Had a really fun show on May 24th at UC Santa Cruz’s Cowell Fireside Lounge with an old friend – addi somekh, Professor of Philosophy and inventor of the Balloon Bass. He and his friend Amir Oosman (a really fantastic percussionist in the area) kicked off the night with their duo set, a few songs of which I stepped in on. Then I joined them for something I’d never done before – rolling a silent film and making up the background music and SFX on the spot. None of us had ever seen the film before; I think addi had found it that morning via a quick Google search. Check it out:

 

After that, I brought up a group brought together specially for that gig – the bright and ephemeral 6pc. McChicken Sextet:

Evan O’Brien – Saxophone

Will Henley-Dias – Guitar/Piano

Henry Wilson – Vibes

Kumi Maxson – Bass

Michael Morales – Drums

And of course, me on trumpet.

These are all musicians involved in the UC Santa Cruz music department; several of them play in the jazz ensembles and have been friends of mine for years. We chose an instrumental set encompassing both jazz and hip hop, as well as a couple of originals.