2019 REFLECTIONS

Hello friends, fans, and the curious – 2019 was filled with great memories and performances. I met and played with some great musicians. I was in Japan celebrating the 30th anniversary of playing the Blue Note with an amazing band consisting of Robben Ford, Keith Carlock and James Genus. I toured with my new band The “Spykillers! with Wolfgang Haffner.” Spykillers! are a sheer joy. Great vibes and great music! Gary Grainger, Claus Fischer and Simon Oslender - thank you!

I played the incredible outdoor festival of fellow Spykiller! Wolfgang Haffner, in Nuremberg, Germany (70,000 people outdoors). While there I met and played with, for the first time, the incredible singer Max Mutzke from Germany as well as the legendary singer Thomas Quasthoff. A couple months later I was a guest with Thomas, playing sold out shows in Philharmonic style halls in Germany and Austria.Thomas is a superstar in the opera world with an amazing voice. The great singer/trombonist Nils Landgren was also part of the ensemble. .Nils is an awesome player AND singer. I feel blessed to have these incredible experiences with such great musicians.

I played with the super group “ leslie Mandoki Soulmates “ on a small concert tour of Germany, playing to Sold out concert halls in Munich, Dortmund, Berlin. Some tremendous Singers and instrumentalists in this Group. We have all known each other for decades ! On the political front, Let’s try to remember that the Truth is golden, and yes, it DOES make a difference. Please vote this year.

Robben Ford and I had a big festival tour of Europe booked for this summer, 2020, with Wolfgang Haffner and Gary Grainger ( Blues, Miles and Beyond )… We are shifting our 2020 schedule to 2021 like many other musicians since Covid invaded our planet, so this tour is planned for summer 2021.

Singer Max Mutzke was slated to guest with us on several of our summer shows, so I’m really hoping we can have him on the schedule again for 2021 as well! He rocks and is truly a super talent.