Jan 20, 2008 - Reflecting on 2007
From November 3rd to December 16th I played Cry-Baby at the La Jolla Playhouse 48 times. It was a great run. The show was well-received and I really enjoyed sharing the pit with a handful of gifted musicians from both San Diego and New York City. The picture to the right features both me and New York guitarist, John Benthal, plucking away in the darkness of the pit.
This past year I also got the opportunity to play two other shows in two other well-known San Diego venues. At the very beginning of 2007 (Jan 16 - Feb 18) I played Ace at the Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. Although I had done a few other shows at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center in La Jolla that were very well done, Ace was really my first time playing a show that was executed from every angle in a professional manner. From June 26th to August 5th I played Avenue Q at Spreckels Theatre in downtown San Diego. Avenue Q was a hilarious show with a number of very memorable songs, including "It Sucks to be Me," "The Internet is for Porn," and "You Can Be as Loud as the Hell You Want (When You're Makin' Love)." Avenue Q was a hit in San Diego and is continuing to tour the United States into 2008.
Although I'll often think of 2007 as "the year I started playing shows," I still spent a lot of time NOT playing "shows": I performed with the Dave Scott Quintet at Croce's Jazz Bar in downtown San Diego practically every Monday night; I performed with Yavaz at Croce's Jazz Bar every Friday night (except when I was playing a show); and, in addition to performing and recording with the Danny Green Trio, I attended California Brazil Camp WITH the Danny Green Trio for a week of Brazilian jazz clinics beneath the redwood trees in Cazadero California.
One of my favorite, and most memorable, 2007 events was the concert that I organized for April 18th at Grossmont College. The first half featured my debut as a classical bass soloist. I performed three staples of the solo bass repertoire accompanied by pianist Karen Follingstad. The video for the second half of the concert, featuring guitarist Peter Sprague, drummer Dylan Savage and vocalist Melonie Sacalamitao, can now be found on YouTube.com. Below is the video of the performance of my composition Without You.
john benthal : guitar, justin grinnell : bass
la jolla playhouse, 12/2007