Notes from the FIVE-TIME GRAMMY NOMINEE
Blog Post May 2024
Greetings Friends ! It’s been awhile since I’ve contributed to this blog— perhaps I’ll call it “the occasional yarn” instead — but here are some thoughts ...as of today ! I’ve been teaching pretty steadily [...]
Road Words December 2021
Hello Friends— We’re back in the saddle again!! Well, mostly … and it feels great— your presence has made all the difference. It’s amazing how busy I was before I really got BUSY touring. We [...]
Sheltering At Home Notes, April 2020
Greetings, It’s been ‘surreal’ here in NYC … empty streets, but much of the time parks full of people, food shopping is challenging to say the least - although cooking more has been ‘fun’ … [...]
Travel Blog | November 2019
Dear Friends, Seems I haven’t written since the beginning of 2019…. It’s been quite a year for everyone on the Planet. From much traveling and performing, being with family & friends when I can, suffering [...]
Travel Blog | December 2018
Dear Friends, Last I wrote was in April… this was the beginning of the release of “Some Of That Sunshine” project, so it’s been busy. I know some people sometimes wonder “what does a musician do [...]
Travel Blog / January 2018
Hello - Last I wrote was in May - we had a great weekend of music (our ‘annual; there) at the Green Mill with Miro, Larry Kohut and Eric Montzka— thanks to Dave Jemilo, sound [...]
Travel Blog / April 2018
Hello! Last I wrote was end of the year… December; we recorded at Sear Sound in NYC … my band for the new project is: Chris Caswell (Hammond B3 and co-producer) Miro Sprague; piano, Rod [...]
Travel Blog / October 2017
We played two new Blue Notes in January / Feb — first in Napa CA— beautiful new jewel-of-a-club, on bottom level of the historic Napa Opera House— and the second in Honolulu, one of my ‘homes’.
Road Words – December 2016
Greetings! We returned from Turkey about a week ago, and as I start to write this, I’m already half-way across the world (Hawaii) en route to New Zealand, indeed a peripatetic life. Travel can be [...]
Road Words – January 2017
Greetings and thank you for checking in. Last I wrote it was Sep of ’16… A new wonderful friend, Jolene Dalton asked us to come to her school in Port Angeles WA before our Jazz [...]
Road Words – September 2016
Greetings Friends... "Oh the days dwindle down, to a precious few….September, November!" to quote that beautiful lyric by Maxwell Anderson...Sad to the see the summer go, I had a many good adventures with many great [...]
Road Words – June 2016
Greetings! We returned from Turkey about a week ago, and as I start to write this, I’m already half-way across the world (Hawaii) en route to New Zealand, indeed a peripatetic life. Travel can be [...]
Road Words – April 2016
Greetings Friends! Seems I haven’t written since last year— how can that be? December and January were filled with many parties and celebrations with great friends and family— I truly have the most wonderful people [...]
Road Words – December 2015
Greetings! Last I wrote, it was August — hard to believe we’re approaching the end of 2015. I have so many things to be thankful for— one of them is a great group of fans [...]
Road Words – August 2015
Greetings! I last wrote at the end of last year, hard to believe we're already in August now. This year has been also been full of preparations for our new release “Many A New Day” [...]
Road Words – February 2015
Dear Friends, greetings! I hope the New Year is great for you so far. It's been a calmer beginning for me....It was a very busy 2014. Now, it's good to sit back and assess what's [...]
Road Words – September 2014
Greetings! Last left off in May; we had a wonderful week at Birdland with Bruce Barth, Ed Howard, and Adam Cruz. Every night was different and felt great, what a band! And if you happened [...]
Road Words – June 2014
Hello! I think we left off in March... the winter kept on giving but thankfully, we were able to get all of the performances in! Starting with our beginning concert with the Newport Now60 Group [...]
Road Words – March 26, 2014
Greetings! Just back from the West Coast and headed to the mid-west for 2 weeks, hope to see you out there! Please check out new reviews, pictures, and new dates and road words on karrin.com [...]
Road Words February 13, 2014
February 13, 2014 Greetings! The cold weather needs warm music making, and that's what we're doing!! Please check out our Newport Now60 shows and dates...we just did our first in Atlanta and it was great [...]
November 1, 2013
November 1, 2013 Greetings! We have news to share with you! My new Holiday CD "Yuletide Hideaway" is out and ready. We already got a nice review in USA Today; check it out here. You can buy [...]
July 3, 2013
Hello and thanks for checking in. I left off in May, when we had a beautiful night of music at the new jazz venue in NYC: “54 Below” This was the former “Studio 54″ and [...]
