The Siren presents the Sunday Jazz Jam

The Sunday jazz jam - hosted by my good friend Tracy Morgan - was epic this week!

The Siren in Morro Bay provides a great forum for local talent to shine… and shine they did!

Wayne on keys, Travis on bass, the baddest dudes with chops and ears!

Beautiful renditions of Summertime and funky James Brown jazzed up - courtesy of Wayne Walcoff, the maestro of funk on the central coast.

Dang! I couldn’t wait to jump in!

Thanks to Tracy - and lack of guest drummers - I got to wail away my best Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa chops.

I was smiling like a kid on Xmas morning! The players/artists which are very high caliber, were so nice and encouraging , they are funky, groovy and soulful, Tracy is a wonderful host, who is an accomplished drummer, percussionist, and teacher as well of jazz, funk, African drumming, just a special talent that we are all so lucky to have here on the Central Coast. And he has a sweet drum set which I just froth at doing a sic solo if the window open’s! That opportunity presented itself, and I got to do a ‘brush’ solo. I worked at the PAC (Performing Art’s Center) at Cal Poly and saw many great shows and entertainers, but was so impressed by Tony Bennett, he was phenomenal, and he had this drummer, a young cat from Berkeley School of Music that did the most bitchen brush solo, and I remember thinking, I can do this! So when that window opened at the jazz jam, I took a brush solo. The audience clapped, and so did the band, which made me feel so proud. Thanks to my Mom and Dad who drove me to all those drum lessons when I was 10 and 12 years old. As Jimi Hendrix said….drummer..play on….

Ya’all best get out there for the next one! Thanks boys and girls… stay In the Groove!