We are currently in Cleveland Ohio for a few days! This morning the band played a clinic for Lake Ridge Academy! We had so much fun and the kids loved it. We had kids from kindergarten up to high school, and the little ones in particular seemed to be in a trance with my music. It was fantastic!!!

Tomorrow and the next day we will be playing at the Jazz Club "Night Town” here in Cleveland. So far, the tour has been going great.  We had a fantastic time in Detroit and Charleston Illinois. We also got to do a clinic for Eastern Illinois University’s jazz festival for the kids. It was so great, and they had a huge response to my music. I love sharing my music and talking to kids especially the ones who are involved in music. Their excitement and passion is contagious!

The cutest moment today was when I asked the kids if they had any questions. This little girl who looked like she was 7 or something raised her hand and told us how much she loved my music and how great everyone was. She didn’t even have a question, she just wanted to let us know she loved it. She was the CUTEST, she totally made my day.

We are currently in the car driving to Detroit!! 7 hours to go and we are going STRAIGHT for 151 miles on route 80.  At least we won’t get lost  J

Yesterday we were in NYC and I was mixing my new single, "Ready Set Stay” with a wonderful Engineer, Chris Allen at Sears Studio in Manhattan.

 I’m working on a really cute music video for this song. it’s almost ready. I can’t WAIT to share it with you!

Also I have very exciting news. TODAY is the official release date for my new CD, "Live at Scullers!!!!” This is my debut LIVE CD and I’m so excited for it!  It is available today on my online store (link) and will up on Itunes, Spotify, Amazon, very soon. Hang tight for that!

There are so many exciting things that brewing in "Grace Kelly land!” I also have a single coming out on Woodward Avenue Records.  Some of you have seen/heard the single before, or even been in the music video.  It’s called "Sweet Sweet Baby”. I had like 30 friends/family/fans in the video. It was so much fun to make!

That single officially releases on VALENTINES DAY!! It’s been sent out to smooth jazz radio stations all around the world with a cute package (chocolates, a little note from me and twizzlers.)  I’m so excited to release it on Valentines Day because it’s a song about love with happy vibes. there couldn’t be a better day to release it to the world!

Here’s a list of where we’ll be on this tour!

Tomorrow and Thurs we will be at the Dirty Dog Jazz Café in Detroit

Charleston, IL (eastern Illinois University)

Cleveland Ohio  (TWO NIGHTS Feb. 12, 13)

Cleveland Ohio (Gillys Jazz) ON VALENTINES DAY!!!

Germantown TN ( Germantown Performing Arts centre)

Fayetteville, AR (Walton Arts Center)

Columbia MO (Murray’s’)

Burlington, Iowa (the Blue Shop)

I’m so excited to be back on tour and going to many places that I’ve never been before. I can’t wait to meet new friends and fans and share my music with all of YOU.  People ask me if I like being on the road and my answer is YES. I LOVE it!   My favorite thing in the world is to perform my music, so I am the luckiest girl in the world to play with my band and travel around to the best audiences.

When calculating this tour we figured out we’ll be driving 75 hours throughout it! Crazy. Hopefully the band won’t get into any fights :P That would be a first ;)

I always miss my family and friends at home but the stage is also my home and I feel happiest when I’m on it.. thank you for that opportunity and for supporting my music and me. You guys are the best. I’ll do my best to keep you updated!!!!

Xx

Grace

I’m currently driving back from NYC. Sat night we were in Rochester NYC and had a wonderful time. Thanks to all who came out, you were the most enthusiastic warm audience!! (I didn’t expect anything less :-D)  I’m now heading to a rehearsal with the amazing drummer Terri Lyne Carrington and then have about a week at home until I’m out for a couple weeks on Mid West tour.  Hang tight for more blogs!

My amazing lunch. YUM

Yesterday we arrived in Bratislava. Before we left Austria we had a magical lunch by the river. I had the most amazing fish plate. It was really perfect; we ate to our hearts content and then walked around the deck and looked out to the beautiful water. It was a nice leisurely day, since it was our day off.

BAND PHOTO! GK QUARTET!

Tonight was an awesome end to the tour! We played in Bratislava at their jazz festival. I was so happy to be a part of it. There were four international acts that played. I was the only one from USA. We played for about 3000 people in a giant hall.

There were swinging cameras on the stage and lots of video people. It turns out they were filming the whole set for National TV! I did a bunch of TV and radio interviews beforehand as well.

The next day there were great artists coming such as Dianne Reeves and Cool and the Gang. The night before the great trumpeter Till Bronner was there! I was so bummed I couldn’t stay the whole festival; I would have been delighted to hear those awesome groups!

We played for an hour and got the place really energized. It was a GREAT way to end the tour and the band played so well. After touring for two weeks the music got so tight!!

Here’s a "highlights” video from this performance!! Please share it with your friends if you enjoy it!

It was sad saying bye to Harry, my drummer (he left that night) the rest of us were headed back the next morning.
It’s been such a fantastic tour, I’m so thankful for the opportunity and for all the wonderful people who came to my concerts. Thank you (to all who came) for the love and energy you brought to my band and me. It has been an absolute pleasure performing for you

Love,

Grace

Linz, Austria

Tonight was wild.  We are in Linz, Austria. We did a lot of driving today to get here.  We checked into our hotel and I went out to look at the town.  As I was looking around this beautiful town I couldn’t help but look into all these cute shops. All of a sudden I realized I was in a store (my feet walked me there, I swear ;-)) and I began to SHOP :P

I found a bunch of cute clothes. I love the fashion here, I think it’s much more stylish than in the US!  After a couple hours went by I had a great dinner at the hotel and went over to the club.  I walked inside and there was a giant bar. The air was smoky.

I went downstairs to where the "stage” was and it was a very small place.  The stage barely had room for the drum set, but the vibe of the room was super cool.  The club downstairs looked very trendy with cool graffiti on the wall and a little bar.

Showtime was close and people were piling in. The club could only fit 40 people (max.) We def had a standing room that night! 
We had such a party that night people loved it. They were yelling energetically, dancing, and singing along!  We played Stevie Wonder’s song "signed sealed delivered I’m yours” to open up the second set and rocked out!! Everyone loved it and demanded a couple encores. I played one of my songs "Falling” where I had everyone sing along at the end which was a total hoot.  We had a great hang after, with some red wine until the wee hours.

BIX

Tonight we played in Stuttgart Germany at the BIX jazz club.  They served us a delicious meal before our set and I waddled onto stage because I ate so much!! The audience was great, lots of tables set up cabaret style. The sound was wonderful as well.  Two thumbs up!!

10/22/12

We just left Koln Germany. We played last night in a lovely club. It was set up "mini stadium” style. There were benches all around the stage and we played in the middle of everyone. It was nice intimate venue. I like being able to see the audience and feel like they’re in it with us.  That was my first time in Koln. I walked around this morning for a bit, Saw the beautiful cathedrals, 

and of course the famous Rheine River. 

We are now in the car headed to Pforzheim. We have played at Domicile in Pforzheim a couple of times before. It is my favorite club to play in Germany because of the owner Axel. He is such a cool guy and loves the music for the music’s sake. A true supporter of jazz and great music

 We are now in the car headed to Pforzheim Germany.  We play at one of my favorite clubs tonight called "Domicile.” Can’t wait!! We’ve played there a couple times before, great vibe, awesome people and the owner is a fantastic guy!!

The Domicile was a lot of fun just as I remembered it. I was greeted by the man who owns the venue (a good friend of mine) and I said to him "ahh feels like home.” ;-) I’ve been looking forward to playing this venue since the beginning of our tour. It’s nice to go back to the venues that I’ve played a few times and get to see old friends!

The audience tonight loved to get funky. We mixed up a bunch of that with some lyrical ballads. We did one of my favorite songs, "Isfahan” by Billy Strayhorn with just Sax, guitar and bass. It sounded great because we were playing basically acoustically (with the exception of the vocal mic.) The audience was right in front of the stage and we all shared a very intimate evening together. They even wanted us to do 2 encores!! 

       Tomorrow we are headed to Stuttgart Germany and playing at the BIX jazz club. I have played here before and it’s a great club. It sounds great and the atmosphere feels very "cool.”  Dim blue lights, tables, big stage

 Last time we played, it was during their jazz festival was PACKED to the max! This time it’s part of their usual series. Looking forward to being back!! 

10/20/12

Berlin!!! What fun. Back at the famous jazz club, " A Trane.” I made sure to quote the song in our song a couple of times ;-)

The weather here is unbelievable.  It feels like summer, we don’t even have to have jackets on at night!!  The A Trane was packed to the max tonight. To all who came, thanks for your enthusiasm.

10/19/12

Yesterday night was fantastic.  After we drove 7 hours we arrived in Prevov Czech Republic. We played at their jazz festival. It was in a giant hall, which was completely full.  The audience was fantastic and showered us with applause and love.  This is my first time in the Czech Republic and this is jazz festival has been going on for 18 years!! 

We had an amazing trumpet player join us for this gig.  His name is Bastien Stein from Vienne.  Jason Palmer my usual trumpet player is touring in Russia now so it’s the Grace Kelly Quartet for this tour. 

       Today we did a concert for 350 high school girls at 11 am.  They were also extremely receptive.  My favorite part was when I asked, "so, how many of you know what jazz is?” One girl raises her hand. Ha-ha! But they seemed to really love it, they gave us a standing ovation and we played an encore for them.  After, the band the band walked around for a while and we found this perfect place for lunch. It was a glorious day outside today.  The weather was absolutely perfect and warm. Its crazy to have a warm sunny day in October!! We ate SO much at lunch.  Ooph I was so stuffed, the food today and yesterday night has been a homerun .. Just delicious.  That and very inexpensive, we really feasted today. Ha-ha. We sat outside for about 3 hours ate and talked.  

I just woke up from a nap and we’re about to head out for dinner (although I’m really not hungry ha-ha.) and we are going to check out Al Foster’s quartet since they’re playing at the festival tonight.

10/18/12

We are currently on our next "long” drive. This was is probably 6 hours or so. We are driving from Munich Germany. We had a fun time playing at Unterfahrt Jazz Club.  It’s one of the oldest jazz clubs in Munich and has had many many people play.  Club has a nice vibe and amazing food.  Here’s a poster that I saw walking up to the club, they put a giant photo of me with a list of artists coming in that month.

I have people come up to me after the show and tell me they enjoyed is very much and that I must "hear that all the time.” But I wanted to tell you here, that it means so much to me each and every time someone takes the time to tell me that after the show.  I know what’s it’s like to hear an amazing concert and to be moved and to be honest sometimes I don’t know what to say to the person. Sometimes it feels like "that’s amazing” isn’t enough that it doesn’t actually justify what I was feeling.   So when someone tells me his or her unique experience hearing my music, I really treasure that.  I had a man who really really enjoyed my music and I was very moved by him when he explained how much it meant to him. There were a few people like that at this gig, one guy came up to me and said our gig was "unreal. He actually seemed a bit shaken. He said "it was so unreal, almost strange..” And I said "as long as strange is good” and he nodded his head saying, "yes you are perfect.” Quite a lovely compliment, not one that I can agree with (but I know myself very very well, Ha.! I live with myself each and every moment of the day for better and for the worse) But that was very kind of him to say.

The next day (yesterday) we had our first day off, Wohooo!! This is the first day off I’ve had in a couple weeks (in combination with Madagascar.) It was great to sleep in and enjoy a leisurely breakfast. I then went and walked around for a little bit with my drummer and after fell asleep for a couple hours and took it easy. I practiced a little, wrote a few emails and later that night the band went back to the same club to have dinner and see some music. There was a great NY band playing, the drummer/leader Yoko and his group feat the wonderful Mark Turner on tenor.  Came back, packed my bags, 8 am lobby call and we’re on the road again!

10/16/12

We had a fantastic gig tonight in Freiburg Germany.  We performed in a club that was right in the hotel! That’s always the best ;-)  It’s nice to be able to rest, walk downstairs and hey we’re at the gig!! It was a very intimate club and the stage was very cozy. I like playing this way a lot, I’m able to hear all the instruments acoustically and the balance is natural.  People really loved it and it’s the first time I’ve ever done 2 (count em’ TWO) encores. Ha-ha! People kept clapping (here in Europe when they want an Encore, they clap their hands to the same beat. " clap, clap, clap, clap” sometimes with feet stomps too ;-)  I wasn’t sure what to play for my second encore since I’ve never done that before. I stood on stage and told everyone I didn’t really know what to play and suddenly the song "what a wonderful world” popped into my head, so I just went with the moment and started playing that. 

We had traveled a few hours in the van before getting there, during these 2 weeks we’ll be driving a total of 60 hours!

