Been busy as always with a neavy day-job work schedule, but that has settled down.

I left the Hots Dance Orchestra after months of wrestling with the idea.  I was finding that the huge breath of ever-changing repertoire was taking up way too much of my time, and having some affect of my solo work and other projects.  So with some huge regret I left the band after the last recent concert at the Spanish Ballroon in June.  I learned a whole lot playing with that group, and really enjoyed performing with everyone in the group.  It was a very tough decision!!!  I wish them well, but I know that somehow I'll be making music with many of them again somewhere down the road a spell...

So I've got more time to spend on solo repertoire, basic musical development (the kind of stuff one should be doing in the background all the time - e.g. jazz scales and progressions, etc.).  I'm also going after more band music that better suits my style and doesn't require the enourmous practive time needed by the old band charts, such as Dixielend and traditional jazz (Jelly Roll Morton etc).  I'm also better setup now timewise to finish my CD project.

I'm catching up on other projects, like finishing up recordings made months ago by JSS and Reverie.  We might even have enough good material for a CD for JSS, based on recordings made at our last gig at Beans in the Belfry..the recording conditions were perfect.  The stuff is moving fast now!

Not much going on in the ragtime universe.  I've got no ragtime festivals officially on my schedule until January, which in a sense is fine with me because I can focus on learning new stuff and recording.  However, I'm available.

BTW, last night Cindy and I attended a show performed by "1964: A Tribute".  This is the original Beatles tribute band that has been perfoming for 23 years!  Well I simply could not believe how good they were.  They have worked out every single little nuance from the Beatles recordings.  They have a great sound, are extremely professional in their presentation, and reproduce the Beatles experience EXACTLY.  I just kept say "I can't believe the sounds they are making" - and I try to imply a lot of stuff by saying that.  I hugely recommend you'all go see them when they come through town.  They are back in the D.C. (Northern VA) area in December at the Birchmere.

Richard Dowling is coming to the NVRS this coming weekend.  www.nvrs.org