		ANDRE BERRY.COM
		THE DAVE KOZ CRUISE

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		It's Oct 9th, 2006 & I have received the majority of the music from the artists I am to work with. Begin shedding. Goal: To at least be able to get thru the charts mistake free and with a nice, free feel by rehearsal time. If I can memorize songs even better. Kirk Whalum, David Sanborn, David Benoit and Michael Lington are acts I have never worked with, so I begin digging into their material first. Looks to be around 70 songs total. 35 or so I have never played, 35 I have played at one time or another, so they're back in the memory banks somewhere hopefully. Objective: 8 hours a day practice time minimum, and noone gets overlooked or shortchanged. I want to do a great job across the board equally. Mindi is just as important as Sanborn, as important as Jeff Golub as important as Kirk Whalum and so on.
		The Blue Band (or The Warren Hill band) Andre Berry - Basses Randy Jacobs - Guitars Ron Reinhardt - Keys Ronnie Guttierrez - Percussion Dave Hooper - Drums The Yellow Band (or The Dave Koz band) Bill Sharp - Basses Dwight Sills - Guitars Stevo Theard - Drums Brian Simpson - Keys Ronnie Guttierrez - Percussion
		Artists Blue band assigned to work with: Jeff Golub David Benoit David Sanborn Wayman Tisdale Kirk Whalum Mindi Abair Rick Braun Michael Lington Artists Yellow band assigned to work with: Jeffrey Osborne Patti Austin Dave Koz David Benoit Brian Simpson Jonathan Butler Peter White
		Blue band itenerary/agenda Rehearsal Dates & Schedule: Oct. 30th - Nov 2nd Day 1: David Benoit 4pm - 7pm Michael Lington 8pm - 11pm Day 2: Mindi Abair 4- 8pm Day 3: Kirk Whalum 9am - 1:30pm Jeff Golub 2pm - 5pm Day 4: Rick Braun 12pm - 3pm David Sanborn 4pm - 8pm Wayman Tisdale 9pm - 12am Departure date: Nov. 4th
		Show Schedule: Day 1: Nov 4th 9:30pm - 10:30pm Kirk Whalum 10:30pm - 11pm Wayman Tisdale Day 2: Nov 5th 6pm -8pm David Sanborn 11pm -12am Michael Lington Day 3: Nov 6th 9pm - 11pm David Sanborn Day 4: Nov 7th 6pm - 8pm All Star Show (each act performs 1 song) 9pm - 11pm All Star Show #2 Day 5: Nov 8th 4pm - 5pm Q&A session with the sidemen 6pm - 7pm Kirk Whalum 7pm - 8pm Wayman Tisdale 9pm - 10pm Mindi Abair 10pm - 11pm Rick Braun Day 6: Nov 9th 3pm - 4pm Michael Lington 11pm - 12am David Benoit’s Jazz Trio Day 7: Nov 10th 6pm - 7pm Mindi Abair 7pm - 8pm Rick Braun Homeward Bound: Sat Nov 11th
About the shows:
		Special surprise!! Marcus Miller and Arturo Sandoval are onboard to see how the cruise works, because they are MC’ing cruises for the same company...LLC cruises!! WOW!! So i go up to Marcus and ask is he going to sit in, his response “Sure, I’ll sit in, show me where to plug in!” I was like “damn!!” thats all I need, to feel like chopped liver next to who I consider to be the Michael Jordan of bass...but a great thing happened. He was a great cat...cool, relaxed, easy to talk to. I showed him my Jazz bass, and he said he dug it. Talked to me about my action which I promptly raised. He let me play his bass to check out how it felt. I was blown out!! Here's a funny lit bit of information. When I was in college in 1978-79, I met a guitarist named Barney that I played in a band with. He told me, "you're cool Dré, but there's this guy named Marcus Miller I went to school with that is so bad..trust me, you're going to hear about him one day..." I asked Marcus about Barney and he said "I remember Barney!!" That was something I wanted to ask Marcus Miller about since 1978 and I finally got a chance to bring it up and he remembered!! Classic....So Sanborns showtime comes around, and I am sure that, hey Marcus Miller is here, I guess I’ll just go and sit down...but they said “No you play too"...so it went like this: (Note: I give David Sanborn some special attention, not as a slight to all the other acts but because to me he is a founder of what we now call Smooth Jazz and to play with him was a goal and dream of mine and a special honor for all of us aboard the cruise).
