News and thoughts by Pianist Dan Cray
and the Dan Cray Trio.
. . .
11.22.2005
Fall News
Dear Friends,
It's been a busy fall for the Trio! Thanks to all of you who have ventured out to hear us--
"Save Us" was released in early October, and has received great airplay on over 150 radio stations worldwide. It peaked at #39 on the Jazz Week National Chart and #15 on the College Music Journal Chart. Considering that thousands of CDs are released in September and October, I'm really happy with how well it was received. Several stations played the entire CD, and KJZZ in Los Angeles featured it for an entire day, which is extremely rare.
"No One" and "Save Us" are now available on iTunes and many other digital music sites. But then, of course, you can't read my rant! If you're looking for creative holiday gifts, I'm happy to offer generous discounts on bulk orders. . .
Our steady trio gigs continue at Pops For Champagne on Wednesdays and the Rhythm Room on Fridays through the end of the year. We were honored to perform for legendary bass player Stafford James last Friday at the Rhythm Room. (Stafford was a Jazz Messenger and also an alumnus of Woody Shaw's band. You might remember him from Dexter Gordon's famous recording "Homecoming." ) Stafford was extremely complimentary of the Trio, even going so far as to say that he'd never heard better jazz in Evanston even though he grew up here. I'm not sure how that's possible, but it was pretty heavy to hear that from him. He also shared many great stories, and even re-enacted a duet performance he did with Mingus at Bradley's many years ago. Thanks to our friend Bill Benjamin for bringing him out!
And now from the sublime to the ridiculous: my duet gig with Clark Sommers at the Rhythm Room has been moved from Sundays to Thursdays so they can screen "Desperate Housewives" on the screen behind the stage. So no, the title of the CD is not unnecessarily dark!
Thanks again for your support, and I hope to see you all soon. . .