We had a lovely lunch the next day with one of the agents that helped book our tour and her family (also in the music business.) We were told to come to their house and have a "little” lunch. Oh boy, it was a FEAST!  Homemade fish cakes, meat, fish, potatoes, salad, amazing German Bread.  They were such kind hosts, and we  waddled out, stuffed to the max ;)

We had a semi long drive ahead of us and needed to get to the next gig, which was in Munich Germany!  So we said our goodbyes and everyone piled back in the van.

10/15/12

Long travel days. Started in San Francisco at 5AM on Saturday. Rode to airport with Ron Carter and my dad. My dad and I flew to Boston. Had a three hour layover. My mom and Asher met us at the airport to swap some luggage and clean clothes. We had dinner together then got on a plane to France. 

We arrived in Montpelier France at 2PM on Sunday and were greeted by the wonderful folks of the jazz festival.  Everyone in the band was very jet lagged, we’d been flying all day and had quite a work out running through Paris’s airport.  After we collected our bags we were rushed right to the gig.  The gig was actually earlier than usual, out set started at 6:45.  We didn’t have much time seeing how it was already 3 pm!  We waited around for a bit, did a little sound check, then we were driven to our hotel which was 30 min away, checked into our rooms had 30 min to chill, drove back and played the gig. It was quite a whirlwind.

The audience was great though, it was a full house and they loved the show.  

10/14/12

I’m currently in Paris’s GIANT confusing airport. This is the same airport I flew into from Madagascar and it took me over an hour to get to my gate! Same thing happened today, I’m just hoping the whole band will make it before we take off. I’m meeting the band here in Paris before we take our next flight to Montpelier.
Yesterday I was in San Francisco playing a concert for prisoners in San Quentin Prison with a rehearsal at Yoshi’s in Oakland the day before.

 It was an experience I will never forget and one that really moved and changed me.

I was taking in part in a documentary that is being made about my mentor and "grandpa” Frank Morgan. Frank Morgan is one of my favorite alto players. He passed almost 4 years ago. I had met frank for the first time when I was 14..over the next few years I had gone to his shows and always said "hello.” However, in the last year of his life we became very close. He had heard me play and immediately wanted to bring me all over the place with his band. We played in Milwaukee at the Pabst Theatre, at the Jazz Standard in New York for a week, CA and many more. We use to talk everyday on the phone and we adopted each other as grandpa and granddaughter. He was the most beautiful person with an incredible smile.

His story is one that is very inspiring, sad and exciting.  Frank battled with a cocaine habit for most of his life and was in out of prison for 30 years (not consecutively.)

We were paying tribute to him last night at San Quentin prison, putting on a concert of songs he use to play and telling the prisoners about his life. San Quentin was the prison that Frank was in and use to play in. The "prison band” was actually made up of some amazing jazz musicians including the great Art Pepper.  The use to perform every week and people from all over would come to the jail to see the incredible band (go figure huh?)

The reason why I say "we” is because the concert consisted of myself, the great Ron Carter on bass, George Cables on Piano, Marvin "Smitty” Smith on drums, Delfeayo Marsalis on trombone and Mark Gross on alto. 

       I have never been to a prison before nor did I ever expect to be in my life. To be perfectly honest I was not sure what to expect but I was a bit nervous and also excited. 
The day before we were prepped about the prison, what to expect and what to do if we heard sounds of the buzzer, whistles on gunshots..(yes, that one really freaked me out.)  All of these things were highly unlikely but they still had to let us know. They also told us we were not allowed to wear red orange, blue and lime green colors of any kind because we might be confused with the prisoners. They told us we were going to play in the cathedral, which was a safe and religious place. They also told us that the prisoners we were playing with in a much more stable place mentally. San Quentin prison is the only prison that programs that help prisoners get better and back on track.  Psychiatrists from great university’s come and donate their as well as teachers that come teach them math, English, etc.  However, the prisoners have to earn their way to get into this program. as far as prisons go San Quentin is one of the most forward thinking and "luxurious” ones.  Ha. Funny calling a prison, "luxurious.” 

However, It’s also the only prison in CA to have "death row.” This is a different building that has the most dangerous criminals. Mafia people are there, very dangerous criminals. These are people who are hand cuffed and have weights on their feet as well.  These are people who were NOT at our concert. That made me feel a lot better that the prisoners we were playing for were not going to endanger us and there was no real reason to worry. That being said, how could I not worry when I heard I was going to play for a roomful of people who have been convicted for either first or second-degree murder.

       We arrived in the prison went through security and were inside the cathedral. A few of the prisoners were already there helping to set up, moving the drum set, there was one that was taking pictures. I was extremely surprised when interacting with the first prisoner. He was so nice and so normal.  Part of me feels really guilty and ignorant to have thought coming into this whole experience with so much ignorance. I realize now that prisoners are human beings as well the difference being they made a bad decision in 20 seconds of life. Some of them making that wrong decision when they were very very young and now are in prison for life.  Many of them have family and kids and just want to be out so they can be with their kids.  One of the prisoners said to me after the concert, "enjoy your freedom.”  I realize that’s something to not be taken lightly.  After traveling all around the world and recently to South Africa and Madagascar I realize exactly what a privilege it is to live in the US have my freedom and quality of life.  

10/10/12

I am currently sitting on a plane waiting to take off.  I’m sipping my champagne and trying to catch up on these blogs!! This has the longest travel I’ve ever done. I started flying last night at 1 AM (after I finished my concert) flew from Madagascar to Paris. I got off at Paris’s airport (I have to tell you that it is ONE big airport. It took me a whole hour to transfer to my gate :O) flew to Munich Germany, and now I am on a flight to SF. OOPH! The awesome part about this is I’m flying the whole trip on business class. It def makes the collective 22 hours go by with much more comfort.  I’m not going to lie though, at this point my head is spinning and I’m not sure if my eyes are seeing clearly!! Ha-ha.

The last two days in Madagascar have been amazing. The schedule has been so busy that it’s felt it’s been more than 2 days. maybe 3 or something ;-)

Monday morning we flew from the Comoros Islands to Madagascar.  It was so interesting being back to Madagascar after the Comoros islands, it felt so much more luxurious. The Comoros islands are a very poor place and so Is Madagascar, but the difference is pretty big. 

       Monday afternoon I checked into my hotel and had 2 interviews waiting. One woman had a magazine called "Tana Planet” which is a popular arts/culture magazine and she had put me on their cover!!  I was very honored, we had a lovely chat and right after that was another interview over lunch.

After, I had rehearsal with my Malagasy band.  These musicians sounded great! They sounded better than some players in the states, it’s pretty astounding. They’re self-taught teaching themselves jazz (nobody really teaches it) have great groove, and worked really hard to learn my songs. 

That went on for a few hours and after I had a little time to rest and nap at my hotel.  I had gotten up at 5 am that morning to travel (there aren’t many flights from the Comoros to Madagascar) so it was a long day.  After I went out to dinner with the folks in the US state department, which was lovely. We had a little peep at the Madajazzcar concert as well.

Tuesday was an exciting day. Our first visit of the day was to a children’s shelter/school.  I wasn’t sure what to expect but I knew I was super excited to meet to these kids.  

I did some amazing missionary work in South Africa (you can read about it in an earlier blog) 

10/7/12

Today consisted of half a day of sight seeing, half a day of work/ Performing. But to be honest I never think of it as "work” it’s way too much fun! I’m a lucky girl. This trip has felt more like a vacation with playing in it.  But don’t get me wrong it’s still extremely busy!

  It’s great that the US State Department has put in time for sight seeing in my schedule.

We drove an hour and a half to the northern part of the island, way up to the tip if you look at the map.

Long trip. Flew from Boston to Atalanta then to Johannesburg SA. Stayed over night then flew to Antananarivo, Madagascar. 

Started out the day with some amazing Papaya in the breakfast buffet. Best papaya I’ve ever had in my life period.

Drove over to the old city and walked around for a while, the whole area looked very old and run down but there were still some shops running and people hanging out. I saw a really amazing door that was all hand carved, the owner said the door was from South Africa I believe. I think he thought I was crazy when I asked to take a photo with his door :P!!

After that we went to the American Center where I was going to rehearse with local musicians. The US state department brought me alone for this trip so I had no idea what to expect for the music. Most of what I was doing there was talking and presenting clinics but there were a few concerts as well. 

            I have never been to a place that has a time schedule quite like the Comoros Islands.  Everything starts late, people don’t really have Internet and don’t use their phones too much. If anything they wait for you to call them so they don’t have to use their minutes. We have a phone with minutes here on the Island and Felena (the lovely lady who is accompanying me) is constantly on the phone calling people and trying to follow up.  She’s very good at it too!

         We had lunch at our favorite spot. Simple fish sandwiches. They put French fries in the sandwich, tastes pretty good. 

         Later we visited "Sultans Palace” in Econi where one of my concerts was held.  There was a beautiful beach very close to the old palace so we walked around for a bit.  The beaches and landscape in general has lots of volcanic rocks, which look so cool.  They are very oddly formed black rocks.  

There were a bunch of young naked boys hanging out on the beach, swimming, laying out in the sand ha..I guess they are regulars there. What do you think of the band name, "Grace Kelly and the Naked beach boys” Ha. Just kidding :P

         Later that night we visited a women’s group at someone’s house.  We hung around for a little bit, I played for them and we invited them to come to my concert. A lot of the promotion we were doing for my concerts in the Comoros was word of mouth so that’s what we were doing!

         We had an awesome dinner right by the water.  I mentioned before that the fruits there are unbelievable. I saw with my own eyes pineapples growing out of the ground, papaya trees, Jackfruit trees, coconuts, mangos, bananas and more!  The pineapple and papaya were the best of tasted in my life. nothing like in the states. They literally melt in your mouth.

The other thing that’s really amazing (cuisine wise) is their seafood since we’re right by the water.  For dinner we had fish,  and lobster. Mmmm sooo good.  Madagascar and the Comoros islands are known for their vanilla.  They export it all around the world but it’s very common there.  Eric ordered "fish with vanilla sauce.” I had a bite and oh my gosh it was so yummy. Vanilla sauce it’s quite an interesting taste, sweet and creamy and in combination with fresh fish absolutely delicious!!

I’ve started to get use to the idea that everything starts really late here. I’ve "started” to get use to it, but it’s not easy to adjust to nor do I think I’d like to live like that! If 8 am really means 9 am, it’s hard to plan your day!!

In the morning we head to a special building dedicated to Artists in Madagascar, musicians, dancers, painters, etc.  All are welcome here. It’s a pretty run down place but has lots of big rooms for rehearsals. Apparently nobody wanted the building so it became a perfect place for this artist organization to move in.  We had a little tour and then a few of the artists started to perform for us. There were about 6 guys playing percussion (jembey drums and a bass drum) one dancer and one juggler.  As soon as the drums started I knew it was going to be a lot of fun and indeed it was.  The drumbeat got my feet tapping and it was so fascinating watching the dancers.  The visuals with the auditory are so awesome!!!

After the artists performed we asked them if they would be interested in joining me in my concert tonight.  I have to say these last few days I’ve felt a little bit like a judge on "star search” or something. Ha-ha. We’ve been meeting a lot of random musicians, listening to them and figuring out if they’d fit in my concert. I say "we” because I am with two awesome people from the US state department who are putting everything together for the concert.  They are also accompanying me everywhere on this trip and have become friends of mine. They are awesome!!! Felena and Eric J

The concert went well tonight. It all came together at the last minute (the Comorian way ha-ha) and I’m so glad we got the percussion players today. They really brought a lot to the show. We had singers, poetry slammers, dancers, musicians etc.  It was very exciting to get to share my music with these musicians and have them show me some of their rhythms and what they do.  Before the show we had a workshop where I talked to the musicians and shed a little light on what jazz and improvisation is.  I was surprised to hear that most people here have never heard of jazz.  We did a really fun exercise where we made up a song together and I got each person in the room to "trade bars” with me scatting.  At the end everyone was cheering and thought they had a much better grasp on what the basis of jazz is. Hooray!  One person yelled out "I love jazz!”

After the concert we came back to the hotel and had a lovely meal. It was a very full exciting day and tomorrow is going to be a very early morning.  We’ll be heading to some beautiful beaches and walking around, pics will be taken!! :D

Today was a very moving day. One that will never forget.  I have been in South Africa for over a week now, in Johannesburg.   I came here to play at the jazz festival here, "Joy of Jazz.”  I was a special guest with a band so I arrived earlier in the week to rehearse for a few days.  The Performance was wonderful; the audience was very appreciative and vocal (love that!) They showered us with wonderful energy.  I got a chance to go out to the audience after and people came up to me and told me how much they enjoyed my playing and music. I was really really touched by their words.  They told me I really moved them.  It continues to amaze me every time I’m in a different part of the world, how powerful music is and such a universal language.