		Chicago Song: I played the low octave of the bassline with my octave divider and Marcus played badass licks and all the higher octave slap stuff. Wayman Tisdale came backstage after and was like “Man that sht is was crazy funky! Man that was sick!” And after looking at the performance on the monitor later that night, I couldn’t stop groovin’. It was nasty. Straight to the Heart: Marcus played this one by himself and he killed it. I was in heaven, watching a master lay it down like it was a recording! Maputo: Marcus played this one also, and he stretched out and played a ridiculous solo! Beyond Impressive! Lotus Blossom: I played this one and I have to say, I rose to the occasion because of the atmosphere I was in.The song felt really good. Ron Reinhardt played a awesome solo on this one..David seemed to really enjoy it, in fact he said on the mic, “I was just enjoying listening to these cats play!” Soul Serenade: Once again I played the low groove and the walking lines and Marcus played licks and melodies, and it was awesome! He has ears like an elephant and the stuff he was playing I was trippin on hard. So in the pocket and so tasty! If you know Marcus' playing, you know what I'm talking about... My boy Randy tore the solo up on this one...I could tell that Sanborn was getting off on it! I was proud of Randy... Tin Tin Deo* (featuring Arturo Sandoval) Marcus played this one. All throughout the whole set Ronnie Gutierrez sounded amazing, but I got to stand back and watch him take a solo on this one...it was awesome. The whole song was burning! The Dream (duet with Dave Koz) I played this one. Beautiful ballad that plays itself. You can’t go wrong if you just flow with the song. I had visions of Dave Koz and David Sanborn playing this one together, and here it was...Magic! Bang Bang I held down the Latin-esque groove and Marcus directed traffic and conducted the soloists. It was a party onstage!Spontaneous things were happening, and singers came out onstage to join the party, like Jeffrey Osbourne & Patti Austin. I live for moments like that, when things just takeoff and become something else completely in the moment. Stormy Monday (Encore) the crowd went nuts and their was a high in the room that was unbelievable! I have to say, I wanted to go back out for an encore because I didn't want the party to stop! it was so cool because David Sanborn was offstage...in his dressing room and the people would not let up! They wanted him back. I ran back and coaxed Koz and Sanborn to come back out and graciously like the cool people they are, they did without hesitation. We hadn't rehearsed an encore so Sanborn just called out "Stormy Monday!" They took a second to make sure that Patti Austin and Jeffrey Osbourne knew the lyrics and we were off and running....On this one Marcus started the groove then graciously handed it off to me, while he went on to directed the band, the soloists and the arrangement. Stormy Monday with no care as to how long it went. It was fun in the moment and Sanborn let it all fly! The people were over the top. It was a night to remember for sure. I’ve worked with other artists that were like “screw the people, I’m done” and it shortchanges both the magic of the moment and the people. This was not the case on this cruise...Musicians came to play and give it all up!! Now that's what I'm talking about!!

		Now, I have to say, as a band, I feel as though we played well. We covered shifting from artist to artist and we covered the various stylistic variances that came up. I love playing with these guys. Dave Hooper is such a great drummer. Solid, with Chops second to none, and Randy Jacobs is such a funky guitarist and showman. And then Ronnie is such a great, flavorful percussionist and warm spirit and he’s also a great showman. Ron Reinhardt is a quiet monster! He can play his ass off, cover whatever you need from the most intimate jazz to the hardest fusion/chops buster to the simplest pop and is a great guy with no airs to boot. I feel blessed to be in the atmosphere with these guys... The experience left me hopeful of the music business. Dave Koz is a wonderful, respectul, generous human being. David Sanborn was warm, gracious, genuine, the incredible player he always is, and for me, it totally balanced out my meeting other idols of mine and they turning out to be cold, unecessarily aloof, and stand-offish. David Sanborn fixed my jaded perspective about meeting my idols! Marcus Miller was so cool! He was personable, loose and a blast to jamm with! In fact, all the artists were cool, easy to work with, relaxed and respectful. These points in themselves made all the hard work worth it.

