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I played on a great instrument tonight in Ireland. It's a Premiere. I forget the model, but it's an incredibly portable instrument. And I think it sounds really good. What bummed me out and caused me to write this blog tonight is John told me that Premiere stopped making this instrument 6 years ago. I've played on this instrument here for the last 4 years and have fantasized about someday owning one. Easy to set up and move around. I also think it has a nice sound.

Short answer: Probably not, but if we do all the things we should be doing as players, we will impress an audience. It should be a byproduct of what we are doing, not the focus.

Somewhat more diffuse, longer answer:

Performing music, specifically jazz, is an artistic form of communication.

There is a lot in the prior sentence.

Mal Sands LA Vibe Summit XVIII. Past (2010) honoree Onaje Murray, vibes, Dave Mackay, keyboard, Richard Simon, bass, Paul Kreibich, drums.

Mal Sands LA Vibe Summit XVIII. Lolly Allen, vibes, Nick Mancini, marimba, Dave Mackay, keyboard, Richard Simon, bass, Paul Kreibich, drums.
A Night In Tunisia... they are having fun with it!

Mal Sands LA Vibe Summit XVIII. Lolly Allen, vibes, Dave Mackay, keyboard, Richard Simon, bass, Paul Kreibich, drums.

OMG!! Listen to Patrice!! He's swinging like hell with his 3 flying mallets and cheerful (and in tune) scatting!!! Go Patrice! They can't take that away from you!!! ;-) Keep it up! - M

This is the $^%&!!!

Terry Gibbs at the LA Vibe Summit. Better camera angle.

So a local arts organization, the Hopkinton Cultural Arts Alliance (www.caahop.org), did some renovations and used some of the leftover materials to create a really nice outdoor "amphitheater" performance area. I managed to get a grant to run a series of five concerts in the space, and the video above is from the last one, where my band, the MetroWest Jazz Project played. The video was taken by a local news site (www.hopnews.com) and shows the end of my solo and part of the guitar solo on "Sky Dive" and the beginning of "Yes or No".