         While I am here in South Africa I am taking in part in helping with a mission called "Rebecca’s Well.”  The first time I came to South Africa (last year) I did a benefit concert for Rebecca’s well.  Rebecca’s well is an organization that raises money for women in South Africa who need help.  They help with finding housing for women and their children, jobs, emotional support, whatever these women/mothers need.  Yesterday and today I have gotten a small dose of what the less fortunate areas of South Africa are like.  I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,           We had lunch with a lovely woman who owns a restaurant (a friend of the organization.) She took us on a tour of the Township "Alex", which was very eye opening.  Shacks, no indoor bathrooms, litter, and houses placed extremely close together are everywhere.  There are over a million people living in this tiny town of two square miles.  Children run into the streets to play since there isn’t any room to play in a backyard or in their house.  The most astounding thing was driving around.  We were in a regular looking area, took a turn and all of a sudden everything looked so different. Houses turned into shacks, stores turned into dumpster looking trucks. It was so extreme.

 Alex was the first city Nelson Mandela rented an apartment in. And when I say apartment I mean a room.  We visited the room he was in and there was a sign with some historical information.

         Today’s journey was amazing. We went to Soweto and went straight to the children’s feeding shelter. I got to meet lots of adorable children.  Our guide took us to a small house, much better living conditions, Gov’t Housing, than in "Alex" but still no where near how people should have to live in the 21st century. I was greeted by all these incredibly enthusiastic little kids running to me and grabbing my legs.  They were SO adorable..ages from 5-14.  These little girls wouldn’t let go of me or stop giving me hugs and they lit up my day with their beautiful smiles and giggles. 

 We went to the corner of the "house” (an outside space) and I sat down.  Immediately 12 kids surrounded me and a little girl jumped on my lap.  Then they started touching my hair and kept saying "so soft.”  I told the girls that their hair was beautiful as well.  Everyone had their hair in braids and the texture is very different.  I don’t think they’ve seen anyone with my type of hair before.  I took down my hair for them and everyone was at my head..the girls were braiding it, it was very funny.  While a couple of them were braiding my hair, the others wanted to hold my hand. I felt a bit like a human playground! (In the best possible way.)

         When it was time for feeding, all the kids got into a line.  I helped with putting food into each plate and giving it to the kids.  I was told that this is sometimes the kid’s only meal for the day, or for a few days.  The shelter tries to provide as much food as they can for the kids but they run out money quickly and cant always provide.  After feeding some of the kids go back home if they have mothers and fathers to go back to.

         We had very hungry children, some coming back for second and thirds. Our very large pot of food ran out very quickly.

I then took out my saxophone and started playing for them. The kids were fascinated, their eyes got big while watching my fingers move and some of them pressed a few buttons on my horn.

The kids sang me a nursery song they all knew and I played with them. The sound of their voices was so beautifulI love the pure tones of these young kids; the high notes ringing out so clearly and together the sound is full of joy!!

I then did a little call and response song with them where I sang then they sang.  I played, and they sang.  I put it in lots of handclaps and fun rhythms for them as well which they loved.  They were full of smiles and giggles not to mention LOTS of enthusiasm!!!  They all clapped at the end and it was already time for us to go.

As I was packing up I talked to the woman who is in charge of the shelter.  She was saying it’s amazing for the kids to meet other people and that the gift of music was so special for them.  Earlier in the week they met other people from the US (who were part of Rebecca’s Well.) They loved all the new faces.  She was also saying any help they can get with funding is extremely helpful.  They try to feed the kids as much as they can, but sometimes they cant because they run out of money..  This woman hugged one of the founders of Rebecca’s well for a very long time and there were tears coming down her face. It was very moving.  As I was packing up and leaving these two young girls ran in.  They both had their arms around me, wanting me to pick them up and give them piggyback rides. Which I did!

         As I was leaving the kids were all singing the song I had played for them and clapping their hands.  It’s amazing how fast young ones pick up on music.  It doesn’t take them long to get it and the melodies stay in their ears. Even this melody they had never heard before was internalized and remembered in their heads 20 minutes later!  The woman of the organization said some of them said to her they were still hungry for more music. It was so touching.  The kids were all waving to me and saying "bye Grace.”  I really wanted to take them all home with me.

         I’ve never seen lives like this before.  I’ve only seen things on TV and read about it.  It’s a completely different experience to meet these people, see these kids and experience it through my own eyes.  I realize that none of us have a choice of what family we’re born into, where in the world we’re born and our circumstances…it’s something we live with.  I feel so fortunate to be in the situation I am In with an incredible family and a dream I able to live.  My hope was that I gave some inspiration to the kids today. The translator told them that I was only 10 years old when I started playing (many of them were that age) and then they were told about my journey in music.  I have no way to relate to they life they live, but I hope and pray that they will be able to find a passion and talent in life that will help them get out of their situation and lead a comfortable happy life. Rebecca’s well is helping them do that.

           I also realize that kids are just kids, anywhere in the world. I looked at one girl who had such a sparkle in her eye when she saw me, so much excitement.  You see that with any 6 year old in the world. We (my dad and I) walked down the street and saw some kids making up a game with a piece of string they found.  It’s so crazy to me how these little kids are playing with string while other young kids around the world are playing with their Iphones.

The next day we went back to Soweto to meet with some of the women the program is helping and working with. 

         Please check out Rebecca well’s website www.rebeccaswell.org and if you have any way to donate please do. I can tell you that I witnessed with my own eye the good this foundation is doing for these people.   They create a world of difference for these women to find shelter, jobs and for these children to return home with a full tummy.  If you can’t donate with money but want to do something, donation of clothes or anything you can think of (old computers, books, canned foods etc) are all very helpful to the cause and will go to use. 

I hope it doesn’t sound like I am an advertisement.  That is not what I’m trying to do at all.  I have been so overwhelmed with what I saw today and yesterday that I wanted to share it with you with my own words.

Hello Everyone!! HAPPY BELATED NEW YEAR!!!  There’s been so much happening since the last time I updated you.  I graduated from the Berklee College of music last month.  I’m officially done with school and I love the freedom.  I will be doing an artist in Residence series at Berklee starting next Tuesday (Jan 31^st.)  The series is called the, "Multi-faceted bandleader” and covers topics from creating a band, rehearsing the band, communicating to your audience, promoting your music and touring.  If any of you have kids at Berklee or friends please encourage them to come contact me and come to this series! 

In the beginning of the New Year I was performing at the Iridium Jazz club in NY for two nights.  I’ve switched up the instrumentation of the Grace Kelly quintet and we’ve been doing gigs with an incredible guitarist, Pete McCann who is so versatile it blows my mind.  I’ve been writing a lot of new works including singer/songwriter type of music and experimenting with that.  We’ve been changing my set to include lots of new songs and as always my set list continues to be very eclectic ;-)

JAZZ MASTERS

I had the honor of being a special guest at the National Endowment of Arts Jazz Masters Ceremony held at Rose Hall in the Lincoln center building.  I opened up the whole ceremony with Phil Woods and the Lincoln Jazz Center Orchestra led by Wynton Marsalis.  We played a ripping fast tune by Dizzy Gillespie called, "Things to come.”  You can check out a video of that night here! I’m on first thing!

http://www.jalc.org/neajazzmasters/

It was such a beautiful thing to see all of these jazz masters come together and laugh, smile and catch up with each other.  It was quite an honor for me. There were so many amazing musicians there. Jack Dejohnette, Roy Haynes, Lee Konitz, Phil Woods, Sheila Jordan, Jimmy Owens, Ornette Coleman, John Hendricks. There were probably about 30 Jazz masters who had been previously awarded that were there.  It was quite an amazing night!!

  I’ve been working on lots of new music in my laboratory in my room recently.  I set up a couple recording mics, hooked it into my computer and now I’m making tracks and experimenting with different midi sounds mixed with voice and sax.  It’s very exciting, cool and addicting!!

I was also just in the recording studio with my band last week to demo a lot of my new music.  We just received the roughs yesterday.  It’s so exciting!  It is always so exciting to hear my new music in the studio! The feeling never gets old.  I feel like a little kid in a candy shop.

I’m heading off to the Washington DC tomorrow to play at the Kennedy center with my band and Phil Woods.  We’ll be making a stop in NYC before we come home next week to mix some of the rough demos.  I can’t wait for you to hear them!

More later

Xx

Grace

Woke up at the crack of dawn today, actually before!  Caught a 7 am plane from San Francisco to Seattle. This is my first time in Seattle I love it.  We’re staying here and playing for 2 nights.  It’s such a luxury, I’m so happy that I don’t have to pack up my luggage tonight. We’re staying in a charming hotel near by to many shops and restaurants. Tomorrow is the day where I’m going to check out the famous market.

  Tonight was so fun.  The music was just bursting and it was because we had such an enthusiastic crowd. Thank you to all who made it such a memorable night! Tomorrow I will be on the radio for a live interview and then another performance!

Today was a full eventful day!  I am in sunny beautiful South Africa!  Yesterday I played my concert at the church and had a lovely time working with the band and the choir!  We did my arrangement of "Let there Be Peace on Earth” from my CD "Grace.” Very fun!  Today I attended Church and played at the service a bit. I’ve never experienced a type of church h service like this.  They mainly sing and have the whole band playing behind the minister for most of the service.  They sing lots of contemporary spiritual/ Christian rock songs and the whole room is dancing and singing along.  It’s a very moving experience. 

 After service today we went to Sheila’s house (the women who doing all of the fundraising work for Rebecca’s Well http://www.rebeccaswell.org/) and I got to hang with lots of the musicians and local people here.  We had lots of fun.  And the funniest thing about today is  I got locked in the bathroom.  Ha-ha.  I must have been in their bathroom for like 20 min trying to figure out the key until finally I Knocked loud and was rescued by the man of the house as he nearly slammed the door down.  Then everyone started clapping as I walked out.  I felt like I was on a reality TV show.  Ha-ha.  It was so embarrassing and hilarious and my dad was taping (of course.)  

One last exciting thing about today, friend of mine emailed Hugh Masekela to tell him that I was in town and that he should see my gig. He was going to come yesterday but got tied up.  However, he wanted to talk to me and we talked on the phone today and connected.  He sounded so nice and we’re going to connect when he comes to Boston.  It’s amazing that he’s in Johannesburg because he said he’s been on tour for the last 6 months now.  Can you imagine?!  The legend is in his 70s and still touring like crazy! Wow!

More later!

Thank you to all who joined us at Café 939 last night!  We had an overly packed room full of amazing energy!!  The show featured the Grace Kelly Experiment, playing more of my singer-songwriter fused works along with bands Columbus and the Neo Soul ensemble.  We called it, "Night of Groove” and man by the end of the night everyone was dancing!!  I really had a ball. Always fun to play hits with different projects of mine! 

Finished a long exciting day.  I’ve been filming my first music video yesterday and today!  I’ve been collaborating with a wonderful filmmaker who I actually met during the Glamour Magazine process.  He (his name is Kris) had filmed me for one of the Glamour interviews. Once we had got to talking, we realized we had a lot in common.  He’s actually a great musician, along with film maker and composer and we kept in touch and now he’s working on this video with me!  The video is for my song "Sweet Sweet Baby!”  I did everything from climbing the roof of my house (which is slanted on both ends, I was scared out of my MIND) to running behind cars.  I also danced in the field near my house (with Asher) and sat in a cabinet box.  The other big idea for this video was for it to be a collaborative effort. I wanted a lot of other faces involved so we had about 30 friends and fans come to Boston and we did a series of things with them. We had everyone from 2 years old to people in there 70’s!  I can’t wait to see how the whole thing turns out.  The video captured everything I wanted spontaneity, happiness, good vibes, laughter. Everyone was wearing lots of bright colors and it was a glorious day outside.  We really shot so much footage that we could probably make 7 vids! Ha-ha. It was a very creative process.  We even had a wheelchair so that my dad could wheel Kris around ( to get a steady shot) while I followed them with a boom box blasting my song so people could lip sync along!  Stay tuned. Can’t wait to show you the final product!

Had a fun time hitting with Bill Banfield and the Jazz Urbane today at the Berklee Beantown jazz fest.  We were so fortunate to have beautiful weather, (a bit humid) but the sun was shining! Thanks to all of you who were out there hooting and hollering! 

Last night I played at the Bethel AME church with George Russell Jr. and the Bethel AME church choir. It was a concert raising funds for Rebecca’s Well. an organization raising money to help starving children in South Africa along with disadvantaged women.  Rebecca’s Well gives an opportunity for these women to learn skills for jobs and to have children eat along with so many other wonderful things.  I am heading to South Africa in just a couple weeks to do a concert there.  

