Hello and thank you for checking in. At the start of the year I was summoned for jury duty here in NYC, something I could no longer put off. It lasted for two weeks! It was really very interesting and I enjoyed my fellow jurors.
Then, the inauguration of President Obama!! A friend kindly invited me to join her to see this at the Apollo Theatre here in Harlem NY. That was exciting to say the least. And what about Aretha’s hat? I also loved Yo Yo Ma’s quartet performance. They all deserve medals for playing in that cold! I was glued to the television for the rest of that momentous day.

Then to Colorado for two performances: Telluride and Montrose. The folks were great to us and what a beautiful area. (No invitation from Calvin Klein to visit his ranch though – ha!)

I had some welcome time with my family in between that and going to the Grammy’s in LA. The Grammy’s was as usual, an exciting event. We stayed at the Biltmore and hung out with good friends. Big congratulations to Cassandra Wilson! I have always admired her work as well as the other lovely nominees. Also big congratulations to Charles Bruffy – Kansas City Chorale conductor and his groups!

I got to attend a classical concert in Bloomington Indiana with Bill McG, who conducted a wonderful program, including one of his compositions. What a wonderful Valentine’s gift.

We then left for Europe, a one week tour in Italy and the rest in Bern, Switzerland.
Among the fond memories there: Driving along the west coast down to Sicily, taking the ferry over – such a beautiful country.

One night, we had a heated, late night foozball tournament with the owner in a hotel where we were the only guests. We also had to check ourselves out in the morning because there was no one to be found! (We think we kept him up too late) We, of course, ate wonderful meals there, even on the road, driving. One can eat like royalty in Italy! Their ‘truck stops’ are stocked with wine, hams, cheese, olives to purchase along the way as well as wonderful freshly prepared food. What a concept!

The audiences were lovely to us. We took a train through the Alps from Italy to Switzerland. Unfortunately it was dark! We passed the time by playing Mad Libs. Needless to say by the end of that week the band (not me 🙂 got pretty ‘creative’ with those.

Marian’s club in Bern was welcome, especially to stay in one place for a week. It’s a sweet and intimate club on a ‘hill’ surrounded by the Alps. The audiences were wonderful to us there, as were the staff.

Our latest CD due out in early summer is a “Best of Karrin Allyson” project. We’ve been busy choosing material and sequencing it and getting the artwork ready. Since we have 11 cd’s out there, there was a lot to choose from. But it’s fun to go back and listen. Of course I have very fond memories of making those CD’s with all of those wonderful players. It’s a project I’ve been wanting to do for awhile. We will probably go into the studio again later in the summer for the next ‘new thing.’

Also heard some great music out & about: Joe Locke’s band at Dizzy’s with singer Kenny Washington – what a wonderful night of music. And another great night of music with Ann Hampton Callaway at Dizzy’s with her wonderful band. I was invited to sit in – she and have a great time singing together. The Camerata Orchestra in Bloomington with fabulous pianist Chris O’Reilly and Bill McGlaughlin conducting. The pianist, Mike Longo at Small’s. Also am reading a book called “On This Day” by Nathaniel Bellows, a new acquaintance I met in the amazing Ms Phoebe’s Pilates class.

Meanwhile, Spring has finally knocked on the door here in NYC. I am more than ready to let her in! I look forward to seeing you all soon out there somewhere. I hope these times are finding you mostly filled with hope and as much joy as possible.
Thanks for checking in.
Karrin