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| THURSDAY
October 1, 1998
The Road To Arizona Again We left around 9am for Arizona, a rented cargo van for all of our instruments and gear, and the 15 passenger BTO van for us guys. The road to Scottsdale is roughly 6 1/2 hours. I took in the landscape along the way: the desert dunes just before Yuma, Arizona were a perfect example of complete desolation. I just was transfixed on the ripples in the sand, and the fact that in some places the dunes were actually higher than the road, giving the impression of being slowly buried in sand. There's something about the desert that enchants me, but at the same time I am filled with a sense of loneliness and isolation. But I also feel sanctity and solitude in the desert. We had lunch in Yuma, Arizona, the halfway point of this journey. The hard part about doing something like lunch with ten guys is that it's hard to agree on something. Everyone's got their opinion as to the best place to eat. Here in Yuma, particularly at this part of town, we didn't have much choice. The only thing available to us was a nearby Denny's. I had a club sandwich with a salad, and some soup. I thought this was a fairly healthy meal. I've been very conscious about my diet lately and have been simply concentrating on eating a balanced diet. On our journey again... I listened to a lot of CDs with my Sony Discman. This little bit of technology proved to be a godsend on journeys like this one. Not much to do on the road. I bought a CD album that can hold up to 48 CDs, so I had a lot to choose from. Having my own music on these long trips helps me keep my sanity. Some of the other guys in the band also have CD players, and so we also borrow each others CDs as well. We arrived in Scottsdale around 3:30pm. We hung around the main office while we checked in. The Fifth Avenues Suites was the place we were staying this time. Five rooms, two bandmembers to a room. Nate and I shared a room. The Bash On Ash This was the second time we've played the Bash on Ash. It was the same deal: Loaded into the venue at 6pm, finished soundcheck by 7pm, had dinner there, compliments of the promoter, and then hung out until we started at 9pm. Great crowd!! Being close to Arizona State, I guess we got all the college kids that are totally into the swing movement (or revival). What I really liked about this crowd is the feeling that this is all new to them. And that's what I feed off of and so when I perform I bring that enthusiasn back to the audience. It makes my job so much easier when the crowd is so much into the swing music and its attitude. Steve, our promoter for this Arizona tour, and the same guy who promoted us on the last Arizona stint, is a really friendly person. I young guy who's also full of enthusiasm for this new swing revival. I remembered going to his home on the last AZ tour and was treated to a nice social party with dinner and drinks. Like a lot of the young swing aficionados, Steve does a lot of work on the Internet, and I was impressed with his computer setup with the 21 inch monitor and cable access, which seemed a hundred times faster than regular cable access. Anyway, Steve was there at the Bash on Ash and danced up a storm. We got back to our hotel rooms exhausted. But I couldn't sleep as usual, and so Nate and I went across the street to this 24 hour store and picked up a few things. I had a beer which I seldom do, and we watched some movie on the TV, which I forgot what it was about. I finally was able to get to sleep after a long day, the first day of the this three day tour to Arizona. I was looking forward to going to Tucson again, but it wasn't scheduled for this tour. There's something about Tuscon that I admire. A quaint, college community, a small city that seemed charming to me. I don't know why I like Tuscon so much. But it's crazy that I have thoughts of moving there. CDs Played Today:
Keith Jarrett - La Scala Keith Jarrett - The Paris Concert Chucho Valdes - Bele Bele en La Habana Pat Metheny Group - Offramp Arturo Sandoval - I Remember Clifford
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