BOSSALINGO Tour Blog

Bossalingo at An Die Musik live! Dec.9

2011-12-11T13:36:00.000-08:00

I call Baltimore home now since I have been living here for the better part of 7 years, first as a renter moving from neighborhood to neighborhood just about every year, and most recently as a home owner in Waverly. I have lived in 7 different rental properties since moving here back in 2003. I first lived in a tiny efficiency in Charles Village, then moved to a roach infested apartment in southern Hampden, then to a beautiful cottage in Evergreen, then to a lovely townhouse Ednor Gardens where my daughter was born, then to a big leaky apartment in Roland Park, then to a nice place in Hamilton which was too expensive. My final rental was a tiny house in central Hampden. If feels great to finally settle down and own a house for the first time in my life. I am telling you this to offer a little insight into how special it was for me to finally be performing my original music at a fine Baltimore venue for the very first time. I have been running around this town for such a long time, but I have never performed my music here! Finally I had the chance to play for a lot of familiar faces at An Die Musik, a premier listening venue, and it was magnificent!

Many of my friends and acquaintances here in Baltimore did not have any idea I even played this kind of music. Some may have heard me jamming on percussion at a local drum circle or heard me at a friends wedding, but I have never performed this music in Baltimore City. It took me years to finish much of the music which I had sketched out in notebooks or recorded on my 4 track. I finally finished recording the new CD Steps Beyond at a wonderful studio called Beat Babies which is just outside Baltimore. The engineer, Chris Freeland, was instrumental in the whole process. It was Freeland's talent and efficiency that really allowed us to finish the entire project this past Spring in a matter of weeks. There are 4 new tracks from the Beat Babies session along with songs from an earlier 2005 session that I did with Steve Steckler of Asparagus Media Studios. Both sessions comprise the full album called Steps Beyond. Having that recording in the can put a fire under me to start performing again and I am so thankful for meeting Chris.

I have to admit, I had some uncertainty about who would come to our show in Baltimore. Bossalingo's first official show at Blues Alley went so well because much of the audience was familiar with the name. The original Bossalingo band was born on U St. in DC a decade ago where we performed weekly for listeners who were hungry for something different. So we had a following there and we were even featured on the local radio station, 89.3 shortly before the gig. Lots of family and old friends were expected at that show as well and they all came in full force! I was not at all sure of our Baltimore draw and I had absolutely no idea if we would get any new fans here. In retrospect, I think I had a lot of emotional ties to the show, wanting it to go well, wanting to see familiar faces. I really had no idea if it would be 2 or 200 and I was so pleased we did well! The standing ovation at the end helped give us all new confirmation and resolve about our potential here in Baltimore. We felt the outpouring of love from the crowd which just made us play even better!

I was surprised by the warm response we had at An Die Musik. Many new faces showed up as well as a lot of friends and acquaintances, including a reviewer from DC named Ken Avis who also provided me with the pictures you see here from the show. The lineup for Bossalingo was a little different at this particular show because it featured some local talent as opposed to the DC crew. The fabulous Didier Prossaird took the helm at grand piano and dazzled everyone with his mastery of Latin rhythm. Jake Leckie, a local favorite, was on upright bass, along with the fantastic Mike Kuhl on drums. It was thrilling to perform with this particular group and I hope we continue to find occasions to play together as Bossalingo continues to evolve.

I have to complement the staff and owner Henry of An Die Musik. They were a class act through and through. What a pleasure to perform there! We were treated with respect and consideration. Everything was handled in the most relaxed yet professional manner. I deeply appreciate working with others who absolutely love music. These are people who do it for the love of it and we all should make an effort to go to as many concerts there as possible throughout the season.

blessings :: Michael

Blues Alley debut w/Arturo O'Farrill a big success!

2011-11-11T12:17:00.000-08:00

I am still beside myself about our show at Blues Alley last Monday night. It was just an unbelievable pleasure to perform my original music with such amazing musicians. Brooklyn NY based pianist, Arturo O'Farrill exceeded my highest expectations and played everything with such sensitivity after virtually NO rehearsals! We went through the songs just before we played and talked through the music a bit before we went on. It was inspiring to say the least.

I had two rhythm sections backing us that night who are also the same players on the CD. Bassist Eric Leifert and drummer Tom Barrick started each set and then bassist Leo Lucini and his brother Alejandro finished each set. The magnificent percussionist Alfredo Mojica played all evening as did pianist Arturo O'Farrill. We packed the house for the first set and the mood was electric. There was a lot of risk to it all as well because I had very little time to practice with Arturo let alone the other musicians. It was time to fly by the seat of our pants, something I love doing. Fortunately I had all the music written and prepared so we had a pretty good road map going into it. The audience was wonderful, lots of friends and family and fans from way back in the day. The staff at Blues Alley was impeccable too. It was first rate all around!

We were very fortunate to capture some video of the sound check which I will be editing on Monday with the very talented videographer Corbin Long to release as a You Tube promo video soon. I think we are going to do a few interviews for that as well. Our tour schedule is still in the works and I will be discussing everything with an agent this week. I am very excited at the prospect of playing more of these kinds of shows. Its such a win/win for everyone involved to experience music at a place like Blues Alley where the sound, lighting and overall mood is so conducive to listening. These Jazz rooms are such a refreshing change after performing in noisy bars, lounges, and packed clubs my entire career.

At a Jazz club, its more like every little thing you do is heard and appreciated or sometimes even critiqued by your peers. But its all good. I remember back in the late 90's when people smoked in bars and the smoke was like this haze between the performer and the listener. Folks would talk pretty loud too and the combination of the smoke and the noise was at times overwhelming, but it allowed for a lot of creative exploration (cough cough) Those days are over and there is a lot more awareness about the music in a space. Audiences want to listen and take the journey. The entire musical experience can be fulfilled at a place like Blues Alley. I hope more clubs like this pop up.

