Happy New Year/ Updates

Happy New Year to you all!! It's now the middle of January and I'm looking forward to a wonderful and prosperous new year for all of us. I've had the pleasure of playing some great gigs as of late..
We played with the Boogie Hustlers the Saturday before Christmas to a sold out house at Club Cafe in Pittsburgh's South Side. The Boogie Hustlers on that night was a stellar line up including Gene Stovall, Margot B., Howie Alexander, Rick Matt, Tony Campbell, and Sean Reager and th BH crew. Great show to promote a great new album called True Colors.
The next day I had the pleasure of playing with Roger Humphries(dr), Mike Tomaro(sax), Jeff Grubs(bs), Eric Seusoff(gt), Jim Guerra(sax) and other great players in a Little Big Band setting. Great Charts and great Players.
New Years Eve was off the hook with No Bad Ju Ju! We played for a packed house to about 400 fun seeking West Virginians. That's the second year in a row for that gig and No Bad Ju Ju is looking ahead to another busy year of gigs in the area. check out our busy schedule at nobadjuju.com.
I'm excited to play in my hometown of Wheeling, WV on February 9th with my own Quintet at The Stifel Fine Arts Center 2 blocks away from my Dad's pad! This show will feature my original tunes and many jazz standards. I look forward to playing with the very talented Ian Gordon on trumpet on this one.
Im also excited about and challenged by the very awesome Murray Ave Jazz Initiative(MAJI) If you have'nt heard this group it's a must!! Exciting new jazz music performed by some of the best around including Sean Jones(trpt), Jacob Yoffee(Sax), James Johnson III(dr), and others.
I also continue to teach whenever possible. Last semester I was happy to teach jazz history courses at Slippery Rock University. I also will be at West Viginia Weslyan college April 3,4,5 for clinics, jazz fest, and concert performance. I will post more info about that gig in the near future.
Check back to my site for more detailed blogs about these various projects and happenings throughout the year.

Best Wishes!! RW