Riding on the bus from Lumberton SC to Newport News VA. Still fairly mild temperatures, mostly sunny skies. God! We have had good luck weather-wise on this trip. Just seem to have missed any bad weather by a day or two either side.

In any case, we have good reason to believe that in Newport News we’ll be able to find a decent restaurant at last. Dying to have a nice meal cooked and served by professionals. It seems lately that every place we’ve eaten at has been in the sticks (but highly recommended by the locals), has offered very poorly cooked and prepared dishes served by the current crop of young restaurant workers who mostly love to talk with each other rather than pay any attention to their clients -- and that’s putting it benevolently.

Last Saturday Ron and I went out looking for a good place. The Outback Steakhouse had a waiting line of an hour, same at Ruby Tuesday. Even the hole-in-the-wall Mexican place had a wait. So finally we walked in to a Chinese take-out place and ate there! Oh well, at least the prices aren’t too bad, but it’s no wonder I have actually settled at times for the Walmart pre-packaged salads…

Turns out the hotel restaurant in Newport News offered good Italian food at moderate prices. Even Vito Chiavuzzo was pleased, and he's a hard sell on Italian food.

Along the way, last few days...

In Hamlet, NC – birthplace of John Coltrane – we visited the train depot and museum. None of the townfolks seemed to know whether there even WAS a municipal memorial to Trane -- just a lone poster of the great saxophonist and seminal jazz improvisor hung inside the depot. In Hamlet, they’re more into trains than Trane.

A couple of portraits of some of the musicians in our band.

Wendell Kelly, trombone. Father of a newborn baby while out on the road with us, he is a great professional, a dedicated educator and clinician, and a genuine fun guy to hang with. Has toured worldwide with Natalie Cole, Clint Black, Yanni (yes, Yanni), and famed mariachero and composer Juan Gabriel.



Winston Byrd, trumpet. Big man with a big sound. Originally from New Jersey but now living in Los Angeles, he had to turn down a spot in the Grammy orchestra to come on this tour with us. Honed his skills with the big bands of Illinois Jacquet, Count Basie (Frank Foster) and Duke Ellington (Mercer), and with T. S. Monk, Larry Coryell and others too numerous…



Gary Herbig, alto sax. Numerous TV and movie credits include the clarinet solo on “Cheers” as well as the The Simpsons and Home Improvement. He played with Elvis Presley. His two first jazz CD’s both made the Billboard Top Ten. His humorous comments, and frankly, well, corny jokes – many of which refer to his native Montana (he is Montana’s gift to the world of jazz) – keep us in stitches on the bus. I think that’s the right term.