here’s an mp3 from CPZ @ Tea Lounge 12/13/06 Brooklyn, NYC.
3rd tune of the first set, the borrowed Manu Katche Jr. Hipgig drums sound great (thanks Karla!), and we even veer off into a League of Gentlemen-esque interlude. 
If you like what you hear, I’ll post more. (I’ll probably post more anway, but it’d be nice to hear from you.)
Categories: downloads
my new snare drum!
a Pearl aluminum shell 14×5.5 “Sensitone Elite”. My good ol’ boys at Steve’s Music in Toronto gave me a ridiculous deal that included the super-pimping Craviotto snare bag (it’s lined with velvet, has an extra pouch for heads, and came with a head and a drumkey!, also it has four little feet on the bottom to keep the drum off the ground when the case is laid flat).
Categories: journal
Here’s a weblink to the venue for directions/location.
Categories: concert dates
Last night, cc3 had a squeaky-clean brand-new sub on piano due to a last-minute departure this week by EB (he got sucked up into a studio session vortex involving an Ottawa-based Tom Jones impersonator). Basically, all of the usual suspects were booked (it being the week before xmas, most players are), so Eric provided us with an unknown quantity.
Now, this guy was fine, he played well and he was professional and prompt, all the things that make me able to relax (as the leader) on these gigs. But, the gig really reminded me about the elusive presence of a “vibe”, the band vibe that cc3 has tapped into and (I think) should guard with great fervor.
cc3 gigs don’t pay much, they’re pretty much your average $100-for-3-hours gigs that are rampant in Toronto. The difference with cc3 is we make it up on volume; in 2006 cc3 alone did 100 dates (I think my total # of gigs, not including daytime dance class work was close to 175 nights…). So, the math doesn’t lie, it’s a nice piece of business, especially since we tend to only work mid-week and finish no later than 11pm.
But the real payoff is that between Eric, Mike and myself (and to a lesser, but still substantial degree, with our various subs: Martin Aucoin, Michael Occhipinti, Dave Patterson and Colin Campbell) sound like a band, not three players running tunes or sight-reading charts (even if that is what we are technically doing on the gig).
Having said all of this, bands are a hard thing to keep together: you need money coming in from outside (gigs…) and a commitment to playing together that holds its own against other professional temptations. When the cc3 record, (pamplemousse) comes out in early 07, I think you’ll be able to hear the results of this commitment.
Categories: journal
My year ends quietly with a few cc3 gigs (12/19 at Canyon Creek Scarborough, and 12/21 and 12/28 at Canyon Creek Burlington), but I hope to be spending the rest of my working time getting the new cc3 record release together, and doing some house-cleaning in terms of my equipment and my office. To that end, I’ve sent my trusty SONOR Phonic 6.5×14 steel snare off to my tech, Paul Fitterer for a cleaning and re-setting. Paul does great work, and he has a keen attention to detail and takes great care with my instruments. If you are interested in getting him to do some work for you, email me and I’ll put you in touch.
As for my office, I’m starting with some virtual tidying: I’m now sending personal emails through Gmail, as my InBox is overstuffed with Junk. I’m still reading through all my emails (I have not killed any email addresses, so the one you have will still work, whichever one that may be), but I am trying to respond to all my emails through Gmail, and thus bring y’all into my spam-free fold.
Categories: journal
Brooklyn was fantastic, we had a great gig and a good response from the listeners. Tea Lounge is a cool venue, I hope we can return in the spring. Rob recorded the gig with his EDIROL so I hope to have mp3s to post soon.
In the meantime, cc3 and Hot Buttered Soul have a few more gigs in 2006, but otherwise, things are slowing down until the new year.
My friend and sometimes-drum student, Max Lazich expressed interest in presenting a concert of solo drums (Max is way into ostinatos, independence and all other sorts of wacky stuff, he sounds great and is getting better all the time). I had said I’d like to do it, but only if we could do it as a benefit gig. The reality is that a concert like this, if we charged a ticket price, would generate little more than gas money once we split it up. So, I proposed that we do this 100% as a benefit, and the concert that Max has decided to present will do much more good than gas money:
Saturday January 13 – 7:00pm
@ Centenary Church, Hamilton, ON
Admission will be by donation of non-perishable food items, which will be sent to the Hamilton Food Bank.
A good cause, and I think, good timing. I’ll post more details when I have them.
Categories: concert dates · journal
If you’re in the NYC area, please do come out to TEA LOUNGE, 837 Union St. Park Slope, Brooklyn. Rob Price, Ed Zankowski and I (aka CPZ) are playing 2 sets at 9 & 10:30, no cover.