Monday I head to NYC to play at Dizzy’s jazz club with my band and Phil Woods.  We will be there Monday and Tuesday.  7:30 and 9:30..if you are in the area please come out!!

XX

grace

I was so honored to be asked to be part of Marian McPartland’s tribute concert at Dizzy’s in NY tonight.  We drove earlier in the day and got there in time for sound check.  The first set I got to play with Jon Weber (a wonderful pianist originally from Chicago.) We had lots of fun swingingggg!  Jon had interviewed me on his radio show earlier that month, it was so great to see him again and get to play.  Second set I got to play with the legendary Larry Willis.  It’s amazing how sometimes in just one tune you can make magic happen..

We drove home that night and got home at 4 AM.!!  Eeek!! It’s still nice to sleep in my own bed though J

Hope everyone stayed safe in the hurricane.  Unfortunately my Rockport gig with the band and Phil got canceled due to the storm but the new date will be on Dec 11, 2011 , so please come out to that!  The Shailin Liu Performance Center hall is just gorgeous, if not for the music you should come to see the beautiful venue ;-) but hopefully for both!  

Our power was out for a couple days and it was down to the basics.  Candles, pasta and tuna and books.  

We were actually out of power and water since we functions on a well system :-O

I’ve been helping a few friends move into their new apartments, it is Sept. 1!! And tomorrow I leave for Maryland for the Monty Alexander Jazz fest.  Then it’s off to NY and Virginia!

Heading back from NY at the moment.  Drove into the city earlier this morning to be on a new show with host and pianist Jon Weber that will be on NPR.  It’s a new series featuring young up and coming jazz musicians. When I walked in Julian Lage was finishing up his interview session and yesterday Taylor Eigsti was interviewed. The host Jon and I had a really really fun time talking and playing.  He is such an amazing pianist and we really got to wail. I’m very excited for this interview to air!  Then after that Dad and I went to Stage Deli and ate way too much.  Ha-ha.  Today is the perfect example of what not to eat on the road.  This morning we stopped at a rest stop and I got a frozen yogurt for breakfast and then I had a giant plate of roast beef for dinner. Yikes!  Salads for the next week for me!!

Hey Everyone!!

Hope you’re having a lovely summer :)

I just came back from my trip to Oslo Norway last night. We had a fantastic time playing for the wonderful audience there. I loved checking out the city. It’s one of the most beautiful cities that I’ve seen! I am very excited to announce that I am in the beginning stages of creating my first music video!! The first song we will be making a video for is one I recorded earlier this summer called, "Sweet sweet baby.”

One of the first things that popped into my head when thinking about ideas for this video was including my fans, friends and family in it. Here’s what you can do…(and I would love it if you did)

1. Listen to my song "Sweet Sweet Baby” (it’s on my facebook site. www.facebook.com/gracekellyjazz(you can download it for free) or go to soundcloud at http://soundcloud.com/gracekellyjazz/sweet-sweet-baby

2. Just sing the words "Sweet Sweet Baby" while VIDEO RECORDING yourself!! Please play my track and sing along with it. Do it with friends, sing it to your dog, sing it with you girlfriend, boyfriend, husband WHOMEVER! Or do it yourself !! There’s no need to sing 1000 times and try to make it perfect. We wont end up using your audio, but we’ll use your visual, so have fun while doing it. You can record it on your computer, on your phone,on your video camera, whatever works for you. Make it spontaneous !! It would be great if you could record the whole song so we can have options to choose from, but if you only have time to sing a little bit that’s ok too.

3. Email the video to me at grace@gracekellymusic.com. I really look forward to seeing what you guys come up with!! Dance, sing, be goofy, do whatever! If you don’t have time to take a video of yourself singing the song, you could send a picture of you and your "Sweet Sweet Baby” (again that is open to your boyfriend, girlfriend, pet, child, grandchild, husband, wife, and everything else!) Try to get pics and video to me by Sunday September 25th

Here are the words:

VERSE

Sweet sweet baby
How I love to wake up to your arms in the morning
Sweet sweet baby
How your kisses never grow old
And I love to hear you say
I love you
(I love you)
You know everyday I just grow more crazy about you
Sweet sweet baby

VERSE 2

Sweet sweet baby
You’ll never know all the things you do that make me smile
Sweet sweet baby
I love to cuddle up and watch some TV for a while
Cause lying here the world, the world slows down
The blaring sirens the city noise
Turns to distant sounds
Sweet sweet baby

BRIDGE

Let’s run away for the month of June
Float up to mars in a big balloon
Then after lets rent a UFO
Travel to space see if creatures roam
Go to Bermuda to see pink sand
Or stay at home and have nothing planned
It doesn’t matter, as long as we go as two
Sweet sweet baby

VERSE 3

Sweet sweet baby
I never let someone like you inside my life
Sweet sweet baby
Then you turn your head and you looked right in my eyes
I know that this time
This times for real
(for real)
Cause when you hold me in your arms
The whole world disappears
Sweet sweet baby
Sweet sweet baby (repeat and fade)

We arrived In Oslo Norway after traveling all night!  My boyfriend came home after a month long tour but we only had time to meet up in the airport because he came home a few hours earlier than my flight!   I guess that’s the life of musician’s ha-ha.  I would always take seeing him for 2 hours than not seeing him at all!!

 This my first time in Oslo and it’s such a beautiful place.  The buildings are so beautiful, clean, lots of people around; it has such a great vibe. Had an incredible lunch with Phil..and I mean incredible.  We had the freshest seafood lunch.  Mussels, salmon, boiled potatoes, mmmm.  Phil has taught me the proper way to eat muscles. You’re not supposed to eat them with the fork.  You’re supposed to take one empty mussel and then grab the other mussel and eat it that way.  I forgot in the beginning and was eating with a fork (like everyone usually does) and he was like, " no no!! What are you doing/!  Like this!!”  Ha-ha.  The band and I went out with a couple of my friends from Berklee who live here in Oslo.  We had great Indian dinner and they walked us around.  We checked out Lage Lund at the club and then I came back.  I had only slept an hour in the hotel and I was absolutely exhausted. The good thing about that is I basically slept through the night.  Woke up to have a very big grant buffet breakfast downstairs and now I’m preparing for the gig tonight.  We play tonight at 7.  There are venues all around the town and if you look at the Oslo jazz fest schedule there’s been music at every hour of the day for the last week.  Very impressive!  Some of my favorite artists like Brian Blade will be here. Charlie Haden and his liberation orchestra were here yesterday.  Will update more soon!

XX

Packing up heading to Germany today.  Taking a red eye and getting there in the afternoon then we have our performance at night.  Will be a long day, wish us luck!  Then we head to Austria.  Should be fun! Will keep you updated!

So ecstatic to have a wonderful review written about our performance.  See Here:

http://www.montrealgazette.com/Grace+Kelly+ante/5042531/story.html

The writer Bernard Perusse wrote an incredible review on the quintet last year and I’m so glad he got a chance to come to the performance this year as well.  I actually got to meet him quickly. he’s a very nice guy.  He also put us on his 2011favorite acts in Montreal list. Check that out too.  What can I say except I’m extremely honored!! Thank you Bernie!

Had an incredible show at Montreal Jazz Festival. It was so great to be back at the legendary festival for the second year in a row! I was so happy to hear that the Grace Kelly Quintet with special guest Phil Woods had been SOLD OUT like 2 weeks in advance!! We were in a beautiful small theatre the Gesu and the audience’s energy was contagious. It is always such a pleasure playing for an excited audience and this was one! The band played great, Phil showed his usual mastery of the alto. It was so much fun. You can see some of it here:

http://www.montrealjazzfest.com/multimedia-en/video.aspx?id=1158

I came out after the show to sign CDS and there was a line through the lobby!! I got to meet so many people and funny enough a few people from Massachusetts who were in Montreal to see the fest. Before the performance I did about 5 or 6 interviews at the Festival press room. I got to talk to the wonderful writer who reviewed my cd "GracefulLee” the one feat. Lee Konitz in Downbeat. He had given the cd 4 ½ stars and a lovely review. It was so nice to meet him in person and get this, his name is Michael Jackson!! We were both having quite a laugh. Grace Kelly and Michael Jackson…first time in history!! He is a lovely guy, very funny and hip with his funky sunglasses and cool clothes. After the performance mom dad and I found some food near by and were actually talking about Michael and he bumped right into us. Crazy! The four of us chatted for a couple hours until we retired to bed.

In Montreal.  We drove from Boston, met Phil Woods in New York then all drove together, had a pleasant drive. He brought some wonderful goodies for me!! He handed me about 5 or 6 of his new cds and DVDs we could watch in the car!  We watched a couple wonderful DVDS of Milton Nascimento (who was actually at Montreal) and Elis Regina.  We then stopped for a nice Italian lunch in Lake George and Phil and I split a pizza.  We were all pretty beat from the car ride, but had a nice dinner that night and I had a craving for a crepe.  Dad and I went searching for crepes at 11 PM ha-ha and we found them, in the nick of time!  I had a strawberry chocolate crepe. Mmmm…

Today was a crazy day! It went from a meeting in the morning to us running to Scullers to do a video shoot and on the way I got a call from a radio station. I totally forgot I was suppose to be on air doing an interview for and internet station in DC! I can’t believe I forgot that, that never happens!  It managed to all work out and I did the hour interview (which was lovely), here’s the link,  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/cres-oneal/2011/06/30/grace-kelly-1.

and then I did the video shoot.  I have to say, it was quite a lot of talking ha-ha. 

Later that night I was back at Scullers and was a special guest with Al Vega (the legendary Boston pianist).  Al Vega was celebrating his 90^th birthday and he still has the energy of a 20 year old.  He has some type of youth formula don’t even understand!  He played a full 2 hours with like 14 musical guests and was still ready to keep going.  He’s quite a legendary pianist who played with all the musical greats who passed through Boston throughout his career.  He also has been coaching Babe Ruth baseball for 54 years of his life and still does it.  Boy, he makes us all look bad ha-ha.  He sounded better than ever and I got to sing and play some classic standards with him. Quite a fun night.  Gatherings for Al are always packed and full of wonderful friendly people. It def feels like a giant jazz family!

I had a wonderful time at the Berkshires.  We played an outdoor concert and an absolutely stunning famous garden.  There was a point in the last song that we played that was absolutely magical.  The music seemed to start mixing with the wind and nature and we just played to our surroundings.  It had the sense or "searching” and was just flowing beautifully.  Those moments are so hard to explain in words but are the most special spontaneous ones.

We also had a special guest join us for a couple of songs. He is Eli Newberger MD a really cool guy and tuba Player. http://www.elinewberger.com/

Slept in real late. Had a very relaxing day looking out to the beautiful green.  We went to see Earth Wind and Fire tonight!! We were out in the lawn and for the beginning it was raining but luckily it cleared up.   We packed our dinner and everything. The group sounded so funky and my goodness Philip Bailey can still hit those high notes like nobody’s business!! I ran inside near the end and was very near to the stage!  It was so exciting and I was dancing my butt off!  I absolutely LOVE earth wind and fire and knew most of the songs!!

Traveled to Philly with Dad Jason, Doug and Asher in the car!  It was a pretty long trip but we just came back from a 2000 mile 10 day trip so this one doesn’t feel too long.  We played at the Philly’s beautiful art museum.  They have a weekly jazz series.  We played in a beautiful open area where people gathered all around and on the steps.  There were many jazz fans that came for the performance.  I have to say that the museum is absolutely gorgeous. The outside of it is breath taking.  My art history teacher was saying that it’s the closest to seeing the Greek Parthenon.  The band was joking that we should play Rocky’s theme song while one of us ran up the steps he! he!. 

I met some lovely people at this performance including someone from South Africa!  It’s always exciting when someone tells me they’re from a far a way place (especially one I haven’t been) and that they’re bringing my cds back to share.  I absolutely love that. I also got to meet Jordan (my drummer’s) whole family.  They all live there so they were delighted that I brought him to perform in Philly (so they could see them) and it was so nice meeting them!  

Headed right to the Berkshires after. It was 4 more hours of driving.  But before we did we stopped to eat some food.  We found a great dumpling place in the heart of Philly.  Their specialty was "Juicy pork buns” when I bit into them there was broth all around the actually dumpling meat.  It was just delicious! I have no idea how they make them but I want some right now!!  We got to the Berkshires around 3:30 in the morning and Dad stayed up listening to the TV show Dexter that Doug was watching on his phone (via netflix). I think they watched 4 episodes or something!

