Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Today at the coffeehouse, I ran into Erik Kleven, Sacramento's master of the electric bass. I hadn't seen him since January. He told me that he's going to Indiana soon for a five-day stand with a Patsy Cline tribute show. We had a nice talk about pure vs. tempered intervals (he likes to play a pure major tenth on the bass a la Jaco Pastorius.) He's wearing a T shirt from a traditional jazz band he used to play in; the buffalo was drawn by Robert Armstrong (cartoonist, friend of Robert Crumb, member of the Cheap Suit Serenaders, and coiner of the phrase "couch potato".) Posted by Hello

Saturday, May 28, 2005

Pianos don't belong outside... but almost all of the Jubilee pianos are outside. We try to tune them anyway. Posted by Hello

Friday, May 27, 2005

The tuners for the Jazz Festival keep the service record by writing it down on the piano itself, old school. The records go back to when Jim Hopperstadt used to do it. He also played bass for bands in the Festival. I remember him at Piano Technicians Guild meetings... he was always ready with a boring, self-serving story only somewhat related to the issue at hand. Posted by Hello
I left my PDA (the one with my schedule, contacts, games, and tuning software) in a bathroom at the Radisson Hotel. I didn't realize that it was missing until four hours later. I called security at the hotel but no one answered. I drove back to the hotel and found it just where I'd left it. The restroom is particularly remote --- it's in a hallway on the way to a stage at the end of a ballroom. It doubles as a dressing room for performers. I wondered if anyone had used the bathroom at all while I'd been gone. Posted by Hello
What really gets a vegetarian salivating? Posted by Hello

Thursday, May 26, 2005

The natives of Espresso Metroland have their own patois. This note, roughly translated, means "the cash register's display is differently abled." Posted by Hello
The communications center at the Jazz Jubilee, which has a nice balcony overlooking a tiny, mosquito-infested lagoon. They have a large collection of pagers which no one is using, because they all have cell phones. Posted by Hello
The Sacramento Jazz Jubilee has only one ironclad rule: no drinks on the pianos. Posted by Hello
I've never seen this before --- a two-story garage door. It's like the stage door for an opera house. Posted by Hello

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Peering through the blinds of the poolhouse bathroom at the staff below preparing a few desserts. Posted by Hello
Reading the Economist between songs. Posted by Hello
Setting up the band for a black-tie birthday party. The couple were celebrating a combined age of 155 years. Posted by Hello

Thursday, May 19, 2005

I drove 45 minutes to this customer's house and she stood me up. So if you see this house, throw an egg at it. (The problem is: this being a California tract, every other house on the block looks exactly like it.) Posted by Hello

Monday, May 16, 2005

My lunch at Starbuck's --- Cobb salad and tall latte. I'm reading This Book Will Change Your Life --- a collection of 365 anarchic suggestions, one for each day of the year. Posted by Hello
On Sunday I played tennis with Hal. Usually I drive him, but this time we rode over to the courts in his 1952 Chevrolet van. He's made extensive modifications, including the map light and in-glove-compartment radio shown.
Hal teaches school and so has summers off. Last year he went off to Colorado for ten days to write an (excellent) short story; this year he will take five weeks in Munich to write. Posted by Hello

Show of Simon Evans at Jack Hanley Gallery

When I was in San Francisco last I went to the Museum of Modern Art and saw some wonderful works by Simon Evans.
Here are some photos from a recent gallery show.

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Christine, the new salesperson at Larrick Piano, was passing out Russian chocolates (she is Russian). It has very sweet nougat in the center. Posted by Hello
This is a Kurzweil K2500R, the workhorse of Broadway pits. I got it last fall after all the problems with Scarlet Pimpernel, but I haven't used it in a show yet. It will get its maiden voyage in Beauty and the Beast. Notice the name JEANNIE at the top; I gave it Jennifer's childhood name. Posted by Hello

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Waiting in line to get into the live broadcast of the Al Franken radio show at the Crest Theater. The line eventually was two blocks long. Posted by Hello
During a break in the show, I took this picture of Jennifer in front of the stage. Behind the table is Katherine Lanpher(Al's sidekick), Phil Angelides, and Al. Posted by Hello
This customer had a large collection of fishing rods behind the piano. Posted by Hello

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Giovanni's Pizza on Folsom... the best New York style pizza in Sacramento. Posted by Hello

Sunday, May 08, 2005

Members of the John Skinner band. From left, Dave Witkowski (from Philadelphia!), Tom Lopes, and Kathryn Skinner. Posted by Hello
I played a backyard wedding with the John Skinner second band last night. These people had their own putting green. Posted by Hello
Cafe Melange, in Curtis Park, also makes superb looking lattes. That's part of Steve in the picture. Posted by Hello

Saturday, May 07, 2005

Steve playing one of his five new piano pieces. Although they are difficult to play (and listen to), the titles are easy to love: "The Universe Fixes Itself," "Eep Beep," "Notes Must Be Free," "Trompe l'Oreille," and one other. Posted by Hello