Bad Asses.

Our drummer, AJ, will be leaving us shortly. He'll travel south to work in the music industry as a producer/engineer/audio guy. Does this mean the end of the Workshop??

Quitting ain't the Workshop Mentality, man. We will persevere!

The Workshop is about three things: 1. making music, 2. having fun while making music, 3. becoming a better musician. We don't need a set line-up to do those. We don't need a weekly gig either. We need people - anyone - who is serious about exploring music. The line-up will change with time, but the band will endure!

That said, we are currently looking for a new drummer - if you know anyone (or if you're interested in auditioning), shoot us an email at thejazzworkshop@hotmail.com. If you play another instrument - accordion or Dobro, for instance - and want to jam along, contact us, too. Or just show up at the gig. This is about the music, man. Period. The end. Case closed. Myth busted. Hasta la vista. Goodbye!

Still alive.

We've posted some recordings to this blog. You can listen with the player at left. Three songs are up there right now. Zack and I (Chris) are also working on some recordings.

The band has been thinking about our future. AJ is leaving us in June to travel south and work on a career in the recording industry. I'll be leaving in September to live in the forest. What will become of the Workshop??

More on that soon.

Conjuctivitis

Alas! On the Wednesday past, The Jazz Workshop did not preform its weekly duty at the Red Brick. The culprit for this foul turn of events: disease!

There are five members in our band: Chris, Zach, Simone, AJ and Jon. Two members had pink eye and two members had a cold. Chris had neither pink eye or a cold and Simone had one. Simone lives with a member who had both. Both Simone and the other member were exposed to the eye itch by another member, who is a friend of Zach. AJ and Zach both like tuna fish. Jon had one disease, and possibly two, but for our purposes we attribute only one to him. Chris has had an itchy eye but refuses to scratch it. Meanwhile, AJ dropped three drumsticks.

SOOO ... who had what??

It's a mystery, my friends. Nobody knows. Suffice it to say that next Wednesday The Jazz Workshop will be back in action.

P.S. I thought I'd include a picture of conjunctivitis for your viewing pleasure, but after looking at a few myself, I found them pretty disturbing. Instead, below is a picture of another warm, fuzzy. With love...

The next gig and thoughts about rabbits.

Great news: we've got a weekly gig. That's right, from now until the end of time, we'll be playing at the Red Brick every Wednesday from 10PM-1AM. Come out and join us for an entertaining (and free) night.

Also, mark your calendars, The Jazz Workshop will play the Red Brick this Saturday, February 10 from 7 to 10 in the evening. Come pre-game with us!

In addition to all that, we're headed into the studio this week to do some recordings. You'll be able to listen to them on this site soon.

Finally, in the midst of this cold, cold weather, be sure to eat lots of food and dress in many loose fitting layers. Also, realize that the rabbit has not a thermostat to comfort him in the cold. He must find his warmth in other ways.

At the Red Brick

This past Wednesday, we played a fun show at the Redbrick. At ten o'clock, Zac took the stage and sung a few tunes while playing the guitar and piano (unfortunately not at the same time). Then, he called Chris up, and those two played together. After that, Chris did a few tunes solo. At about 11PM, TJW (how about that acronym!) began to rock. They rocked hard and long, playing until 1AM with a meager break at the half.

Also, good news: We'll be playing at the Red Brick again this coming Wednesday (January 31). The format should be pretty similar (solos to start, TJW at 11PM). This is a free concert! If ya'll enjoyed the last show, come on back, hear.

Our First Gig!

On Thursday, January 4, 2007, we played our first gig at the Blue Gator. The event was sponsored by a local, progressive organization known as Up In Arms. We played three sets consisting mostly of jazz standards ("Night in Tunisia," "Take Five," and "Autumn Leaves" among others), though we also did quite a few pop classics (Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth," Dylan's "Tambourine Man," and "Earth Angel" by the Penguins).

The show went well. We played nearly three hours of music, and I think the crowd dug us (they even danced a bit!). It was a great way to start our musical revolution! Look for us around town (we're thinking the Red Brick in a few weeks).