The start of the summing up

WAAAAH! It's over (almost).
very sorry to say, the final show of ZOOTCASE is almost here (for a while, in any case).
It's been great, and the audiences have been wonderful, and have expressed a lot of appreciation for the production.
Needless to say, my musicians - Norm, John, and Ron were fantastic. - and you can still get out to the Black Swan - Danforth & Broadview, Toronto - this Sat. Oct. 2 8pm
Join us.
Meanwhile, a couple of pics.
from the top:
Minden performance;
two 'happy gang' pics, post-Bala;
pre- and during Huntsville;
the sign at Bancroft.

HERE IT IS: THE OFFICIAL SCHEDULE OF SHOWS FOR THE SUMMER AND FALL

ZOOTCASE; the Road Within

a story of love and music

with Norm Amadio, piano;

John Deehan, saxophone; and Ron Johnston, bass

Zoe Chilco, vocals/narrative

Sat., August 7, 2010 8pm

The Dungannon Recreation Centre

Hwy 62, South of Bancroft, Ontario

Wednesday, August 11, 2010 8pm

Bala Bay Inn, 3063 Muskoka Rd.

Bala, Ontario

Wednesday, August 18, 2010 8pm

Trinity United Church

33 Main at West, Huntsville, Ontario

Saturday, Sept. 18, 2010 8pm

The Royal Canadian Legion

Hwy 35 & Road 121, Minden, Ontario

Saturday, October 2, 2010 8pm

The Black Swan Tavern

154 Danforth Ave. at Broadview,

Toronto, Ontario.

PHOTOS:

Top: Zoe, January, 2010

Middle: Zoe, July, 1976 (just after I met Zoot)

Bottom: Tout le tout for creating Zootcase; the piano at home

bringing in the deep

ok - time to take a minute and relax - sort of. i've spent most of the morning trying to get a lot of details arranged for the show. everything seems to take longer and longer.
however
it's all coming along: got all but one venue settled, and some props organized, although i'm still looking for a 'zootcase' - a nice, weathered, old-fashioned box type; looks more like cardboard, but it's the one i want. if anyone comes across anything like that, let me know....
and please, let's all take a moment here to say a little prayer that another organization that says its aim is to 'support jazz and jazz artists' will in fact support this wee show of mine. don't want a lot, as the song says, just an eeny weeny bit.
it's very gratifying to see it all actually come into shape and reality. hope m. zoot likes it too, wherever he is.

side by side

doing all the prep for the show - charts, scripts, press releases, lobby pictures and info, programs. it was a real surprise/delight to discover that zoot and I have actually been listed on some web links together. I found this when I searched for music listings on the net, and there we were, lined up side by side, in a way that would otherwise be impossible today.

the strangest thing was that on a couple of those listings, the songs of mine that had been cited, or played on the same program, were tunes that I had written about Zoot - brand new lover, and mr. alone. it gave me a little start to see that synchronicity, but it was lovely just the same.

alors, on continue.... lots of work to do, and unfortunately, no money from the powers that be in the funding bodies, so i will be very proud to say that i am doing this totally independently.

with a little help from my friends, bien sur.

soon, i promise: some photos.

25 years later

so this week marked the 25th anniversary of zoot's death. i walked by the wildest shore of the lake, down by the bluffs, in the grey drizzle and wind. it seemed fitting. zoot was sort of like those wild waves crashing onto the sand, rolling strong and breaking spectacularly; and the calm too, of the huge swells and flowing waters.

hard to believe so many years have passed.

and in the meantime, life goes on. we're all getting so used to the loss of elegance and propriety, and just plain goodness. 'tis a pity; but i'm glad i knew someone who came out of a different era, and who was a gentle person. a gentleman.

got all the venues lined up. it happened fairly quickly, after all. now i just have to find people who will come out to the show. that's the next job. pr. advertising. schmoozing. begging. marketing. hoping.

and i certainly trust in the power of love to be there for me, and guide things along even when i don't know how to make it happen. so go, love, go. get on out there and start to make your presence known and subtly influence the success of my creation.

Please?

truly, madly, deeply

had a friend ask me about the show the other day. wondering about my personal take.

the show, of course, is the story of my love affair - yes, literally, - with Zoot Sims. it's also the songs i wrote about him over the years since his death. but it's the personal story, of him, the person that i knew, just as a person, not a star, and it's also the story of myself, and how knowing him influenced me and my eventual musical path. it's a love and music story.

so the friend wondered if perhaps i had interpreted our affair with only my outlook, and maybe i was imagining more things true than were. what can i say? it is my outlook, my interpretation, my story. the man has died. but i did know him. and the tale is my honest feelings and portrays him as he truly appeared to me. i loved him; i think he loved me, even if it was a part-time relationship, and our lives were separate. what a person conveys about themselves can be felt, and i think Zoot was an honest person too.

it's taken me a long time to even tell the story publicly. it's been in my soul for a lot of years. i'm very sensitive to exposing it, and do not want to risk any false colourings. i want it to be real, like Zoot himself. it really is a simple story. i want to honour him.

follow zoot's lead

rehearsing the script; it's crazy - condensing all the years and time spent and feelings and whatever i think i learned; my portrait of all those years back. all boxed up and wrapped with the lovely songs. my isle of love.

what would my younger self say? probably would be out somewhere, doing, rather than thinking. to be sure.

here i sit, a-sewing, with my words and music. and to quote the beegees: "words are all i have to take your heart away"

some help slowly coming in from friends, answering the call for donations. (well, not donations, just advance ticket payments for the show and cd). - gotta get the cd's made. and a couple more good possibilities for the shows in august - venues, that is. some preliminary posters, press releases, and a marketing postcard. as we make our way onward.

but if anyone out there has some bucks for an independent musician and wants to see this project come to fruition, then i would gladly accept. a worthy endeavour. one i hope zoot is encouraging from his heavenly venue, and in-between sax solos, so why not you too?