JacroMusic Today

Getting Back to Plan A

2010-05-27T20:49:00.003-04:00

Edgy Blues – Americana Country – Florida Rock

Jim Crozier's Occasional Newsletter - June 2010

First, I want to thank all of you who have mentioned enjoying receiving this newsletter, and the several first time subscribers – I will do my best to make this worth the read. I am excited to try on the attitude of the student this year – not attending school, but taking great joy in the study of American Popular Music. After 40 some years of primarily being a bass player that wrote a few songs, I am now trying to write a little bit every day, play my guitar every day, sing every day, and learn songs from the Great American Songbook – quite a different thing from just playing the bass part. Don't get me wrong, I love playing the bass, and you will find me about still playing with lots of folks, but now, for the first time since I was in High School, I am “Getting Back to Plan A”! My new show features my original songs, of course, along with a lot of great songs dating from last week to last century.

Where I'm Playing:

For the summer, I am scheduled to bring my new show to the porch at Barnacle Bill's, “You Know Where”, on North Monroe Street in Tallahassee. My first date there is Saturday, June 26 from 7 to 10pm, and back again on Friday, July 9.

I will also be playing a solo set at Star Seas (the Caboose at Railroad Square) sometime on Saturday, June 19 as part of the Railroad Square Summer Solstice Festival which is also a benefit for FSU Radio Station V89 (that I have been listening to a whole bunch lately).

Other things coming up include:

Sentimental Journey at the Fermentation Lounge on Monday, June 7 from 9 to 11pm. Sentimental Journey plays “string band Americana” with Brian Smith on Guitar, Chip Bloyd on Harmonica, Dave Dickle on Mandolin, and Jim Crozier on Bass. The Fermentation Lounge is at 113 All Saints Street in Tallahassee and features craft beer from artisan breweries around the world.

I will be playing with Tallahassee Swing at the American Legion Hall (Lake Ella) for the Tuesday night dance on June 1, June 15, and June 29.

And what I have heard lately:

I got a chance to hear Carrie Hamby with the fabulous Walter Belmont at Verona Cafe just the other day – a treat by any other name – old blues that you are just not going to hear any other way.

I visited Cheap & Easy at the new Rusty Bucket (the sign says “Boxers”) - you can really tell that Bob and Naomi have spent some serious time playing together for a long while – worth the trip.

Mike Lanigan totally raised the quality bar at Ouzts' Too this past Sunday with his “Swingin' Harpoon Band”. I finally got to hear “Bedhead Betty” for the first time last weekend, too.

And last month I got to hear Gurf Morlix at the Frog and Hummingbird down in Sopchoppy.

Also, I recently sat in with Jimi McKenzie at Los Amigos (in Woodville), with Mary Z Cox and Yazid at the Mockingbird for the CD release party for “Drumming on the Edge of Banjo”, and with the Zach Bartholomew Trio at the Fermentation Lounge.

Well that seems to be plenty for now. I look forward to seeing you about town – and ya'll be wonderful.

***************************************

Jim Crozier
http://jimcrozier.com

http://twitter.com/JimCrozier

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Jim-Crozier/30430640034?ref=ts
http://myspace.com/thejimcrozierband
http://cdbaby.com/cd/jimcrozier

****************************************

New project

2010-03-18T10:46:00.003-04:00

My wife must have had some time on her hands yesterday. She seldom surfs the web, but somehow she noticed (and emailed me about it) that my blog was out of date - true that.

So this year - 2010 - I am stepping back, studying the music business and songwriting, and working on my solo presentation. After being everyone's bass player for over 30 years, I am stepping to the front of the stage - not so much because I want to be there, but I do need to know how - and there ain't no other way to learn but to do it!

I look forward to producing more shows with my band, but I need to get the solo thing down and spend more quality time on the songwriting gig - it is going well.

SO, please come out to visit me at What?Cafe on April 17th from 8 to 11. I did a presentation there on March 13, and I plan to do one a month for the next few months - it is good school for me and I do hope you will join me. I promise to be bringing out some new stuff every time, both my own, and from other writers.

jc

PS: What?Cafe is on Sharer Rd between Movies 8 and Chucky Cheeze in Tallahassee.

Jim Crozier & Mimi Hearn join forces for show!

2009-11-01T14:39:00.001-05:00

On Friday, November 6, at the Warehouse, Mimi Hearn and Jim Crozier will bring their bands together for the first time.

After years of playing and singing in everyone else's ensembles, the two band leaders bring you their Edgy Blues, Americana Country, and Florida Rock with a few standards and lots of originals from Mimi, Jim, Frank Graham, Jimi McKenzie, and TD & Kathi Giddings.

"Mimi and the Hearndogs" feature Mike Palecki on harmonicas, Mike Snelling on upright bass, Frank Graham on guitars.

"The Jim Crozier Band" features the "Summit Ladies Choir" with Deborah Lawson, Kathi Giddings, Katie Crozier, and introduces Lisa Rhoads on this occasion. The band brings Bill Landing on sax, Jimi McKenzie and TD Giddings on guitars, Jim on bass, and Bob Weiss on harps and percussion. Everybody sings!

Drummer Steve Redmond is playing with both bands.

"It was Mike Palecki's idea," said Jim, "so when I was putting the show together, I gave Mimi a call, and it worked out." The Hearndogs will open, followed by the JC Band. The last set will have everyone playing together until it's time to go!

