I don’t normally blog about personal things but I’m just so excited about this one that I had to. I am pretty passionate about the music I like and I like a lot of jazz- fusion/rock stuff. In the 1980’s I was into Bill Bruford’s Earthworks jazz group (some of you might know Bruford from 1970s Yes and King Crimson). At this time, Earthworks had a keyboardist/horn player named Django Bates with him. I really liked Django’s style and over the past 20 years or so, he has put out a number of jazz CDs. I have purchased all of them and I love them all. In June 2008, Django put out his most-recent album, Spring Is Here (Shall We Dance?), and I just love it! It has 19 musicians on it all playing very complex music with a bit of that dry British humor that I love so much.

I checked Django’s web site (http://DjangoBates.co.uk) and discovered that he and his band are playing some dates in England; they would never fly to the United States because the expenses of flying 19 musicians over would be too cost prohibitive and Django’s music doesn’t appeal to the mass public so it’s unlikely that he would recover the costs. So, I decided that I would fly out to London to see the show. But then, I had an idea…

I contacted Django (via MySpace) and his manager and told them what I was planning to do and explained to them that instead of flying out there, I’d give them the money to video tape the concert and send me a video; then they could sell the video to other fans if they wanted to. It seemed like a win-win situation to me as now I could stay home and not miss days of work and I’d also have a video of the show which I could watch repeatedly.

Well, one thing led to another during the e-mail exchanges and Django’s manager invited me to go on tour with the band! So now, I’m flying to England and I’m attending all 3 shows on October 15, 16, and 17. I’m helping the band set up for each show and I’m riding with them on their tour bus as we go from London to Manchester to Birmingham! This is a great opportunity for me and, as I’ve said, I’m so excited that I just wanted to share it.

If anyone reading this also happens to be going to any of these concerts (see Django’s web site for dates/locations), drop me a line and we can meet up at the show.

Or, if you get a chance, check out some of Django’s music – I love it!