Sonoma wine and Jazz Festival

Yesterday I performed at the Sonoma Wine and Jazz Festival. I had my regular guys back playing with me again--Murray Low on piano, Peter Barshay on bass, Melecio Magdaluyo on wind instruments and Paul van Wageningen on drums. The band, as always, played phenomenally well and made the day a complete blast for me. And my voice was in good form, which always makes me very happy! The crowd, and I mean CROWD, was very attentive and appreciative of what we were playing. I always wonder if my singing in foreign languages will be a deterrant to the average american crowd, but that hasn't seemed to be the case. People really seem to respond to the music--and my voice--without necessarily understanding what I'm saying. I'm not sure how the rest of the country will react to my styles of music--and languages--but people in the Bay Area seem to be open to different musics of the world and I totally appreciate that. I sold a bunch of CDs which will greatly help in the costs of studio time.

I also met Larry Vucovich yesterday. What a sweet man--and an amazingly talented pianist. He really seems to love what he's doing. The fact that he has been a full-time musician for over forty years and still obviously has a good time perfoming is quite an inspiration to me. I want to be singing and performing until the day I die. I can't imagine a better way to spend the rest of my days. I know that when I am performing I am at my happiest. And when I have an audience that is responding to my music I think I've reached some level of nirvana! Yesterday was one of those days.