Performances
   I will be at Provinces for Halloween night only October 31st. There is a prize for the best costume. Come on in, it will be fun.
I am playing at Cafe de Paris from 7-9. It is going well. Bob and Sue Strickland get the prize for being the first people to come see me play. They stayed for the whole show. Thanks!I am playing ambient and mostly instrumental music. The cafe is on Main Street in downtown Edmonds on the right just before the ferry. I have been working with the wait staff of Collette, Crystal, Nicole and now Adam. Firmin is the Chef and Oscar is kitchen support. The food looks wonderful and it is a warm and intimate setting to combine fine dining and good friends. Reservations are recommended but not necessary.
    We had a good time playing at the Harvest Party at the Love Is Real farm in Arlington. It is such a beautiful setting up there. There are many kind hearted people sharing a spectacular setting. I will be getting some information on how to be a part of that space in the country and how support this eco-community. Stay tuned.

Reviews
    James Taylor's concert was great. The setting is so beautiful at the Gorge and it seemed like the band had an appreciation for it as well. The show started with a 15 minute drum duet with Steve Gadd and the Latin percussionist whose name I cannot remember. When James hit the stage we were already on our feet giving the drummers a standing ovation.
    There were all the old favorites during the concert and a refreshing number of new tunes. The Blues Brothers sax player was on the stage and playing great. Taylor added a fiddle player and a trumpet player. The lead guitarist really rocked and they tore up "Don't Lose Your Lip on Me." It really felt like James Taylor had made peace with the huge demand for all the standards, like Fire and Rain and You've got a Friend and his performances were inspired. I remember being on the stage at the Gorge and it is one of my best memories of performing. Before and after the concert I played Andie's Taylor guitar at our campsite and sang piles of JT tunes. It was a great time with Kathy and Dale and I look forward to doing it again. Thanks to Randy and Terri in Ohio. It was 84 degrees over in Eastern Washington and my Buckeyes hat saved me from the heat. Thanks to Kathy and Dale for driving us to the Gorge!
Thank You
   Thank you to Jimmy Culler for not crashing and dying while hang gliding. I guess he fell 500 feet and came through alive again, caught on God's breath just before he hit the ground. It just goes to show, we are not done till we are done. Thanks for all you do my friend.
    A special thanks goes out to Jamie Phalen also. His band Smokin' Gun plays for huge crowds and he still will come down and set up and play with me at Provinces and it surely makes me smile. It is great to laugh and both Jimmy and Jamie are great at making that happen. Jamie is talking about recording some of my tunes and I hope he follows through with that because I would be honored. He is a great singer and harmonist. Harmony is something you miss a lot when you sing alone.
I was very proud of all the musicians who made up Manolito and thank them for donating their time and sharing their talents for the Garlic Festival. They were Dale Fuentes and Roger Bennett from Bahia, and Scott Drexler, Lonnie Mueller, Jimmy Culler and Mike Daily.

Ongoing updates
I talked to Freedom last night and I am excited that he is considering doing some acoustic guitar tracks at Silent T Studio. I love his acoustic music so much. He can really rock but my favorite is still the mellow stuff. We will see what happens. I also look forward to getting Phil Darden in and collaborating on some projects since his gear is in storage and he is busy now with photography Busy, busy.
There was more chance to find peace in the moment on Wednesday night with Bill Spies. We worked on Song for Today. I felt like at the end, when we were both weary, the last take had some real joy and conviction. I am really enjoying this project. I also spent a few hours working on tracking some instrumental guitar and that was good too.

I met with Mike Daily last night to talk about the new CD project and to lay out plans to get back into the concert circuit with the core band of Jimmy, Mike and I. Our live Manolito and Murat CD really shows the potential for the Latin Jazz Rock sounds we can perform. We hope to engage the talents of Roger Bennett, Manolito Fuentes, Scott MacGougan and Gordan Uchima as well. I am very excited about this and I am busy writing and arranging material for the project.
Studio
   We have been plugging away at Sarah's project and hope to start working on some duets on some of my songs. It seems like we don't get enough hours in the day but it will happen.
   Bill Spies' CD project is moving forward and we are nearly done with the first song. Bill has very lovely melodies and spiritual lyrics and a very positive energy to the music. It is a joy helping to arrange the songs.
   Lots of studio projects are happening and I always love that. Scott Drexler missed last week hope to get back on track next week.
   David Jones, Dale Fuentes, Sarah Maria Murat, Doug Williams, Casey Garland are a few of the many people who have projects beginning or continuing this month.
I talked to Casey and he is well underway with his project working with Grant Stott and George Merrill is also involved. He is very excited at the way his tunes are turning out. Everything musical seems to be lining up for Casey and I am glad to hear that it is.
I am also consulting on sound system and recording purchases for several clients.