Best Music Poll 

I feel so sad to be leaving Rochester NY. We performed at one of my favorite festivals in the world!! The Rochester Jazz Festival. I was there for the first time last year and we had such an amazing time. The club we played in last year was more than sold out for both sets and people were lining up around the BLOCK. It was crazy, people wanted us back this year and the lovely festival directors John Nugent and Mark made sure that happened. This time we were at a big beautiful hall, Kilbourn Hall, and people greeted us with that same enthusiasm. They were again wrapped around the block four hours before our concert and both sets were sold-out.

We had a great two sets. I always tell people that the energy of the audience changes the music for us. If we really feel it from you then it comes out in the music. The music was soaring that night!! We played a pretty eclectic set from jazz to funk, some of my new singer songwriter works. I was pretty confident that this crowd would enjoy it all because this festival has a wide range of music. Elvis Costello is one of the main headliners along with KD Lang, Chris Botti, Bela Fleck and Natalie Cole (all different nights.) I freaked out when I looked at the poster and saw my picture right next to Chris Botti’s and Bela Fleck’s. That was pretty cool :-D

This festival is amazing. There are about 140000 people that attend it goes on for 10 days of music all day with big acts at night. The night before I got to sit in the front row of the big hall and see Bela Fleck and the original Flecktones. What can I say? When I left my mouth was hanging open. It looked like the whole audience walked out in a daze. I didn’t know it was possible to play what the musicians play on their instruments. I really think they’re from a different planet. Victor Wooten stole the show playing an unbelievable solo bass part at the end. Everyone jumped to his or her feet. I went to the jam session that night and played. Not only does the audience go venue-to-venue, stand in line, watch a show then another, but they also stay for the jam session until 2 AM!! The jam session is Packed!! Funny story. I met a woman who was sitting next to me and I started making conversation with her. I had said, "How do people stay up this late? Don’t they need to go to work tomorrow” She said, "yeah it’s pretty crazy My husband and I canceled work tomorrow so we could stay up late tonight and see you tomorrow. We knew if we had work we wouldn’t be able to stand in line and see you.” I didn’t even know what to say. I still don’t know what to say except these people are dedicated music fans!!!!

We are in NYC and I just attended the ASCAP "young jazz composer” award ceremony.  It was a great night and I’m honored to have been chosen in that category.  There were many speakers and performances.  They were honoring living legend Jimmy Heath and George Avakian and also historical legends Oscar Peterson and Nina Simone.  One of the speakers was Paul Williams. Funny story:  after I was meeting some of these people and went up to Mr. Williams to talk to him and get a photo.  He then said to me, "Congratulations Really looking forward to seeing huge things from you Grace.”  I ran back to my Dad and was so excited saying, "he remembered my name!! How did he remember my name?!”  And then I realized that my nametag was smack in the middle of my outfit. Haha.  Thought that was funny. 

It was so great to see Jimmy Heath honored.  I met him 4 years ago at the Stanford Jazz workshop and we’ve been in contact ever since.  He has so much youthfulness and still sounds amazing.  I swear he hasn’t aged at all.  He’s like cheese!  Or rather really good wine!

I had my first experience being an MC last night!! Well to be exact I was a Co-MC.  It was a lot of fun. There were times I felt like Vanna White while holding up items that people could purchase at the silent auction!  I was Co-MC with the well-known food critic Dan Andleman from Phantom Gourmet.  

Dan Andelman and Grace Kelly

Grace Kelly, Mary Chin, and David Woronov

The fundraiser was for the AACA foundation. (Asian American Civic Association) Here’s their link http://aaca-boston.org/site/The AACA has been going on for about 44 years now and gives immigrants many opportunities to learn English, get job training and jobs and so much more.  It was such a touching evening and I felt so proud to be Asian American and be supporting this amazing foundation.  Please check it out!  

We were honoring my friend Ming Tsai, the amazing chef.  Ming Tsai and I have this silly inside joke that whenever he sees me he wants to steal my saxophone.  He always says,” Where’s my saxophone?!”  I performed in the later part of the evening!  It was a lovely night

PUPPIES!!!!!!!

Very exciting news. Asher (my dog) is officially the dad of 4 new puppies!!!! Just heard the news. Apparently Princess (his girlfriend) had them this morning. Going to visit them very soon and will try to take pics..(if princess lets me.) Last year she had one puppy and was very protective of her in the beginning. I managed to get a few pics and videos but she started to snap if I got too close!!

Asher’s Puppies born 6/9/11

Summer has been going very well.  It’s starting to get very hot though.  Today I started the beginning of the Grace Kelly summer tour documentary. We did the beginning interview and will be working on this project throughout the summer.  My hope is we’ll be able to interview a lot of my friends in the music industry,(musicians, club owners, critics) and we’ll be showing lots of footage of the band and me during sound check, in the van traveling and more.  We are going to set it up so that the video cuts back from present time (performances now) to flashbacks of when I was young and how I got started. Today we made sure to cover a range of questions that I’ve been asked many times by people and writers. Questions like, "when did you start playing?” "What’s it like to be on the road?”  "Do you feel like you missed out on part of your childhood?” "Favorite story on the road.” Things like that.  If you guys have any questions that you’d like me to touch in please send me an email and let me know.  While we keep the camera rolling on tour I’ll be sure to answer some of those.  It’d be great to have a section of the documentary called, "what my lovely fans are wondering?”

Finished a concert here at the Festival of Homiletics convention in Minneapolis.  It was great fun and in a beautiful church.  The church has very high ceilings so its always a bit of a balancing issue with that much beautiful reverb!  The Festival of Homiletics is made up of 2000 preachers and other beautiful folks who gather together and listen to many great speakers.  I was invited to do the convention last year where it was in Nashville.  There was such a great response that the director invited me back this year, in Minneapolis.  I also got a chance to join the other musical guest Peter Mayer in his concert and he played in mine!  Peter is a unbelievable guitarist and singer!  He has worked with so many people including being a side man with Jimmy buffet for the last 20 years.  Check him out if you get a chance. The nicest guy too.

Playing at the convention tomorrow and then coming home Fri! I’m looking forward to a few days off, its been pretty non stop these last 10days! The weather has been beautiful though and I’ve been surrounded by lovely music and meeting so many wonderful people.  Never a dull moment! Love it!

Worked with the Brazosport High School jazz bands here in Jackson Lake Texas and I have to tell you I was absolutely blown away.  The day was a crazy one. Woke up at 4am, took a plane to Houston, got driven a couple hours to Jackson Lake, got some lunch, rehearsal with the big bands, BBQ dinner (with a surprise birthday cake) and then the concert!  Then we were driven a couple hours back to the hotel that was near the airport in Houston!  The kids played an amazing concert and just to give you a sense of how thoughtful and sweet they were. I was walking back to my dressing room and saw a card on the floor.  They all got one birthday card and signed it to me.  The band director didn’t even know about it!

I had a wonderful couple of nights at the Apollo.  It was such an entertaining dynamite show.  One of the highlights to me was watching Savion Glover.  I made sure to always be backstage when he was on.  His performances were always jaw dropping.  His tap dancing and sense of  improvisation, technique and rhythm seems "un-human!”

It was also great getting to know Nikki Yanfosky and her folks.  We were together in the dressing room and got to talk a bunch. She is very cool. I Like her a lot. Hopefully we’ll do some good stuff together in the future! 

I had a great time celebrating my birthday today!  I had a free day to do whatever in NYC.  My boyfriend took the bus and hung out with my parents and me. We ended up seeing Avenue Q on Broadway and having a great lunch and dessert.  It was so much fun. Tomorrow headed to Jackson Lake Texas!

I am currently sitting backstage in the dressing room at the legendary Apollo theatre.  I am performing tonight with a bunch of wonderful musicians and people.  Wycliffe Gordon, the wonderful, talented and charismatic trombonist asked me if I would be part of this.  Other performers include, Savion Glover(The legendary tap dancer), Carla Cook, Corey Wilcox, Niki Yasnofsky, the Temple big band a wonderful comedian and dancers!  This performance is a tribute to the old performances that happened at the Apollo.  The set up is more of a "variety show” style where lots of performers on the bill and do get features along with combinations with other artists.  I’m really excited, I’m sure its going to be a really fun performance and that the audience will really dig it.  We went through rehearsal/sound check today.  It was amazing that all the different parts and people could come together the day of the performance and   rehearse and suddenly we have a show! I have still yet to find the famous "log” that everyone historically has rubbed their hands on.  When I have been telling people that I’m performing here at the Apollo a bunch of them have said "rub the log!!”  I have still yet to find the log. the crew didn’t seem to know where it was at the moment.  :-O maybe it moves around?  Perhaps it’s got legs? Ha! ha!, that would be a very special log.

We are in Munich Germany!! After a 4 ½ hour drive this morning my dad and I kind of zonked out.  The bed here is super nice and this hotel seems like a museum.  A very fancy old world 5 star hotel. 

It’s a really nice one with stores and , tons of restaurants, feels like I’m on a cruise ship!!  I’m continuing to read Quincy Jones book while traveling (did I tell you that?)  so Inspiring.  I love this book, check it out if you haven’t.  It’s his autobiography, very informative but a great read, funny, heartwarming and well written.  Quincy’s one of my biggest heroes and I dream of working with him one day.

I had a nice German traditional lunch w Doug today downstairs.  Went to a Thai restaurant with dad.  Had a vegetable dish. I’m afraid I can’t eat even more meat in these next few days.  I’m "meated out!” time for some veggies at home…there’s lots of meat on the menu here in Germany and Austria.  Last concert is tomorrow!!  Heading home at 6 am on Thurs. Almost there. Homestretch. Can’t wait!!

Arrived in Wels from Linz yesterday. We had a day off. Yesterday for lunch Phil, Doug, Dad and I went to a very authentic Austrian restaurant called the Gosser Brau www.gosserbraeu.at and had Weiner Schnitzel and beer. (see photo)

Then went back to the hotel and chilled. Today we played the Soundtheater in Wels which is the same place we placed last October. It is nice to got back to familiar places too. You know the people and it is more relaxed. It was a brunch time gig because we had to head to Switzerland via Munich Germany. We dropped Phil of in Munich at the hotel we will play our last concert of the tour in a few days and then we headed to Switzerland to play a gig with just the quintet. My dad did amazing with the driving. 2 ½ hours from Wels to Munich then another 4 hours to Rheinfelden Switzerland which is where we are now. Just got back to the hotel from a late dinner. We got into the only place open just at closing but we convinced them we needed to eat and begged for some food. It worked and we had a great meal of pizza and pastas.

Time to get some rest. Will do little sightseeing tomorrow and play the concert tomorrow night at JazzClub Q4.

Phil didn’t feel well last night so the quintet ended up playing the gig.  We only played for 50 min but it went by so fast and was so great.  I felt much better last night because it was the first night where I slept really soundly through the night, getting 7 hours of sleep.  It really is true that getting goodnights sleep will help everything. The crowd loved the music and a lot of the music students who were there for the clinic also came to the concert. Real music fans there.  We drove 30 min today and are now in Wels Austria.  This hotel is super funky. The entire band remembers it very well because we stayed here last year for our October tour.  I remember because after our gig we were all sitting at the bar at the hotel and someone came to open up the bar just for us, drinks on them!!  Our bartender ended up being the coolest young cat, very funny guy.  I hope we get to see him again.  Doug dad Phil and I just went to a great traditional Austrian restaurant where we all got some serious schnitzel!! So yummy.  Schnitzel, cranberry sauce, and boiled potato.  It was a huge piece so I got mine wrapped up and it’s sitting on my counter.  It’s looking rather lonely, perhaps it’s time to take a bite? J  talked to my mom on skype for an hour and now I believe its time to do some schoolwork!  I’m now realizing how soon I’ll be home (5 days) and I feel like it’s going to be a shock to be back. It feels like I went to my first classes ages ago and now its catch uptime.  I’ve been also been a little mystified.  Seems I got bit by some bugs in Berlin. I put a lot of vinegar and salt on yesterday and the bites are doing better.  I’m a little worried they’re bed bugs so I’m going to be sure to empty wash and throw away things when I’m home.  I don’t want these guys following me around.  Ah all the glamour of the road?!

We are in the beautiful city of Vienna!! Last night we played at the legendary club, "porgy and Bess.” It was one of the most famous clubs here in Europe and I can see why. It seats about 350 and has a very cool look to it and the stage is beautiful. The room was packed and enthusiastic. It was certainly a pleasure to play there. Got to see my friend Harry who’s a great drummer and lives in Vienna. He actually plays in Doug’s trio and did a hit with me in Sweden last year. Great guy, fabulous drummer.

