James P., Ryan, Travis and I have been out east for about a week now. First of all, we landed in Boston and Jamie was whisked away by the Stuart Highland Pipe Band for a two day workshop. A big thanks to those guys for the hospitality and warm welcome! The rest of us explored downtown Boston for the weekend before heading off to NYC for two days.
New York was a whirlwind trip but we managed to pack a lot of stuff in. We were lucky enough to be in town to see The Roots play at the Highline Ballroom in Chelsea. Check out some of the video footage! It was an informal jam that brought in some local hip-hop dudes, Citizen Cope, Alison Smith and some other local musicians. So smooth and so tight!
Jamie and Ryan managed to get tickets to the Dave Letterman Show! Travis and I took that time to wander around Greenwich Village (which I fell in love with), SoHo, Chelsea and the Meatpacking District, off the beaten path of every other tourist there. I tend to compare every other city to Toronto since I've spent a lot of time there....and NYC is Toronto on drugs, wearing a Yankee hat.
Yesterday, today and tomorrow, Ryan and I are at the Photoshop World Conference learning all sorts of nerdy computer things. We have the honour of staying with our friend, Ivonne Hernandez. She's a fellow Victorian in her last year at the Berklee College of Music and is a wicked fiddle player. Check her out here.
Her apartment is in the midst of Berklee, Boston Conservatory, Symphony Hall and the Boston Performance Centre, where everyone is carrying some sort of instrument on the way to some sort of music class or rehearsal or practicing up in the cute little brownstone apartments that line the streets of the neighbourhood. It's such a cool environment to be in. There is always something happening - some sort of show, recital or concert and our timing was just right - we were able to catch Ivonne's CD Release Party for her Folk Arts Quartet last night. These girls (all Berklee students) combine folk and classical to create a super wicked mix with a lot of groove, innovation and passion. Her boyfriend, Ben Powell, a fabulous jazz violinist was the opener. Wow! What a treat! His debut CD, Light (Ryan did the photos!) was just released and can be found on iTunes. Visit www.ben-powell.com. Since Jamie is a big jazz fan, he was able to attend a Master Class with Ben this morning!
That's it for now. After this afternoon's session at the Photoshop Conference, we are all headed out to yet another concert - more on that tomorrow!
-JLT
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment