Iridium Club in New York

iridium club band photo
 Steve Lucas, Jann Klose, Larry Crowe, John Hawken, Jesse Gress, Jim McCarty, Ron Korb

    In May 2012 I went on the road with the Jim McCarty Band again. John Hawken from the Strawbs was joining us and since he lives in nearby Metuchen N.J the drummer Larry Crowe and I stayed at his place during this trip. Our opening gig was in Lakewood New Jersey at the historic Strand Theater. I actually had played in this theater before as a headliner with Ray Hickey in the late 90's. The Strand is still as nice as ever. Joining the band for the two NYC area dates were American guitarist Jesse Gress. Jesse has played with Tony Levin and also in Todd Rundgren's band and is well known in the guitar world for making transcriptions and various other music books. His soloing was so amazing at the show I found it hard to concentrate on my own parts. A few days later we played at famous The Iridium Club on Broadway and 51st street in the heart of Times Square. The club is well known for presenting Jazz fusion music and for its long association with the legendary guitarist Les Paul. When we went downstairs for the soundcheck there was a huge group of high school kids being serenaded by the waitresses singing pop karaoke like Britney Spears and Katy Perry. The waiter said this is New York where you can't have any dead time in a club. We played two sets one at 8pm and another at 10pm. It was a lot of fun. Singer Annie Haslam from Renaissance was there and the audience was filled with many New York area musicians.  Also Phil Unger from the New York Flute Center came down to watch the show.

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