I love being under the lights with the pressure on. It feels like home more than anything else I have experienced. I am not saying I wasn't nervous up there on the stage. I was feeling crazy butterflies before we played, but they were more exhilarating than anything. I felt like I was about to ski down a steep mountain or surf some big waves. I was scared to death but I knew I would have the time of my life and I did. I also knew I would take everyone with me on that journey, and that they would feel better for it. Based on the feedback so far, folks left that night feeling exhilarated and happy which is exactly what I was hoping for! Looking forward to the next adventure! ~ mjh

Solo show @ Paradise Springs Winery, Clifton VA

2011-09-11T18:50:00.000-07:00

Kirk, owner of Paradise and me in the barrel room

I had an amazing time performing for the folks at Paradise Springs Winery. What a gorgeous new facility they have! A beautiful room, fantastic wines, and a great staff. I stuck with the Meritage most of the evening, but did get a chance to taste the delicious Norton just unveiled that same day.

Since it was a solo show, I took full advantage of the opportunity to sing instead of doing my usual instrumental Jazz. I started out at 3PM with about an hour of my Sinatra repertoire in the crowded back outdoor area in front of a beautiful fireplace. By about the third song, I noticed the crowd really getting into it and suddenly I had a music stand of full of special requests and nice notes from people enjoying the music :-) I really enjoyed singing happy birthday for all the requests, changing the style each time to suit the mood. It was a kick!

I stepped it up a bit for the second set with some Van Morrison, Michael Franti, Michael Buble, Jack Johnson, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Ben Harper, Grateful Dead, Bob Marley etc... Then I transitioned into some rock and soul songs. Some of the audience started dancing and singing along. It was a blast. We even had a few bold audience members who came up and played my bongos. Erin was especially awesome at playing the bongos for her first time ever! Her friends all loved watching her perform Franti's Sound of Sunshine with me. I was having such a good time I totally lost track of time. I was supposed to stop playing at 7PM but the crowd kept calling me back for more and I went until 8PM for a total of 5 hours! I swear we could have kept going until midnight if we could have.

Thanks again to all the staff there and to Kirk, the owner for being so gracious and accommodating.

Grammy Award Winner Arturo O'Farrill to join Bossalingo @ Blues Alley Nov.7th!

2011-08-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

What great news! Got a call back from Arturo last night and he is all set for joining the band on Nov.7 for our debut performance at Blues Alley. Arturo is one of the most amazing pianists I have ever seen. I met him years ago when he was performing with Pheonix Rivera, son of the great Mario Rivera. They were all there doing a Latin Jazz All Star show. I was profoundly inspired by the performance and by Mario's incredible devotion to music. Arturo really stood out as a performer on the bandstand. I was really taken by his solos and his overall approach to music. We are scheduled to rehearse the new music together at his studio in Brooklyn NY in early September and I am scrambling to get all the arrangements scored. I love when opportunities like this happen. It adds so much more juice to the creative process to know a great musician like Arturo is going to be bringing his wealth of experience to the songs.

There will be 2 sets that evening. Tickets will be available soon on the website as soon as the show is posted. http://bluesalley.com/events.cfm

See you on Nov.7th!!

Bossalingo on G-Strings Sunday mornings w/Tom Cole WPFW

2011-08-03T07:14:00.000-07:00

It was so great to hear from random fans who heard Bossalingo's Steps Beyond played on G-Strings Sunday morning with Tom Cole! Thanks for all the great feedback about the new CD and thanks to all those who bought the CD based on what they heard. I am really happy folks are enjoying the music. I respect Tom Cole and Pacifica radio for all the things they do for the community and for Jazz. Its awesome to be part of that family. Tom interviewed us years ago and it is one of our treasured memories playing live in his studio and answering his thoughtful questions about the music.

Check his show out every Sunday morning on WPFW 89.3. He always plays very beautiful and unique music and his personality is so perfectly suited for relaxed Sunday mornings. Its great to listen to his show on the way to church, or while reading the Sunday morning paper, or just relaxing alone on a drizzly day with a cup of tea.

Bossalingo @ One Straw Farm

2011-07-27T06:05:00.000-07:00

We had such a good time at One Straw Farm performing there for folks on the lawn. It is such a beautiful place where the city hum is completely absent, right along with all the stresses of city life. Joan and Drew were such awesome hosts too. They made sure the band was comfortable and fed.

It sure did not look like we were going to be able to perform that day on the way to the show. There was a downpour of epic proportions as we were driving up 83 to the farm. I said a little prayer and then I immediately saw a ray of light coming through the dark clouds. I am not kidding! I just knew everything would be ok when I saw the light peeking through.

Kirkwood Shop Rd. was actually flooded as I drove toward the entrance to One Straw. I was getting a little worried but I remembered that ray of light. My cell phone rang and the bassist, Jake Leckie asked where everyone was. The drummer, Mike Kuhl called and asked the same thing. There were a few people gathered on the porch when we came to the house and the rain was just easing up.

Joan asked me if she thought it was worth following through with the show. I said "Of course!" and we loaded our gear onto the front porch to prepare to perform. Just then the sun popped out and in a matter of minutes it was a gorgeous day and people started gathering on the lawn anticipating the show! We were ready in about a half hour and even more folks streamed into the farm and a wonderful experience emerged out of a seemingly disastrous day.

Please check out the One Straw Blog for more info about the amazing work they are doing to provide organic quality produce to Baltimore. If you live in the area, be sure to check out the CSA which stands for Community Supported Agriculture. It is a way people can prepay for produce for the season and simply pick it up every week at convenient locations.