Today is our off day. I just got back from walking around for an hour with Evan. Earlier in the day went to a beautiful "Leopold” art museum and then went into the center of town. The buildings and architecture here are gorgeous. Everywhere you look there is a building so grand. The town is so clean and even though all these shops are new, the buildings themselves are built so incredibly with beautiful designs. Evan and I were headed back to the hotel to meet Jordan and Jason for some Indian food but the walk was a whole lot longer than we thought. We had a map but it cut off several streets before our destination. We had to walk into a bunch of cafés and ask random people if they knew where the "rat house hotel” was by the end of our walk. Luckily the name of the hotel "rat house hotel” was the street that is was on "rat house.” We managed to find it and just in the nick of time!! We were both starving. Jason and Jordan had already left by this point so Evan and I tried to find the Indian restaurant they were at. That was a journey as well but we managed to find one Indian restaurant near by. They weren’t there but we had a great meal. Food always seems to taste extra delicious when I’m hungry. Funny huh? 2/11/11

Drove a couple hours and now we are in Linz Austria. The van is packed to the max now! We are using up all six seats in the back, Phil in the front and dad driving. Our luggage is spaced everywhere we can find room for. Behind seats, under legs, wherever. We all managed to fit though, thank goodness. Turns out Jordan and Jason said they went to the same Indian restaurant last night. We must have missed them by a few minutes!! Getting ready to do a clinic for some saxophonists at the school university and then a show tonight.

Had a great gig last night at Domicile.  Great to see Axel again. Hung out with him.  He gave the guys some rare wine to take home.  He really takes such good care of us.  The room was packed again and the audience was great. This hotel is beautiful and even more wonderful because I have a huge suite!  Can you believe that??  I was so excited when I entered the room I could jump around in it. There’s a big couch, and lots of space and even a fruit basket for me.  Go figure.  Today I taught a lesson to a saxophonist who came to last nights gig. We did some long tones, talked about improvisation.  He plays lead alto at his school’s big band and has his own combo.  Great fun to talk to another alto player and exchange ideas.  We went out for dinner at night and ended up in this funky little café. It was basically private dining for dad, Doug and me.  Our waiter was one of the funniest characters.  We had a little game of charades since no one could communicate fluently.  Our waiter was trying to describe the word for onions and pretended to cut with a knife and then cry.  It was super funny. He was also dancing and singing the whole night to what seemed like bad karaoke music.  I wish I got some video footage of him. He managed to tell us he’s originally from Italy and I can’t tell you happy this guy seemed to be to be alive and to be at working at the café.  He brought a lot of entertainment and laughs to me… now that’s service!

At the airport in Berlin. Getting on a flight to Stuttgart. Our next stop is Pforzheim Germany where we’re playing atone of my favorite clubs, "Domicile.” We were there our last tour, just last October. Last time we got to hang there for a day and went back to the club to drink some beers and have some snacks with the club owner Axle. He’s such a great guy, looking forward to seeing him gain. He made us our personal bread w really fresh German bread, olive oil and cheese while we all hung out, listened to records and relaxed. He said to us last time that he has a rule that he doesn’t bring artists back for at least 2 years. He’s making a special exception this time that he’s never made and wanted to bring us back after just a few months He was so excited we would be back in Germany I’m very thankful that we’ll be back at his beautiful club!

Yesterday’s travels: We took a plane to Berlin. Woke up at 3 am and started traveling. Got in to Berlin in the late morning. Had a good lunch, relaxed a bit and then went to sound check. We were playing at the club "A Trane.” The club is small but very cool. We had an enthusiastic crowd. Here is a video of some of the performance.

I got to see my wonderful friend Rainer Haarmann who is in charge of putting together the "Jazz Baltica festival” in Northern Germany for the last 21 years. He took a train yesterday morning to see us last night and we all got to have dinner across the street at a wonderful Italian restaurant. Rainer is one of the sweetest people and a huge jazz fan. His festival is one of the most special ones I’ve been to. The performances are set up in these barns and there’s a giant castle where the musicians stay. The line up is always incredible and the jam sessions literally go all night. Even more incredible than that, the people stay up all night at the jams, then go their tents outside and sleep for a few hours until the morning where there’s more music. History is always at the making at that festival. I was there a couple years ago where the theme was "saxophone summit.” I was playing with Lee Konitz. So many cats were there. Joe Lovano, Ornette Coleman, Donny McCaslin, David Binney, Greg Osby, Scott Robinson and on and on. It was at this festival that I got to play with the great late Hank Jones. We played "round midnight” together and I will never forget it. Hanks solo piano set was my favorite of the festival. What a treat. I also got to meet Rainer’s daughter who is a pianist and singer studying at school in Germany. She was so lovely.

Today I’ve been starting to feel a little bit of the effect of traveling everyday and playing every night. My feet are yelling at me a bit from high heels at night and sporadic sleep. One things for sure, nothings constant about touring…but I love that. I love that every night is different and that we play and share music with different people. Different languages, food, culture, it’s all very exciting. I’ve been learning to cope with traveling and how to take care of myself. I’ve been studying the Alexander technique for the last year and a half so doing some of that and deep breathing is always important. I’ve just started getting into yoga and can already notice that it’s a very helpful thing. I’ll be sure to get on that train and learn more about it. Still I can’t help but feel a little homesick. What can I say except skype is an amazing invention!

Okay, until later have a wonderful day!!

Xoxo

We just arrived in Madrid.  We had a three-hour car ride and I fell asleep from beginning to end.  The city is beautiful.  I love looking at all the architecture, so much detail. So special.  Playing tonight at the club.  I’ll let you know how it goes!

Woke up this morning took a 3 hour train to Valencia.  We went out for lunch and had delicious seafood paella!  My first paella meal. Very tasty rice.  Cafe Mercedes jazz club is right across the street from the hotel.  Very acoustic stage, intimate setting.  Just a vocal mic.  We had fun just jamming for a while getting use to the sound.  Now back in the hotel warming up. Doing two sets starting at 9!

Just back from the gig and its 2:30 AM.  People here like to party!!  This gig was so much fun.  I’m really having a ball mixing up the new repertoire (man w the hat) with all the other stuff of mine (mood changes, every road etc.) Tonight was so wild!! The first set started at 9 and was fun but the second set was so amazing.  People were packed to the doors the second set and just whooping and cheering.  The energy was fantastic.  We were playing in a great intimate club called "Cafe Mercedes Jazz Club.”  The owner is actually a fantastic bass player, Mario Rossy, I first heard him on a Brad Meldhau recording a while back. He is a really amazing player.  He also owns and books this club.  The inside is decorated really nicely and we played completely acoustic except for a vocal mic.  It’s so refreshing to play close together with out overdoing the sound.  I was told later tonight that people don’t usually go to bed here until  3 or 4AM. The guys I was talking to were amazed that the latest a concert goes until is 12 pm in the states (usually.) At least before it’s called, "after hours.” 

There’s something really relaxing about starting late and people not being in a rush.  Great to just play a set, explore the music and have everyone there with you, no one looking at their watch.  Was a very memorable concert for sure? Valencia gets two thumbs up for me!

Its wed and our second day off in Barcelona.  Woke up later today, practiced a bit.  Went out for a walk with the gang. Tried to find food at 4 o’ clock. Kept forgetting about siesta!! Were def not used to that.  There’s a huge huge snowstorm going at home so Jason and Jordan had to fly a day early.  So glad they’re here now and that the flights didn’t get cancelled.  Went back to the AMAZING tapas place tonight. Took the metro there (the metros are amazing here.  So clean and futuristic.  They even give the amount of the time till the train comes and then warns you with a friendly major triad chime J  We got out of the restaurant at 12:30 and couldn’t find a cab back who would fit 5.  Ended up walking a few miles, getting lost and finally findng the hotel after about an hour and a half.  Should have good sleep tonight.  Tomorrow we’re playing the gig.  The venue is right across from the hotel at the L’Auditori.  Very convenient.

Today was SUCH a GREAT day off!! I am happy to announce that for the first time ever I went DOG SLEDDING!  Yes dog sledding here in Tromso Norway.  A couple nights ago the lovely woman who helps coordinate the  festival asked what we would like to do on our off day.  She offered to set up some dog sledding for us.  She said, "Perhaps you’ve never done that before?!”  Ha ha, indeed not!  I went sledding with Dad and Doug.  We got picked up in a large van that smelled distinctly of dogs.  I know that smell well ;-)  We drove for about 30 minutes.  It’s amazing how 30 min away from the city becomes totally quiet full of mountains and barely any sign of life.  I saw a few lonely houses but it’s very isolated and the change is drastic. It was around 12 noon and it seemed like dusk. The sun was barely over the horizon. We had just a couple of hours of light each day we were there. They told us that they had just seen the sun for the first time in three months about a week before we arrived.

 We drove the ice covered roads that led up the mountain to the compound and when we arrived we saw many many dogs all next to their little huts.  It was so adorable. I let out many high-pitched squeals.  J  We started getting a little tour.  We walked past the rows of little huts and saw rows of beautiful Alaskan huskies.  They were split up in pairs with each ones name on their hut.  The woman told us we could pet all the dogs, that they were all extremely kind and have been around people their whole lives.  She said they have about 280 dogs in all.  So crazy!  She then brought us into the main cabin and had us all get dressed.  She had us put on the huge snowsuits, hats, and boots.  We looked like we were ready to tumble through a giant snow mountain and I was so warm.  The snowsuits were also wind resistant.  Then she took us out to the sleds. 

There were 12 dogs for each sled. Doug went on his own and my Dad and I went on one together.  My dad sat on the little step and sat snuggled up right in front of him.  Then they pulled a warm blanket over us.  There was also a guy standing and steering right behind us. He is called the "Musher”.  They gave the ok sign and we were off!!  It was amazing to see the dogs running. They work so hard as they huff and puff but as the woman explained to us they absolutely love running.  There’s nothing they love doing more.  They love running so much that when the group of dogs is picked for the sled all the ones who didn’t get picked this time howl and bark until they know there’s no chance.  All the dogs rotate.  She said each pack goes for 4 runs a day.  In between they rest and eat.  The male dogs eat 4 big bowls of various meat stew and the females eat 2 ½.  The dogs were running along the trail but there were many times that they ran over little bushes and trampled over things.  There was also a lot of "thud thuds” as the sleigh jumped over snow banks. As we rode along it was thrilling and when we reach the top of a really high hill we saw the first breath taking view of Tromso.  I remember thinking it was more beautiful than any picture or postcard. The dogs are also trained to do all their bathroom business while they’re running.  This really impressed me.  I can’t imagine.  I’m glad I don’t have to ha-ha.  There is one main rope attached to the lead dogs running to the sled. The dogs are attached to this rope, one on each side, by a short line so each pair stay on different sides.  There was one couple that bent the rules and both went on the same side.  It was pretty adorable.  The musher said this particular pair loves to run side by side.  He’s not sure why.  He said sometimes it’s because they can balance each other that way.  The whole ride was so great from the beginning to the end. There was one point in the middle where we came across another  couple of sleds heading in a different direction and our dogs started to follow them instead of going the way we needed to go. Our mushers threw out the anchor. Yes, I said anchor!  That’s how they can stop the sled and keep it in place. It has three big hooks and a rope attached to the back of the sled and grabs into the snow to stop it. We got a bit tangled up because Doug’s sleigh and our sleigh had to stop. The dogs all wanted to go in the same direction of the other sleds but we were taking separate trails.  That took a bit of untangling.  By the end we were going pretty damn fast and seeing more incredible views.  I believe we were riding for about an hour, traveled about 9 kilometers and in the end our faces were frozen.  It’s all good though because it was so fun. After the ride we were taken to a teepee hut where there was a beautiful big fire right in the middle.  It’s like we had stepped back into time, fire pit in the middle, reindeer skin covered chairs just a cool vibe.  It was all so relaxing.  We were then given a traditional lunch of soup, reindeer meat and chocolate cake (ok, maybe that part isn’t traditional.)  We were able to sit there for as long as our hearts desired.  It was all very surreal and it was so nice to take the time to just sit, talk and ponder.  Before we left we got to see the adorable puppies.  I love puppies so much!! My voice goes up 2 octaves as I say ridiculous things.  Isn’t that funny how that just happens??  An amazing day!! Went back to the hotel to take a giant nap.

