Estelle, Pharrell, and... Ken Ross!? 4 Rell??

Last week this side-band that I lead and arrange for, Rotimi and the Rainmakers, got the opportunity to open for Estelle, and N.E.R.D. at a music festival called Dillo Day.

Needless to say, I am so happy. I've been working real hard for this project writing out horn parts and arranging rehearsals, I'm really glad that things have come together and that people are enjoying the music the way I always hoped people would.

Way too much going on these past couple weeks, but I'm not going to lie I still haven't finished writing out/figuring out what exactly we're going to be playing on the gig, so I gotta wake up and finish all that before tomorrow's first rehearsal. I just want to make a big shout out and thank you to Rotimi and everyone in the band:

Brett "B.J." Johnson, Trombone
Mike "Beast Mode" Anderson, Tenor
Eric Seligman, Trumpet
Swingin' Swen Hendrickson, Bass
Lawrence Haskin, drums
and Matt Law, keys

These guys are all so talented, enthusiastic and a pleasure to work with!

All I know is that on May 30th I'm going to be back stage meeting and chilling with as many of those musicians that I mentioned above as possible. And word is we get our own green room!? suggestions on odd requests? I know I'm asking for a shit-ton of KY lube and a VHS version of Leprechaun 2: "Back to the Hood".
But for now I'll leave you all with some past photos of the band from our last show, and I hope you all make it out to check out the show next Friday if you're in the greater Chicago area.




^ ^ Ro and Alexia killin my "I'm Still" joint! ^ ^



photo props to Elisa Meggs and Justin Barbin

I'm Still featuring Alexia Blakley

Wayyy back in the Fall, I came across this talented Northwestern student and vocalist with named Alexia Blakley. The night I met her she killed a version of this Jazmine Sullivan song "Need U Bad". I was real into that joint at the time, and she sounded so good on it she ended up winning the Northwestern Apollo night. I got at her after the show all telling her how we should work together and this and that, she probably wrote it off, but I was for real. Staying true to my word, I wanted to expand my Rotimi and the Rainmakers set this spring, and I knew her addition would be amazing, so I wrote this contemporary Marvin-and-Tammi-like joint called "I'm Still".

I got at her through "the facebook", sketchy as hell transactions; but she ended up in my dorm room where I first showed her the song--just me and my keyboard. She was feeling the vibe and knew exactly where I was hoping to take it. I then brought it in with a dope arrangement for the band and that was that... I showed the recording I made (heard above) to some of the band members and most of them feel that it doesn't do the song justice, which may be true. Which is why you all need to see us come kill this song on May 30th, I'll have info about that show in a bit.

Let me just take a second to discuss what a pleasure it was/is to work with Alexia. Recording this was a ton of fun, and I'm so glad that she decided to work with me and bless one of my pieces with her voice. Honestly just kickin it and talking music with this girl makes the time fly, and I find that its a rarity that I run into people as naturally talented and energetic as her...

...Which is why you gotta come see her kill it live on May 30th!
& Let me know what you think of the track.

Polish Weddings are the best!!!

Last night I played a fun 25th anniversary wedding gig with my new friend and vocalist Marley Dzis.

Highlights included:
-Marley's awesome mom who insisted-upon/assisted-me-in stealing a bottle of Tanqueray.
-Marleys family's Polish folk-song/pop wedding band that played after our dinner set.
-The slew of interesting guests, some of whom looked like this. There was this one in particular where every time I saw him I swear he had a new teenage chick on his lap and axe-like deodorant in hand--always spraying with furious vigor.
-The groom of the wedding--probably about 5'5" and a buck fitty, the bride however must have been 6' two fitty. The hug from the bride at the beginning of the night let me know right from the start that I was in for quite the evening.
-Being stranded after the gig 5-6 miles west of the nearest 'el' stop, so walking into a BK at 10:30pm in a suit with my guitar and offering 3 kids $10 for a ride to the 'el', which they cautiously accepted.

It was a lot of fun, there's another one in two weeks and honestly I can't wait.
Marley sounded great too! Check her out with her former band "Current Impulse Seven" especially on this track called "XVeme Improvisation"

It feel like N.Y.--Summertime Chi, ahh...

So I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I'll be doing this summer. But I'm pretty positive now that I'll be in Chicago for most of it, with internships, 925's and gigs I should be keeping myself pretty busy.

But one thing I am sure of this summer is that I'll be working at the Litchfield Jazz Camp for the fourth session. I've been going there for a couple years now, and this year they offered me a job as a teaching assistant which is quite an honor and I'm really excited about it. Litchfield Performing Arts just launched a new website and locked up master classes from greats like Lionel Loueke and Wycliffe Gordon. So if you know anyone that's interested I'd definitely recommend the program as one of the best if not the best jazz educational summer workshop in the states. Check out the website too, I snuck my way on there with a little photo and bio!

May Gigs:

Here are some of my upcoming gigs:

-Friday, May 1st: Kenneth Ross Trio/Victor Goines.
$5. Regenstein Hall, 10:30pm-Midnight. On Facebook
-Tuesday, May 5th: Northwestern University Jazz Combo.
Free. Regenstein Hall, 7pm
-Friday, May 15th: Rotimi and the Rainmakers.
Nevins Pub (Evanston) 9pm
-Friday, May 22nd: Northwestern University Jazz Orchestra.
Pick Staiger, 7:30pm

Slob the Builder...

So I got my first apartment on lock down finally. Real excited to be moving into my own place. Its really nice, but a little pricier and therefore I'm trying to save money every way I can in furnishing. There are some obvious expenses that be cut down with this apartment. Like for me, transportation costs will be down, considering my apartment is directly on Chicago's "el" train. And other things like cable television since neither my roommate nor I watch much TV. (other than sports center.) But I figured, screw Craigs List, "I'm building my own furniture."

So I got in contact with some of my engineer friends that had access to buildings with proper supplies, and I've been spending the past couple weekends building furniture. I've been working on coffee tables, bedside-tables, bookshelves, and other shit... I just finished my first piece last night, it was all dried from stain and polyurthane this morning so I was pretty pumped.

Here's how the first piece ended up, it could either be a coffee table or a TV stand with a shelf for a DVD player or something, its pretty tall...





Haha I guess its not all that much, but building your own furniture is like preparing your own three-course meal. Its real rewarding, and hey, rather than spending 15 bucks on craigs-list for a dirty old coffee table, this ran at a whopping total of $8.

So, I'm expanding my work now I think to Kitchen tables, another coffee table that'll look like this and maybe even a chair or two? crazy. Who knows? I doubt a chair will be comfortable at all, but shit if I built it... I'll sit in it. four-show.

Special thanks to Slav, and Duenser. (Without Slav there would be no stain, a couple of the nails would be missing and the piece would lack its overall charm. Without Duenser I wouldn't have been able to get into Ford to steal a bunch of shit lolz jk! jk! ... ... maybe)

"epic" joint

I'm all over the place these days, lots of work. But I'm trying to keep up with my solo stuff on top of everything else. Here's a taste of a beat I was working with for a bit. "Yes I did, I packed it up and brought it back to the..." Medieval Church? Just a little somethin to show you how we live. More to come...