I'm excited about a new project that I've been asked to perform in. This project consists of African music and the group will be a quartet with a guitarist (bandleader), bassist, drummer, and of course myself on saxophones.
The music, though simple in concept, has proven to be rather challenging for me because it is so different than what I'm used to playing, or even how I'm used to conceptualizing music. That having been said, I like that it is challenging me because that is how we get better at doing things. There isn't a way to rise to a challenge if we haven't had one placed before us!
Right now we are in rehearsals, but the band leader plans on having us do several "small" performances as a tune-up for a big concert performance at the Boulton Center for the Performing Arts in Bay Shore, New York. That will be followed up by a master class and performance at Amherst College in Massachusetts sometime in February of 2010.
The chemistry within the group is very good...no egos, which is always a good thing! I really think that this will prove to be both an interesting and rewarding experience. And, at the very least, it should help me be able to better perform with my cousin Emile Latimer (percussionist), who's playing style is that of West Africa.
Just one question remains in my mind though. What is the bandleader going to call the band?
