ONOFFON

[onoffon]

Hahahahaha... Drew, you crack me up...I had another great weekend of wild rock 'n roll! Brought down the house... and, for the first time, we're playing back-to-back weekends. The owner is throwing a Halloween party this Saturday and wants his best band performing... On the documentary front, I received tow more foundation rejections. One from the Peter Norton Foundation and the second, from American Express Philanthropy.The American Express letter said, "our limited resources make it impossible to assist all the worthwhile requests for funding that we receive".I'll bet my entire movie budget is lower than it costs them to produce just one of their commercials... que sera sera...Onward...

[onoffon]

I had an unusually nice compliment this weekend that I wanted to share with y'all...After the second set on Saturday, a bar patron made his way through the crowd, (and I mean crowd - the place was PACKED!), and came up to shake my hand. The usual pleasantries were expressed and then he said, "You guys are f**king awesome. No... you don't understand... it's not like coming to a bar to see a cover band. Seeing you guys play is like going to a concert. Really."Well... I thought that was so cool... like going to a concert... hehehehe...

[onoffon]

I just got this email from the Jazz In Hollywood website -"Dear Von -What a pleasure it was to come upon this site.I played trumpet with the Jazzpickers in the late '50's, along with Bud Brisboy, who later took his own life. We recorded a series of Marty Paich arrangements at Northridge State College during that time. They consisted of a four-horn front line, in which I played trumpet. I've thought often about trying to acquire them, but so far I've had no luck.Anyway, thank you for keeping Harry's legacy alive. He was a great musician and a fine fellow. Harry and the Jazzpickers are fondly resting somewhere deep within this old carapace.Ken Hillman"What can I say...

[onoffon]

Just another Friday night in Studio City -At 7:30 last night, my old special effects buddy, Dave Kelsey, (effects coordinator for CSI:NY), calls me on the phone and says that Gary Sinise and his Lt. Dan Band are going to play a party on New York Street on the CBS lot at 9:00 and if I want to come over, he'll leave my name at the front gate.So, the wife and I threw on some clothes and went partyin'. It was the third year they've done this - I've attended two. It was a wild time - they had just returned from a world USO tour that included Germany, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Last year, Jim Belushi jumped on stage and played harmonica with the group on "Sweet Home, Chicago", but no such luck this year. Instead, Jon Voigt was in the crowd and we danced in a conga line with him to, what else, "Conga"... it was such a crack up...I can't wait til next year...

[onoffon]

ONOFFON has had a small flurry of radio stations/podcasts asking for our music lately. It's always nice to have people requesting our music. One of the coolest is a Tangerine Dream Fans podcast, who took an immediate liking to what we do. They've included our music in two of their last three podcasts - here's a post they just left on our MySpace page -"Hi ONOFFONJust dropping by to say a big thanks to you for the great music of yours that was aired on the radio show on Saturday. Combined with the exlusive new Tangerine Dream track being played here for the first time, I know listenership was at it's peak, so I hope many will also check your fine work out. Thanks again and you know where I am to feel free to participate at anytime again. Your track and site link are also on the permanent radio page playlist at the main - http://tdfanszone.com - site. Have a great week & hear from you again soon.Kindest regardsChris"This week they chose "Opus", and three weeks ago, they aired "The Gift Must Always Move".The actual podcast page is at -http://tdfanszone.com/custom3_1.htmlI'll be sending them a copy of our latest CD, Bridge to Presage, and hopefully they will include a few tracks from it in their podcasts as well.More later...

[onoffon]

Through the graciousness of Nomi Yah, I was able to attend yesterday's festivities at the Road Rally. I have to say that it was the single greatest day of my Road Rally experiences. Not that I will be signing a record contract tomorrow or compose an underscore next week, it was just the coolest time I have ever had at a Road Rally. I'll let others tell you the details who were more instrumental in making it happen. Special thanks go out to Vikki Flawith for all of her hard work and determination to make this the most unique and memorable Road Rally ever.When I got home that night, I received an email from a music library that had requested our music for inclusion in their archives, with a contract and word that they will have immediate placement for some of the first album.And they still haven't listened to the next two... Pretty good day...

