Jim Alfredson

Cool! Wish we could be there! Good luck!

Yeah, 'cos jazz nerds talking about a dead music is worth mucho buckaroos!!

We had a good (if slow) night at North By Northwest last night. Got to meet the famous Alan Lankin. My bass pedals were rattling the tin ceiling tiles due to the massive sound system. That's always fun! One more Philly gig and then all you Funkadelphians will have to wait until January to catch us again!

Thanks, mrjazz for the donation and for coming to the gig. And we enjoy "active" audiences! Much more fun than stoic ones! Hopefully we'll be back in DC in January.

Ron took me to get my first true Philly cheesesteak today at Rick's at the Redding Terminal Market. YUM. The hoagies next door look great, too. Gonna have to get one tomorrow. Philly is too much. All you Philadelphians are lucky folks. This is a great city. Come out to the gig, y'all, and party with organissimo!

Our first mention in JazzTimes! I don't know if it's in the print edition, but we're mentioned briefly online in a review by Bill Milkowski of this year's Detroit International Jazz Festival: http://www.jazztimes.com/reviews/concert_r...m?article=10410 Brief, but hey, we'll take it! I'm still disappointed about our set that day because I swear we were supposed to have 75 minutes, so I timed out our tune selection so we'd end with "Pumpkin Pie", which is always a very strong way to end a set. Unfortunately, they cut us off after an hour. We ended with "Peaches" but had we had that extra 15 minutes, we could've really ended on a strong note.

We just got back from the show at the Tritone. This band is too much fun! Great musicianship, compositions, and ENERGY! Do not miss them!

Well, it really depends on what she wants to learn.

That looks like a later model Hammond. No tonewheels. It won't sound like a B3, if that's what you're looking for. But if she just wants to learn how to play, that will work fine. I learned how to play on a Yamaha organ, so it's all good!

If you go to the Twins website, you'll see a pic of Ron Blake and Christian McBride playing there. I emailed Ron to ask him about clubs in NYC a few months ago and told him we were playing Twins. He said, "That's a funky little joint. You'll dig it!" And we did. The twins who own the place are lovely (Kelly... I didn't catch the other's name unfortunately) and it's a nice little intimate room. Kelly said that's the first time they've had a real organ in there since they moved five years ago. It was fun meeting all the board members! mrjazz was heckling us the whole time, but that's ok. I was surprised to note that Weizen doesn't actually have horns coming out of his head. If you met him on the street, you wouldn't even know he was a Republican. No smell of sulfer or anything. No seriously, it was very nice to meet you, Rolf, in the flesh and hopefully when we come back to DC we can hang some more. Bertrand, you look exactly like I pictured and we appreciate you hanging until the bitter end. Patrick, thanks for coming and bringing friends! We like that! We had some more people out that saw us on YouTube. That site is da bomb! Tonight we're partying at Ron's. If you're in the area, PM me for his address. Be sure to wear loud shirts, goofy hats, and bring plenty of alcohol.

David, I hope you can come out next week. We tried hard to get something in NYC, but it just didn't pan out. We had WAY too much fun last night at Chris Jazz and met some fantastic board members. Chalupa and Templejazz were great and I even ran into an old friend from high school! But the coolest part was after the second set I went up to the bar to get some more water and who would you guess is sitting at a table in the back with his wife? Frickin' PAT MARTINO! He's a very gracious cat and was really complimentary towards the band. There were also a few people who had seen us on YouTube. So it's nice to know that site is working for us! All in all, it was a great debut in a beautiful city (I can see why my wife loves Philly) and a wonderful way to start the tour.

As far as I know, we start at 8pm. That's what I was told!

