Ray's Boathouse - Dick's Drive In!

Had an excellent private gig tonight.  It was me, playing solo - Jazz/Blues/X-mas songs.

Thought that it was going to be kind of strange, but it turns out it was awesome.  Thirty people about, all managers and owners of Dick's Drive In's.  I decided that I have not been getting enough 'practice' at these solo gigs that I do, so I decided I was going to sing a bunch tonight!  Sang tons of Christmas songs and Blues and Jazz, and man...!  I thought it was pretty good actually.  I brought my PA instead of my amp, and my keyboard sounds way better through it, not to mention the vocals.  I feel like after a song or two I got used to singing through the PA system, and had some control over it and could just relax and sing along.

People really had a great response to it, and it was the best practice I have had at a solo gig in a very long time, especially for being a casual.  I am going to sing a lot at all these upcoming gigs!

Sincerely,

Mack

Ballard Jazz Walk

Playing the Ballard Jazz Walk the other night was an absolute blast.  I was playing with the Jacob Stickney quartet, we have been playing gigs together for about a  year now, and the band includes Devin Lowe, Adam Kessler, Jacob Stickney and myself.   The music is mostly Jacob's original material, which is fun to play.  You get really weird, strange chords for a couple bars, then other really strange chords for a couple bars, and in the end I am always amazed that it sounds so good!  It is teaching me a lot about harmony...

Other bands I saw at the Jazz Walk :

Pete Christlieb and Hadley Caliman - Awesome.  The New York fashion school is not a music venue however... how come the Tractor Tavern, or the Sunset was not on board with this..?!  I could not believe it.  Bill Anschell was on keys, and Chuck Deardorf on bass, Jon Bishop on drums.

Jason Parker Quartet - Super fun, most entertaining group of the evening.  Jason is sounding really great, and he was playing with Cynthia Mullis, who played on his cd.  The Teaching was backing him up (Evan Flory-Barnes, Jeremy Jones, Josh Rawlings) and they sounded good.  Those guys have gotten super tight together over the years.
Jason was playing tracks off of his new cd, my favorite being "Mance's Dance" a Tatum Greenblat tune, and then "Love for Sale" a Jason Parker original arrangement that totally kicked ass.  It was nice to see these guys because they had some stuff worked out, a lot of the groups were just calling tunes... which is a jazz tradition, but it tends to bore me sometimes now.

McTuff - Energy seemed great, but the balance was horrible.  Joe Doria was playing organ, and I could not hear it.  REPEAT, I COUULD NOT HEAR THE ORGAN.... wow, that never happens!

Anyways, there were tons of other bands also and it really was fun walking around checking out all the bands.  It reminded me of what it must have been like being on Jackson street in the mid 1900's with all the jazz clubs.

"R"Oktoberfest!

Played Oktoberfest this weekend, had a blast! Really fun, people were really drunk and there were a few girls that were so wasted and out of hand we had security come over and tell them to shut their traps or leave! Hahaha, being harrased by a bunch of super drunk 26yr olds. (Play something good! Play something we can dance too!) What, Rod Stewart DO YOU THINK IM SEXY did not cover those two requirements? Hah! I just regret that with 70 breweries having attended, when we got done playing they started shutting everything down.

I have been feeling really great about my playing lately, I have been able to practice and play a bunch of gigs so I feel that I am getting back into a good groove. Also, checked out some tracks me, Brad Gibson and Devin Lowe did in the studio and they sound great.

I have been working out of and really studying the Charlie Parker Omnibook (book full of Charlie Parker tunes and solo's) I have made it through the first few songs in the book, really learning them. They were mostly tunes that I already knew, so I was mostly spending time ripping licks and learning the solo's. Now I am on to Dewey Square - I love this tune, I am working on figuring out the whole tune in drop 2 voicings [for the piano nerds out there!]


Now, to continue down the ever long list of things that need to get done!

I am listening to some tracks of the secret DMQ band for Halloween --- this is gonna be great, really really epic.

Cheers,

Mack

a typical week of gigs - busy lately.

Last weeks gigs - yes I make a living playing music, but it is a lot of hard work.

Sunday/Monday - Orcas Island, Private party, over night.

Tuesday - Teach in Port Orchard

Wednesday - Tulalip Casino with DMQ

Thursday - Nothing! Went to my best friend Derek's police academy graduation. I can not believe he is a real cop now. Since we were little kids I knew along with everyone else he was gonna be a cop so it was like a important life moment to watch him graduate from the police academy.

Friday - Mukilteo Lighthouse Festival w/ May Palmer, Queen of Ivory Soul! Awesome gig, fun band, nasty RnB!

Saturday - DMQ played a private gig in Winthrop Washington. Woke up to hot air balloons, wanted to go on one sooo bad!

Sunday - Had to get up early to get back to the west side of the state to play a solo piano private party.

Monday - Teach at FMS.

Each gig averages four hours long, with another two to eight hours in prep/travel time! I am tired, and super excited to go to Hawaii in a little over a month!

Cheers,

Mack

Summer is busy time for us "Catz"

Have been playing a lot of gigs lately, corporate events, private gigs, and a few awesome club dates and stuff too.

Notable gigs :

Oysterville Jazz and Oysters festival - Rocked the house with May Palmer (R&B singer)  Totally fun, never ate so many oysters in my life!  Oysterville is a mysterious place, it is about 35 min. north of Long Beach Washington!  It was a great time, beautiful place!

Orange - Played Brewfest in Portland with the band Orange, lead by Ted Wallis.  Fun gig, crazy time.  Lots of bro's at this gig, we played at the Rockbottom in downtown Portland!

DMQ @ Highdive - Pretty good, unfortunately our draw was not what we were hoping for, but for the people that were there it was a good time!  Our next show is at the Tractor Tavern (Dudley Manlove Quartet's After School Special)  Come party and bring supplies to donate to local elementary schools!

Played a bunch more but those are the ones that I thought were really worth mentioning right now!  

Went and saw Ahmad Jhamal also at Jazz Alley!  Good show all around, however Ahmad's playing is somewhat of a mystery to me.  I have not spent much time listening to him, but I think I need to now!  I want to see if the way he was playing when I saw him is how he always plays!

Upcoming awesome things :

Dave Peck Trio @ Tulas August 28th and 29th - My mentor is returning to Tula's after a break from playing live!  This is going to kick ass.

Trio CD - A trio cd is in the works with fellow musicians Brad Gibson and Devin Lowe on Drums and Bass respectively!  Should be a fun time, we have  a very unique way of playing together!

Mack Grout Band - Quartet show in Lynnwood, Nov. 7th!  Benefit for the Lynnwood food bank.  This is a full on concert, be there or be square!  Trio featuring Clark Gibson on Saxophones.

This post might not be that interesting sorry!  Will update more from now on!  

Me and Ian Borak (Drums) have been working on a soundtrack for a commercial, should be on television in the next couple of months!  Will have to let you guys know!

Cheers,

Mack

P.S.  Also keep your ears out - yours truly has an interview/lesson excerpt on NPR!  I will keep you all updated.