Well.  Today has been interesting to say the least. I am so happy to be in Tromso Norway.  It’s been a new chapter for me.  It’ s been traveling day that I’ve never experienced.  At this point it’s not just a traveling day. It’s been a traveling day and night day.  I believe it’s been more than 24 hours at this point! So starting at the beginning.  My dad picked me up at my apartment at around 1. I had to do a few errands and finish packing before we left for the airport.  Got to the airport and got checked in, went through security.  We then found out that our flight to Newark NY was delayed.  They couldn’t tell us how much longer we’d be waiting.  Boston and the East coast have been getting a lot of snow starting last night.  We started worry because we didn’t want to miss our other flight connections.  We were flying Boston to Newark and then our international flight to Oslo and Oslo to Tromso.  We got news a little later that our flight would be 2 hours delayed. More wating… Dad called Evan and heard from him that there New York flight (that we would also be on) was also getting delayed even more. We were fine with that. That meant we wouldn’t miss that connection.  Phil Woods and Bill Goodwin were on that flight as well.  TO make along story slightly shorter, we ended up making it to Newark to find out that flight got delayed even more. Ended up waiting 2 more hours, bumped into an old music friend from camp who I haven’t seen in 4 years. Crazy right?!  And then, we were on that plane.  By the time we arrived in Oslo we had missed the flight to Tromso by 4 hours. All the snow in Boston and especially New York had delayed us.  We then had to pick up our bags and recheck them in Oslo.  Doug my Dad and I couldn’t find our bags.  Turns out they had been misplaced and were still in NY. Huge bummer.  Not only did bags have all my clothing and everything else but all of the CD’s we needed and wanted to offer to sell in Tromso. We went through hoops to try to talk to people about our bags and then our flight to Tromso.  The guy at the counter booked half of us to get a direct flight to Tromso and the other half to take a different route and get there.  We thought we were all set and then he came back to say SAS didn’t confirm it and there were absolutely no seats left.  This was incredibly stressful because we needed to get to the gig and def couldn’t sleep over that night in Oslo.  That would have been a huge inconvenience for our travel plans. He then managed to find another flight but it was two connections. On to Bode Norway and then another to Tromso.  The only problem was that one was leaving in 30 min!!  We got escorted and passed all the lines in security and literally ran to the gate.  We made that plane and then the next one.  We were all so tired at this point…none of us knew what time it was and it was a lot of traveling but I was so happy we got to Tromso that night.  We are in a beautiful hotel and my room overlooks the water and the boats.  It’s very peaceful.  I guess people just started seeing the sunlight a couple days ago for a few hours in the day.  Otherwise it’s just completely dark throughout the day.  The morning is somewhat lighter and since there’s so much snow the little sun they have reflects off the snow making everything seem brighter.  Once 4 o’clock comes the sun is definitely setting and it gets dark pretty fast. Can you imagine?  It’s pretty crazy.  But then again they were saying in the summers it’s always bright all day, all night.  People go out all the time and throughout the night.

The woman working at the festival was telling she loves to golf and its perfect in the summer because she can put the kids to bed and then go out at 2 am to go golfing.  The sun just stays out and so do people!  (not done w this yet)

Just played two sets at one of my favorite clubs in New York, the "Jazz Standard.”  This was my debut at the club with my band. We played the music of the new CD this time without Phil (he wasn’t on this gig.)  Today is the actual release date of the CD!  It’s very exciting to be in the Big Apple performing.  Thanks to everyone who came out.  We really felt comfortable during the second set and just went wild. Give us 4 more nights and we’ll be getting down with the music! Today is Jordan (my drummers) birthday.  In the second set Evan (my bass player) and I were playing a duet version of "Round Midnight.”  I told Doug and Jason (piano and trumpet) to sneak on stage before we were done so we could go into Happy birthday and completely surprise Jordan.  The idea was for Jordan to be slightly confused that everyone was joining the stage. haha.  We went into a slow version of happy birthday and watched him as he peeked through the curtain laughing.  Then he joined us as we brought the tempo up and ended with a Latin groove birthday bash.  That was an added kick for me.  Very funny.  Driving back home now.  In two days we leave for Tromso Norway.  That’s waaaay in the North, in Santa Clause land!  Packing, here I come!

Boston I absolutely love you! Thank you to all who came out to Scullers to see the first show of "Man with the Hat!” This concert kicked off our European tour and it couldn’t have been a better start. I felt like we were in a football stadium. People were so enthusiastic hooting, whistling and clapping. The music was simply soaring and it was so much fun. Phil sounded so fantastic and I could see that his fans that had come to see him were so appreciative and happy to have him. Likewise, so was I. What an absolute honor it is to play with the legend of alto saxophone, one who I’ve been listening to on records since the beginning of my saxophone playing. I’m soaking up every minute of making music with him. It’s so surreal!!

I love playing Scullers. What an atmospheric beautiful room.

! Both sets were totally sold out and I am so thankful to those of you who came out! Thank you thank you thank you!!

Check out the Video

Happy New Year everyone!! Welcome to 2011, going to be a good one.  I’m currently in New York at the APAP convention.  This is a convention filled with lots of business people in the arts and artists.  My band did a couple showcases yesterday and Phil Woods came by to play a song as well.  It’s very fascinating to meet all these new people in the music business. It really is a completely different world.

  I’m super excited because the new CD "Man with the Hat” featuring Phil Woods, Monty Alexander, Bill Goodwin and Evan Gregor arrived a couple weeks ago.  The CD looks fantastic!  I am so happy with all the pictures, the amazing liner notes by Dan Morgenstern and the music.  The CD is officially released Jan 25^th.  We kick off the tour on Jan 21^st for the first concert at Scullers Jazz Club!  Jan 25^th I am super excited to be at the Jazz Standard (one of my favorite clubs in NY) with my quintet.  Then we are off to Europe for a few weeks playing in Norway, Barcelona, Austria and Germany along with a few other places.

I know I haven’t blogged in a little bit, I apologize its been so busy.  This has been my break off school (we have a 4 week break) and then the whole thing starts up again in a week.  It was a great semester for me, filled with lots of touring and school when I was in town.  I’m really thankful to have had great teachers who were very flexible with my schedule and were happy to work with me off class hours.  

Over break I’ve been keeping myself very busy.  I have been working on a new project that is very different from anything I’ve been doing.  This new project is a” hymn” CD filled with my favorite hymns and great suggestions from friends and fans.  I got this idea last May when I played a convention for 2000 ministers in Nashville Tennessee.  I was invited to play by the coordinator of the whole convention who had seen me perform earlier that year.  That was my first time playing any type of spiritual music so it was a very new experience.  It was incredibly inspiring for me and after I had so many people come up to me (after the performance) and say, "you really should really record this as a CD!”  So that’s exactly what we’re doing.  This CD features the great George Russell Jr. on piano, Peter Clemente on guitar and myself.  A lot of the tracks are duo with George, one duo with peter and there are a couple tracks of just myself multi-tracked with both Saxes and voice.  

I am planning to do another CD filled with my favorite” inspirational songs” (bridge over troubled water, you’ve got a friend) whatever it may be (I’m still not sure) later this year.  I would absolutely love to get your favorite inspirational songs and recommendations to pick from.  Send me an email about it; let the ideas begin to flow!  

I have to boogie for now but I will be back real soon updating you on the latest.  Asher (my pup) says hi!!  He was 2 years old on Jan 7th!  

By the way, for any of you who want to make sure you get a copy of the new CD as fast as possible, Pre-order now!!  Go to my shop on the website and click the preorder button. There is even an option for me to sign it to you.  All right everyone, take care and talk to you soon.

In the hotel room, leaving in 4 hours.  Heading home!  Did not have to play today.

We went to this cool Museum of Olmec artifacts some dating back 4000 years. We there was a group of us including Jack DeJohnette and his lovely wife Lydia, and Ray Drummond. 

The picture is of the first ancient Olmec head sculpture discovered.(weighs 20 Tons and is 4000 years old) How did they do it???? No metal tools or machines.

Came back to the hotel for lunch. There was a Mariachi band playing and they had dancers as well to entertain us.

Tonight was fun, we went to check out the last couple of concerts of the festival. The last concert being the big band with special guests, playing their Latin repertoire. It was at a venue by the lake and the sight was beautiful.

It was indeed sad to say goodbye to everyone but it was an incredibly successful week for all. It was especially difficult to say goodbye to Azue, 

who was assigned as my personal festival coordinator and guide for the week. The people here are wonderful and everything was a blast!

Today was filled with rehearsals, one for my festival band ( Jason, Alonso Blanco, Aleph Castaneda and Francisco Mela and then one for Jason’s. 

As well as playing Jason” concert at night. I’ve been playing with a lot of groups and learning lots of new music.  Jason’s show was tonight and was at this cool café that was again jam packed with a few hundred people. His group included, Edgar Dorantes, Emiliano Cor, Nir Felder, Francisco Mela and me.  We played almost all of his tunes with the exception of a couple. We did a Nick Payton song called, "Scrambled Eggs” aka "Cracking The Egg.”  Cool tune. Tricky, but cool.

Had another busy day. First we had another rehearsal for my concert. Then we went to the big theater for Jack DeJohnette’s master class. During the master class Jack invited me, Jason, and Nir to join him and Gerald Cannon (Mycoy Tyner’s bassist) to play a tune. Again it was an amazing experience.

When Jason and I came out the stage door after the master class there was a whole group of kids. The lady that was with them said they all lived in a very small village in the mountains about a couple of hours away. They came on a special field trip to see us and were wondering if they could take a picture with us. 

They were so excited they had us signing anything they had with them, programs, paper, even their shirts.

Before my show I went back to the big hall to see McCoy Tyner.  It was a really inspiring show.  McCoy sounded even better than the last time I saw him.  Mela has been playing in is group for a while now along with Gerald Cannon on bass. We rushed back to the hotel so I could change and get ready for my show.

My show was held right in the hotel at this cool club called Burbija.  It really felt like a jazz club. Tables were set up and there were a few hundred people packed in there.  It was pretty insane trying to get in because people were out the door and to the lobby waiting in a line. Gerald Cannon came down to see my show. 

After my show there was a jam session at the club that went on until 4 AM.  I stayed for a while we all jammed for a bit.  Gerald Cannon joined for a couple of tunes with me Edgar, Jason and Mela.

Some of them went Salsa dancing after, I was too tired to go. Now I’m back in the room heading to bed. It’s like 2 AM. 

I played with the legendary Jack DeJohnette tonight! It was in the big theater with about 1200 people packed in. It was almost a surreal concert. 

We rehearsed all afternoon and got the tunes together that we were going to play.  The band was Jack, Jason Palmer (trumpet), Nir Felder (guitar), Emiliano C (bass), Edgar Dorantes, the festival director, (piano) and myself. 

Then we had sound check. 

The concert was magical. There were so many special moments where we all connected.  Playing with Jack is like having a giant hand right under me supporting and inspiring me through every note. Throughout a song he supports us all and at the same time sets up these whirlwinds and dynamics. It really pushes the music to the next level. I wish you could have heard the drum solos he did.  They were UNREAL.  It was so so inspiring playing with this master of music. It is such an incredible lesson.  There’s this special "it” factor with the masters that makes everything sound so musical.  I don’t how else to say it.  The music sounds so musical!  Hehe.

After our concert we went to see Daniel Ian Smith’s concert and get something to eat, but is was packed and couldn’t get a table so they took us to a steakhouse restaurant and we ran into Jack and Lydia DeJohnette and ended up having a late dinner with them until 1:30AM. Jack is such a cool guy too. We had some great conversation about all kinds of things.

Had a really great day today. Rehearsed for my concert then I had put on my own clinic at the music school in the morning for a couple of hours.  It was so much fun. The place was full of young cats and students. We covered a lot of topics including, improvisation, composing, playing, and singing.  I had a few students come up and sing some blues with me and I answered lots of questions.  I’ve never been to a festival where they have been so many young people. 

Everyone stops us for photos and autographs. It feels like mini rock star status! Haha.  It’s great and all the people here are super friendly and warm.  I’m really enjoying it. 

Tonight I was a special guest with Mela’s trio at a club in town called the Butchers. 

The festival has many different clubs and venues.  It’s amazing how packed every concert I’ve been to has been.  This one was no exception, people were packed to the walls!! The enthusiasm and energy that audience brings to the shows is contagious!  The music just soars.  Mela and everyone in the trio was on fire.  We kept it real loose and the music just went wherever.

It’s day 3 here in Xalapa Mexico.  We arrived  night late.  Monday we just got to chill in the hotel and get used to the mountain air!  I have to say I "oopsed "a little bit.  I didn’t look at the weather before I came and I brought too many summer clothes!  Wishful thinking.  We are actually right next to the mountains so the weather is very similar to Boston.  It’s pretty chilly. Our hosts said it’s usually not this cold and that they are just going through a cold spell.  Today (Tues) it was warmer, it was easy to go out with just a jacket.  Yay!

I’ve really been enjoying my time here so far.  The people are incredibly nice and enthusiastic.  

The early concert was outdoors in the town square. They also had a display of caricatures of the artists at the festival. So very cool. There were two of me.

The artists who drew them are very famous political catoonists in Mexico.

I met the artist who drew the first one(pink background) and later in the week I did a TV show interview and as a surprise I was presented with the original artwork of the second caricature. Although the artist could not be there because he was ill at the time. I will cherish it very much and have framed it already.

Last night I played in the welcome/jam session.  The place was packed with a few hundred who stayed up till the wee hours just watching the jam.  The cats that joined the stage were all amazing and really high level.  I got particularly excited when songs started going into crazy claves and grooving rhythms. 

I just arrived back to the hotel from an amazing Ray Drummond concert.  It was so swinging, and transported me into a different space for a couple hours.  I had my rehearsal with the band today. We are playing my set sat night. This is a 3-year-old festival so a very new one and my friend Francisco Mela (Amazing drummer) is the artistic director of the festival.  He’s the one who brought me here.  I am so amazed that every concert/clinic I go to people are all over the place.  Even in the paid concerts the place is more than packed and people are standing way in the corners. Everyone seems so into the music, it’s very exciting.  Lots of young cats too. It’s a very mixed audience in terms of ages and genders.  It just seems like everyone’s out!

 Tomorrow is a busy day for me. I have a rehearsal in the morning, my clinic, a rehearsal with Jack DeJohnette (him and McCoy Tyner are the two big artists here) and I’m playing at night.  I think these next few days will fly by.  I’m playing every night and then we head back Monday.

Heading home tonight. We’re on the way to the airport now and its extremely early.  We had a fantastic show last night.  It was a beautiful listening room and everyone was so enthusiastic and listening incredibly hard.  Doug was super happy because he got an amazing Bosendorfer piano. 

It sounded incredible and was ringing and resonating.  We made sure to play a duo together and gave him some solo piano time.  I enjoyed that so much.  

Thank you so much to everyone who made the tour so fun!  The audiences were amazing and we had a fantastic time.

On the way home on the plane I guess my dad was bored so he made a breadstix tower.

We had lost of fun last night playing for our new friends in Toulouse France.  Toulouse was the only place that we got to spend more than a couple of days in!  We had a total four days there and three of them we got to relax, check out other concerts (including an amazing Wayne Shorter set) and hang.  I was really excited because one of my good friends from school lives in Toulouse so I hung with her and got to meet lots of people!  It’s a very young town because the universities are so close by.  Lots of young people just hang out on the streets at all hours of the day, outside decks, at bars etc.  There is a strike going on right now having to do with the retirement age so trains are shut down, kids are not going to high school and its there’s lots of loud noises from people protesting on the streets.  A very interesting time to be in Toulouse!

Played in the club, totally sold out, about 500 people.  

Our set was also aired on radio and there was lots of pictures and media there. 

I was interviewed by french radio.

 We had a great time playing, as always.  Two days ago Doug, Jordan and I went to this amazing percussion shop that they had run into. It was filled with so many drums, percussion toys, marimbas and everything else.  We had a ball for a couple hours just looking around and playing everything.  We were like little kids in a candy store, so fun.  I feel so fortunate to be out on this tour with a band that is so tight and filled with wonderful people.  It really makes the time go by so fast. Who else can say they’re working and getting to hang out with people they enjoy?  It’s such a blessing.  Anyways, we all bought a few shakers and Jordan pulled out quite a few of them in our set the next night.  I started giggling because he had so many new toys!  But they sounded really great.

Went out to lunch at this seafood restaurant with Jordan, Doug and my dad.

Doug was in heaven when we got the raw seafood platter.

I ate my first raw oyster. It was the most amazing taste I have experienced. Jordan kept playing tricks to scare mr by putting the shrimp right in front of me so they look at me.

So on to today. Today was so surreal, it felt like the events that went by could have been split up into a couple days. We woke up, ate breakfast and headed out at 11:30.  We had a 1 plane to catch to Paris.  Then our connecting flight was from Paris back to Austria.  We were all hoping for the best because we didn’t know what the flight status would be with the strike.  A lot of trains and some planes had to stop running but we were very lucky because our flights were fine.  When we arrived to Paris we looked our watches and realized it was 3.  Our connecting flight was flying off at 3:30.  We all freaked out and basically ran the to our gate.  However, our gate was super far away and we were huffing and puffing.  Somehow we made it and the plane itself didn’t take off until 4 because there were quite a few other people like us.  We had to even do security again!  It was super stressful and with a 20 pound backpack and little boot heels on, it’s not so easy to run like the wind.  I counted it as my exercise for the day ;-).  The important this is we made it!  Once we got into Austria we were driven a couple hours to the hotel.  The events that happened after are incredibly strange.  It sounds like an episode in a movie.  Let’s see if I can describe this well.  We all went out to eat and were starving. We didn’t get to have lunch, so we walked in the direction of the lighted streets.  There we found a few restaurants that were open and were walking and walking looking at menus.  Somehow someone found a Japanese restaurant that had advertisement of eating "all you can eat for $7.50.”  We thought that sounded good so we went in.  We were the only ones there and it seemed like there was only one waiter too.  The menu didn’t seem to have a lot of choices and it was somewhat false advertising because they meant that you could refill the same one dish as many times as you want, turns out that was only for students.

We ordered a few things and half the table ordered Sushi.  Some of the food came and it was really mediocre.  Lets just say I was not excited about this food and that’s coming from someone who eats just about anything.  I’m really not that picky and it doesn’t have to be high quality either stuff.  I just like a healthy meal that tastes good, or even better yet, really good.  The sushi seemed to be taking forever and we started hearing voices in the back.  We figured that he a) got more employees to help him or b) had new costumers.  Turns out it was neither.  We saw a woman walk in who looked like a cop wearing a bright yellow jacket.  She walked in and looked around and then went away.  Strange huh?  A little bit later our waiter frantically runs up to us and says, "Oh. Kitchen closed.  You must go!  You must go. Is that OK? Leave leave.”  He said this all in very broken English.  You can imagine we were all very confused because half of us didn’t get our food.  The funniest part of all this was he said, "uh you leave 50euro?”  We all looked at him like he was crazy and said "no!”  We had this point only gotten soups and a couple noodle bowels.  50 euros was way over.  He was so frantic at this point he just said "ok how much you want pay? 20? 10?” So we left a little cash and he scooted us out.  As we were walking out we saw 4 police officers.  I looked at the back and I’m pretty sure it said they were food inspectors.  Lets just put it this way.  I’m glad the Sushi didn’t come.  For all we know we could all be throwing up violently if it wasn’t for fate and the inspectors. We were all so curious to what was going on, but it obviously wasn’t pretty.  Later tonight we were all discussing it and realized we probably shouldn’t have been eating in a Japanese restaurant and eating Sushi when no one else was there and there were some other sketchy clues.  

We leave that place quite stunned and go into an amazing pizza place across the street.  Turns out this place couldn’t have been more perfect.  Perhaps we were meant to eat at the pizza place.  It was absolutely delicious, and we had amazing crepes for dessert.  There were def other people at the restaurant.  ;-) 

To top it off we had the most amazing waiter who was a practical jokester and oh so funny. While we eat at this place we are all laughing while still slightly puzzled at what just happened. I’m telling you it was very surreal.  Japanese restaurant, foreign country, food inspectors, getting kicked out,.  Sounds like a tv episode right?  Ah the joys of traveling, we never know what to expect. It certainly makes for a good laugh and the best part was we left with very full stomachs and good spirits. Tomorrow we play their jazz festival late at night at like 11!  Sun we head to Germany for our last concert and Monday were going home.

I am currently lying in bed relaxed from a day off.  Today I did some practicing, walked around, had some amazing beef goulash and came back.  Did some work. Skyped with some friends! This hotel is very funky. I love European design, all the sleek lines on the furniture make me happy J  Last nights concert turned into a really fun night.  We had a smaller crowd yesterday but they were simply amazing!  They were hooting and hollering last night and begging us for encores.  We played 2 encores for them!  It was a really intimate and lovely night.  Thank you to all from Wels Austria who came out for my debut!

10.13.10

Got up, had a wonderful breakfast at the hotel (everyone in the band is a huge fan of German yogurt) drove a few hours and got to Ingolstadt.  Just got back from the gig.  It was a fun, really nice vibe.  By the second set everyone (including the audience) seemed really warmed up and we simply gave them a little bit of everything.  They seemed to enjoy it very much.  I am so lucky to have the whole band with me. They sound so amazing, it really is inspiring.

10/14/10

We just got to Heidelberg.  3 hour drive. Time for a nap and sound check at 5!

10/15/10

In the car traveling to Wels, Austria today.  This is going to be a 5 hour drive or so.  We just a had a great breakfast.  It’s amazing how all these places  have such good breakfast foods .  Delicious wholegrain breads, yogurts, fresh fruit, eggs, it’s scrumptious.

 Last nights concert was so great.  It was an indoor stage with one of the funkiest looks I’ve ever seen.  They had a giant disco ball in the middle and pink squares decorating the ceiling. The room was also totally packed to the rims of the door.  There was probably 300 people or so, all of them seemed so enthusiastic about the music.  Our concert was just one of the 6 week performances.  They have a whole festival series. A performance a night for 6 weeks. Wow! It’s called the Enjoy Jazz Festival.

We had a great gig last night in Pforzheim.  We played at the legendary club,"Domicile.”  The owner of the club has brought in musicians for the past 35 years. It was amazing to look at his CD collection. It looked like a record shop!  He was telling us about all the people he had Nat Adderly, Phil Woods, Joe Zawinul, and Roy Hargrove, anyone who was in town would pass by.  The audience was so amazing.  I couldn’t hear a pin drop.  They were so attentive and educated. But not only were the observant they would go crazy after songs!  It was a really great vibe.  

We were all exhausted after the gig and were practically falling asleep on the couches there, yet somehow when I arrived back at the hotel I couldn’t get to bed for the next few hours. I stayed up watching TV shows! 

And today I woke up at 3:30 in the afternoon.  Today was one of our days off. Filled with lots of jetlag.  Oh!! jet lag.  We walked around tonight, got some great Thai food and met the club owner of Domicile back at the club.  We then listened to music, talked had taste of beer and the most amazing fresh warmed German bread sprinkled with cheese and olive oil for the next few hours!

We just got back from Maryland and played at the first annual "Monty Alexander Jazz Festival!” 

It was really fun.  I played with my band Friday night and Monty played with his band Sat night.  It was held in a very beautiful high-class city with excellent crab cakes, pulled pork and everything else.

I stayed the whole weekend, which was a treat.  I did a question and answer diddle with Monty on Sat.  To those who were there for that, thank you for your amazing questions!!  It must have been the most inspiring question and answer talks I’ve been a part of.  The questions were very thoughtful and everyone wanted to know things such as "how do you play sadness?”  Or " what are you thinking when you play this?”  They were very deep insightful questions and really made me think. I’m still thinking for that matter!  Lovely, short visit to Maryland.  Hooray for Monty Alexander and his festival (it sounds so good with his name.)  I look forward to many many more and seeing this thing grow every year.  I know I will be proud to say I played in the inaugural festival!

Up at 4:30 AM heading home today!!! Boston here we come!!! My puppy waits for me, after 5 weeks!!! Wohoooo!!!

Long flight. Got some sleep!!!

It was amazing to play for people who were soaking up the music like sponges.  The most amazing thing was it was so quiet in the square that when there were breaks in the music,  there was silence, it was like we were in a concert hall. All 3000 people were really listening.  I have never experienced something like that in an outside setting.  It was really special. 

We got to Copenhagen! Yesterday we had half the day still free so I went to the famous amusement park, "Tivoli” which has one of the oldest wooden rollercoaster’s.  It was super fun; I went on all of the "scary rides.” I haven’t been on a roller coaster in such a long time.  I even did the ride where you do a sudden drop from waaaay up high. It was exhilarating. I might have won that contest for loudest screamer.;-) Also went on the Dragon roller coaster with my dad, the one that does flips and twists. We sat in front.

At night we met Doug and Evan at a small jazz club "Cafe Intime", where we heard a vocalist jam session was going on. It was really fun, the hang was super friendly and everyone was great.  Sang a little too, goodtime.

We are currently on a gigantic bus to the airport.  There are only 5 of us (plus my parents) and they picked us up in this HUGE tour bus.  Pretty funny. It’s 7:35 am, and I think I’m finally used to the jetlag! I didn’t get to do much in Aarhus, Denmark, there wasn’t much to do and the hotel itself was so big and amazing I could get lost in it.  The architecture and design in Denmark and is amazing.  The hotel must have been one of the nicest ones I’ve ever been.