May 2013
I left off in February. It's been a very full year thus far. Our February/NYC masterclass was a big success. With about 15 students, we got through a lot of music. I was very proud [...]
Feb 2013
My good friends Karen and Spencer Ralston were very kind to help host us in magical Santa Fe, New Mexico where we played for the Georgia O'Keeffe celebration. I learned quite a bit about O'Keefe. [...]
Nov 2012
What a fall it's been! But first, I'll start where I left off back in August. I got to go to Akumal, Mexico to visit our good friends Susan and Nancy along with my sister [...]
Aug 2012
Looks like I haven't written anything since the Spring! Time does fly . . .In April, we had a great gig at the fabled Green Mill in Chicago - great crowds and the band was [...]
April 2012
We left off last November just after the European tour. I had a great holiday in Pioneer Valley and while there, a very nice gig at the Green Street Cafe in Northampton, MA. It was [...]
Dec 2011
2011 has been quite a year. First, thank you all for coming out and supporting our music! And I'm so honored to have been Grammy® nominated for the 4th time! "Round Midnight" is nominated for [...]
Aug 2011
Hello all! Thank you for checking in. We've had quite the last few months filled with lots of travel and great gigs! Thanks for coming out to see and hear us! We start this issue [...]
June 2010
First of all, it's been quite the few months with many small triumphs and several challenges. More below on all of that, but I want to THANK YOU for helping make what we do worthwhile. [...]
Dec 2010
Our Denver Festival gig was the gig that 'almost wasn't' ... as there was big weather - tornadoes and lots of rain. Our bassist and drummer, Larry Kohut and Eric Montzka had to divert into [...]
April 2010
Hello and Happy Spring! What a winter it was. . . I know we are all ready for this beautiful change. I got lucky and was able to escape it for a little while by [...]
Dec 2009
The end of the summer seemed like it would be less busy, but it wasn't - mostly with good things. July 27 - Had a birthday party in NYC 🙂 and many good friends showed [...]
Aug 2009
After our European tour it was good to get some time off in NYC and Massachusetts while back. It didn’t last long! I was a part of Marian McPartland's 30th anniversary of Piano Jazz at [...]
April 2009
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 [...]
Dec 2008
Last I wrote it was just before our trip to Brazil in September. We started out at the new Mistura Fina in Rio. One of our hosts and friends (Christian) met us and took us [...]
Sept 2008
The Dakota Bar and Grill in Minneapolis is always like going home to me. My Mom and sister live there, as well as many friends and I spent several good, formative years in the Twin [...]
April 2008
Last time I wrote we were on our way to Tokyo. The Japanese are wonderful hosts. It was a pleasure to play the Blue Note there. I met with many press people and journalists who [...]
March 2008
I left off in November of last year. After the Thanksgiving holiday -which I spent happily with family in Minneapolis-- we headed to Fresno-- a wonderful start of their new series with a masterclass for [...]
Oct 2007
Last I wrote was way back in May! Hard to believe the summer is over and we are into fall and winter with the holiday season just around the corner. As you may have noticed [...]
June 2007
Al Foster @ the Vanguard; Violinist, Maria Bachmann at Merkin Hall; Gene Bertoncini @ Le Madeline; 'Joyce' and Dori Caymmi at Birdland; Paula West at the Jazz Standard; and Steve Nelson at Smoke. Books I've [...]
June 2007
Last time I wrote Rod Fleeman and I were headed for Europe. Our first performances were at the Blue Note in Milan, Italy. I had been there before and enjoyed this trip even more. I [...]
Feb 2007
In November we played Washington D.C.'s historic club, Blues Alley. It's got that old true jazz club feel and was great fun with Rod, Todd and bassist Ed Howard who is from DC. He was [...]
Nov 2006
I had some time off in June and July so I took that opportunity to hear and sit in with some folks. Bruce Barth had the weekend gig at the cool uptown NYC club called [...]
July 2006
Way back in February Rod Fleeman and I performed with the Jazz Surge Big Band in Florida, a very nice group of players and great crowds. Singing with a big band is fun for me [...]
Feb 2006
It's been awhile! Looking back at the end of 2005 just before we recorded this next project... NYC's Dizzy's Coca Cola Club in Lincoln Center has got to be one of the prettiest clubs anywhere. [...]
Oct 2005
We had a lovely time at the Woodcliff Lounge in Fairport, just outside of Rochester, NY. It’s a very well run and cool venue/resort. We were there for two nights, and had wonderful crowds both [...]
