NJO w/Wayne Bergeron

Thursday night I have the pleasure of performing with the Nebraska Jazz Orchestra and our special guest top Los Angeles trumpet player Wayne Bergeron.  Name a movie or t.v. show from the last twenty years, and chances are Wayne has played on the soundtrack.  A partial list of film credits include Superman Returns, Mission Impossible 3, The Guardian, Ice Age 2, (the Meltdown), X-Men 3,The Incredibles, Spiderman 2, Fantastic Four, Pink Panther, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Team America, National Treasure, The Life Aquatic, Friday Night Lights, Anchorman, White Chicks, The Notebook, The Day After Tomorrow, 3 Musketeers, Starsky and Hutch, Pirates of the Caribbean, Paycheck, Hollywood Homicide, Legally Blonde 2, Drumline, Catch Me if You Can, South Park, Flubber and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

The concert is at 7:30 p.m. at the Cornhusker - here is a short video of Wayne playing some sizzling trumpet:

Mud and Cornbread

I was really looking forward to the ride to the corn maze on Sunday - I haven't gotten out on the bike nearly enough this month.  Stupid mud.  Thanks to Nicol, Loupy, and Da Term for helping to reduce the gumbo surplus at my house Sunday night, and thanks to Da Term for bringing the killer jalapeno cornbread - good stuff (and lethal, too).

Plans for Sunday

To review:

What:  Ride out to Corn Maze

When:  Sunday, Oct 25 at 1 p.m.

Where:  Meet at the Bison at Pioneers Park, then ride out to Benson Farms.

Cost:  $10

Post-ride food and drink at my house - I plan on making way too much gumbo for just the three of you who have told me you are planning on coming over so far - so even if you're short of time, come by for a quick bowl of good stuff if you can.  E-mail me if you need to get my address.

If it looks like we'll get rained out (or if the maze is closed due to mud), feel free to come by for food, drink, and fun anyway. 

This might be fun...

Anybody interested?

From Bike Pedalers:

On October 22nd, Bike Pedalers invites you to join us as we experience a One Night Event in movie theaters nationwide featuring the debut of “Race Across the Sky” – a documentary covering the 2009 Leadville Trail 100 bike race. Known as one of the most intense endurance races of all time, this film features Lance Armstrong, Chris Carmichael, Dave Wiens, and other elite and amateur cyclists who overcame extreme challenges to participate in this grueling race.

EVENT DETAILS
Race Across the Sky – Leadville Trail 100, featuring Lance Armstrong, Dave Wiens and Chris Carmichael.
October 22nd at 7:00pm CT at Southpointe Theater. Call the Southpointe movie theater box office to purchase your tickets, 441 0222.
Followed by complimentary drinks and socializing with your fellow cyclists at Bike Pedalers (16th and Pine Lake).
Thanks again, we look forward to seeing you.

EVENT OVERVIEW
At 10,000+ feet, against the misty backdrop of a former mining town, Leadville, Colorado, 1282 cyclists line the starting line. For many, it will be the most difficult race of their lives. For some, a bragging right to say they raced alongside the best in the world. Some imagine victory. Most hope only to finish. But everyone will count


The race that started 25 years ago as a running race to drive tourism in Leadville has now grown to a lottery cap of 1000+ competitors, many of them the world’s most elite cyclists. But the Leadville Trail 100 "Race Across the Sky" Mountain Bike Race is not just a race of man against man: it’s man vs. man, man vs. self, man vs. elements, man vs. time. A clock set for 12 grueling hours slugs through 100 miles, over 14,000 vertical feet of climbing, some two miles above sea level, through extreme climate changes ranging from heat to hail, from rain to snow. To the racers, the risks of injury, fatigue and mechanical failure pale next to the chance that they will fall behind the 12 hour cut off mark and be eliminated.

Rivalries include six-time defending champion Dave Wiens vs. international star / seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. Inspirational stories of human triumph include a Leadville woman rider who was critically injured by a car while training for last year’s race, another who suffers from multiple sclerosis, and 45+ rider who has raced all 15 years.

Whether they’re international stars of the sport or everyday folks with the will to finish a race whose difficulty is on par with the Ironman, the grit to push to their own physical and emotional limits strikes an elegant symmetry between racer and environment and a struggling former mining town whose very existence now relies on the tourism generated by this race.


To view additional still photos and watch the trailer for the movie from the 2009 Leadville Trail 100 race, visit www.raceacrossthesky.com


At 12,600 feet anything can happen...Don’t miss this intense one night event!

cornish maize- OCTOBER 25th

Riding, taking off from the Bison at Pioneers around... say 5pm'ish.

Get to Denton around 6'ish.

Cost, about ten bucks... but they accept plastic money now.

Someone hook up with LT and try to get the cookie-sag-mobile again. That was sweet!

Anybody for a ride Sunday afternoon?

Could be Jamaica trail or road, doesn't matter to me. It is supposed to be nice this weekend, and I am working on Saturday all day, and I really need to get out for a ride. If others come along, it'll be harder for me to blow it off.

Quick! post whatever comes to your mind!

Don't think! -- just post! Hurry!


M&M's mean nothing to me...

More pics from the Temps

I'm the trumpet player next to the drummer.

Fall in!

Heard any scuttle-butt about riding out to Denton this year?

Music filled week

This week was a busy one - not much time for riding the bike. Last Saturday I spent the day in Grand Island judging the Harvest of Harmony field competition. On Sunday, in perfect weather, I took the Surly out for a spin out to Princeton and back on the Jamaica trail. Fall colors were definitely starting to show around the pumpkin patch at Roca Berry Farm.

It was also fun exploring some of the dirt roads in the area before getting back on the trail.

The rest of the week was given over to music. On Monday, I played with the Monday Night Big Band down at Brewsky's, on Tuesday I went to my daughter's choral concert, and on Wednesday I spent the afternoon and evening attending clinics and a concert by Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. It was especially rewarding being able to attend the rehearsal and sound check right before the concert. This is one of the top ensembles in the world, and Wynton is one of the great trumpet players of all time. One of the trumpet players in the band is originally from Sioux City - I used to play gigs with him when he was still in high school. He was amazing even then - it was a thrill to here him play with these guys. This is a bad cell phone pic of the band at the sound check:

After dying through 3/4 of the Husker game and being amazed at the final quarter on Thursday, on Friday I went to the Southwest vs. Southeast football game to watch my daughter march, (and to watch LSE win, sorry KimC) and then headed down to the Crescent Moon in the Haymarket to listen to my son play with his jazz group.

On Saturday, I spent the day in Grand Island again, this time to rehearse and perform with the Temptations. It was a fun gig, but a long day as we started rehearsing at 2 p.m. and didn't finish the show until 10:30. The concert was in the new event center which will host events for the state fair - it's a very nice venue.

There was a nice crowd, the promoter estimated an audience of about 3,000 people. Here is a view from the stage right before we started our set.

The rhythm section that travels with the group was very strong, especially the drummer, who had the loudest sound on the snare drum that I've ever heard. Unfortunately, I was sitting right beside him, so it may be a while before I can hear out of my right ear. :)

It is thrilling to play with an act that has had so many top hits. I've played so many of their tunes with cover bands at weddings or other gigs, it was quite an experience to play with the real deal. Here is a video from their fan website - this is the same group and setup we played with on Saturday.

Some people have too much free time

See more funny videos and TBT Videos at Today's Big Thing.