A little late, and not as cool as Johnny E's thread, but we're heading out East, too! I fully expect all able board members who live in the cities below to be at these gigs or your membership will be canceled and all your posts will be changed to "I love Kenny G!" Wed - Oct 04 9:00 PM - 1:00 AM Chris' Jazz Cafe 1421 Sansom St Philadelphia, PA 19102 Phone: (215) 568-3131 www.chrisjazzcafe.com Thu - Oct 05 8:00 PM - 12:00 AM Twins Jazz 1344 U. St. NW Washington, DC 20009 Phone: ( 202) 234-0072 http://twinsjazz.com/index_tj.htm Sat - Oct 07 9:00 PM - 12:00 AM The Jewish Mother 3108 Pacific Ave Virginia Beach, VA 23451 Phone: (757) 422-5430 www.jewishmother.com Tue - Oct 10 8:00 PM - 12:00 AM North By Northwest 7165 Germantown Ave Philadelphia, PA 19119 Phone: (215) 248-1000 www.nxnwphl.com Thu - Oct 12 10:00 PM - 1:30 AM Tritone 1508 South St Philadelphia, PA 19146 Phone: (215) 545-0475 www.tritonebar.com Fri - Oct 13 9:30 PM - 1:30 AM New Haven Lounge 1552 Havenwood Road Baltimore, MD 21218 Phone: (410) 366-7416 Sat - Oct 14 9:30 PM - 1:30 AM New Haven Lounge 1552 Havenwood Road Baltimore, MD 21218 Phone: (410) 366-7416 Come one, come all, come prepared with money to buy CDs and we'll even sign your underwear!!! Bring some friends! It'll be a great time!

Most likely it was some dude hanging out at the booth and trying out the instrument. Either that or it was a Hammond clinician. There is a whole world of gospel organ players out there that are very much under the radar. I saw Aaron Thompson, who is a Hammond clinician, at Marshall Music a few months ago. After he got done showing the product and burning up the keys, he was over selling CDs and talking to kids. Meanwhile this young dude gets up on the B3 and starts absolutely smoking the same stuff that Thompson was just playing. Just some local guy who plays in church around here.

A good friend of mine is letting us (organissimo) borrow his Toyota Sienna minivan for this East Coast tour. My minivan is too small and plus it has a bench seat in the middle. The Toyota is a bit longer and has bucket seats in the middle, so I can take all but one out, have enough room for three people, and all our gear in one vehicle. Bad-ass. Anyway, it's a 2004, and I just have to say it's the nicest minivan I've ever driven. I'm in love with this car. When my Plymouth dies, I'm getting a Toyota.

Downbeat at 9pm. Be there!!!

Jim is giggin' so I thought I use his name for a whlile. This is his wife, Alison. If Thursday was hard, today has been worse. After about 1 1/2 weeks without Zora having clean hair, I finally decided I would take control of the situation. Start the tub, let her put her toys in, get her body wet (no hair at this point), and soap her up and play a bit. All of it seemed to be working. So, I slowly start wetting her hair down with my hands and explain she needs shampoo and she is a big girl, etc. I probably don't even have to say that she went nuts. Flailing her body around, screaming, climbing out of the tub, standing and kicking her feet (not a good combination!). My biggest problem was that she would smirk and scream at the same time...like she was working it good. I said in every disciplinary voice I have to sit down, cut it out, be a good girl, and I am the mom so listen to me. Nothing worked and I felt the tension rising. I thought, how can I give her a time out when she is soaking wet? I'm not that cruel. Uh oh, Jim comes in and we both start in on her. Of course we are doing it in a reasuring way like asking her what the problem is, is she scared or something, and all of that. By the way, you never want to hear Jim raise his voice. He'd never do anything, but his voice booms and I get a bit nervous. Sometimes that is what it takes. However, we were not winning this battle. Then all of a sudden Zora exclaims she has to use the potty. Horray! Maybe this has been the problem...she has to go to the bathroom and everything in her mind is totally out of wack. She sits there for 10 minutes at least, wrapped in a towel, as we explain to her all the reasons she needs to get over the bath issue and be a big girl. She keeps yelling 'no' so Jim and I decide to take all of her toys out of her room. That is where we keep them all. With arm loads everything gets dumped on the living room floor. Just as we are almost finished, Zora comes running out, "Momma, Dadda, I went pee-pee on the potty!" She is so happy with herself and I couldn't believe it to be true. But damn it, it was. Now we are in a totally crappy situation. The daughter who has caused us so many problems with both of these issues has made a huge leap...right in the middle of punishing her. So, like any good parent, we praise her. She is thrilled, we are too, and I felt more conflicted than ever before. How do we let go of the wrong and celebrate the right n the same breath? Honestly, within minutes I am crying out of sheer frustration. Jim is way late for a long gig commute because he is so intrenched in it all. His solution for the day: Give up and be happy. Try the bath again tomorrow. Fine. I severly edit the amount of toys I give back and put the remaining ones in the basement. Frankly, I had meaning to do this anyway because she had grown out of many - so I didn't feel bad and she didn't notice. About 1 hour goes by and I think we are doing pretty good and another bomb goes off. Like the guy said above, she refused to get dressed and bashed her head against my nose so hard I thought I was going to pass out. Man, what a crazy day. I am alone now so-to-speak. She has cried so hard today that the nap thing happened sooner than I thought it would. I love her and I know we will get through it. I have just undergone Parenting 201! Alison Alfredson

