Mid – February, 2019

This month is the least busy — musically — I have had since taking up drums in 1963.  Other than playing a Carnival Ball in New Orleans with Tim Laughlin, Duke Heitger and David Boeddinghaus, I have had more free time than ever.  Luckily I received quite a few books as Christmas presents, so I have been reading about Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, railroad detective “Whispering” Smith, Civil War sniper Jack Hinson, the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, the strange murder cases involving Osage Indians in Oklahoma during the 1920s, reminiscences of a railroad engineer of the 1950s and much more…

March, April and May look a lot more promising, as you can see on my SCHEDULE page.

One of the things I am looking forward to is a weekend of work in New Orleans with Evan Christopher (clarinet) and Kris Tokarski (piano) paying tribute to the 1950s recordings by Don Ewell, Darnell Howard and Minor “Ram” Hall.  Here is a sample of how that great combination sounded, from a GOOD TIME JAZZ LP:

Later in the month I will be in Houston, for LindyFest — playing with Michael Gamble’s Rhythm Serenaders as well as the Jonathan Doyle Swingtet.  I have played LindyFest before; it is a lot of fun and I look forward to returning.

To close out March I will be working with pianist Jeff Barnhart and clarinetist Dave Bennett at the Charles Templeton Ragtime & Swing Festival in Starkville, Mississippi.  The organizers were kind enough to put together the following ad:

During the weekend I will be presenting a seminar on the history of Classic Jazz Drumming — a first for me!

Meanwhile, Alex is thrilled to have a new computer box of his own:

 

Mittens was kind enough to help me assemble a new compact bass drum:

 

Stay tuned for more news regarding engagements in April and May!

— Hal