What a Blast! Playing Sax with Francesca at the Grand Rapids Festival

What fun it was to play with Francesca Amari this afternoon at the 2009 Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts! And how nice to finally NOT get rained and hailed out. High clouds moved in, thickened and threatened and lenta somewhat somber feeling, but never produced so much as a solitary raindrop.

We played at the main stage by the massive, bright orange Alexander Calder stabile, “La Grande Vitesse,” which is the massive and graceful icon of Grand Rapids. Our 45-minute set included tunes from Francesca’s DVD Better Days, plus jazz standards such as “Fly Me to the Moon” and my own feature tune, “My Funny Valentine.” Our bass player, Dave DeVos, had another gig at the festival and was much missed. But Wright McCargar did a stellar job filling in the bottom end, a job no keyboard player relishes because of the limitations it imposes, but which serves when there’s no bassist.

I was pleased to see my mother and sister, Diane,  out there in the audience. It’s such a blessing to have their support.

So…now the festival is behind me, and I’m preparing myself to head for Nebraska in pursuit of storms. Looks like fellow Michigan storm chaser Mike Kovalchick will be joining me. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us. Sometime tomorrow, we’ll hook up Bill, Tom, Kurt, and a friend of Bill’s. The last time I chased was May 13. I am ready and raring, and I hope the weather roars. The SPC shows a 30 percent area in tomorrow’s outlook, mostly in Iowa.  The 18Z NAM suggests a more western play, but maybe that’ll change.

Right now, storms look like they may have initiated northwest of Des Moines, but what I’m seeing doesn’t look like much–yet. I’m about ready to reboot GR3 and take another look. The guys drove all night to make the play today. I hope they score big. But I have an idea that tomorrow is going to be the main act. And then there’s Monday. I’ll be really curious to see whether the Great Lakes gets the kind of weather the NAM has been suggesting.

Chasing Storms after the Concert

Bill, Kurt, and Tom are leaving tonight to chase Saturday’s setup out west. I’m staying behind to play with Francesca and Friends at the 2009 Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts. Ordinarily I’d feel a bit torn, but I have an idea that the better action will be on Sunday and–from the looks of the 12Z NAM-WRF–Monday. So when I step onto the stage tomorrow afternoon, unless between now and then a confluence between the NAM and GFS suggests that capping will suddenly no longer be an issue and Armageddon is going to break out in the Great Plains, I will be a man at peace.

But directly after the concert, I plan to pack my bags and head for the Corn Belt, where I’ll hook up with the guys and chase storms on Sunday and, if the present NAM-WRF comes at all close to verifying, Monday.

Frankly, I’m somewhat skeptical about Monday. Previous runs have consistently painted such a different scenario, with majorly veered surface winds and a unidirectional flow overall, that the 12Z’s placement of the weak surface low in eastern Iowa seems too good to be true.  Here’s an image from F5 Data showing sigtors, APRWX sigtor, surface wind barbs, and H5 wind speeds:

12Z NAM-WRF for 0Z Monday

12Z NAM-WRF for 0Z Monday (F5 Data)

Suddenly all the elements in terms of moisture, instability, and shear are lining up, along with a 7 sigtor in Iowa and even a 4 in southwest Michigan (in the usual lakeshore location, Berrien County). Makes me more than a little suspicious. But I think I can at least count on Sunday, and we’ll see whether future model runs continue to paint a rosier trend for Monday in Iowa and the Great Lakes.

So it’s play my saxophone on Saturday, then chase storms on Sunday and maybe Monday.  That’s about as nice an arrangement as I could possibly ask for–other than for this year to finally be the one where our act at the Festival doesn’t get interrupted by a hailstorm. That has happened three years in row. But I’ve got a good feeling that tomorrow is the day when we’ll finally make it through intact. That’ll be good. I’d just as soon save the hail for the day after.

Francesca and Friends at Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts

Next weekend the annual Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts will draw several hundred thousand people from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon. The festival, now over thirty years old, is one of West Michigan’s most popular springtime events–an amalgam of literature, art, dance, music, and ethnic food, with the operative word being variety.

On Saturday, June 6, I will be playing sax with Francesca and Friends on the Calder Stage from 3:15 to 4:00 p.m. If you follow this blog, then you’re familiar with Francesca Amari. She’s a stellar performer who covers the spectrum from jazz standards to pop to show tunes, and a lovely friend. It’s always a pleasure and privilege to share the stage with her as a side man, and it will be very cool to have the band featured on the festival’s main stage.

Obviously, I want to be in prime playing shape. I hope to spend some serious time this week practicing my horn after having been away from it for several weeks. A truly nasty bronchitis put me out of commission, and I’m still suffering from an irritating dry cough that feels as if a little gremlin were sitting inside me, tickling my lungs with a feather. The doc finally prescribed an inhaler for me Thursday to help me get past this thing, and I’ve spent some time getting reacquainted with my saxophone. Feels so good!

While time away from the woodshed unquestionably has a deleterious effect on one’s technique, I’ve found that it often frees up creativity. I don’t know why this is–I just know that it’s not a bad thing to take a break from my horn every now and then. I lose something, but I also gain something. And I’m not the only musician who has experienced this phenomenon.

Anyway, I’m back to my patterns, scales, licks, and interval studies. It’s nice to hit them afresh. What’s already there comes back quickly, and it has the advantage of feeling new.

But about the festival. Come on out and get an earful of Francesca and Friends, not to mention the many other sights, sounds, and savory tastes of Festival 2009. It’s a great way to spend a June afternoon in West Michigan.