Elevators . . . you just never know who you might meet!

So, this morning as I was entering the elevator in the Crowne Plaza in beautiful downtown Albany, two guys had been talking as they waited for the elevator, and one got on with me. He said, "Well, that's life when you're living on a tour bus." Well, of course this begs the question, "You're living on a tour bus?" And that's how I met Yonrico Scott, the drummer for the Derek Trucks band. In our conversation of less than a minute, I found out that Derek Trucks is on tour with Santana, and they are playing in Albany tomorrow night. Too bad for me that I am home in Rochester now and will miss it. I do believe the tour buses that I saw parked outside the hotel when I left today must have been theirs.

Last night as I sat in the hotel restaurant awaiting bad pizza, I wrote about the rest of my weekend of music. On Saturday night at Woody's on Monroe Avenue, Joe Chiappone and the usual suspects played, and they were hot! Joe had hurt his back and didn't think that he'd be playing too great, but he was smokin'. There was a very appreciative crowd--college age and beyond . . . dancers and others. There was a very large number of some of the other premier musicians around town--Kevin Hart and Joe Passamonte were the first two people I saw. From that point on, there were players from Rochester Brass & Electric, Boys Lie, Me & the Boyz, Tina Albright, Dave Charneski, Steve Greene, and even Jeff Cosco. He sat in for one tune, singing Ain't No Sunshine (When She's Gone) - on which Ralph Ortiz always shines. Dave Marinelli played keyboards on a couple of tunes including my favorite of one of his own very Latin arrangements of Summertime.

Overall, it was a very lively and fun night at Woody's. I'm sure they will be anxious to have Hot Sweets back soon.

Speaking of Summertime . . . as I was driving to Albany on Tuesday afternoon, I heard Tina Albright singing her rendition of that tune with the White Hots on 90.1 - her voice is unmistakably rich and beautiful.

So, "on the road again . . . " and with time to think about things. I was on the NYS Thruway and there was, therefore, nothing as interesting to look at (as far as scenery goes) as what I see on my way to PA. Really, all I saw were dormant trees and grasses, farms with derelict equipment, cows, and the little towns and cities that dot the Thruway. Towns with manufacturing plants that look empty or sparsely staffed. There is always a church that stands out - bright cross on top or whitewashed shingles that sparkle. Well, that sounds slightly more interesting that I had thought originally. Still, kind of a snoozer of a ride.

Are we in the "Rust Belt?" It kind of looks like that - even more so than on my route to Carlisle, PA. It makes me sad. I think of what were the "glory days" of these towns - probably in the '50s or '60s. Maybe even the '70s were good to the areas as well. But now . . . well.

As I drove into the center of downtown Albany, the sun was shining on the State House. It was beautiful, actually. Albany was hopping at 6:00 p.m. on a Tuesday evening. It's not like downtown Rochester (so sad for us). I was smack dab in the middle of downtown, and there were tons of restaurants - clearly busy. There were lots of people walking around the streets - business people. In the Crowne Plaza, the Pub was pretty crowded with business people at the bar at 8:30. There was Senator Robach having dinner with a colleague. You know, I thought I saw Jim Alesi earlier. Maybe all those "suits" were political types. Boy, I wish this conference had take place a few weeks ago when the whole Spitzer brou-ha-ha was going on. Now THAT would have been fun!

yours in music (and other stuff)
Tracy