Greetings!

It's been a while so I thought I'd update you on my most recent activities, from my 4th Emmy nomination, to an upcoming week at New York's historic Village Vanguard as pianist with David Murray in May. Needless to say, please also keep me in mind for any of your producing , composing , arranging and performing needs, as I'm always on the lookout for new projects and  potential collaborations !

I'm excited to have just received my 4th Daytime Emmy Nomination, in the category of "Best Song" (for the final piece from the Peg + Cat episode entitled  "The Poetry Problem"), in collaboration with lyricist Billy Aronson (the co-creator, together with Jennifer Oxley, of the now 7 Emmy-winning PBS series). Peg + Cat is also nominated in two additional categories (including "Best Series"), and I head out to the ceremonies in L.A. next week for the results (I was also thrilled last year to have won my first Emmy, for "Outstanding Music Direction and Composition", as a member of the show's excellent composing team!) 

 

Here's the final song from a recent episode I composed with lyricist Billy Aronson in celebration of the Muslim holiday of Eid Al Adha:     

I was also pleased to see the recent premiere of " Melia & Jo" - an adorable new show on Curious World from the creators of Peg + Cat . I wrote music for the episode entitled "Race Car" (with theme song by J. Walter Hawkes) and here's an excerpt:  

I am so excited to be performing again with tenor saxophonist David Murray at the Village Vanguard May 2-7 in New York City (as a member of his group " Class Struggle") after so many years and after such a rich history playing with him all around the world that goes back to the very start of my jazz career. David is truly my idol and a key mentor figure (along with the late, great Don Pullen, who first introduced me to him), and I've appeared on 4 of his CD's, and he on 3 of mine. He's also inspired me (along with - paradoxically - the Trump era, which has given me a renewed "need to musically vent"!) to separately write a batch of new jazz originals, which I hope to record soon!

	Me in my Ottawa Kiwanis Festival days :-)

I'm also looking forward to returning next month to my home town of Ottawa, Canada as a special guest at the Highlights Concert of the Ottawa Kiwanis Music Festival (where I played in yearly classical piano competitions from a very early age!) It takes place on Thurs., May 18th, followed by a masterclass at Ottawa's Canterbury High School for the performing arts on Fri., May 19th. Finally, I'll round out this "mini-tour" with a performance (and the premiere of several new jazz tunes!) at Ottawa's GigSpace later that same day, from 7:30-9:30 pm. It will feature special guest (and original D.D. Jackson Trio member!) bassist John Geggie, and should make for a fun homecoming (and reunion!)