Photos:

http://jimcrozier.com/musicpix/Jim-TamboBob-0902.jpg

http://jimcrozier.com/musicpix/Jim-Intense-0902.jpg

http://jimcrozier.com/musicpix/Jim-Howareya-0902.jpg

The Jim Crozier Band

with the Summit Ladies Choir

and

Mimi and the Hearndogs

Friday, November 6, 8pm

at the Warehouse

W Gaines St, Tallahassee

$5 - cheap

You may need to access the parking lot from Gay St via Madison St due to construction on Gaines St.

***************************************
Jim Crozier
http://jimcrozier.com
http://myspace.com/thejimcrozierband
http://cdbaby.com/cd/jimcrozier
****************************************

(C)2009, JacroMusic, http://jimcrozier.com

1001 Nights and Cats In Orbit

2009-07-12T14:41:00.001-04:00

Edgy Blues, Americana Country, Florida Rock
Jim Crozier's Occasional Newsletter
July 2009

1001 Nights
As most of you know, I play with Tallahassee Swing, so it is with pleasure that I announce that July 21st will be the 20th Anniversary of Tallahassee Swing's Tuesday Night Dance at the American Legion Hall. When you do the math, taking into consideration that we usually take a couple weeks off around Christmas, that comes out to 1001 Nights. Come by for this special event from 7:30 to 10:00. $7 – cheap!
AND come on out every Tuesday evening from 7:30 to 10. I will be playing bass with them on July 14 & 21 and August 11 & 25.

Cats In Orbit is back on August 15th
Cats In Orbit is Jimi McKenzie, Steve Redmond, and me. We will be at Hammaknockers in Panacea opening Rick Ott's “From the Heart” live variety show. Things usually get started around 8:30.

I got out to hear some music the other day.
I caught Grant Peeples' CD release show for “Pawnshop”. Grant was backed by Lis & Lon Williamson, Kelly Goddard, Dave Johnson, and Kurt Johnston which really made for a magic evening. The New 76ers opened the show, setting things off right.
I also got to catch the Charles Atkins band at Chez Pierre. It was the first time I had heard Charles with his current band: Lois Hinners, Adam Gaffney, and Deb "Sweetgoove" Berlinger.
I appreciated a different take on the blues from The Trigger Happy Band with Bodega Bob Homme, Rev. Hollywood Archie Hinton and Naomi "Sugar" Harris, at the Down Below.
And, I was totally blown away by The Humbell at Bird's Aphrodisiac Oyster Shack – I don't know much about them but they can damn sure put on a Rock & Roll Show.

= = = = = = = = = = = = =
Follow JimCrozier at http://twitter.com
Become a fan at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jim-Crozier/30430640034

***************************************
Jim Crozier
http://jimcrozier.com
http://myspace.com/thejimcrozierband
http://cdbaby.com/cd/jimcrozier
****************************************
(C)2009, JacroMusic, http://jimcrozier.com

That Taxi Gig

2009-05-07T19:00:00.001-04:00

That Taxi Gig - Jim Crozier

It was one of those days that I woke around noon and checked my pockets, "Nope, not enough money for dinner today, gotta go to work."

That meant a walk from Bleecker and Laguardia to 4th Street to take the "A train". If I had a dollar more than a subway token, I would stop and get a falafel sandwich and a cup of coffee on the way. From the Columbus Circle station it was two long blocks and a bit more to West 61st between 10th and 11th Avenue. There I would turn in my "picture" (what we called the hack license), hang out with my buddies, and wait for the dispatcher to give me a car. The cars would start coming in off the day shift starting around 3:30, so if my bookings had been OK lately I could usually get out around 4pm. One never knew who would be at the shape-up from one day to the next. There was Larry the photographer, Eric the songwriter and personal assistant to a somewhat successful playwrite, and Mac the composer. And, I would occasionally do some work with the some of the other various musicians and actors that might be there.

One of these was Gary, my home town rock & roll buddy who had come to New York with the same show I had. After my first stint with Ann Service Company, a Checker fleet, he had suggested that I come over to work with him at Dalk Service Company. That garage had a much hipper shape-up. The business was owned by a bunch of Irish guys that ran a fleet of stock Dodge Coronets. While the Checkers had clear advantages - some folks would hold out for a Checker because of the roomy passenger compartment, they were a tad narrower than most cars (an advantage in tight traffic), they were higher up giving you a good view, and the gearing was such that they were really hot off the line - but the front end was way too flimsy for the beating they got on the New York City Streets; so it didn't have to be in service very long before driving it on the expressway, or even Central Park Drive was way too thrilling - like, "Let's see you keep it on the road through this turn". The stock Dodge had none of those advantages, but that slant six was nearly indestructible, and they still handled OK long after the shocks and front-end alignment had become distant memories.

From the satellite photo, it looks like the building is still there - a low, concrete, block-through building. We entered from West 61st Street, through the garage door - there was no other door in this wall, and this door was never closed, probably didn't have a door to close. About 20 feet in and around to the left was the dispatcher's window, the window ledge was just about eye level for me - they dug on the intimidation thing. Here I would hand in my picture and watch him put it in the stack - He was always shuffling them around. It is really quite amazing how he would nearly always have something to say about your last night out, and he would always get in some comment including the phrase "get those bookings up." Once I was bawled out for poking a hole in the dashboard for my pen. Every other car in the fleet had such a hole but the day guy complained that I had destroyed his new car.

Stepping back from the window was the open shape-up area, which went on about 60 feet back. There was a wooden bench or two, and a high desk where you could figure up your book before you turned in the money. Right beside this area, was a row of gas pumps and some overhead oil and coolant dispensers, four stations in all. The cars would come in off 61st at a full 15 miles per hour and pull down to the last available pump. The driver grabs his bag and gets out while the pump jockeys get to work. Meanwhile, someone from the herd is called to the window, handed his picture with a trip sheet, and heads for the car. A minute later, that car was exiting the door on 60th Street and was back in business. Of course, you might think that this would be a non-smoking area, and you might be wrong.