		More Highlights: Mindi Abair rocked the house. She really held her own amongst some world class saxaphonist’s and I was proud of her. Her flavor of Pop/Jazz music was a welcome change of pace to us sidemen too. I had a lot of fun with Mindi because I play in her band and know her music really well. Also she lets me stretch out and create whatever solo I want to play. By the time I got to here show, (after watching Marcus, Randy & countless other soloists get loose, I was itching to stretch out and she said "Go right ahead...don't hold back!" She's very, very secure. As long as the crowd digs it she's cool with it... Rick Braun always bring his high energy to the people and they feel it. Always! He never fails to get the crowd rockin! Rick let me play a solo too! Cool of him. The David Benoit jazz trio show was a special moment. People told me they found it super refreshing amongst all the Smooth Jazz and for me personally it was the biggest challenge of all the music. Rondo a’la Turk was tough not only because of all the time signatures changes, but he played it at a blazing fast tempo! It was smokin’! The same goes for “Sweet Georgia Brown”. We were up around 350bpm’s or so for sure, and David was just blazin thru the changes. Kirk Whalum's set was sweet and heartfelt for sure. His set to me had the most feeling to it. Wayman Tisdale comes out, and like Rick, he likes to rock the house. High energy from start to finish! He plays his butt off. Off the ship we tore it up at Cabo Wabo with Jeff Golub. It was more like Don Kirshners Rock Concert than a smooth jazz show. He brought the house down! And last be certainly not least, Michael Lington was the surprise hit. He is a fantastic musician that has flawless technique that I think is a gift. He never misses a note! There was one more musician that played with us, Shiltz from Down to the Bone. I’d have to retract that last statement and say that he was the surprise hit of the cruise. People didn’t know he was going to be there and he played with Wayman, Rick and Mindi and killed it! His feature song "Look What Happened" is a groovin tune! I wish him much success.
		*All ‘n’ All I came away having learned many things...*
		1. My work ethic is of the utmost importance and has brought me to where i am, and is what allowed me to have fun and feel comfortable on the gig. 2. Some of my idols are great musicians and cool people too. Not all...but some. 3. There is an audience that loves Smooth Jazz. I know that pisses off a lot of fusion guys that feels as though they are superior players, but the truth is, there are people that want to hear pop instrumental music. Period. Reality check. Fusion music is great and being able to play a ton of notes is impressive, but playing a song that people can hum along with and party to, will always have it's place. There are great musicians that wonder what rap is doing being so big, when it’s only talking, there are great singers that are mad at Britney Spears. There will always be that dynamic in the arts. Talent doesn’t always get rewarded. Most times it is not about who is best or who has the most talent. It is about who is doing what is popular. What is wanted. When someone is awarded best new vocalist at the Grammy’s, it doesn’t mean that they are the ‘best’ singer, it means they are the ‘favorite’ singer at that time. We wish it were only based on talent, like sports, but it ain't sports, and if that were the case, we might not know who Bob Dylan or Jimi Hendrix or Mick Jagger or Jr. Walker were. Not saying that they aren’t talented but if it were only about technical ability, virtuosity, who has the nicest voice or can hit the highest note, a lot of great, great music would be cut out of the picture. 4. I Love Smooth Jazz. I get to play freely. I get featured from time to time. I can change the whole groove and play the basslines I want to play and it doesn’t scare anybody or throw them completely off. Thats because they are musicians themselves! Oh yeah, the paychecks are what they said they would be and ontime. The artists are laid back and cool. They have been sidemen themselves for the most part and worked for assholes so they pretty much understand how not to treat people. I’ve only run across arrogance or negative vibes a few times. For the most part all the artists I play for are great, great people. 5. I love playing the bass!! I am blessed and happy or at least, I have decided to look at things that way. Later...