s about it. My energy has not been real good due to this lingering head cold, and I have taken advantage of every opportunity to rest, stretching out from my seat across the aisle to a vacant seat on the other side. Everyone else has different ways of coping. There are some who sleep sitting up, others whose legs cross the aisle, one guy seats way in the back behind all of our wardrobe stuff hanging there. Sometimes there’s a bunk available if the crew wishes to share with us musicians. My bass rides also way in back behind the wardrobe, safely bungee-corded to the luggage rack.

Anyway, we arrived safely at the Ramada, settles in for the night. See ya... Photos: Steve, the quarterback; a guy, some clothes and a bass...

How can I describe the motel we are staying in? For three nights I might add! Well, to begin with, it is a huge sprawling labyrinth of arms and legs – building extensions with hundreds of rooms on two levels. The parking lot goes all around it, and no matter which doorway you exit you’re always liable to be a long walk away from where you wanted to be, or thought you’d be. When we first arrived, to get to my guest room with all my luggage and my bass, I had to first walk from the lobby down a long corridor into a huge atrium the size of an aircraft hangar, with about 35 of the ugliest ceiling fans hanging 25-30’ above my head, and rotating all the time. At one end of the atrium: the pool, jacuzzi, and a small actual building (like a temp trailer) housing the game room and gymnasium. Atrium isn’t really the right word perhaps – it contained no live plants but instead hundreds of artificial plastic ones hanging from the balcony – kind of faux New Orleans.

Continuing to my room, I had to then go back OUTSIDE and use my key to get back INSIDE the long, dimly lit corridor down which I eventually found my room. Inside, the room was pleasant enough, EXCEPT the real clunker is this: none of the 100 or so rooms bordering on the atrium have ANY view of the outside – you can’t tell if it is night or day, 24 hours a day. The pathetic little square windows atop the atrium don’t let in enough light to significantly change the dingy, cavernous feel of the place. I guess the architects decided that you’d just have to settle for this false idea of “outside.”

OK, so to do my laundry, same routine: outside, inside, walk, walk, walk, outside again and inside to the laundry room. (By the way, one washer and dryer for the entire guest population.) To categorize this experience as Kafka-esque is entirely appropriate: you feel that you are trapped in this huge indoor labyrinth, and hoping to find a way out to the beautiful out-of-doors you finally burst outside, only to realize that in January, in Monroe, LA, indoors and outdoors are essentially… identical!

Photos: the room (not bad)... the atrium (not so good)...