There probably were a couple black drivers, but I am sure that they had gone to college, so were more like us guys, there was a girl or two, as well, "tough chicks!" But, the garage staff was all black. They were mostly OK, but they didn't take "No Shit!". I got one of the mechanics mad at me once, which was a very stupid thing to do, his buddies had to drag him back while he was opening his knife yelling; "I'm going to cut you - motherfucker!"

In those days, early to mid 70's, the drop was 60 cents, and it was 60 cents per mile and 10 cents per minute of standing time. The drop is what they call the that number that comes up when you start the meter, and the mile is divided into increments of a dime. We were all AFL/CIO members and worked on commission plus tips, 49% after 6 months. Generally you would get out with a car at a decent hour if your trip sheet averaged $60 per night - a few nights in the forties, and you would find that your shape-up got longer, and it might just come to pass that they didn't have a car for you - very few guys ever actually got fired. While I was in the city doing the taxi gig, the fare went up a dime, the city went bankrupt, and the shape-up went from 1 hour to 3 hours because all the laid off cops and firemen were a whole lot hungrier than most of us artist types.

So, your commission after taxes and union dues ended up yielding about $20 per day paid bi-weekly, and $20 was an OK night in tips, as well. That came down to about four dollars per hour, at a time when minimum wage two. I knew some guys that made good money on the gig - and there were lots of scams you could run. By the time a fleet was a few months old, wires to the roof light on most of the cars would have been cut, so you could turn it off even if the meter wasn't running - the only time I ever tried to run "off the meter" I got busted by the Taxi and Limousine Commission, so I found it not worth the trouble - but some guys were really good at it. The TLC would hire these sleaze ball goons to drive around in beat up cars, or even gypsy cabs, looking to bust the Taxi drivers of an infraction of the various rules - running off the meter was the biggie, and refusing a fare was another. The fare on an out of town trip was double the meter - which offered endless opportunities for mischief, for both driver and owner. And, I even knew one guy who sold guns out of his cab.

This was pure hacking and only the medallion-ed, yellow taxi cab driver is allowed to do it. Some of the owner-drivers would sign up with a radio dispatch service, but the fleet cabs had no radio. The business is strictly a matter of putting your car where someone wants a cab. In general, the game is to get as many short trips as possible in as little of time as possible. When things were hopping, it was really bad luck to stop - the trick was to stay in the area where it was busy, and not get dragged up town or out to the boroughs. Since it was against the rules to refuse a fare, the only way to avoid picking up someone you didn't want was to "not see him".

I got really good at sweeping the avenues, but that game was not available until after rush hour. On a Monday night in August, there would be 17 cabs racing down 7th Avenue, trying to be the first one to get to the one person between 42nd and the Village that might need a cab at this moment. In general, the lights were timed at 35 mph, but some of them changed a little late. I got good at claiming a lot of space in front of me, and knowing which lights changed late - the trick is to be moving at 20 mph while the rest of them were standing still on the line - that would give me both sides of the avenue for at least a few blocks before I would have to pick a side to defend. One of the other principle tactics when you had to take a side, was to hold the guy in the outside lane so that he had to stop behind a bus or a double-parked service vehicle. That's how the race was run.

It was like:

He's racing down the Avenue, trying to find a fare,

He's heading for the Village, he thinks there's one down there,

He knows every red light, when it's green,

He's the fastest thing on four wheels,

He's a night time New York taxi driving man.

2009-04-06T22:37:00.001-04:00

Edgy Blues, Americana Country, Florida Rock

Jim Crozier's Occasional Newsletter

April 2009 supplement

Upcoming shows:

Dear friends,

It seems that I left out a couple important events in my last correspondence, also a couple new events have come up – thus, this April 2009 supplement.

I will be playing with Sentimental Journey on April 16 at the Museum of Florida History, at the R A Gray Building, for their monthly Third Thursday event. We will be playing from 5pm to 7pm, so please drop by, have a listen, take a look at the museum, and for a couple bucks, have some fine refreshment, with beer or wine if you like. Sentimental Journey is an acoustic band playing music from the Great American Songbook with Chip Bloyd on lead harmonica, Brian Smith on guitar, Dave Dickle on mandolin and guitar, and Jim Crozier on bass. We will also be at the Miccosukee Land Co-Op for their annual Spring Festival on Saturday, May 2.

The Jim Crozier Band has been invited to join many great Tallahassee Musicians at the big Earth Day Jam at Bradfordville Blues Club on Saturday, April 18. Learn about the event at http://www.earthdayjam.org/ . Jimi McKenzie and TD & Kathi Giddings will be with me – and a few more folks will be joining us, too!

I will be playing with Tallahassee Swing for the Knott House Street Dance at 7pm, Saturday, April 25.

The next big Jim Crozier Band show will take place at the American Legion Hall, Lake Ella, on Friday, June 26. I will be back with lots of my friends and at least a couple new songs. This show will feature; Alvin James and the Pretty Big Band with help from the Jones Brothers, the Summit Ladies Choir, and the Bone Dry Band. More about this later!

For any of you folks who might be attending the annual Silver Stars Banquet at the University Center on April 30, I will be joining Steve Sternberg and the band for that gala affair.

AND:

Every Tuesday - Be sure to check out Tallahassee Swing every chance you get. The band plays at the American Legion Hall (Lake Ella Drive, Tallahassee) every Tuesday evening from 7:30 to 10 (and has been for coming up on 20 years now). I will be playing bass with them on April 14 and 28.

