by Charlie Barnett | Feb 15, 2010 | Charlie's Blog
Yeah yeah yeah. This time 2 1/2 months go by…
Happy New Year everyone!
I live in Washington DC and we are now under 3 feet of snow with more on the way. I thought that when everyone was talking about “climate change” they were talking about things getting WARMER! I would be pretty much be ok with that. But colder? I suffer in the cold. There is a very good reason I live in the South. ( albeit the northernmost part) This has been hard on us here. The county is out of money to plow the snow and I am out of hot chocolate.
Work has been interesting. There is a concert coming up that is taking an enormous amount of my attention. On Mar. 21st Chaise Lounge will be playing a concert with the Capital City Symphony. The first part of the concert is the world premier of an orchestral suite of mine called “The Tarot.” The second half will be Chaise Lounge doing 12 songs with the full orchestra behind us. This is a HUGE production. Maybe if we get to do this a number of times it will get easier. But just writing the arrangements was a big task. And now trying to figure out how we will all fit on the stage is an issue. It is at the Atlas Performing Arts Center BTW. (13th and H NE Washington DC). For all the Chaise Lounge fans out there – this is a very cool concert to come to.
In other concert news: the Bedford concert with the Washington Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and Ulysses James was a big success. The actors were great. and the orchestra played really well. At the first show ( the world premier) the pianist did not show up for unknown reasons and I was conscripted into the orchestra for that performance. You would think that would have been easy for me. After all I wrote it…. You would be wrong, Sir! I was terrified. I am much more comfortable on the podium than in the orchestra.
Christmas came and went with the minimum of emotional ruination.
Chaise Lounge just played at the Kennedy Center! What a nice show! You can see it by going to the Chaise Lounge site and clicking on something there… it is easy.
In other Chaise Lounge news: we have a date at Iridium in NYC — July 6th. I hope you all come.
by Charlie Barnett | Dec 1, 2009 | Charlie's Blog
A Sunday to recover from a very full week of music. Music is, all in all, a very satisfying way to make a living. But still it wears me out. Had a full week of writing for Susan Koch’s film. The Other City. I am thru the first pass. Now to send the master editor Jeff Werner, my ruffs. We’ll see how he likes what I have done…
On Wednesday, Tommy B., Pete O. and MO and I laid down rhythm tracks for the new Chaise Lounge CD. It was sooooo much fun. Some days it just flows. We got five – count ’em 5!!!! finished in a little over three hours. The engineer is, of course, Ken Schubert. Even he was enthusiastic about this. And Ken is the most placid guy I know. I think his resting pulse is about 30 bpm. Marilyn sang scratch vocals just to make it easy to play. She was sick and generally exhausted and still if I were to press the CD using those vocals I think people would love them. That girl just cannot sing out of tune or with any apparent stress in her voice. Just being around her lowers my blood pressure.
Met with Sonny Izon to look at his new film, Chocolate Soldiers. It is the story of all the African American troops that served in WW2. A million. That surprised me. Of all the pictures of “the greatest generation” you never see any – really any – African American troops. Yet there were a million. The story of the segregation that the Army brought to Europe is heartbreaking. This could be a really good film .
I got a flu shot.
The Redskins play Philly tomorrow night on national TV – Monday night football. I am predicting a horrific outcome.
by Charlie Barnett | Nov 23, 2009 | Reviews
Charlie,
We had so many favorable comments about Chaise Lounge’s performance (at the Charleston Jazz Series on November 21, 2009). What a fun group of musicians! Until the next time…
– Claudette Hudson, President
Tgraphics, LLC (Charleston Jazz Series)
by Charlie Barnett | Oct 25, 2009 | Charlie's Blog
A Sunday to recover from a very full week of music. Music is, all in all, a very satisfying way to make a living. But still it wears me out. Had a full week of writing for Susan Koch’s film. The Other City. I am thru the first pass. Now to send the master editor Jeff Werner, my ruffs. We’ll see how he likes what I have done…
On Wednesday, Tommy B., Pete O. and MO and I laid down rhythm tracks for the new Chaise Lounge CD. It was sooooo much fun. Some days it just flows. We got five – count ’em 5!!!! finished in a little over three hours. The engineer is, of course, Ken Schubert. Even he was enthusiastic about this. And Ken is the most placid guy I know. I think his resting pulse is about 30 bpm. Marilyn sang scratch vocals just to make it easy to play. She was sick and generally exhausted and still if I were to press the CD using those vocals I think people would love them. That girl just cannot sing out of tune or with any apparent stress in her voice. Just being around her lowers my blood pressure.
Met with Sonny Izon to look at his new film, Chocolate Soldiers. It is the story of all the African American troops that served in WW2. A million. That surprised me. Of all the pictures of “the greatest generation” you never see any – really any – African American troops. Yet there were a million. The story of the segregation that the Army brought to Europe is heartbreaking. This could be a really good film .
I got a flu shot.
The Redskins play Philly tomorrow night on national TV – Monday night football. I am predicting a horrific outcome.
by Charlie Barnett | Oct 19, 2009 | Charlie's Blog
Over the weekend I went to Atomic Music. What a slice of rock and roll life here in Washington DC. It is a steady stream of people walking in with amplifiers and guitars that smell like someone’s basement. In a good way. It’s that basement smell of bands getting their songs together. I love that aroma. There is a particular smell of an amp that hasn’t been turned on in a while. I guess it is the dust burning off the tubes. I love that smell. Also the smell of a guitar case that locked in the air from the last gig it was on. If it is an older guitar and hasn’t been played in a while – it will smell like cigarette smoke. Luis runs this place with the flair of a casino croupier, or a livestock auctioneer. It is amazing how quickly he knows how much an amp, a guitar, or a drum kit, is worth and how much he will be able to re-sell it for. I let a Fender Amp, an old Korg Keyboard and a PA amp go. In return (well.. I had to spend actual cash) I got a new (to me..) Takamine amplified acoustic guitar that is the color of a fake plastic banana. I can see why it didn’t sell. It was just waiting for a guy like me to come along. I love this color. It will look so good with a blue suit.
On a more hi-toned note. The Washington Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra had their second performance of “The Far Tortoogas” at Bishop Ireton High School. A much better sounding space. I’m telling you, this orchestra is a jewel! It is a shame that concerts like this don’t get reviewed.
Redskins are now officially a joke.
