Another Two DJ Gigs in One Night

Last Friday night, I DJed two gigs. This usually happens once a month.  First, I played my regular happy hour gig at the Peacock Room, located in Orlando, Florida.

Recently, I’ve been performing with this sound system.

No, it ain’t mine. It belongs to Phil Longo, the Peacock Room employee who books me.

In the past, I only used the top speaker.

The sub-woofer is a recent addition.  Tod, Peacock’s main sound guy, thought of this.

For those that didn’t know, bass should always be on the floor or somewhere near it.

As you can see, happy hour regulars take care of me when I play their requests.

I always use a clear plastic container for a tip jar.  A clear container gains more tips than an unclear one.  Also, I wouldn’t recommend using glass containers.  If they break, you or someone may receive a nasty cut.

After my happy hour gig, the automobile and I cruised the forty-five minute drive to Little Fish – Huge Pond, located in Sanford.  Little Fish hosted another Broke-Ass Friday event.

Due to rent and mortgage payments, many folks are broke during the first of the month, inspiring the name “Broke-Ass Friday”.

This time the night involved a charity event.  Right along with food being sold, a toy drive happened also.

The foggy night inspired this photo.

When doing these two-gig nights, I think of British DJ Carl Cox.

If I remember correctly, he does something similar.  After one gig, he’s sometimes off to another in the same day or night.  I think that’s how I remember it.

Anyway, because of my own schedule, I’ll just call myself the Carl Cox of Central Florida.

Shine Salon at Sip

Last Friday, I headed to Sip, an Orlando bar located in The ViMi district.  Shine Salon invited me to a Christmas party held there.  For ten years, I photographed Shine Salon events.  Because of schedule conflicts, I hadn’t been able to photograph their events as much as I used.

Tony Woodley, Me and Shane Valentine:

Tony, a British import, owns Shine Salon.  Shane is one of the main hair dressers.  Prior to my photographing their events, Shane used to attend my poetry readings.

Father and son:

Rob Slac and Ken Sherry:

I also photographed other folks.

No, they ain’t gay.  Shine Salon just like to have fun, especially Tony.

Influential Jazz Legend Sam Rivers Passed Away

On Monday, December 26,  jazz legend Sam Rivers passed away due to pneumonia.   Known mostly as a saxophone player, he also played clarinet, flute, harmonica and piano.

On September 25, 1923, Samuel Carthone Rivers was born in Enid, Oklahoma.  In 1947, he moved to Boston, Massachusetts and studied at the Boston Conservatory.

In 1964, Rivers briefly played with the legendary Miles Davis.  In a quintet, the group recorded Miles in Tokyo.  In his autobiography, Miles Davis mentions Sam Rivers.

After the Miles’ album, Sam Rivers was signed to Blue Note, in which he recorded four albums.  Also at Blue Note, he was sideman for Bobby Hutcherson, Jason Moran and Tony Williams.

In the seventies with his wife Bea, Rivers ran a loft called Studio Rivbea, a jazz performance spot located in New York City’s NoHo district.

During his later years, Sam Rivers lived and worked in Orlando, Florida.  Truth be known, I only saw him perform once.  At Will’s Pub, he used to rehearse his RivBea All-Star Orchestra, my only time witnessing his greatness.

Most of the times, I would see him at parties and local bars.  Always he was friendly.

I heard of his death at The Peacock Room.  To honor him, the bar played his music.

An influential musician who died at 88, Sam Rivers will be missed.

(Most of my info, I got from Wikipedia.)

The following are my personal pics of Sam in Orlando.

Sam Rivers and me.