Recent Events:

Will Barrow dropped in from Nashville to do a songwriter show with the Harvest Gypsies a couple weeks ago. It was wonderful to see him again – we had played together some back in the early 80's – and it was particularly fun to hear him singing his own songs, and Rick, Eddie, Fred, and Art did a fine job backing him up for a set, it was totally worth the trip!.

2009-03-20T18:43:00.000-04:00

Edgy Blues, Americana Country, Florida Rock

Jim Crozier's Occasional Newsletter
April 2009

Upcoming shows:

The next big Jim Crozier Band show will take place at the American Legion Hall, Lake Ella, on Friday, June 26. I will be back with lots of my friends and at least a couple new songs. This show will feature; Alvin James and the Pretty Big Band with help from the Jones Brothers, the Summit Ladies Choir, and the Bone Dry Band. More about this later!

I will be playing with Tallahassee Swing at the annual Tallahassee Museum Jazz & Blues Festival at 4pm, Saturday, April 4; and for the Knott House Street Dance at 7pm, Saturday, April 25.

For any of you folks who might be attending the annual Silver Stars Banquet at the University Center on April 30, I will be joining Steve Sternberg and the band for that gala affair.

I will be making it out to Doc Russell's Wednesday Nite Open Mic at the Warehouse at least a couple more times in the next few weeks. That is a very well run event and it has been good for me to rough it on the stage alone, and good to hear what all of the younger folks have been up to – there's some good stuff out there.

AND:
Every Tuesday - Be sure to check out Tallahassee Swing every chance you get. The band plays at the American Legion Hall (Lake Ella Drive, Tallahassee) every Tuesday evening from 7:30 to 10 (and has been for coming up on 20 years now). I will be playing bass with them on March 31, April 14 and 28.

Recent Events:
On March 6, I joined Florida Banjo star Mary Z Cox and hubby Bob as they hosted the Cracker Coffee House event at the Stephen Foster Memorial State Park at White Springs. We played to a packed house for people from all over the country. Ken and Virginia Miller and Ron Patrick also came over from Tallahassee to join the show.

After years of saying “I am going to get to some of the concerts of the Biennial Festival of New Music at FSU College of Music”, I finally did during the last weekend of January. I attended three of the concerts including one by “eighth blackbird”, an established ensemble specializing in the performance of new music – http://www.eighthblackbird.com/. I also attended an electro-acoustic concert where a single instrument interacts with electronic music which featured some fine performances. The final concert I attended featured the FSU Wind Orchestra, the University Symphony Orchestra, and the University Chamber Choir. Of all of it, I probably most liked the work of current FSU doctoral student, Neil Anderson-Himmelspach. Nearly thirty composers from around the world participated in the festival.

On February 12, I made it down to Sopchoppy to the Frog and Hummingbird Company and Butterfield's Roadhouse for one of the special blues jam sessions that Salli and Gabriel have been hosting. I totally enjoyed the scene – the audience was to die for! Thanks guys, I will be sure to make it down again.

Media Help
If any of you use any of the Internet Radio Services, particularly http://www.last.fm, it would really help if you would type in “Jim Crozier” from time to time. I have stuff there, and on http://ilike.com/, too.

And of course I am frequently adding and changing music and other stuff at:
http://myspace.com/thejimcrozierband - there are a couple Tallahassee Swing Videos there, as well.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jim-Crozier/30430640034 - if you are on Facebook, drop by and “Become a Fan”!

And on my own music page at: http://jimcrozier.com/music.html

I used a new online service called tunecore.com to release Talkin' To the People as a single – so you may buy it now at iTunes, Amie Street, Rhapsody, and other popular digital music distribution points! - even got some money from that already, yea (not much, but it's a start).

***************************************
Jim Crozier
http://jimcrozier.com
http://myspace.com/thejimcrozierband
http://cdbaby.com/cd/jimcrozier
****************************************

NOTE: if you do NOT want to continue to receive occasional messages from Jim Crozier please send a note to: deleteme@jimcrozier.com and you will be promptly removed from my list.

If someone forwarded this to you and you want to get more similar messages from Jim Crozier, send a note to: subscribe@jimcrozier.com

New Music

2009-02-03T18:21:00.001-05:00

After years of saying “I am going to get to some of the concerts of the Biennial Festival of New Music at FSU College of Music”, I finally did during the last weekend of January. I attended three of the concerts including one by “eighth blackbird”, an established ensemble specializing in the performance of new music - http://www.eighthblackbird.com/

I also attended an electro-acoustic concert where a single instrument interacts with electronic music which featured some fine performances. The final concert I attended featured the FSU Wind Orchestra, the University Symphony Orchestra, and the University Chamber Choir. Of all of it, I probably most liked the work of current FSU doctoral student, Neil Anderson-Himmelspach. Nearly thirty composers from around the world participated in the festival.

Lot of work.

2009-01-18T15:00:00.005-05:00

I love putting on shows. Nothing is as exciting as being in front of a crowd of people doing what you know to do - Talkin' to the People - but, damn, it's a lot of work.

It is happening again on February 6, 2009, at the Warehouse in Tallahassee. I am calling it the "Pretty Big Band Show". We will have 10 or 12 folks with us for this one, not as big as the band I had for the March '08 show, but still a pretty big band.

Helping me in the rhythm section is Steve Redmond on drums.
On guitar we have TD Giddings, Jimi McKenzie, and Eric Pfeufer.
Bill Landing is on sax, and the highlight is the choir with:
Kathi Giddings, Deborah Lawson, Steffi Tassos, and Katie Crozier.
Bob Weiss will be doing a set of classic R&B and also singing lead on a couple of my songs. And, a couple of brilliant young musicians have been invited to join us for a few songs and have tentatively accepted; Alphonso Horne on trumpet, and Erma Kyriakos on violin. Adding to my own material are songs by TD, Kathi, and Jimi.