See you there!
Categories: concert dates
I’m reading the full list of nominations for the Grammy awards, just to see how out of touch I really am with pop music. Of the entire list of records and artists I surprisingly have quite a few of them. I own these ones (I’ve got the CD version unless otherwise noted):
Continuum (John Mayer) – a good record, but ultimately a letdown for me. JM is allright in my books but I think he pulled his punches on too many tracks. All of the tunes they didn’t include on the album but released as B-sides or iTunes only singles are as strong or stronger than many of the tunes on the record.
Stadium Arcadium (Red Hot Chili Peppers) – too much music in one release. I’ve never been able to sit through the whole thing, and the lyrics are so dumb on most of it. “By the Way” was a great record and I had high hopes but I’ve barely listened to this record since I got it many months ago.
Nausea (Beck, from “The Information”) – a record I like, but they nominated a pretty dull tune from it. I saw a show on this tour, and it was excellent.
Morning (Benson/Jarreau, from “Givin’ It Up”) – yikes! I’m an Al Jarreau fan, but have been waiting years for a record that isn’t over-produced, sugar-sweet, and dull. Still waiting… (The last cool AJ record is “Tenderness” with Joe Sample, Steve Gadd, from the early 90s I think.)
The Wizard Turns On (Flaming Lips, from “At War With The Mystics”) – they got nominated for Rock Instrumental or some B.S. like that. This is a throwaway category where they have to scrape pretty hard to find actual tracks for this. AWWTM is a great record, I like it alot. There’s great vocal tunes on this record, and it shouldn’t be relegated to this scraps bin category. It’s also nominated for best alternative album but is clearly there to fill out the category since there’s other bigger names in the running.
Try! (John Mayer Trio) – this is great record, the band is great, and I saw a show on the tour and it was excellent. Steve Jordan’s drumming saves the traditional blues tracks from sounding like a bar band, but JM can carry the rest just fine.
The Eraser (Thom Yorke) – I bought this record on iTunes and I like it all. There’s no real drums on it, but the programming is minimalist and grooves with the bass parts. Works for me. I like it more than the Radiohead records I have.
Day Dreaming (Natalie Cole, From “Leavin”) – this record should have got way more attention. It’s a throwback to an older style of R&B record, but with contemporary material (she covers Fiona Apple, among others).
Black Sweat (Prince, from “3121″) – uh, next please. Wake me up when Prince does. “Rainbow Children” was a glimmer of hope that he would stay true to his genius. Instead this record was like a lame multi-media real estate brochure for some gaudy house he owns in LA. Boring, dumb, and considering the artist, a disgrace.
Who Let The Cats Out? (Mike Stern) – great players, good tunes. I liked it. I can’t say it’s a record I’ve returned to much, but I did like it.
Hope (Branford Marsalis from “Braggtown”) – this is nominated in a category for “best jazz solo”. I have little faith the Grammy judges can actually compare these things. But anyway….. This is a cool record, but for much of it, it sounds like Branford is being eaten alive by his quartet, they’re just so strong. I suspect Branford likes it this way, he’s never reigned them in and it’s paying off in droves.
Trio Beyond (Dejohnette, Scofield, Goldings) – wonderful live album. They’re all playing great and maybe this will ensconce Larry Goldings up where he should be in the jazz world. He’s so strong, and JD and Sco are heard in their best light on record in years.
Black Cadillac (Rosanne Cash) – she can do no wrong in my books. This is a wonderful, but sad, record. Very fine playing throughout. Especially Mike Rhodes’ bass playing…
All The Roadrunning (Emmylou Harris/Mark Knopfler) – this record bored me, but I recently got the live DVD of the tour and was transfixed. The key difference for me was that the record was a compilation of 10 years of recording whereas the tour was one band, one night. The latter will always win out.
That’s about it for me and the Grammies, one question:
What the hell is a Gnarls Barkley?
Categories: journal
check this video out, really fun:
http://www.drummerworld.com/Videos/gavinharrisoncymbalsong.html
the only thing that would have been better would be if he was playing PAISTEs. 
Categories: downloads
CPZ rides again next week @ Tea Lounge in Brooklyn. We hope you’ll be there, we’re hitting for two sets. Gonna be fun.
In the meantime, hows about a free mp3 from our last gig, also in the NYC area:
MEGtwo live @ Otto’s Shrunken Head, NYC 10.23.06
Categories: downloads
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