• First off, I am having trouble figuring out how to make paragraphs in this blog editor. So, this post will be a list of BULLET POINTS, but is intended to be paragraphs and should be read as such. Sorry for this. OK Here we Go!
• Thanks to everyone who made this a great trip for us: Ralph, Jake, Clark, Tiffany and all the SIM students, James and Adam at Search and Restore, Tony Falco at the Falcon Arts Center, Jon, Jeff and Shanta at Joe’s Pub, Jonathan, Harish and Alan for housing.
• It was a rewarding trip not least because we were able to see a lot of great music on some nights off and after our gigs. There is so much great stuff happening in New York right now (as always). Ben Monder is sounding better than ever with his new trio (Ben Street and Alan Ferber). Jim Black and Alasnoaxis had a fantastic CD release show at the Bowery Poetry Club. Nate sounded great playing with Nir Felder at Fatcat where I played some sweaty ping-pong and chatted with fellow Banff faculty Matt Penman.
• There is a lot of talk these days about a downswing in festival sponsorship, some venues closing, transformation of the record industry, etc. etc. Yet I am still convinced that the “jazz scene” (I put it in quotes to convey its very ambiguous bounds) is overflowing with talented musicians making compelling music, and that there are places for this music to be performed and appreciated. Sure, not every city has a perfect venue, and it’s difficult to make a lot of money performing creative instrumental music, but I think that looking back on this period it will be clear that it was a rich and vibrant time for the music despite some of these difficulties.
• Playing in New York, still the epicenter of the jazz scene after 70 years, is a special pleasure for us. All of our music is imbued with new layers of meaning when it occurs within a community and an artistic context, and we are honored to participate in the rich and varied world that is the “jazz scene” in New York today. So again, thanks to everyone that helped this week happen, and we’ll see you all again soon.
• –adam

Exciting day. Adam and Kaveh arrived in New York late last night. Met Shane at the show today in Williamsburg, waited for Nate and Ben to make it into town from Germany! We had a great show at Public Assembly today… Thanks to James and Adam from Search and Restore for having us there. Also thanks to Steve Coleman and Andrew D’Angelo for playing such great music today. Now: June 21st @ Joe’s Pub!!!!