We start out at 8pm with a set from the Jones Brothers Band. Next, the Jim Crozier Band kicks out a set mostly from the "Down to the Village" CD with some new stuff in the mix - expecially: "Talkin' to the People". Rounding out the evening is the Bone Dry Band, featuring material from from our Suburban Woodville neighborhood.

Love to you all, hope you can make it, I know it will be worth the trip!

http://www.jimcrozier.com

Jim Crozier Band at Bird’s

2009-01-02T13:49:00.000-05:00

Friday, January 02, 2009

Check out this event: Jim Crozier Band at Bird’s

Hosted By: Jim Crozier
When: Friday Jan 02, 2009
at 9:00 PM
Where Bird's Aphrodisiac Oyster Shack
325 N Bronough St
Tallahassee, Florida|10 32301
United States
Description:
Jim Crozier

Click Here To View Event

Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T09:49:00.003-05:00

I've got the fire going good - I will BBQ the turkey in a while.
My daughter, Katie, got in last night, with her dog.
Both grandmas and my son will be here this evening.
It will be a wonderful ThanksGiving Dinner.
And then Jean and I will disappear to St Augustine Beach for the rest of the weekend.
I give thanks!

jc

Frank Brown International Songwriters Festival

2008-11-26T14:39:00.003-05:00

On November 15, I had the thrill of joining hundreds of other songwriters as a guest writer at the annual Frank Brown Songwriters Festival on Perdido Key in FloriBama land. Jimi McKenzie shared a writers in the round session with James H Williams and a very young Monroe Hamit for an hour at the Perdido Key Resort in the Sandcastle Room. The real thrill was that we were followed by a group of writers that included Tim Johnson, Steve Williams, Thom Shepherd, and Lance Miller. Since they have a bunch of hits among them, we ended up with a pretty good crowd!

And wow, Reneda and her team really treat us like royalty!

jc

Good Rehearsal

2008-10-02T19:51:00.004-04:00

Last night, the newly reconstructed band "Bone Dry" assembled for the first time - this is going to be a great show.

We got through 26 of the 29 songs on the list.

It was the first time that some of the cats had met each other.

Ya'll gotta make it! 621 Gallery, Railroad Square, Tallahassee, Oct 10, 6pm.

This is only a part of the Charles Hook Memorial Weekend, he would have been 60 the day before. Sculptor, Charles Hook was a friend and teacher to us all.

jc

"Bone Dry" returns to 621 Gallery

2008-09-30T08:53:00.003-04:00

New Orleans Blues, Americana Country, Florida Rock, Original Songs.

"Bone Dry" returns to 621 Gallery on October 10, 2008 (6 to 9pm)for the Charles Hook Memorial Weekend . Bone Dry is led by TD Giddings - guitar and vocals, with Jim Crozier - bass and vocals, Kathi Giddings - vocals, Eric Pfeufer - lead guitar, Bill Landing - sax, and Lex "Luther" Coleman - drums. Guest appearances likely.

621 Gallery is in the Railroad Square Art Park in Tallahassee, Florida.

New web site

2008-09-19T15:55:00.002-04:00

I have been working on my web site at jimcrozier.com

Still mostly just a place to post stuff to reference from other places, but still an improvement!

jc

Been a long time

2008-08-23T20:44:00.004-04:00

Ms. Fay is just about done with Florida now, a most unusual storm. It has completely covered the entire state and left at least 10 inches of rain everywhere, not entirely a bad thing.

We lost electrical power three times. The most recent time was when the top of an apparently healthy oak tree was blown down across our line. I thought it would be tomorrow by the time that got fixed, but the heroes were out in the rain to fix it this afternoon.

Talquin Electric Coop lost a lineman in the storm last evening when a tree fell on him.
How do you thank them?

some lucky dog

2008-06-21T17:12:00.000-04:00

Woke up one hot and lazy week-end morning
Checked the email, met a couple friends on line
Being restless, had to go,
Round the county, What ya know
Seems there was nothing, so I just came home.

I gave a concert to my dog
Then I sat down and wrote this blog
Checked them out, but they're all jerks
Tried some more, but nothing works,
So I came home and gave a concert to my dog.

Been writing songs of fear, and craving wisdom
Some old man had to really have his say
Had it rough back in his day
driving trucks and making pay
Seems there was nothing, so I just came home.

I gave a concert to my dog
Then I sat down and wrote this blog
Checked them out, but they're all jerks
Tried some more, but nothing works,
So I came home and gave a concert to my dog.

(c)2008,JacroMusic

this just in

2008-06-17T21:41:00.001-04:00

We just got back from Boston.
Neat Town!
I heard the Jazz Criminals and the Julen Kaspar Band.
Yea
jc

I'm playing on a new CD

2008-04-08T19:08:00.002-04:00

I just got my copy of the new CD from Mary Z Cox: Florida Banjo

I'm playing bass on it.

It's pretty cool!

Check it out: http://maryzcox.com/

Sometimes you just get so busy.

2008-03-24T19:09:00.002-04:00

I probably mentioned before that I was doing a big show last Saturday Night. Fact is, it is the biggest show I ever tried to produce. I woke up early Sunday AM mulling over all of the stuff that I gotta fix if I ever get crazy enough to try to produce a show with 32 performers and 8 staff again. BUT BY ANY reasonable standards, it was an unqualified SUCCESS!

