Part Four: Turkey & Italy

Monday, February 24
Cemal Resit Rey Concert Hall, Istanbul, Turkey

The snow continued to fall all night and into the day. I was beginning to think we'd be snowed in and wouldn't be able to leave Istanbul on Tuesday. It was nice to sleep in a little and not have to get up early to travel and the hotel we stayed at was very nice.

Tom and I went to the concert hall early to set up our gear. Today I have a Sonor kit that was rented by the promoter and it's in decent condition but more of an "entry level" kit. I put some new heads on the bass drum (I carry an extra set of heads in my cymbal bag) and tuned up the white Remo Ambassador heads that were on the kit and it sounded pretty good.

The room that we played in is a beautiful concert hall that has mainly classical concerts. (The local orchestra rehearsed there AFTER our concert!) The stage had a very dry sound and we really needed the monitors to hear each other. We had a very full house of over 500 fans in attendance. It's so different playing a "concert" as opposed to the week we just did at the club, Ronnie Scott's. We still were able to create an intimate feeling even though the room is about 10 times bigger than Ronnie Scott's.

The audience was very appreciative and gave us a warm and enthusiastic welcome. Baron and I have played this concert hall before as members of the Aydin Esen Trio. Aydin is an incredible pianist/multi-keyboard player that is from Istanbul and has hired Baron and I to play in Turkey with him. In fact, the first time I ever played gigs with Baron (other than sitting in with him here and there) was in Turkey with Aydin.

Aydin came to visit and stayed for the concert, it was great to see him. The last time we played together was in an Istanbul studio when we recorded his album "Timescape" a few years ago. After the show, back at the hotel, I hung out with Baron and our soundman Saan for a while. Saan will be returning to London the next day, back to his steady gig as the soundman for Ronnie Scott's. I packed my bag and got a little sleep before a 6:30 am lobby call.

Tuesday, February 25
Big Mama Club, Vicoolo S. Francesco A Ripa 18 00153 Roma, Italy

The snow had stopped for a few hours and we were able to leave Istanbul, but not without first having to pay Turkish Air $560 overweight. These European airlines have such a low baggage allotment (20 kilos a person – about 42 pounds vs. at least 100 pounds per person in the USA) that it makes touring with any equipment very difficult.

Besides each one of us having a suitcase, I carry my cymbals and pedal, Tom takes a rack and an accordion and Frank and Baron bring their instruments and some effects, so it's not like we have Tons of Gear!

Anyway, we arrive in Rome, Italy to what feels to us like warm weather. We are greeted at the airport by Marcello Fagnani, who will drive us in a van for the next seven days and also help us setup and breakdown our equipment. We arrive at the hotel, which is about 150 feet from the club, Big Mama. I set up my Sonor kit, which we'll keep for the next week. It's a beautiful Blue Sparkle Designer Set, and it sounds fantastic!

Big Mama Club is a little, funky Blues/Jazz club in the heart of Rome and we have played here before. We do a soundcheck and then head to a local restaurant for a typically great Italian meal. By the time we all return to the club to hit at 10 pm there is a "sold out" sign on the door and they are turning people away! We should have played here two nights!

The crowed is jammed into the club and they are right up to and almost on the stage. The audience is with us from the first note and they clap and cheer throughout the night and give us an amazing amount of love and energy!! Frank is a favorite here and he addresses the people in their language as he is fluent in Italian having grown up in an Italian household in Australia. We play two smoking sets and then greet some of our fans and relax a bit with some old friends, it's nice to be in Italy.

Wednesday, February 26
Bitches Brew Jazz Club, Lungomare Rinascimento, 47 S. Benedetto Del Tronto, Italy

We drove about four hours from Rome to the East Coast of Italy and arrived at the quiet seaside town of San Benedetto Del Tronto. We checked into a nice hotel across the street from the Adriatic Sea and found out that the club, Bitches Brew, was in the hotel. Very convenient! The board-of-directors for Bitches Brew are serious jazz fans and have had most of the top jazz musicians from around the world play at the club. The gig was sold out and we played to over 300 very excited fans.

This tour is the best one Vital Information has ever been on. The clubs and their staffs have been great, the routing is very easy to deal with and the fact that we've broken through to higher level of popularity is VERY gratifying and inspiring to us. Our European-sub agent, Patrizio, came to see us at Bitches Brew and he is already talking about bringing us back to Europe next Spring.

Thursday, February 27
Thunder Road, Via Strada Voghera, Genestrello, Italy

Thunder Road is more of a rock club, but we bring the "jazz vibe" to the club and again we have a sellout crowd of well over 300 people. The audience is very high energy and it inspires us to play at our peak performance. This has been true for most of the tour and each night feels fresh and very creative.

Friday, February 28
Fishmarket Club, Via Fra Paolo Sarpi, Padova, Italy

The Fishmarket is a very unique club. It has a basic décor of fishing paraphernalia, but each month they change the "theme" of the club and this month is Indian month. Everything has an Indian look and it gives the club an exotic air.

Once again, we play to a sold out club and the people are absolutely wild. Frank invited one of his guitar-playing friends, Andrea, to sit in with us. Andrea is one of Italy's top players in both the rock and jazz worlds and he sounds incredible playing with Vital Information. Frank is a very well loved guitar hero in Italy because he tours here regularly with an acoustic guitar duo that plays mainly classical music. The fact that he speaks great Italian also helps and he is accepted as "part of the family."

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