World Cafe Live with Simone

Sun, February 3, 2008

Hey All,

What a time we had in Philly last night! Before I get into it, I'd like to express my appreciation to Glenn Wasserman for subbing for me with my bandmates Wayde and Don, at the Pub On Main in Macungie. Thanks Glenn.

Now back to last night. Simone sold out the main room at WXPN's World Cafe Live. What a great way to go into a new venue for the first time. I must say, the people that manage and work at WCL are all very friendly and helpful, and that means so much to us. I always hope that will be the case when going into a new room and quite often, it is not. And we had a lot of room onstage as it is quite large. Ever since this room opened I'd heard it was Philly's finest and now I know it's true. Visually and acoustically it would be hard to beat. As soon as I get some pics I will post them so you can see what I'm talking about. Also, there will be some video as channel 6 was there shooting. They will be doing a feature story on Simone for Black History Month and post video on their site.

The audience was fantastic--even better than NYC, and I thought they were a great audience too. There's just something about a Philadelphia audience. Years ago I was playing there often. In 1975-75, before I joined the navy, I was either in Philly, NYC or North Jersey most of the time. We also travelled quite a bit up and down the East Coast. I was with a Black R&B, pre-disco  band called City Limits that was based in Philly. We were part of TSOP run by the mega-successful team of Gamble, Huff & Bell. What an experience that was. I just recently got hold of a copy of our first record, "Love Is Everywhere," and after I get a chance to convert it to a digital file I'm going to put it on the site. Anyway, working with Simone and the band is kind of like I've come full circle. Here we are doing a mix of R&B, Jazz, Funk, Gospel and Blues--which is pretty much what I was doing in the '70s with City Limits.

Simone is an awesome performer/entertainer. The album we did last year, "Simone on Simone," will be released in April by Koch Entertainment. Just watch my shedule page to see when and where we have a show near you. I promise, you won't be disappointed. It is truly an honor, mixed with great fun, to be part of this experience. The band features members of the Rob Stoneback Big Band including some old friends and some new ones, all great players. We get to cook on some instrumentals while warming up the audience.  So we are 7 pieces plus Simone for the small band, and then about 20 pieces for the larger band, with a full horn section. What a sound that is.

Gotta run--enjoy a nice Sunday. Guess today is Super Bowl Sunday?  Sorry, I don't follow it. May the best team win!

— Craig

 



 
?>