Today the Oakland Jazz Quartet and I had a great gig at the First Presbyterian Church of Birmingham as part of their “Jazz Without Borders” series.  It was the first time that we played a concert in which every member contributed a tune or two of their own.

We played Mark Stone’s “Lullaby for Ellery,” written for his new daughter, and his soon-to-be-a-standard “Gumption Time.”  Sean Dobbins contributed a tune he wrote for his mother called “Sweet’s Revenge” and a tune in homage of his first drumset, descriptively named “Blue Horizons.”  He also brought in a great Wayne Shorter tune (which I may adopt in the future on a regular basis) called “The Chess Players.”

Scott Gwinnell, the consummate pianist/arranger brought in two tunes.  The first was dedicated to Charles Mingus called “Theme for the Underdog” and one of the movements of his Cass Corridor Suite entitled “Legacy.”  I contributed “Midwest Arrival” and “Flash Blues.”  In addition, we played a Kenny Wheeler tune called “Heyoke” from his 1976 record Gnu High.

I can’t speak for the other guys, but I had a great time.  Despite being a little under-rehearsed, we more than made up for it energy.  This gig will definitely be on my list of “Favorite Gigs of 2012.”  (See new blog page)

Thanks to Winn for bringing us in.