A Day Off in England

This morning I woke and went outside for a morning walk/run. The weather is damp and cool (no surprise there!) but the environment is quite lovely. The buildings make me imagine that I’ve been transported to a bygone era. The sense of history in Europe is virtually palpable. It’s in the air!

My walk was followed by a workout in the gym. Without question, this was the nicest gym I’ve EVER seen in a hotel. Ever! The gym had everything you could possibly need for a great workout, just as in a top quality commercial gym. I loved it!

After a rather decent continental breakfast, we headed off to rehearsal again where we ran the set list and potential additional songs. After rehearsal, we boarded our official tour busses and traveled to Birmingham, where we checked into a very chic, modern hotel. I didn’t bring the right kind of adapter or power converter, but thankfully, the hotel loaned me a power converter and adapter. Phew! Otherwise, I’d have never been able to get any practicing done. We have our first show tomorrow evening!



The lounge in the tour bus

Arriving in England

We arrived at the hotel and went back to sleep to be prepared for an evening band rehearsals. We stayed in a hotel near the airport. We rehearsed at a really cool studio in the English Countryside. It was a huge space and allowed us to get a real sense of performing on a massive stage, which we’ll do on Monday. We efficiently ran through the entire set list and then returned to the hotel.

A Day Off in New York

We had a day off today, so I went to lunch with Elaine and Eisa at Le Pan Quotidian near Lincoln Center. It was a beautiful day, so I decided to walk rather than take the subway. We enjoyed a delicious lunch and plenty of “girl talk” before Eisa had to return to work. Elaine and I walked to Steinway Hall, where they graciously allowed me to play some fantastic pianos. I can’t wait until the day when I have a grand piano in my home! One day soon…. : > Elaine played me one of her beautiful songs, and I played one of mine for her. It was fun! And then, it was time for me to head back and check out of the hotel.

The group of us headed to JFK and flew to London Heathrow. I never have trouble sleeping on an airplane, so I passed right out after watching Iron Man (which I enjoyed…only months after its release. I admit that I’m horrible about watching movies in a timely fashion, and end up missing most of them altogether…sigh).

Lexus Event

Stevie was hired to perform for the annual meeting of Lexus executives. The event was held in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. I’d dreamed of performing there for many years, but would have never imagined I’d be there for the first time playing with Stevie! The event talent was a star studded roster: Jerry Seinfeld opened the show, Alicia Keys then performed 2 songs and afterwards we went on and performed for an hour. There were several sound problems (causing Stevie to stop the music TWICE during one song), but we all did our best nonetheless. After the show, I went to dinner and met Brandy as well as several members of the Black Eyed Peas, including my friend Lynette’s boss, Will.i.am. They were all very nice. I had a great time!



Sound check





My dressing room





Me in front of a model of Lincoln Center




The guys in the green room




Me and Alicia Keys

Narada's CD Release Show

Tonight I attended the CD release party for Narada Michael Walden’s new CD. The band sounded GREAT! Narada was on drums, Frank Martin on keys, Cedricke Dennis on guitar, Troy Lampkins on bass, another keyboard player, a horn section and Nikita Germaine and Sakai on vocals. It was a fun night of cover tunes that Narada had written and produced for other artists and new material. Shanice Wilson made a guest appearance on a few tunes, and newcomer Brian Lloyd sang a self-penned song, that stole the night! What fun! : >




Me and Sakai




Me and Brian Lloyd






Amy, Shanice WIlson and me

OBAMA for PRESIDENT!

This afternoon, I flew back home in order to prepare for the tour. Tonight I witnessed history in the making. It was a tough day (my sister received some bad personal news, my father was in a car collision severe enough to trigger the air bags, and I had a horrible headache all day), but it ended on the high notes of learning my dad will be ok, and on Obama's awesome speech.

I had intended to attend two fabulous parties this evening, but decided instead to take it easy and watch Barack Obama accept the nomination of the Democratic Party. Several members of my family gathered at my uncle’s home to watch. Obama’s speech was the most inspiring speech of my political life. I’ve seen presidents speak many times. I recall having watched Ronald Regan, Bill Clinton, both Bush presidents, and never have I been as moved or motivated to be an advocate for a candidate as I am for Barack Obama.

Obama for President of the United States of America!

Recording in LA: Part 2

Monday, August 25, 2008
Today we went back into the studio at 6:30pm. I spent the day in my room doing tracks for production clients, and connected my new USB microphone to my laptop successfully! I didn’t practice today, but that’s ok. I’m trying to reestablish the habit of journaling again, which is good and leads directly to my creating this blog! : > Before we started at the studio, we all sat and watched Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic Convention in Denver, CO. She was BRILLIANT! I loved the speech and can’t wait to see her become first lady! ; >

Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Today we started recording a song that we’d learned during sound checks in the last tour, which I think will be a massive pop hit, picked up by commercials and movies en masse. Stevie was in a good mood, despite a slight cold, and we all had fun, despite the long hours.

Recording in LA: Part 1

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind! On Monday, August 4, 2008, I received a 1pm phone call informing me that I had a 5pm flight to LA to record with Stevie! That gave me approximately 2 hours to get myself together and head to the airport. I was fully unprepared, tired, and unpracticed, but I of course packed a small bag and headed to LA.

The first night was a tough night. The perfectionist in me wanted to play everything perfectly, and to impress Stevie. I did fine, but I was deep in judgment of myself.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

I got a call late in the day that we wouldn’t be going into the studio. Since I was waiting for a call, I stayed in my hotel room all day, playing on the Internet and resting, as I didn't have my travel keyboard to practice with. By the evening, I was stir crazy, so I called Dejah Gomez



(one of Stevie's background singers) and we met



Rickey Minor at Herman Jackson’s gig at La Ve Lee in Hollywood. It was fun! The band consisted of Herman on keys, Teddy Campbell on drums, Brandon Randolph (Stanley’s brother) on bass, Kevin Ricard on percussion, and a few horn players, whose names I missed. Great show!

Rickey is super cool! I want to be just like him when I grow up! He's one of the most gracious, generous people I've met since entering the world of superstars. Look for his new book, "There's No Traffic on the Extra Mile", which is to be released later in the year, but is available for pre-order on Amazon. He's got a great story!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008
We returned to the studio, and I felt my confidence return, thankfully! After the session, I went to a birthday party. One partygoer, a fantastic dancer named Roger, gave an incredible demonstration of pop locking. I was so impressed, that I asked him about dance lessons. I’d never tried to pop lock before and asked if he would be able to teach someone like me. He not only claimed he could, but he demonstrated right then and there! I joined him on the floor and learned a brief pop locking routine! It was tremendous fun! I didn’t get to bed until 5:30am that morning!

Thursday, August 7, 2008
I woke up at noon, still feeling groggy. After learning that we had the day off, I decided to and managed to practice piano for 5 hours! The only reason I stopped was because I’d made arrangements to meet a friend for dinner.

I drove to Pasadena to “Red, White and Bluezz”, where I met my friend. It turns out that it is the spot where Byron Miller had invited me to come sit in before. The band was GREAT! Byron on bass, Kenneth Crouch on keys, Teddy Campbell on drums. I had planned to sit in, but was waaaay too tired. I will definitely sit in the next time I’m there!

Friday, August 8, 2008
Back in the studio! We worked on another incredible song. This project is going to be rather incredible. The songs are consistently strong, and I honestly think it will be successful for Stevie.

Saturday, August 9, 2008
We worked in the studio again. On Sunday, I flew home, had dinner with the family in the central valley, met my dog’s 3 new puppies and fell in love with them. If I had a farm, I’d keep them all, but alas I don’t : <

Monday, August 11, 2008
We were back in the studio and recorded one of my favorite of the new songs. I fell in love with the song immediately and had a great time recording it. During the dinner break, I ate some food that didn’t agree with me and I ended up being sick all night. : <

Friday, August 15, 2008
We recorded another great song, a song with distinct dance influences. We worked late…until 5am. As the time passed I became more and more exhausted. By the end of the night, I was so exhausted that I felt nauseated (possibly still repercussions from having suffered diarrhea earlier in the week). But the session went well in any case.

2008 Fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity

Once again, I accompanied Romar DeClaro and a group of singers for the annual fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity that Romar organizes. It was a great success! The singers all did a great job, and amazing, Tommie Bradford, was his usual flawless self on the drums! The performers included singers Romar DeClaro, Lorraine De Arco, Laura Delahaye and Jason Pettit, as well as Rhodel DeClaro on guitar. Many thanks to Benny McKay for being the consummate host!

Vancouver Concert

We arrived at another lovely hotel, with only about 3 hours left to be able to catch some Z’s, which I did after getting in a tiny bit of practicing. At the venue, which was ICE cold, given that it’s a hockey arena, Dejah and I both stretched out on respective sofas for another nap after sound check. I am soooo glad I was able to get an extra nap. I would have been a piano-playing zombie otherwise! Despite the overall fatigue, the show went well and we all said our farewells until September! I can’t wait to get to Europe! Yippee! Stay tuned…

Seattle concert

Another day off! We flew to Seattle and stayed in a very hip downtown hotel. We had especially beautiful weather, and I took advantage of it to go for a lovely walk to the Farmer’s Market, where the fish mongers selected Dejah and myself for a fish throwing demonstration. It was quite exciting! Afterwards I went shopping, to dinner and to bed early! Ah, I love a good night’s sleep! : >

On Friday, we performed at White River Amphitheatre outside of Seattle this evening. The venue is simply beautiful, made more so by the beauty of Mt. Rainer rising in the background. The performance went well and featured a cameo by American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar. I met Sanjaya and his sister Shyamali Malakar, who also appeared on American Idol, at dinner before the show. They’re both lovely people. I wish I could have heard Sanjaya when he sang "Superstition" with Stevie, but alas, his vocal was not fed to my in-ear monitors... I couldn't hear him at all.

After the show, we boarded the tour busses and traveled to the Canadian border. We rested peacefully, assured that all of the travel documents had been checked and that we should be able to breeze across the border easily. Ha ha ha ha ha! After a six-hour wait (yes, six hours in the MIDDLE of the night), we finally crossed into Canada and arrived in Vancouver utterly exhausted....

Me enjoying the environment, Me with Sanjaya and Shyamali

A Day Off!!

Today we had a day off and I invited everyone to my house for dinner. My mother, aunts and sisters all came through and set up a delicious dinner for us. It was a huge success!! Everyone loved the food and a good time was had by all. My niece Naomi even danced a couple of hula dances for everyone. She had all of the women in tears with her beautiful performance. I wish I’d had the thought to film it, but I didn’t. Oh well! It was a beautiful day!

After dinner, Stanley and Kyle went with me and my friends Sundra and Maya to see fantastic guitarist/pianist Stanley Jordan. My friend David “Fingers” Haynes was on drums and Charnett Moffett was on bass. The concert was awesome! My favorite was the final piece, played solo by Stanely on guitar, “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”. Stanley also performed a movement from a Mozart Symphony. His playing was sublime, and he inspired me to increase my compositional creativity in a similar fashion.

All in all, it was a fantastic day off! : >

Me with the group, Me with David Haynes, Me with Stanley Jordan

Concord Concert

Back home to the Bay Area! It hit a high of 111° on Tuesday afternoon. It was so hot that we could barely even do a sound check. We ran through 2 songs and raced back to the refuge of the subterranean dressing rooms. I don’t usually sweat on stage (I’m a tropical type, and like it warm), but tonight? I was drenched. I felt sorry for the people in the audience who experienced near heat stroke conditions. My poor mom and uncle were suffering badly. My mom usually dances the entire concert. I don’t recall having seen her dance at all tonight.

Nonetheless, the show went well. Stevie showed no signs of fatigue or being overheated (he’s amazing), and the band just did what we do! Heat, lights and all!

Several more friends and family attended the concert, and everyone had a great time. My sister Nina came and spent the day with me, which was lovely. She took these photos of me, and tried to get candid photos. It's really difficult for me not to pose when I see a camera! lol

Hollywood Bowl Concert

It was my first time at the Hollywood Bowl, and what a way to experience the venue! We arrived with the sun high in the sky, and the Hollywood sign in clear view beyond the Bowl. Of course, I had to walk to the back of the venue to take a photo!

For this concert, Rickey Minor conducted a string section on a few of Stevie’s songs: Rocket Love, My Cherie Amour, If It’s Magic, and Overjoyed! I really enjoyed having the live strings with the band, but I missed playing especially on If It’s Magic (I usually play the Harp part). Howard Hewitt came on stage and sang with Stevie. It was a fun show!

After the show I was looking forward to taking photos with celebrities, but AGAIN I couldn’t find them! Oh well. I heard that there were several there (as one would expect in Hollywood), but I guess I’ll have to try again next time! Lol

Mountain View Concert

What a night! Tonight we performed at the Shoreline Ampitheater in Mountain View, CA,



the first of two concerts in my home region. When we first arrived at the venue for sound check, I walked around, remembering the venue as I'd seen it as a spectator over the years. The energy of the space was vibrant as I anticipated the excitement of the crowd that would be coming to the show. I occasionally peeked through the curtains, watching the huge, near capacity crowd filter in as the sun went down.

Close to show time, I started receiving text messages from friends and family that there was a GIANT sign dedicated to me in the audience! As I walked onto the stage, I saw it, hanging from a ledge in the upper section: “GO VICTORIA”. WOW!! I was so happily surprised! What a beautiful gesture for someone (I still don’t know who made the sign) to do for me! Thank you so much for your support and encouragement. I wish that I were articulate enough to express how much it means to me. : >



After the show, there was a rush of folks to come backstage. I am blessed to have a very large family and a very large group of friends, and of course everyone who attended the concert wanted a chance to meet Stevie and take a photo with him. The problem? Over 30 people showed up to the designated waiting area. Stevie’s security staff was not too pleased with the situation, but was gracious enough to allow me to bring several people backstage. I wish I could have brought everyone, and if it had been up to me, I would have. I was instructed to point out the members of my family who were standing closest to the door. With as many family members as I have, that instruction basically left out ALL of my personal friends and students, as well as several members of my family who happened to be standing farther from the door. So, to all of you who didn't make it backstage, I extend my apologies, and hope you weren’t too disappointed. Once security said “that’s it”, that was it and I had to go. : < Please know that I appreciate every one of you and am glad that you were able to attend the concert. I hope you had a great time, even though you couldn’t meet Stevie.

So, to all of you attending the Concord concert…please have no expectations of coming backstage! I will do what I can, but I can’t make any promises. In any case, I can’t wait to perform for you! : > There’s nothing like a Bay Area crowd!

Denver Concert

Today we performed at Fiddler's Green near Denver, CO. It was slightly overcast, but comfortably warm, and there was a sold out audience. It is so beautiful to see the faces of people as they swoon, dance, laugh, cry and live Stevie's music. One couple each held their hands close to their hearts as Stevie sang "Visions". Stevie and Aisha shared tears during "Isn't She Lovely". It was a beautiful concert. After the concert, a big group of my friends came to the hotel and we chatted. What a gift this job is! Not only am I blessed to play this amazing music, but I get to travel the world and reconnect with my friends! Wow!

The view from my keyboard:

I had my hair trimmed and cut into long layers today in Denver. The stylist, Ed Gillespie, was FANTASTIC! He washed and conditioned my hair, and did a wonderful scalp massage just before ever so gently blowing out and flat ironing my hair. The resulting style looks great and makes me think that maybe I should try something new. I enjoy having long hair, but having it all the same length for so many years has become rather dull!

After returning from my trip to the Cherry Creek area, I went to a great yoga class at Samadhi Yoga. The class, taught by resident instructor Tina Aisner Porter, was tough, yet inspiring. Tina is an excellent instructor, and guided us students to remain focused on our practice, maintain proper breathing and to be kind to ourselves, backing off when needed. On the road, I do practice yoga in my hotel room, but nothing beats having a great teacher to encourage and guide me! I’m so glad that I went!

Finally, a group of us on the tour went and had a great time bowling, and despite my utter ignorance of the game, I managed a LUCKY STRIKE! ; >

Photos: bowling, me & Ed

Taste of Chicago concert and Band Solos on "Spain"

The concert at Taste of Chicago was great, despite my feeling HORRIBLE! I had a tough time breathing because of severe congestion, and for the first time, I felt seriously fatigues and had a hard time summoning energy. But I made it through. Rev. Jesse Jackson, Congressman John Conyers and other celebrities made appearances on stage. Of course we were all hoping for Senator Obama, but no such luck at this event. Oh well!

Also, I just found this video online of the band solos on Spain at the concert in Boston. My solo begins at around 3:12. Enjoy!

Spain

Photos from Chicago, me at my station, the view from the stage, me with Leon

I caught a cold!

The concert in Michigan went well. The audience was enthusiastic and full of joy and love. I had a great time, but then on the long bus ride to Milwaukee, I felt a sore throat coming on. I immediately took some zinc based tablets and went to bed, but I ended up getting sick anyway! I spent the entire day on Wednesday in the bed, but still didn’t shake it! Argh! I wish I could understand why, despite a very healthy diet, an awareness of keeping my hands clean and away from my face, a healthy exercise regiment and an insistence on getting enough sleep, I STILL GET SICK! What is that all about??? It must be that if I didn’t take such great care of myself, I’d be sick all of the time. In any case, it’s quite frustrating. I hate the idea of “wasting” time laying around trying to get healthy as opposed to spending my time practicing or being creative. Trust me, there’s plenty that I had wanted to do on Wednesday rather than lay in bed all day! I do everything that doctors and health practitioners tell me to do, yet I catch colds at least twice per year. Echinecea? Check. Zinc? Check. Vitamin supplements? Check. Tons of water? Check. Daily visualization, affirmations and meditation on being healthy? Check. 7-8 hours of sleep per night ? Check (most of the time). Avoidance of sugar, fats and cheap carbs? Check, check and check! Sigh…

The concert in at the Milwaukee Summerfest went really well, despite my nose running during the entire show. I still managed to sing (thank GOD), and had fun. The response of Stevie’s crowds is always such a beautiful thing to witness and compels me to do my best…NO EXCUSES! I love this job! : >

Summerfest photos:

At my keyboard station, standing at the top of the venue with Lake Michigan behind me, a view of Milwaukee

On Saturday night, we performed at the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, where we had guest artist Q-Tip perform with us on "Partime Lovers" and "Do I Do". That was fun!

After the show at the Taj Mahal on Saturday, we drove to Boston, and stayed in a beautiful hotel in the North End. The show was held at the Tweeter Center for Performing Arts. Well, I know why it’s called the “Tweeter”! It’s in honor of the little birdies who sit in the breezy ceiling and POOP on the people below!



During sound check, we were all standing in our respective stations, and suddenly I noticed a distinct splash from above. “Ewwwww!! What was that?”, I thought to myself. Well, lo and behold a precious avian friend had relieved itself from above, and it splashed all over my keyboards! Thank GOD I was standing enough to the right that I didn’t get hit (can you imagine? I would have been utterly mortified…I’d have had to wash and restyle my hair, and that’s no small task with my full, long mane)!

The woman in charge of wildlife for the facility was shocked that the birds hadn’t all flown away once we started making noise, as is apparently the norm. I took it as a good omen (especially since I was personally spared), and once everything had been cleaned and sanitized, we went ahead and had a great show. Tweet, tweet…