Brothers and Sisters, Ive been at this music thing for quite some time and there are some serious honours for hard work, perseverance, tenacity and grit. (I dig those two words! Ever seen A Big Hand For A Little Lady?) Some think money, awards, fame, but I was given a gift from two different good brothers, who live on two different continents, but their gifts were both touching, humbling, blessed and most definitely appreciated to the heart and soul!!! When a writer/arranger/composer writes a piece of music for you, that person knows you deeply, to your core. That person is pretty much family to you. Ive been deeply honoured by two of these folks, whom Ill forever proudly call them Brother! Nicholas Blake, who wrote the chart on the left, titled Byrd Is The Word is one of the UKs finest writers and arrangers and leads the Blakes Heaven Big Band, whom I was honoured to perform with earlier this year in London and after one gig, made it his mission to write for me for some new gigs coming this year. Nicholas, thank you and bless you, My Brother!!! Youre a beautiful cat and you absolutely put The Great in Great Britain!!!!! Gio Washington-Wright... What cant be said about this brother!!! He is on his way to becoming one of the most in-demand writers in Big Band Jazz today! Endorsed by some of the top cats in the business, like Patrick Williams, John Clayton and Johnny Pate, Gio has his own voice and style to anything he puts down on paper!!! The picture on the right is his chart that wrote for me, entitled The Brown Hornet. (My superhero alias from my high school days! LOL!!!) Brother, you got me good with this one and I thank God everyday for our friendship! Weve come a long way together and were both on our way, even FARTHER, to the moon and beyond!!! Thank you both, My Brothers!!! With tears in my eyes as I look at this very precious photo, Im beside myself that you would both devote your time, energy and talent to craft something for a regular ol dude like me... Thank you, Brothers... Thank you and God bless you both, Gentlemen! I am a blessed man to be your brother! Brothers and Sisters, I can guarantee you, with every cell in my body, that in the very VERY near future, that youll be hearing both of these special pieces on iTunes and/or a concert near you REAL SOON!!! These cats are FIERCE when you give them a pencil and some manuscript paper!!!!!
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 15:25:58 +0000
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