The cleaners are stored up in the broom closet, above even my wife's head. So I believe they are safe. She is in daycare today, thankfully, and momma decided to stay home so we're enjoying some together-time for once. We're about to head to Ann Arbor to have lunch and pick up a vehicle I'm borrowing from a friend for our East Coast tour. Thanks for all the advice. I know she's doing nothing abnormal and I hope I didn't come across as complaining. Yesterday was just a tough day and I needed to vent.

I'm not too concerned about the poop on the floor. It hasn't been going on very long. I do not get mad at her about it. I just try to explain to her that poop belongs in the potty and hopefully one of these days it'll click. We even got her this Elmo doll that "drinks" from a bottle and then has to pee (he talks) and you sit him on this potty and he goes and everything is right with the world. She still doesn't get it. I'm more concerned about the misbehavior and I'm wondering how much of it is actually premeditated and how much is just her being a curious two year old. She's too young to be doing things because she's upset with us, right? When she scratched the fridge right after I let her off the naughty step, that was coincidence, right? If not, this is going to get ugly! Of course I still love her more than anything, but today was just especially hard. Again, it didn't help that I was exhausted.

Kevin, thanks for the advice. Sounds like you've done a good job. We're "strict" with Zora as well (people tell us that all the time) and she's starting to rebel. Like Sangry said, I guess I have to accept that we're no longer just caregivers now, but need to start directing her the best way we can. As far as the poop thing, the funniest part is after she does it, she comes over to me and says, "Uh oh, dada... poop on the floor!" And I go in there and I can't find it because she's covered it up with a basket of some kind.

Thanks, patricia. We have purposely kept our nice things out and try to teach Zora what she's allowed to touch and what she's not. The problem with the fridge is that she's allowed to put her artwork on it using magnets. The step from putting things on it to "engraving" it with a piece of metal is probably not too far in her mind. But we haven't used any of those "cupboard locks" or "child proof doorknobs", etc. We just tell her not to open or get into certain things and so far she's been good. We had a problem for quite some time of her playing with the dirt in our plants, but she's stopped doing that finally. So far we haven't had a tantrum in public, but if we do, I will remember your advice.

The window was stripped and re-painted by me. I had to re-glaze the window and just stripped the whole thing. So there is no lead paint on there anymore. GA, we love our LG appliances. We have the fridge and a dishwasher from the same series. Both are wonderful. Highly recommended.

Well, she poops on the floor, and then runs over to the potty and sits on it. I just don't think she understands the order of operations yet. She likes sitting on the potty. The other thing she's started doing is completely flipping out when we try to wash her hair. She's always loved bath-time and has never misbehaved in the tub, but the last week or so, every time we try to wash her hair, she goes crazy. Legs flailing, screaming, trying to get out of the tub, etc. I don't understand that one. I try to put myself in her shoes and think about how strange the world must be to her. I also try to remind myself that she's only two, even though she acts, thinks, and understands (generally) more like an older child. And she's also a BIG girl (over three feet tall already... skinny as a rail) so it's easy to forget she's that young. She really looks like a four year old.

You're probably right. It just sucks because I worked so hard on this kitchen (did almost everything myself, killed myself over it) and there's this big ugly mark on the beautiful fridge now. Guess I'll just cover it up with Zora's REAL artwork (the paper kind). Oh, she's also started pooping on the floor for some reason. We're trying to potty train her and we're thinking she's confused... but then again, the kid is a damn genius and maybe she's doing this on purpose. She can already spell her own name, several other words, count to 20, do simple arithmetic, knows all her colors and letters, etc. I mean, she's damn smart. Maybe she's bored?

I'm laughing too, but she is really starting to push my buttons these days. It probably doesn't help that I haven't been sleeping well at all due to my back pain. Now I know why my parents never had any nice stuff!