April 2005
Last time I wrote it was back in November 2004. We were just back from two weeks in Japan. Next stop was Omaha at the Joslyn Art Museum for a Habitat for Humanity fund raiser. [...]
Nov 2004
I think the last time I wrote we had just gotten back from Europe, and were about to start "Le Jazz Au Bar" in New York. What a great place 'Au Bar' is. It's now [...]
Aug 2004
It's taken awhile to catch my breath since returning from all of these travels. Our European tour started in Vienna. I had never been there before. Played a cool club (actually, it was very HOT [...]
June 2004
I think last I wrote we were on our way to Florida (April) for more “Concord Jazz Festival” gigs with Oleta Adams, Diane Schuur and Sara Gazarek. We've had a lot of fun with these [...]
April 2004
Hello there - It's been awhile since I wrote. A lot has happened since December. We recorded our new cd 'Wild For You' here in NYC at Sear Sound (same studio as “In Blue”) - [...]
Sept 2003
Last time I wrote, we were getting ready to play a week at the Blue Note in NYC. We double billed with Anita O'Day the first two nights. I got to meet her and hear [...]
July 2003
May 1st we were in KC at a cool old refurbished theatre - The Madrid for the Ozanam Guild, a benefit for at risk children. Always great to be in KC. Then on to The [...]
May 2003
Last time I wrote we were just on our way to work with Matt Catingub (conductor, arranger, musician extraordinaire) and the Florida Orchestra. Just took Danny with me on this one as Matt had his [...]
March 2003
Here we are well into a new year. Our political climate is just as scarey as ever, if not more. I'm fervently hoping that PEACE will prevail over war, heartache and destruction. I had some [...]
Jan 2003
I guess I'll start where my very trustworthy webmaster (Dean 🙂 says I left off, around late November. We had several 'mini tours' in 2002 and this was one of them - Cleveland, Buffalo, Rochester [...]
Nov 2002
What a busy time this has been. I think the last time I wrote was in September - after the QE2 Floating Jazz Festival. Since then alot has been going on. We played the Blue [...]
Oct 2002
The QE2 was a great experience. What a ship! This time it went from NYC (after having people on board from SouthHampton England) to Bermuda to Newport, Rhode Island and back to NYC. I actually [...]
Aug 2002
No better place to write road notes than the airport ... especially waiting for a delayed flight. This is just one of the very glamorous parts of the job. Wouldn't it be great to find [...]
Jun 2002
We had a wonderful tour in Japan ('Jazz Elite'). It was especially good to get to meet (and hear) McCoy Tyner and his trio and the Cyrus Chestnut trio - great guys and wonderful players. [...]
May 2002
I think the last time I wrote (I hope YOU check this site more often than I DO! 🙂 ) it covered February and part of March. Since then, my dear friend and webmaster of [...]
March 2002
Thank you for checking in. And I'd like to very sincerely thank those of you who have written in to wish me luck and good wishes on the Grammys. It was truly an exciting experience, [...]
Jan 2002
January was full of surprises. I'm very proud and honored that BALLADS has been nominated for two Grammy’s. It's interesting that - (at least it seems) folks tend to think of this one project (BALLADS: [...]
Dec 2001
It's the holiday season for sure. I played the part of the Virgin Mary in 'Bending Toward the Light - A Jazz Nativity' (Type-casting? 🙂 Got to hear and meet some new folks - NY [...]
Nov 2001
We've had quite the two weeks! Started out in St Paul, MN with O'Shaughnessy's Theater 'Women of Substance' Series (beautiful auditorium). Always good to be in the Twin Cities as I get to see my [...]
Oct 2001
The last time I wrote was in early September. A lot has transpired since then. Let's hope Peace will soon be with us all. We recently played another lovely place & festival - Sedona, AZ’s [...]
Sept 2001
Things are settling down a little now. It's been a busy summer. We had a great gig @ Birdland in NY. Great crowds both nights. Several musicians came by (like Annie Ross & Mark Murphy). [...]
Aug 2001
Just been to Seattle's Jazz Alley with a great band. James Williams, Steve Wilson and Danny Embrey came along. They sounded great. Bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer John Bishop joined us. Great turn out there [...]
July 2001
I'm now in the middle of a long month of travel in some of my favorite places; almost all "home" to me (Twin Cities' Dakota Bar & Grill, Chicago's Green Mill, KC's Blues & Jazz [...]
Jun 2001
We're touring now for our latest CD: Ballads – Remembering John Coltrane. A first for me was a Jazz Cruise on the QE2's Floating Jazz Festival. Amazing to go from about West 42nd Street all [...]