Rolldown at Charleston and the Chicago Jazz Fest

In Chicago for two weeks. I'll be playing a string of shows next week, but the impetus of the trip was today's concert at the Chicago Jazz Festival with Jason Adasiewicz' Quintet Rolldown. So I flew in on Tuesday - and we rehearsed on wednesday during the day and then played a warm up gig at the Charleston in Bucktown last night. It was definitely a good way to get ready for the show today, where we played on the Jackson Stage. I'm not sure the last time we played, I think it was all the way back in January when I was here playing and recording with the Fast Citizens. But, in the meantime, the album we recorded last fall has been picked up by Cuneiform and is being released this month. Great news!
Last night when at the Charleston I thought we did some very good playing - though I felt a little out of it during the first part of the set. Not sure why, I think I was tired or something. Could of also been getting used to playing with musicians' earplugs in. I've been trying to get used to wearing them while playing. It's tricky with a horn because you hear yourself so much more than everyone else (some would say this is regular for saxophonists). Josh played an exceptionally structured and executed solo on the ballad "I Hope She is Awake". Shevitz played some very clear and fast ideas. The great thing about playing with Frank Rosaly and Jason Roebke as a rhythm section is that they're willing to go with you at times and let you go from them at others. There was some really interesting free playing during Creep - I think I ended up playing an unaccompanied clarinet solo during that.
Today at the Jazz Fest things felt good. Getting used to the sound on stage took a bit, which caused a little miscommunication during Varmint. We got around that and played some great stuff - there was another great free section during Creep - playing in that style with those musicians makes alot of sense - all of us have developed alot of extended techniques on our instruments - while also being able to play in time. That's one of the reasons why we're able to push our music in different directions than alot of other jazz musicians playing today. It would be nice to hear the set, I think the Jazz Fest records the shows, not sure when we'll get to hear it though. Hopefully too we'll see some photos popping up pretty soon - there were definitely enough photographers there.
Here's one from the backstage: