Concert at the Ahoy in Rotterdam

I woke up this morning and noticed that it was a bright and sunny day! So, I put on some moderately light workout clothes and headed outdoors for my morning walk. Eeeek! It was freezing! Rather than go back to the room and put on the heavy gear, I went to the gym and did a decent workout (including the dreaded treadmill). This gym even has a rower machine, which I hadn’t used in years! I pulled 500 meters, but my time was embarrassing. Oh well! It has been a while since I rowed!



The show tonight went very well, as has come to be the norm. Persephone and her husband loved it! Afterwards, we band members were all giddy and sat in the hotel lobby for hours talking about the show, sharing our favorite musical moments and paying homage to Stevie and each other. It was a love fest!

A Day Off in The Nederlands

Once at the hotel, I had to decide whether I’d be going to sleep or if I’d be getting dressed and heading out to spend the day with Persephone, one of my dearest friends…we’ve been great friends since college. I chose the latter. I always enjoy spending time with Persephone, and try to whenever I’m in this part of the world. Persephone met me at the hotel and we traveled to Gouda via train. What a quaint little town! It’s simply beautiful and scenic. As it happens, this weekend is Open Monument weekend, so we were able to visit several buildings, each hundreds of years old, for free!



The most incredible of the buildings was the Sint Janskerk Church. The church is filled with dozens of gorgeous stained glass windows. The colors in the windows are breathtaking and mesmerizing. I couldn’t stop staring at them.











After visiting the monuments, and a quick stroll through the shopping district, Persephone’s husband, father-in-law and I all went to a Gouda Culinary Festival. The food was tasty, but the service aspect of the festival didn’t function very well. First of all, visitors were compelled to sit at tables and place orders with overwhelmed wait staff, which made for very long delays before getting any food. At most festivals in the USA, visitors are invited to form a queue in front of whichever booth or booths appeal to their palate, pay for a plate of food, and either walk around with their food, or find a table. That way, waiting extended periods of time for food isn’t an issue. The competition for seating at the Gouda festival was intense! As soon as someone stood up from a table, someone was there waiting to take over their seats. Once seated, people tended to linger in their seats, even after finishing their food, despite the teeny, tiny portions.

Nonetheless, the event was fun, except for the prevalence of chain smoking, nicotine addicts all around us. The number of people carelessly and casually smoking amidst the diners was overwhelming. As I was attempting to enjoy a delicious plate of grilled scallops, the woman at the next table held and occasionally took a drag on cigarette, after cigarette, after cigarette, sending her noxious plumes directly towards our table, causing me to nearly gag. We Californians, with our decades of laws directed towards protecting the non-smoker, are simply not accustomed to how oblivious some smokers remain about their habit. I can’t imagine being so addicted to any substance. I could barely taste my food over the stench of the various cigarettes in the environment. However, I’m not in California, so I didn’t raise a fuss. I certainly didn’t want to offend the woman. Besides, perhaps oblivious smoking is simply part of the culture, and had she realized how horrible her smoking was making me feel she would have ceased. Ah well…c’est la vie. At least smokers aren’t allowed to smoke indoors at restaurants anymore in Holland. That’s a huge plus! I’ll be a bit more observant before choosing seating in an outdoor dining situation again!

Ferry Crossing

Today I slept late and went directly to breakfast. After breakfast, I felt the gym calling my name. I didn’t work out yesterday, and I know that letting 2 days pass without working out can start anyone (maybe even me) on the slippery slope of falling out of a habit, so I went to the gym and did a light workout before heading back to the room for my nap. Because of my fatigue, I wasn’t able to take time and do any sight seeing. I suppose I’ll just have to get it together and take a vacation at some point!

Again, the show went well. Arlene attended the show and LOVED it! After the show, we boarded the busses for the trip to the Ferry port. Unfortunately, because of the Channel Tunnel fire this week, loads of traffic was diverted to the ferries, so we weren’t able to board until nearly 5am, putting us into Rotterdam just before noon.

First show at the O2

I woke up this morning feeling exhausted. I slept for several hours, but still felt as if I needed several hours more. I met Arlene Sierra
for lunch and had a great time! I just wish I hadn’t felt so tired. Arlene is awesome. She’s simply brilliant and it’s marvelous to hear of her career as a composer and professor being so successful. I’ve known her for many years, and I’m utterly proud of her accomplishments, and of the fact that she’s still such a wonderful, happy, kind, beautiful friend!

After lunch, it was off to the O2. I clearly didn't comb my hair for this photo. Oops!


What a great show! The concert was completely sold out and the audience was incredible! The energy and response was so overwhelmingly wonderful, I kept a smile on my face for nearly the whole show! Stevie was in very good voice. He did an impromptu version of “Lately” that was stunningly beautiful.

During the show, Stevie took some time to commemorate those who lost their lives in the 9/11 tragedy. I pray that the world continues on the path of enlightenment, and that all of those who seek and wallow in the misery of hatred WAKE UP and realize how precious and beautiful life is, and that we are all one. God bless us every one...

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross

I woke up this morning and went for a walk in Hyde Park. I quickly came across a rose garden and rather than continue on the running path, I ventured into the rose garden.



Just a few days ago, I had watched a program on the BBC that addressed the differences between the standard red rose that I’ve seen so often in the USA, and the traditional English Rose, so my curiosity was piqued. I walked up to a lovely light pink rose in full bloom, pulled it gently to my face, checked for bees (to be sure I wouldn’t be stung!), closed my eyes and took a sniff. Heaven! I must say that I had never smelled a more beautiful rose. I became hypnotized and swooned from the scent. It was simply beautiful! I spent the next 20 minutes wandering from one rose bush to the next, seeking more rose scents. Some were similar to the standard red rose, meaning they were only moderately fragrant; others were similar to the first rose, but none as spectacular. I will have to return and ask someone who might be an expert what type of rose that was.

I returned to the hotel, had breakfast, went to the gym, took my daily nap, and then went to the BBC Studios to do sound check for the Friday Night with Jonathan Ross TV show. Everyone at the studio was really nice, and Jonathan was hilarious! The dressing rooms were heated to a high temperature (comfortable for me, sweltering for everyone else), but the studio itself was quite cool; perhaps not as cold as the notoriously frigid David Letterman set, but definitely cool. Stevie did his interview with Jonathan, and then the band came up from the dressing rooms and performed. We played “Superstition” and “I Was Made To Love Her”, followed by a medley of a series of songs. We all had a great time!


At BBC Studios, before and after makeup and hair...

The Manchester Show

I got up and went for a walk through downtown Manchester. It’s very urban and big city-ish. There were no parks in the area where I walked, but there were several old, formal buildings, which are quite beautiful. After my walk, I did a very lazy workout in the gym before taking my nap. Dinner at the venue was again quite good tonight, as it has been the past few days. Our caterer is excellent!

The show was SOLD OUT! The crowd was incredibly enthusiastic and gave us fantastic energy. After the show, we drove 5 hours or so to London. I was exhausted and got into my bunk and went to sleep!

The first show: Birmingham

This morning I got up and out at 9:30am. I jogged along the Birmingham Canal, which is beautiful, towards the NIA, the show venue.



As I jogged, I periodically stopped to take photos, and a bird decided to come near me. I’m sure it wanted food, but I only took its photo.



I trotted back to the hotel, just in time to catch the complimentary Continental Breakfast. I’m determined to spend as little as possible while on tour, and so far I’m doing really well! I haven’t spent a thing! Lol After breakfast, I went to the gym and worked out with weights and did about 20 minutes of yoga. The gym space in the hotel was decent, with a giant mat that was slip resistant. It wasn’t quite clean enough to do floor work, but I managed to do standing stretches.

I felt rather exhausted through sound check at the NIA. I think everyone is tired from jet lag, but we did a great show anyway. After about 40 minutes of music, Stevie changed the set list. We performed a group of the hits from the 60s and 70s. The audience, a packed house, LOVED it. The energy of the show and the flow were fantastic, and I’m guessing we’ll be repeating that particular sequence…for the most part!

After the show, we headed to Manchester, about a 2 hour drive from Birmingham. We checked into a cute hotel all passed out!



Inside the NIA

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