| acoustic and electric bassist : Justin Grinnell | J u s t i n G r i n n e l l . c o m |
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January 27, 2009 - Reflecting on 2008 - By Justin GrinnellI've kept pretty detailed records of every gig I've done for the last five or six years. At the end of each year I enjoy going back over my notes. I'm always amazed by the number of musicians that I'm fortunate enough to work with. I'm also often surprised by how some gigs can seem so far in the past even though they maybe only happened six months ago. In 2008, I continued to play at Croce's Jazz Bar every Monday and Friday night with Monsoon and Yavaz. In May, Monsoon released its debut CD "Global Cool" which featured compositions by Dave Scott and Bill Shreeve. Monsoon's saxophonist Bill Shreeve also released his own CD "Feel This," with many of the same tracks from "Global Cool." In August, the great trombonist, Bill Watrous, became a part of Monsoon for a couple of nights. In fact, one of my more memorable gigs of the year was at Cherokee Point Elementary School with Bill Watrous. I think my favorite part was when Bill showed all the kids that the trombone is the perfect instrument for creating sound effects (especially explosions!). Most of the work the Danny Green Trio/Quartet did in 2008 was for private events, although we did a couple of concerts at Dizzy's Jazz Club and one at South Park Bar & Grill. However, I think for the Danny Green Trio/Quartet, 2008 will prove to be the calm before the storm. Some of you may have already noticed that Danny Green officially released his debut CD, With You In Mind, on January 20, 2009. The CD features Danny's compositions as well as one piece by Danilo Perez. The official CD release performance will be at Anthology on March 11, 2009. The ARC Trio had a number of successful concerts in 2008. Probably one of the most memorable performances was at the home of Hiro Ikeza. Hiro recorded our performance which turned out really nice. I think there's a good chance that some of that recording may end up on a new ARC Trio CD. This past year, I also got the opportunity to play a few musicals at the Civic Theatre. I played in the pit for A Chorus Line, The Drowsy Chaperone, and The Color Purple. There was also a week in April that I flew out to Louisville, Kentucky to sub for the bassist playing Avenue Q. Besides musicals, I also had my first experience with the San Diego Symphony Winter Pops. Under the baton of Marvin Hamlisch, I played electric bass on the stage of Copley Symphony Hall for the Winter Pops Halloween show: Haunted Hamlisch. 
There are a few other memorable 2008 gigs worth mentioning, but I'm going to cut my story short for now. There's one really important aspect of 2008 that I've left out, until now, that trumps all other events of the year: my marriage to the very beautiful and talented Melonie Sacalamitao (now Melonie Grinnell)! I'm a lucky man!Looking forward to seeing you in 2009! |