New York is a wonderful town. I had the good fortune to meet up with Patrick Spurling, of SpurlingPL from Zurich this past week in the Big Apple. Patrick is the brains behind the carbon fiber trombone slide that I assemble for any number of makes and models of trombones. We got together with Tao Guthrie, straight from Japan, at the Hotel Americano in Chelsea. He was very enthusiastic about the slide and said it was a HUGE hit in Japan. As he put it, “There is no going back.”

After a killer dinner at Bobo, we took in trumpeter Tom Harrell and his band at the Village Vanguard. The music was amazing; the guy is still going at 67.

Tom Harrell at the Village Vanguard

There is a lot of art in New York. We were walking down 10th Avenue on the West side and wandered into one of many galleries. I’d like to see Tom Harrell play this one! For only 25K, it could be yours.

On Monday and Tuesday, I attended a conference in Williamsburg, Brooklyn – half gritty, half trendy – and full of interesting characters. As part of our creative emersion experience, we visited a boutique bourbon distillery, and get this – an urban circus community venue at The Muse.

Momma Muse on Fire

The view from the Wythe Hotel, a former slaughterhouse, was unbelievable. Only in New York…