Drums: Stanley Randolph<\/a>
Guitars: Errol Cooney<\/a> and Kyle Bolden<\/a>
Percussion: Munyungo Jackson<\/a> and Fausto Cuevas<\/a>
Keys: Roman Johnson and ME (I’m singing too)!
Vocals: Keith John<\/a> and Aisha Morris
Horns: Ryan Kilgore<\/a> and Dwight Adams<\/a><\/p>\n
After 11 days in Manhattan, we’re heading to Wantaugh, where Jones Beach is located. During my stay in Times Square, I only had a small amount of free time (we were in rehearsal everyday with only 1 day off), yet managed to have a little bit of fun! I went dancing with friends, I had the chance to see my friend Eisa Davis in the musical Passing Strange (which won 1 of its 5 Tony nominations, Best Book of a Musical) during Tony week, I went to dinner with Eisa and meet members of the cast, and met my goal to play some of the exquisite pianos at Steinway Hall!<\/p>\n
DANCING: One of the band members suggested that a group of us go to SOB’s to hear the band “Ocho Y Mas”<\/a>. Several of us took a couple of taxi’s to the club and had a great time! The band is awesome! Check out their myspace page and see them perform if you get the chance. I hadn’t danced Salsa in ages, and I am very glad that I went.<\/p>\n PASSING STRANGE: “Eisa Davis”<\/a> is one of my lifelong friends. I’ve literally known her since she was a little girl, and she’s always been an amazing and inspiring person. Her latest creative venture is playing the role of Mother in “Passing Strange”<\/a>, a musical about the journey of a young black bohemian to find “the real”. I saw the musical in Berkeley in 2006, and even then, I loved it. I was moved by the songs, the clever book, the performances of the actors and band. I was hoping they’d win Best Musical, but even though they didn’t, I highly recommend you see it! You will be moved emotionally and physically (it’s impossible to sit still when the band gets going!). I didn’t have the chance to visit my old stomping grounds in Harlem, or to visit the memorial to the World Trade Towers. I suppose I’ll just have to visit the Big Apple again one day\u2026<\/p>\n Photos from the trip:<\/p>\n Jogging through Central Park with Keith John, singer with Stevie Wonder
STEINWAY HALL: One of my favorite activities when I visit any city is to find a local piano store and go play a grand piano, visualizing the day when I’ll own one for myself. There are a few wonderful piano stores in Manhattan, but on this trip I only had time to visit one, so I chose the most famous, Steinway Hall. Even walking to Steinway Hall is inspiring: right down the street is Carnegie Hall\u2026what pianist doesn’t dream of performing in Carnegie Hall? As is the case every time I visit, the staff at Steinway Hall were gracious and allowed me to spend as much time as I wanted playing the grand piano of my choice. Unfortunately, I only had about 40 minutes this time, but it was 40 minutes of heaven as I wandered through a series of musical meanders, playing piece by composers from Chopin to Bach to Chic Corea to Herbie Hancock to Stevie Wonder, on a beautiful Steinway D\u2026.ah\u2026 On the way back to my hotel, I ran into the immensely talented Tony Lindsay. Tony is the lead singer for Santana and they were in town briefly on the way to their European Tour. It’s so awesome to see legendary acts like Santana and Stevie Wonder still out there performing and bringing musical joy to the world DECADES into their careers!<\/p>\n![\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214208083519802258\"](\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_CVEzz0Co-pg\/SFyWoDsrC5I\/AAAAAAAAAHI\/3FhbygwqSKs\/s200\/DSCN0113.JPG\")
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