And then what should have been a day to just veg out, and get around to unpacking the truck, figure out the books, etc., was when I had to get up and see what help my neighbor, TD Giddings, needed. As I mentioned, Charles Hook died last Monday and it was time for some 300 friends and family, including many former students, to arrive for a memorial celebration, hosted by TD and Kathi.

I had minimal tasks, but it was decided that we would use my PA, and I had to learn a song to play with John Stephens to close the ceremony. Kathi sang my "Hymn to Opportunity", and Jimi McKenzie began the proceedings with his "Good Friends".

After the official part, it was time for the fabulous buffet from the covered dish dinner. As I finished my plate, sitting with my wife and my mother, it finally hit me that I had been running on adrenaline for about two months. The plan was that I was to be playing some songs for the wake - I managed to join in a couple, and then sit by the fire for a few minutes - but getting home next door without falling a sleep was becoming a concern.

This morning, it was all I could do to get up to call the office at 8am to say I would not be in.

I got some rest, and most of the odds and ends put together today. Back to what they call real world it in the morning - but I'm going to bed early again this evening!

I am told by more than one witness that during "Hymn to Opportunity", a wind came up, and Charles stood behind us at the edge of the clearing. Just the sort of thing that he would do.

jc - Monday 3/24

Charles' passing

2008-03-17T19:51:00.002-04:00

My friend and neighbor, Charles Hook, slipped away early this morning. He was a sculptor and teacher of sculpture, and has been visited by many who traveled great distances over the past several months of his illness. My concert shall be dedicated to his memory.

jc March 17, 2008

A great Birthday Week-end

2008-03-16T19:08:00.001-04:00

It just happened to be my birthday. But, the other stuff going on was what really made the party.

Grant Peeples reserved the Wakulla County camp ground at Newport, Florida for a week-end long pickin’ party. Liz and Lon Williamson, Susan Brown, Jamie DeFrates, and Chip Harrington were all there from the St Augustine area. Jimi McKenzie, Dave Dickel, Floyd Matthews, Carrie Hamby, Frank Graham, Ross Beck, Minie Brattan, Mimi Hern, and Frank .... were just a few of the others there. I got there when I could.

I had another gig with Swing Shift on Saturday evening, and at noon Sunday, Tallahassee Swing opened the show at the annual Jazz and Blues Festival at the Tallahassee Museum. I stayed around for the afternoon to hear RoadHouse, the new band The Contenders, and ACME Rhythm & Blues.

Jammin Round!

2008-03-10T17:57:00.001-04:00

I was out sitting in with some folks Saturday and yesterday.

Saturday evening I attended a dinner and pickin' party for Bob Cox, husband to Mary Z Cox, on whose new banjo album I will be appearing when it is released in the next month or two.

Sunday, I took Drew Reid up on his invitation to sit in at Outz's Too (Newport, FL) with him and fiddler Bo Lawrence. Mimi Hern was there, too for that set. Some other folks dropped by, as well, a good time was had by all!

Later I dropped by Sandy Bottoms (Wakulla Station) to sit in with Jim McMurry. Now that is always fun. And I got the opportunity to give Carolyn (the owner) my CD to put in the Juke Box - unlike most, she owns the juke box so can put whatever she wants in there!

All of the time I was telling everyone about the big show!

Gettin the word out

2008-03-01T13:32:00.003-05:00

I have now pretty much switched from my Arranger role to that of the Publicist. I use to do a bunch of that stuff, having once published a small promotional publication called "The Tennessee Street Rag" in early 1980.

Just so we have it clear just what is being promoted:

Correction

2008-02-27T18:37:00.001-05:00

So, yesterday, it turns out, that I over credited the Tallahassee Swing drummer, Walter Kelleher with the posted video. Walter was the one to blame for getting Carl Morse "hooked on uploading videos to YouTube".

Carl did a great job of editing a two camera shoot. See it at:
http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=0i6Py9NXNGs

Cheers!
jc

Tallahassee Swing on YouTube

2008-02-26T22:06:00.001-05:00

Carl Morse, at my request, brought his video gear in to the regular Tallahassee Swing gig at the Legion to record the first reading of my chart, "Nola Swings".

Carl is a regular with the band in the trombone section, and plays on my CD, Down to the Village.

WELL, he and Walter Kelleher (the drummer), produced a two camera shoot and posted it on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0i6Py9NXNGs

It is also at myspace.com/thejimcrozierband

Pretty damn good for sightreading!

I love these cats.

Making a Show

2008-02-26T21:30:00.001-05:00

So, this is the biggest show I have ever put together.

On March 22, 2008, at the American Legion Hall, at Lake Ella, Tallahassee, FL, Jim Crozier will produce:
Down to the Village, the Big Show
I can't call it a CD Release party because I released the CD last November, but it is the only show that I am really trying to get everyone from the CD on stage at once - AND there were a lot of folks who helped me put this project together.

As part of this, I have written big band arrangements for most of the tracks. "Tallahassee Swing". The Big Band will be backing up me and all of the other singers and instrumentalists from the album on songs from the album and two others that will be on the next project. In fact, I expect that the recordings we make during this show may very well be on the next release!

BUT, the logistics of the situation indicate that the chances of actually having a rehearsal with everyone are just about zero. SO, to mitigate that situation, I have produced a CD with the synth output from Finale (the arranging program) that I pulled into Sonar (a sound mixing program) and added a vocal part - me singing plus a running commentary about where the solos come in, etc. This is what I call a rehearsal demo.

Tallahassee Swing plays at the Legion Hall every Tuesday Night (and has done for over 18 years now). There are two (actually three) bass players, so I am there every other Tuesday. Tonight was not my night to play, but I produced the rehearsal CD's this past week-end, and this afternoon, I manufactured 20 copies that I distributed to the band members this evening.

