When an early Roman was going down an early Roman road, and he didn't have a radio or cell phone, what did he do to pass the time? Or had boredom not been invented yet?  

This is not an ad for the show. It's the real thing. Rachel photographed Evita's tomb during her visit to Argentina. She was surprised that the tomb was smaller than most of the others in the cemetary for rich people.

This is a picture Rachel took during her week in Argentina.

In rural Sacramento County this time of year the pastures are turning green with a dusting of purple wildflowers. Soon the tract homes will be sprouting. 

This is common now: a church sanctuary that looks like a recording studio. The computer on the right foreground is for projecting lyrics to the songs on a pull-down screen behind the band. To the left you can see a banner that has motivational-speaker slogans on it: "Getting it Done", "I'm In."

Last night I went to Sacramento's only remaining jazz venue (and it's only on Sunday night) to see my friend Doug Pauly (on guitar, left). The singer, Maleva, has a great cabaret-type persona and in fact has done musical theater with people I know. Before that, she was the head dresser at Music Circus! So of course I sent a picture of her to my favorite dresser, Rachel. 

This is the isolation booth next to the editing room. In the lower left-hand corner is an udu. 

This is Wendell Yuponce in his studio (in an undisclosed location). I'm helping him with ten pieces he is writing for a recording session we will be doing in Seattle on April 25. He makes MIDI files and I turn them into scores and parts.  

Another view of Espresso Metro, with my trusty Toyota wagon (#5 in my life) on the right. Sacramento City College is renovating one of its buildings a block away, taking away a lot of staff parking. Parking around the coffeehouse, therefore, has gotten a lot tighter.

I have two cartoon ideas, one of which I'll do this weekend:
1. Two mothers having coffee. One points to her young child and says, "She's only three and she can talk on the phone. ...Before, she could only instant-message."
2. Couple: "Now that our kids are gone, we can concentrate on how unhappy we are."

I'm back (on the right) ordering a latte at my favorite coffeehouse, Espresso Metro, which has thankfully changed not at all while I've been away.

I went to an ATM today and couldn't remember the PIN for either of my cards. Scary, with all of the machines I depend on, to lose my connection to one of them. I'm going to have to go to the bank to have new numbers keyed in.
Two nights ago I played my first job since coming back: a trio job contracted by John Skinner. He also mentioned that he wanted me to play at his daughter's wedding. The groom is a third-generation Air Force pilot, and of course Katherine is second-generation. But this wedding almost didn't happen: a few months back, Katherine sang with John's band at the wedding of her fiance to another woman. A few days later, he called off the marriage (how exactly does that work?) and decided that Katherine was the one for him.
Is that clear? If you think so, please email me and explain it to me.

On the day of our flight home from Philadelphia, it rained heavily and we missed our connection in Las Vegas. While sitting around in the airport, we met James, a student at Orlando's Full Sail school of music technology. He had his laptop and keyboard out and was recording some music. We had a good talk about the music business. When Jennifer volunteered that I had been on the Peter Pan tour, he said, "It's a job."

This note is on a piano at the YMCA in Lower Merion, PA. 

I went to high school with Jon Dichter, a PTG member piano technician who also plays fine jazz guitar in the Django Reinhart manner. He is planning to rebuild this miniature piano with his seven-year-old son. 

This Steinway is in the rehearsal hall of the Academy of Music, where we had our orchestra run-through for Peter Pan. "It's got three strings missing," said Dave Williams, the prop head.

I assume this is where the Philadelphia Orchestra used to rehearse (and maybe still does). It's one of the best-sounding rooms I've ever been in. You could make great recordings in there.

A square grand by J. Stewart at the Art Institute. 

A closer view of the Broadwood upright. 

A Broadwood upright at the Chicago Art Institute. 

Historical piano

This Collarde grand is in the Big Shoulders Cafe at the Chicago Historical Society. To see the woman who plays it click here.

A Chickering square grand and harp at the Chicago Historical Society.

This piano showroom is in the basement of the famous department store Marshall Field's. The main brands are Bergmann and Young Chang. 

Buried on page 5

I visited the Wright Brothers Bicycle Shop and Museum in West Dayton. On display is a page of a paper announcing (with many factual errors) the first flight at Kitty Hawk. Down at the right-hand corner I noticed this piano ad.

This photo comes from a news article about a public school that got a new grand piano. This is their old piano after a flood.

Unexpected pleasure

I took the bus to Cincinnati today. My first stop was the Cincinnati Museum of Art. I was wandering through the galleries when suddenly I noticed a faint yet familiar sound. What was it? I couldn't place it. Finally --- the sound of piano tuning! I followed the sound to its source --- Allen Wright of the Cincinnati Chapter PTG, tuning a Steinway for a concert that day. We started talking and before we knew it, we were having lunch and then he drove me around town, showing me some of the main landmarks on the way to the historic Union Terminal (now a museum/IMAX theater complex). The pictures show the old Baldwin Piano factory, now an office building.

Pianos on tap

This is another music store in Dayton -- Hauer Music. They sell all kinds of musical instruments including pianos. The building has a smokestack because it used to be a brewery.

The Midwest's largest piano store

Emmert Royer started BHA Pianocenter in a 6,500 square foot former raincoat factory in Dayton, OH in 1949. At first, they sold appliances - the name originally stood for Best Home Appliances. Later they got into pianos and organs. In the sixties they were the leading Conn organ dealer in the country. Even though the organ business is practically dead, BHA still has rooms and rooms of organs, including one dedicated to Allen organs.

BHA is different in many ways from piano stores in Sacramento. First of all, they own their building - and they have so much extra space that they rent it out to other businesses (including the billiards business in the basement.) They also own all their inventory outright, instead of "flooring" it and paying a monthly finance charge to the manufacturer. They offer a lifetime of free weekly piano lessons to any piano buyer. They also have a strong presence on the Internet. On their website they have pictures and prices of many of their used pianos, and they also list them on eBay. Bob Royer, the current manager and son of the founder, says his goal is "to sell fine preowned grands for $2,000 less than [my] best competition on eBay."

Most interesting thing in Dayton

This is the piano in the Doubletree hotel lobby in Dayton. It's a Hyundai.