Whirlwinds Swirling Around!

It's been way too long since I posted anything here and I'm sorry for that. The last few weeks have been extremely busy and then I got a really bad cold which laid me out flat for a week. I'm finally starting to feel myself again and the whirlwinds continue to swirl around me. But it's all good stuff. My new CD, Azucar de Amor will be shipped to radio stations around the world this Friday, Feb. 1st. I can't wait until radio stations start playing the music and seeing the response the music gets. So far the response has been spectacular and I hope to continue in this vein for many months, if not years, to come!

I did an interview last night on KKUP with Afrikahn Jamal Davis. I kind of piggybacked on Rick Vandivier's interview. He was promoting his new stellar solo guitar CD and I was slated to come in right after him. It was a great segue for me to come in while he was still there because he also performs on both my CDs. It was a fun interview, with Afrikahn playing some tracks from Azucar de Amor. What was also great was the DJ after Afrikahn--Cristina Boyd, a peruvian woman--wanted me to stay for a bit longer so she could interview me too!! So I stayed for her latin american music show and she interviewed me in Spanish. So I got a double interview last night and the music from Azucar de Amor was very well represented!! This was mainly to talk about my upcoming concert at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center on Feb. 7th, but it was also to present the new CD to a new audience.

Speaking of Rick Vandivier!! I went to the Little Fox the other night to their Sunday Night Jazz Series produced by BeasWa Productions. BeasWa is a collaboration between my good friend Wendy Waller and Matt Beasley--my artist rep. They have joined together to create a jazz music series for Redwood City and beyond. Rick played many songs from his new CD, which is quite beautiful. Wendy Waller also performed an amazing set and Nate Pruitt brought the house down with his energy and fire. It was a great night of music and I would recommend to anyone to go out and support these kinds of events. We need to keep live music going in the Bay Area and it gets more and more difficult as time goes by.

So on that note, I hope to see you at the Kuumbwa on Feb. 7 for "Cookin' at the Kuumbwa" This will be a pre-release CD concert where the CD will be for sale for the very first time. I will also be giving away posters for free with the purchase of any CD. Hope to see you there!!

Happy New Year!

So many things have been going on. I feel as though I've been caught up in a tornado and I'm being swept around into many different places. Last Sunday I returned from one of the more relaxing vacations I've ever taken. I went to a spa with my mother and sister for a weeklong indulgence. It was heaven. We were in the mountains outside of Guadalajara, Mexico at a natural hot springs. It was rustic, beautiful and best of all, relaxing. I had the best time hanging out with both my sister and mom. It's not often that we can all get together at the same time for an extended period. There was lots of hiking, swimming, yoga, massages and some very serious Scrabble playing at night. I definitely want to return there again.

When I returned home everything seemed to hit the fan. The press release for the new CD needed to be finalized and a grant proposal needed to be completed by a Jan. 11 deadline. And on top of that, teaching, rehearsals and gigs. Needless to say, I was extremely busy all week and now today I can finally stop and come up for some air before it all begins again. Maybe I can even finally clean up the chaos that is my house.

I played two gigs yesterday; One lunchtime concert at Stanford hospital and then the other at the Hedley Club Lounge in the De Anza Hotel. Both gigs went very well. It was fun getting to play with Murray, Peter and Paul after not having seen them for a month. Since it is my birthday tomorrow, I decided to play a trivia game with my audience last night. I asked two questions about myself and whoever got the closest answer won a free Azucar de Amor CD. The first question was how old I will be tomorrow! Now, what woman in her right mind would have people guessing her age? :) But I never said I was in my right mind! I got some pretty funny--and flattering--responses to that one. And no, I'm not going to tell you how old I will be tomorrow--you'll just need to figure it out for yourself! The other question was where I was born. No one could figure that one out either. Nevertheless, I gave out two of the new CDs that have not yet been released. Hopefully the two people that received the CD will let me know what they think of the music. I'm extremely excited about this CD and it is already generating a buzz and excitement. I can't wait until it is available online, in stores and at my gigs.

Now comes the preparations for the release of the CD--concerts, promotion, radio. The next few months are going to fun, busy and exciting.