The band sounded great this evening, even without me playing with them ;=)

jc

Tallahassee Swing

2008-02-19T23:29:00.002-05:00

Well The Tallahassee Swing Band totally kicked ass tonight! And they played my chart "Pemberton's Blues", too.

JIm Crozier & Tallahassee Music

2008-02-05T18:13:00.000-05:00

Jim Crozier in Tallahassee:

Arrived June 1, 1976 from New York City.

Met and played with Pierce Pettis that first summer and on to play some early tour dates and his first album a few years later.

Met fiddlers David Langston and his late father Bob at a bluegrass pickin' party hosted by Fred "Butch" Burns of the Bottom Dollar Boy$ that first summer.

Joined Bill Wharton's "Wild Blue Yonders" in September 1976 (before he was the Sauce Boss).

Started playing with Jimmy Lohman in February 1978. That immediately became the "Lohman-Crozier Trio" when his brother Van arrived from Pittsburgh the following month. Jimmy and Jim played jazz together for several years to follow. The late Tom Creekmore and the late Steve Mello both figured prominently in that project. Pam Laws started coming out to sing with us before she was famous.

Played bass with Bill Kennedy and Lindsey Sarjeant starting in 1978.

Graduated from FSU School of Music, 1979, with a BM in Music Composition and Certificate in Performance on the Double Bass.

Played two jazz festival dates with Marcus Roberts before he was too famous.

Started a long standing relationship with the McKenzie Brothers (Jimi and John) in 1981. After John moved down to central Florida, Jimi and Jim have played together with many folks including: Steve Redmond, Scott Schieve, Bob Weiss, Trenida White, Joey Karioth, Mariano Rodreguez, the FRB Horns…. In bands known as "Cats In Orbit", "The Jones Brothers"….

Played with Jon Copps in the mid-80's in the band "Big Fedora" which morphed into "Twang Thang".

Played with Alan Hightman, Michael McKenzie, and Marlon Moore as the "Hightman-Crozier Quartet" with Deborah Lawson on vocals. That group did a couple of live appearances on 88.9's "Snatches of Jazz" program in 89 and 1990.

Played with the late Fred Friedberg in "Equinox" in the early 90's. Mariano Rodreguez had recently come to town and played in the band.

Played with "Tallahassee Swing" throughout its history, sometimes as a sub and sometimes as a regular. Has been a regular one of two bassists since the late 90's.

Was a founding member of "ACME Rhythm & Blues" in 94 and played with that unit until 97.

Played with blues diva Bonnie Edwards when she was in town in the late 90's.

And more recently, and through the years, with TD and Kathi Giddings.

Nola Swings on the Radio

2008-02-03T16:08:00.000-05:00

The cut "Nola Swings" from my CD "Down to the Village" was just played on WFSU-FM's (88.9 Tallahassee) Sunday program "Snatches of Jazz"!

Interesting things about Jim Crozier:

2008-02-01T23:15:00.000-05:00

Interesting things about Jim Crozier:

He was a New York City cab driver for 3 years in the early 70's

He attended the Grammy Award show in 1972 as a nominee in the category of "Best Original Cast Album".

His first "band" was the "Pionears".

Jim was the rhythm guitar player, not the bass player, when "The London Dock" won a battle of the bands in downtown Warren, PA in 1968 with "Jumpin' Jack Flash".

He accidentally told John Lennon that he liked Paul's music better in 1971.

He was working in summer stock theater as Musical Director while still in High School.

The body of his broken string bass was stolen from his car parked on W33 St, NYC in 1971.

He once lived in a children's playhouse.

He once picked up a hitch hiker in Las Vegas and took him to Erie, PA. It turned out that the guy was AWOL from the Air Force. There was a war going on then, too.

He once spent all of two hours visiting San Francisco.

He played in the band at his own wedding reception.

He gave a recital at FSU that was half classical and half jazz (in 1979).

The bride helped push his truck out of the sand when he got it stuck in the sand at St George Island (he was in the band that played at the reception).

He once wrote a string quartet called "Pair of Duces" that is scored for Violin & Cello vs. Viola & Contrabass.

He once shared shit-eatin' grins with Bob Dylan on Bleecker Street.

And one more thing

2008-01-29T10:40:00.001-05:00

Mark Okasaka has continued to play tracks from my CD, "Down to the Village" each Sunday afternoon during his show, "Snatches of Jazz" on 88.9FM, WFSU-FM Tallahassee, FL.

Thank you Mark

Here is the Hymn

2008-01-29T10:32:00.001-05:00

This is a link to the recording of Hymn to Opportunity that I mentioned. Please enjoy.

jc

What a musical week-end

2008-01-29T10:15:00.001-05:00

Yea, I know its been a while since I've been here. I've been busy. I'm thinking that producing one show a month is about what I can do ;=)

Friday started out with a great shot from the "Tallahassee Democrat":
Check this out

The McKenzie Brothers with Jim Crozier at the Warehouse went off well. Rick Knowles joined us and Kathi and TD Giddings helped out all night long. I have a recording of "Hymn to Opportunity" with a lot of crowd noise, but really decent performance.

The real treat was when my old buddy Jimmy Lohman made a surprise visit from Austin, TX. He sat in for the last set - yea, that cat can play.

Saturday, the Jones Brothers Band did their annual gig at the "Big Chili" party which has been going on for 21 years now, with us as the band for the past 13 years. It is a Chili Cook-off but the judges are required to "cleanse the pallet" with Tequila between tastings - some interesting results - always ending up with us playing the hardest rock & roll we ever do - they want to boogie.

