Here you will find the news about current music projects, an update on upcoming concerts, reviews of shows, stuff my friends are doing, deep thoughts, the latest epiphany from Uncle Willie, or whatever else seems appropriate.
Latest News
The Dallas Brass visit Orcas
The Dallas Brass visited Orcas Island on Marc 11-14 2010 and performed at the Orcas Center. It was one of the best concerts we have had on the island. See more details at www.stevealboucq.com/dallasbrass
The Orcas Horns are born
Orcas Horns at Orcas Rec fundraiser
For the past two years my friend Martin Lund has asked me to be a part of his "One World Music Festival". I've helped out by providing some horn arrangements to back up the vocalists. I've had the pleasure of performing in a feature spot with the great Willie Thomas. The horn section for the festival was made up of local musicians who came together quickly and made some really great music. There were also two follow up performances in the Eastsound park with Martin. Making music with these people was so much fun that we decided to turn it into a band....The Orcas Horns were born.
The first thing we needed was a gig! Right away we were invited to perform on the Orcas Center Stage for an Orcas Island Rec fund raising concert. Our goal was to have everyone dancing in the aisles (shaking everything they've got), and we succeeded.
The next performance was for the legendary Odd Fellows Halloween Dance Party. Gene Nery joined the band to play guitar and sing. It was an amazing scene. The costumes were out of this world and the band sounded great. We even got to play two sets since the second band didn't show up.
Our next event is a New Years Eve Party at the Oddfellows. See you there!
Willie Thomas's new Diminished Jazz Vocabulary Video on YouTube
Willie has a new video on YouTube that explains the Diminished Jazz Vocabulary concepts which are detailed in his www.jazzeveryone.com lessons.
Willie Thomas on You Tube
Willie Thomas has a new video clip on YouTube that introduces his jazz language system as it applies to playing Giant Steps.
Bird Lives
Wow, what a great resource. "Bird Lives" is a very rich and informative site dedicated to Charlie Parker. http://www.birdlives.co.uk/
Jazz Everyone!
Do yourself a favor and checkout the free lessons from the Master Willie Thomas. Uncle Willie has created a new online lesson program for musicians who want to improve their improvisation skills. It's available for free for a short time. WWW.JAZZEVERYONE.COM
New CD Has Arrived
My new CD "The Steve Alboucq Jazz Quartet" arrived on my doorstep this week. I'm thrilled that we finally got this group into the studio to record our music. It will be available very soon from CD Baby and iTunes and a few other online sites. If you want a copy sooner use the PayPal Add to Cart Option. The cost is $12 plus shipping.
The CD is also available at Darvill's Book Store on Orcas Island.
New Website Up
I decided it was time to refresh my website. My old setup was too cumbersome, so I chose this new website tool by Sandvox which I can run on my iMac. So far it is a better way to keep my site up to date. I hope you like it. Send me some feedback.
Music Works Big Band
I'm a member of the Music Works Jazz Orchestra, playing the jazz book in the trumpet section. The Music Works Jazz Orchestra was formed in January of 2008 and derives is name from where it rehearses. Music Works Northwest is a non-profit community school in Bellevue, Washington. Paul Harshman, who is also the director of the award winning Shorewood High School Jazz Band, leads the group. His focus ..ing exciting and challenging repertoire has drawn a highly talented ensemble of musicians that enjoy performing great big band compositions at the highest level. The players are some of the finest in the area and the band has a nice mixture of established and younger musicians that gives the group great chemistry. Together, the band strives to entertain the audience and itself by exploring a wide range of music from composers and arrangers such as Bill Holman, Fred Sturm, Maria Schneider, Astor Piazzolla, Peter Herbolzheimer, Chico O’Farrill, Jim McNeely, Tommy Newsom, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Benny Carter and Stan Kenton.