G reetings Parrot Heads!
I have to admit I’m not a full on Jimmy Buffett fan but in case you didn’t know it, this is hurricane season down where Jimmy and the parrot heads hang out. Hurricanes bring all sorts of hardship but believe it or not they also bring potential good surf. These late season storms can liven up what has been an incredibly small summer of surf in SoCal.
Margaritaville marches on…
Whilst on the subject of hurricanes we’ve got a musical project brewing called Hurricane Country and it’s happening live this Sunday and Live(ish) on the following Sunday.
For this music outing we’re focusing on some of the beautiful music composed and played by Dave Grusin and Earl Klugh. Both of these musician’s records were on heavy rotation at our house in Del Mar and each added a unique influence to modern jazz.
Dave Grusin not only plays jazz piano but also a huge part of his career has been dedicated to composing music for film and TV. His score for the movie “Havana” is one of my favorites —lush orchestral moves, gorgeous chord changes, and stellar melodies is his stock and trade. One of my favorite songs from that album is called “Hurricane Country.”
Earl Klugh was one of the first featured guitarists to break in on the scene playing nylon string guitar instead of electric guitar. There was Charlie Bird before him but actually no one else in the jazz arena. It was a unique sound and it inspired me to put down the pick and get those fingers acclimated to the nylon strings. Earl has composed some wonderful songs too.
I’ve selected some of my favorite tunes and then did a little rearranging to get them to work with our group. We like the compositions and we also like to improvise — the blendo of SpragueLand!
The band includes some of the best with:
Peter Sprague — guitar
Tripp Sprague — sax and flute
Danny Green — piano
Justin Grinnell — bass
Duncan Moore —drums
We’ll be playing this music first at Tio Leo’s on 9/22/24 and then we’ll present a livestream version blasting out of YouTube on 9/29/24.
Look below for details…
Some new vid footage has busted loose from the hard drives and it’s emerging from YouTube as we speak.
It’s a live performance from Dizzy’s when it was located in P.B. at the old water ski rental building. We were playing Cream music and the tune was “Deserted Cities of the Heart” from Cream’s Wheels of Fire double album. It’s a hard hitting tune with some burn factor built in. I’m standing up with the double neck guitar, oblivious to the fact that it weighs a ton, an obvious young person advantage. Rebecca’s on fire and at the end of the tune we see our beloved Ed, fan of the century, exit out the front of the audience.
Good times!
The band is:
Peter Sprague — guitar
Rebecca Jade — vocals
Tripp Sprague — sax
Danny Green — piano
Justin Grinnell — bass
Duncan Moore — drums
This song is on our album “Sunshine Of Your Love — Peter Sprague Plays Cream” now available on all streaming platforms and on my webstore.
There it is folks and keeping an eye out for the hurricane swell of 2024, best, Peter