After that I visited friends a the Warehouse - The Bottom Dollar Boy$ - and another bluegrass band from out of town that I am not recalling the name of. All of Big Bend Bluegrass royalty was there.

Late night, John McKenzie, TDGiddings, and I played guitar in a circle until the wee hours - I am not used to playing guitar and got a blister on my thumb.

GREAT week-end.

love to all
jc

The sweetest sound

2008-01-15T22:57:00.000-05:00

The sweetest sound that an arranger ever hears is:

"Turn it in for a number!"

So Pemberton's Blues in in the book.

jc

New Chart

2008-01-15T18:20:00.000-05:00

Heading into Tallahassee just now for the Tuesday Night Tallahassee Swing Band weekly dance.

The band just bought a bunch of stuff from the book of another band leader that was hanging it up. ALSO, I have a new chart to play.

So we will be sight reading about a half-dozen charts tonight.

I love playing with a band that can pull that off!!!!

Jim Crozier
http://jimcrozier.com

The March 22 show

2008-01-13T20:55:00.000-05:00

Major progress has been made on the plan for the March 22 show.

There are 9 charts that I need to write or finish between now and then. I still have 3 (or 4, depending on how we count) that I need to pretty much start from scratch.

It will be good and exciting to make this show work.

jc
http://jimcrozier.com/

On the Radio again!

2008-01-13T16:37:00.000-05:00

I love it when that happens...
Just sitting in my studio working on some stuff, the radio's on, but not payin' whole bunch of attention, and then I realize that I am hearing one of my own songs and double check to make sure that the tuner is still set to FM.

Mark Okasaka just played "The Cat Song" from my new release "Down to the Village" on his weekly Sunday afternoon radio show, "Snatches of Jazz", on WFSU-FM, 88.9FM, Tallahassee, FL

He played my song, "Ain't No Use" last week.

I thank him very muchly!

***************************************
Jim Crozier
http://jimcrozier.com
http://myspace.com/thejimcrozierband
http://cdbaby.com/cd/jimcrozier
****************************************

Florida Banjo

2008-01-12T21:42:00.000-05:00

Mary Cox is releasing Florida Banjo.
She asked me to play bass on it.
I did, and now I anticipate its production.
This is fun music.
Old time dance music
before electricity, or at least where they were.

http://jimcrozier.com

NSAI workshop

2008-01-09T22:28:00.000-05:00

Well, to start out, the Tallahassee Swing Band schedule did not include playing my new chart last night - Elliot did put it on the list for next week, however - and the rhythm section parts could use a little editing anyhow. Bob White was the drummer on Jan 8. He was a professional drummer in the society circuit out of Local 802 for many years - retired from that - did another 20 years in sales - came to Tallahassee - and is out to do some playing now for fun and profit. His chops may be a bit rusty - but he damn sure knows how to do this stuff. It was an honor working with him last night.

Tonight, Wed 1/9, was a Nashville Songwriters Association International (NASI), Tallahassee Workshop. I haven't paid my dues there for a while, but I will be signing up again this year. This was the first workshop of the year, had a lot of good folks show up, all at different stages of growth, but all for real. I expect that we will be hosting some songwriter presentations in the coming months. The group feeling seemed to favor intimate performance situations.

jc

New Chart!

2008-01-08T18:16:00.000-05:00

I head into town at this moment where the Tallahassee Swing Band will premier my new arrangement of Jimmy Lohman's "Pemberton's Blues".

I will let you know what happened next.

jc

Radio Play

2008-01-06T17:37:00.000-05:00

Mark Okasaka played "Ain't No Use" from my new CD, "Down to the Village" on his Sunday afternoon program Snatches of Jazz today.

The program airs weekly at 3pm Sunday on WFSU-FM, 88.9 in Tallahassee, FL.

For years, that program was the reason I had a radio ;=)

The CD is available at http://cdbaby.com/cd/jimcrozier , iTunes, and from several fine Tallahassee retailers.

gonna finish this chart

2008-01-05T14:46:00.000-05:00

Jimmy Lohman wrote a song for the Victor Nunez movie "Gal Young'Un" that he and I played with our group for many years that followed. I am presently finishing up a big band arrangement of "Pemberton's Blues" for the Tallahassee Swing Band that I totally expect to take to the gig Tuesday, January 8, at the American Legion Hall in Tallahassee, Florida.

It sure is a blast playing with a band that can (and will) sight read a new chart on the gig!

jc

Nola’s Muse, an Unresolved Situation.

2008-01-05T00:20:00.000-05:00

Nola’s Muse, an Unresolved Situation.

Song About No Place to Go, Still!

A quick search of the news shows that on the dawn of 2008, more than two years after the Katrina flood, much of the soul of New Orleans cannot return. Songwriter, Jim Crozier visited from Florida in July 2006 and was struck by the contrast. While he, as a tourist, was treated like royalty from the French Quarter to Uptown, everything else for miles around was disaster. His experience of hanging out with musicians there left the same feeling, that so many who had dedicated their lives to the creation of the song of New Orleans could never return to stay – there is just no place to go. His song, “Nola’s Muse”, features Carrie Hamby’s accordion and David Langston’s fiddle, and the whole Tallahassee Swing Band as the gentle waltz becomes a second line parade. It is now out on Crozier’s new CD titled “Down to the Village” available at CDBaby.com, iTunes.com, and several Tallahassee retail outlets.

Jan 4, 2007

JacroMusic

http://jimcrozier.com

Reference:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/03/us/nationalspecial/03renters.html
http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/01/pf/neworleans_pellissier.moneymag/index.htm