[onoffon]

I know you all will be reading this more than a dozen times from everyone who was there but it was REALLY cool to meet all the TAXI community members that came to the Road Rally and shared their hearts and experiences so openly. Not just putting a face to the names - but voices and smiles and personalities and laughter and backgrounds... it was awe inspiring. Those that I was fortunate enough to meet were, in no particular order -Nomi Yah, Steve Soucy (steve à gilbert), Liam Kelly, Dave Walton, John Mazzei (mazz), Matt Hirt (matto), Martin (gitarrero), Brian Steckler (stick), Vikki Flawith (hummingbird), Kelly Green (kg), Casey Hurowitz, Chuck (crs7string), Anne House, Ted Fox, Aub DelaneThese are my new family members - I hope that we get to make this an annual event - when we all met it was like we were old friends catching up rather than new friends first meeting. Of course, I have had the privilege of knowing matto for a few years now - and reconnecting with people like Derek Sivers from CD Baby, Joanne Ledesma from Ledesma Music, and Jimi Yamagishi from SongNet is always a pleasurable experience.So nice of Michael to throw this little shindig for us all... What an awesome time had by all...Oh - BTW - I'm now preparing to attend a West Coast Jazz Conference over the next three days hosted by The Getty Museum in the hills of Pacific Palisades. High points for me will be meeting Ted Gioia, author of a book called, "West Coast Jazz"; reconnecting with amazing flautist, Buddy Collette, who recorded on my father's first Jazzpicker album as well as an album my dad produced and played on for Liberty Records in 1955 called, Shades Of Things To Come, with the Jack Millman Sextet; and attending a film presentation hosted by film archivist, Mark Cantor, who will be working with me on my father's documentary...Feet don't fail me now...

[onoffon]

My goodness... this last week has just been amazing... after the euphoric events we experienced at the Road Rally, I am now thrust headlong into the cultural society of the Getty. What a wonderful environment! I can't describe what it feels like to be surrounded by those who understand my father's jazz world so completely.Ted Gioia, the author of the book West Coast Jazz, gave a moving dissertation on the birth of the cool. At the lunch break, I got the chance to introduce myself - his response was amazing!!! He was profuse about Harry's pioneering contributions and asked if I would write a history of my father for his upcoming Jazz Encyclopedia. I think you know my response... Another of the speakers, Marcel Fleiss, was an 18-year old photographer when he started taking pictures of jazz musicians in post-war Paris, France. He gave a riveting presentation that detailed the artistic and political reconstruction taking place at that time. Truly fascinating... When I met him at the break, I showed him pictures and albums of my father, to which he asked, "Are you speaking today too?" Perhaps at future events... He gave me his card and requested I keep in touch with him. He also wanted to send me a copy of his book of photographs... I was able to meet the organizer of the event from the Getty Research Institute, Andrew Perchuk, and Serge Guilbaut, Professor of Art History from the University of British Columbia.I'm now preparing for Day 2...

[onoffon]

Yesterday was a real treat...Day 2 at the jazz event at the Getty was truly amazing. I saw, and met, a panel that consisted of Bud Shank, saxophonist that recorded his first album as a leader on my dad's Nocturne Records label; William Claxton, legendary jazz photographer who took the picture used for the cover of Bud's album on my dad's label; and Dennis Hopper... yes, THE Dennis Hopper. He used to hang out with all those guys in the 50's when all this stuff was happening. William Claxton said he'd met Dennis Hopper when he picked him up one day hitchhiking.Their most incredible stories were about the Falcon Lair, the old Rudolph Valentino estate that was bought by millionairess Doris Duke. She was a very rich lady and a lover of jazz and all things "cool". She had a pianist/lover named Joe Castro who lived in a lavish apartment above the garage and they held a series of jam sessions and allnight parties that many jazz musicians would frequent, including my father. I told my mother about the stories and she said she hated that place. "Your father would never tell me he was going there," she said, "and he'd stay out all night and come home stinking drunk."Alright Dad... Not that I condone that kind of lifestyle... As an interesting side note, I wrote a full proposal to the Doris Duke Foundation and was rejected. I don't think they want to be reminded of Doris' wild past.The panel showed a couple of pictures from Falcon Lair and I have to wonder if there might be one with my father in it somewhere in the private archives. I'm going to call the company who licenses Mr. Claxton's photos and see if one exists. Sure would be great for the documentary...

[stick]

Wow Von, Such cool stuff. Next year I wanna sit and and hear about it all. I took a semester of Jazz History in college. To do it in one semester was probably nuts as I'm sure we missed most of the real story of what was really going on.