The best is yet to come
When you spend time on Cloud Nine, it takes a moment to trap the experience with words. But here are some: singing with the City Lights Orchestra last week in Chicago was like slipping into a silk dress, like being wrapped in cashmere, like putting on a fur coat. It was like tasting the darkest chocolate, the thickest Devon clotted cream. It was espresso, it was Bordeaux. Five similes and two metaphors (but who's counting?) and I still haven't conveyed the essence. I will look at it from another angle - ever watch an athletically-gifted horse from the rear? No joking. I am talking about balance, power, and swing.
And therefore,back to City Lights. I had the great and voluptuous pleasure of singing several songs as a special guest artist for the Alzheimer's Association's Rita Hayworth Gala (see previous post). We opened with Old Friends by Stephen Sondheim, then moved into a lovely back-to-back arrangement of two gorgeous Cole Porter ballads, Everything I Love and Everytime We Say Goodbye, and then closed with an almost unbearably swinging arrangement of The Best is Yet to Come, which carries for me the energies of two of my favorite singers, Peggy Lee and Frank Sinatra to add to my own. When the band is so powerful and swinging, I have to keep that dressage model/mantra "less is more, less is more" firmly in mind to keep from simply screaming in delight. If sticking your finger in a wall socket felt GOOD, it would feel like this. What an ecstatic charge!
I already look forward to my next opportunity to sing with this ensemble, and should add here that Rich Daniels, the director (and fine reed player), and Dean Rolando, the keyboard player, are both extraordinary musicians and dear dear longtime friends - in fact, Dean was my accompanist and musical director from about 1981 when I moved to Chicago until I hooked up with Vinnie Martucci here in the East (courtesy of Jay Ungar and Molly Mason and Ashokan) in 1997. Both Dean and Rich can be heard on my solo CDs (some of which are available at CDBaby.com, by the way). My dream is to do a whole show with the orchestra, and a recording.
So it was a great trip, my dears, except for the 4-hour flight delay going and the 2-hour delay returning. Here the irises are blooming, the sun is finally shining afer a week of rain, and every day it's a jolly good thrill to wake up in the morning. Every day the best is yet to come.