Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to the amazing Paul Desmond’s album, Bridge Over Troubled Water, his take on that Simon and Garfunkel classic album as well as other tunes by Simon. For those who do not know jazz, Mr. Desmond was the great sax player on all of Dave Brubeck’s classic albums and tracks like Take Five. His tone is unique to him, and one should have all his albums, which I do. Quite a few of them have orchestral accompaniment, as does this one. The charts on this album are by Don Sebesky, who was one of the great arranger/orchestrators for these types of albums, as well as his own albums. This album was on A&M, and the sidemen on it aren’t chopped liver – Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, Airto Moreira on drums. I always enjoy revisiting Mr. Desmond’s own recordings as well as his Brubeck recordings. I’m sure all these are on the Tube of You, should you care to give a listen. I especially love the tracks for So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright and Old Friends. Earlier, I watched the final two episodes of the Las Vegas documentary. Again, some good interviews are marred by the usual sorts of talking heads who wrote a book on Vegas or the mob or whatever. The best part is the historical footage. The most interesting parts for me were how the traditional Vegas has completely disappeared and who was responsible for turning it into Disneyland – starting with Kirk Kerkorian but mostly Steve Winn. Today, it’s all bigger is better. I first went to Vegas with a friend in 1971 or thereabouts, maybe 1972. Just for one day and night. I played poker and won enough to buy us dinner and pay for my hotel room. Then I went with my then-wife and we saw Joel Grey and Petula Clark one night, and Tony Bennett and Michel Legrand. And yes, I tipped the maitre’d and we got a front row table for each show. Who knew that one day I’d be producing an album with Petula? I’ve only been a handful of times since. I was taken there for one birthday and that was fun and a surprise, and David Wechter and I have gone a couple of times, and that’s where I met up with Susan Gordon and we had a good old time eating and getting to know each other. I’ve never stayed at any of the behemoth hotels on the strip. I find them rather nauseating. Oh, and last year I was there for that David Cassidy thing, and I had fun, but I literally flew in at noon and out at five. Can’t remember which hotel we were in. I looked for a movie to watch but fell asleep instead.
Prior to that, I got just under eight hours of sleep, got up, answered e-mails, decided on a Cobb salad from Stanley’s and ordered it. It arrived around 12:30 and it was excellent – hadn’t had that particular salad in a while. No bread. No butter. That was pretty much it for food. I wrote more commentary and I only have three to go, which I’ll do when I’m coherent this morning, then I had an almost ninety-minute telephonic conversation with an old friend and that was fun, then I watched the two episodes of the documentary, and here we are.
Today, I’ll be up by eleven at the latest but maybe earlier, depending on when I get to bed. I’ve been doing much better in that regard for the last few nights, getting to bed by one-thirty or two. Once up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll finish up the commentary, make sure I’m happy with the show order, figure out food – something not too heavy or caloric – I’ll eat whatever I decide on, have a telephonic call at some point and then I can watch, listen, and relax.
The rest of the week is preparing for the Kritzerland show – first rehearsal on Friday, second on Sunday, stumble-through on Tuesday and then sound check and show on Wednesday. We’ll have to figure out somewhere to go after the show for a bite to eat – we won’t get out of there before ten-thirty and as we all know LA is not exactly a late-night town. The only option may be Little Toni’s, but I’ll do some checking to see what, if anything, might be open near Catalina Jazz Club.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by eleven or earlier, do whatever needs doing, finish up the commentary and check the show order, eat, have a telephonic conversation, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: Have you ever been to Vegas and if so when and what were your experiences? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to be listening to the cool sounds of Paul Desmond.