Published in the november, 1997 issue of Jazziz Magazine

Some time in the summer of 1996, as Laurence and I were driving back from gigs in Minneapolis, we decided to try to make some work for ourselves. We had heard how bands like the Pat Metheny Group had gotten started by piling into vans & going town to town playing whatever clubs would have them. I called my manager from the road.

"Why don't we just call a bunch of clubs in New York where nobody knows us, hook up with local cats and play gigs wherever they'll have us? It won't cost the label much, the press will be great ('who are these guys anyway?'), and we get to hook up with local players."

Three quarters of a year later we were on our way to playing a demanding but successful set of dates in Manhattan, Boston, D.C. and upstate New York. Looking back, I can't believe we survived the tour. So much has happened since then that I also cannot believe that the tour only happened a few years ago, in 1997.

Anyway, the press angle worked right away. I was even asked by my friend Larry Blumenfield over at Jazziz Magazine to keep a journal of the tour for excerpted publication. Below you will find the unabridged version. (Many of the individual and club names have been changed to protect reputations - after all, how often does the Jazz singer actually get to "tell it how it 'T-I-S!?")

Thanks once again to Reavis Moore, Robert Singerman and Andre at SingerManagement for setting up and managing the tour; to Tom Evered at Blue Note for sponsoring the scheme; to Bill Traut for overseeing and advising all; to Jennifer Elling for rescuing me on every level when I needed it most; and to Laurence Hobgood for agreeing to go through it with me and for being an incredible stalwart support and friend.

Enjoy the ride.

KE