Ladies and gentlemen. Boys and girls. Welcome my friends to the show that never ends. In light of recent events I’d like to talk about duality for a minute. Two Parties. Love & Hate. Black & White. Cowboys & Indians. Richer or Poorer. Sam & Dave. War & Peace. Lip sync or live? An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Good vs. Evil. Fathers and Mothers. Man vs. Machine. Brothers and Sisters. Conscious or Unconscious. New vs. used. Captain & Tennille. He said, she said. Us vs. Them. Dead or Alive. Smart & Dumb. Ella & Louis. Ugly & Beautiful. Odd or Even? Greater than, less than. Electric Fields & Magnetic Fields. Yin & Yang. Sonny & Cher. Slow or Fast. Positive or Negative. Hot & Cold. Hall & Oates. Cats and Dogs. Human or Alien. Electric vs Acoustic. Jack & Dave, Loud or Soft. Ashford & Simpson. Ford vs. Chevy. Creation vs. Evolution. Star Wars or Star Trek? Science vs. Flames. Heart & Mind. We each match or clash with every single one of these counterparts. This list goes on and on. Sometimes we think we have to act a certain way but there is always a third choice, a bigger fish, the beat of a different drummer.

Pick a side. Flip a coin. Faith will guide you. Leave it to chance. Be a one issue voter. Ignorance is bliss. Power in reserve. Think before you act. Cause and effect. Actions speak louder than words. The pen is mightier than the sword. Walk softly and carry a big stick. Kill em all let God sort them out. Turn the other cheek. Are we really that scared of each other? Has the internet finally collapsed our system of checks and balances? Has the moral code been broken? I see lots of horrible things but I don’t see it as the end game. I see acts of aggression and hate fueled by ignorance, prejudice and fear. I see people rising up against this tide. I hear the sounds of our communities drumming. I fear the upcoming chaos but I believe in my family and my friends. i believe I’m putting goodness in the world. I believe I’m raising my children to accept everyone equally and to do what they love in life for it will make them happy and they will live better by being happy and aware of the good the bad and the funky.

The only way up is through. So we have to continue to pull and grind out the work. Peel back the layers of fear and expose the ugly underbelly so we can better understand it. We clearly need this process in order to progress further. Break away from the duality because the work is continuous. Just because one side has the upper hand does not mean the other hand is useless. A whopping 45.6% of the population did not VOTE and they are up for grabs. Whatever ‘mandate’ there was it only contains a little over one quarter of the US population. Perhaps the death knell is being sounded on these issues that are polarizing us? I know there are more of us who believe in the power of the human spirit and in the power of unity. SO we have to stand our ground and do the work on ourselves to bridge the gaps of discourse, scale the walls of ignorance and try to unite ourselves with a new common purpose. I don’t know exactly what that is yet but there are over 7 billion people on this planet, go talk to some of them and I bet we’ll get closer to finding IT. That’s where the real stuff happens. I know because, I’m out there Jerry. And I’m LOVING IT! Come join me for music, abstractions, arguments, balderdash, brouhaha, chatter, commentary, discussions, dialogue, these are words with a D this time, double talk, double talk…..

Wednesday Jan 11th  8:30 pm  All Ages  $10 donation  JAZZ CENTRAL

CB, JT, JC Sanford and Tom Nordlund: Quartet at Jazz Central – trombone, bass, drums and guitar. Chamber jazz for freedom.

Friday Jan 13th  8pm  All Ages  $10 donation  JAZZ CENTRAL

The Music of Horace Silver with Doug Haining, Steve Kenny, Mac Santiago, CB and a pianist pays tribute to the genius of funky swinging blues and bop! Good times!

Saturday Jan 14th  8:30pm  All Ages  $10 donation  BLACK DOG

Soloman Parham Group with Dean Magraw, Dave Graf, CB and Eric Kamau Gravatt -SICKNESS will ensue because these gentlemen are all bad bad dudes.

Saturday Jan 21st  8:30pm  All Ages  $10 donation  BLACK DOG

RED 5 returns to action (and it truly is a return as I have several gigs booked already for this year and I’m working on new music)!!!!!!! CB, JT, TN, JC, Jake Baldwin and Brandon Wozniak. I’m excited to add JC Sanford on trombone for this gig and will be expanding this rogue squadron further over the course of the year so I can explore more compositional ideas for a larger ensemble.

Monday Jan 23rd  9:30pm  21+  $8 cover  ICEHOUSE

JC Sanford CD Release party! Earlier this year one of our old comrades from long ago moved back to the Twin Towns from NYC. We’re happy to be helping him out and playing his music for two sets tonight! JC on trombone, JT and CB in the rhythm section and the guitarist extraordinaire Zacc Harris! Come check it out!!!

Thursday Feb 2nd  9pm  All Ages  $10 donation  REVERIE

Red Planet is also jumping IN this year with some gigs and a new album set to be released in April with Bill Carrothers. We’ll be in trio tonight at Reverie so expect a bunch of Coltrane, some originals and some Hendrix. Dean Magraw, Jay Epstein and CB.

Saturday Feb 4th  7pm  All Ages  $10?? BLACK DOG

Atlantis Quartet opens for NYC Bassist and composer Ben Allison and his trio (Steve Cardenas and Allison Miller)! This will be a slam dunk night of killer music. Come hear two stellar modern jazz groups and get your fill of improvisational goodness. Atlantis Quartet plays at 7pm Ben Allison trio at 8:30.

Stay tuned over at Doublebates.com and thanks for listening to my ramblings.

Speaking of listening there are TWO new albums to check out from:

Leisure Valley and Inventions & Dimensions – great stuff for you to get inspired by!

Mark down April 18th and 19th on your calendars folks for the Red Planet w/ Bill Carrothers CD release party in the Dunsmore Room at Crooner’s. NOT TO BE MISSED.

peace and love – cb