Hello from the Alicante airport in southern Spain. We are in the middle of a month-long tour with the Yellowjackets with Mike Stern as special guest. The music sounds great (we are playing tunes from the newly released Lifecycle cd on Heads Up), and the combination of Mike and us is a natural fit. For the 90 minutes a night we get to play, we are all feeling great. What I would like to describe in this column is the other 22 hours per day during the last week.

I read an article a few weeks ago that inferred the airlines would be cutting back on the number of flights this summer. Our experiences so far have confirmed that this is in fact the case. Most of our flights are early morning, probably because the mid morning flights don’t exist anymore. Several of the airlines we flew were very understaffed, and downright unhelpful when it came to fixing problems that were the fault of the airline.

Our first date was on July 5th in Villafranca Del Penedes, a town one hour from Barcelona. We arrived the day before, and had a chance to recover somewhat from the jet lag. The concert was in a lovely square next to an old church. We played from 10:30 - midnight, got back to the hotel around 1:30, had to get up at 3:30 to head for the Barcelona Airport to make a flight to Milan.

This next date was outside of Milan in Galliate. After checking in the hotel, a few of us went to have lunch with our dear friend Gabrielle Commeglio and his family in Mortara. We spent an hour there and headed back for sound check, a fast dinner, and the concert. In bed by 2 A.M., up at 4 A.M. to go to Malpensa Airport to fly to Vienna the next morning. Nap for an hour, go to sound check at the Reigen Live club. Fast dinner and play two sets. This turned out to be a really nice performance, and the audience was great. Nothing like playing in a club! In bed by 2, up at 5 to go to the Vienna Airport. We took two flights back to Spain. Had a day off in Cordoba. Needed it by then. Caught up on sleep, did some laundry, etc.

On July 10th, we played in a nice theatre in Cordoba for an appreciative audience. In bed by 1 AM, up at 3, drive 2 hours to Seville airport, take two flights to Rome. Miraculously no luggage has been lost so far, and we’ve made all our connections. As you will see, things don’t stay cool forever. Check into the hotel, nap for an hour, go to sound check. Wolf down a quick dinner (frustrating in a place like Italy where the food is really great), play 2 sets. The Villa Celimontana is a really cool place to play, and we had another fantastic audience and a good performance. Back to the hotel, in bed by 2 AM, up at 4 AM, then go to Rome Airport to make an 8 AM flight BACK TO SPAIN. We napped for an hour, went to sound check in Jaen at a nice theatre. After sound check had a quick dinner, did a concert, in bed by 2 AM, up at 4 AM, drive 2 hours to Granada Airport, take two flights BACK TO ROME, then drive 3 hours to Montalcino in Tuscany.

In Montalcino we played a wonderful concert in a medieval castle, and had a wonderful dinner (albeit somewhat rushed) there. In bed by 2 AM, up at 7 (a luxurous 5 hours sleep!). Drive to Mosciano St. Angelo, a 6 hour drive, check in, go right to sound check, quick dinner, play a concert in a town square, in bed by 1 AM.

Now it starts to get interesting. On Monday July 14, we drive 3 hours back to Rome Fumicino airport, fly to Madrid, and miss our connection there to Lorca. We wind up sitting in Madrid airport for 8 hours! This was supposed to be a day off. We arrive in Lorca at 2 AM, drive 1 1/2 hours to the hotel, get a few hours sleep. Wake up early and do laundry and work on a piece I’m writing for concert band and tenor sax for a few hours. Do a sound check, quick dinner, and concert. Back to the hotel to find out that the water is turned off for repair. Up at 5, no shower, go to the airport. We’re supposed to fly to Stockholm to play the best paying date of our tour at the Stockholm Jazz Festival. Upon check-in we are informed that the flight is delayed by 10 hours, and we will now miss our concert in Stockholm. Spend 3 hours scurrying around the Alicante airport trying to figure out another way to get to Stockholm. There is no viable alternative. So we sit here for 10 hours, have a cheese sandwhich, and sleep unshowered on a bench. Starting to get that homeless look! With any luck we will arrive in Stockholm around 1 A.M., get a few hours sleep in the airport hotel, and fly on to Prague early in the morning for our next concert.

We ran into Chick Corea, Lenny White, Stanley Clark, and Al Dimeola in the Alicante airport. Their schedule is similar to ours even though their tour is operating on a way higher level. Good to see the cats and exchange some stories.

The general consensus is that we love to play music, and will go to any lengths to make that happen. At the moment I’m beginning to wonder if this is all worth it. I do know that as soon as we start the first tune tomorrow night (assuming we get there), everything will be cool and I will once again feel like this is in fact all worth the effort and hassle. Flying is more of a challenge than ever, but we have no choice than to deal with it and try to stay calm and focused. A great study in tolerance and patience. But the fact is that in many parts of the world, when there are problems with a flight, the airline personnel don’t give you much in the way of information. You are basically left in the dark wondering when, if ever, your flight will depart. So put on your helmut and be ready for anything, especially when traveling in Spain and Italy.

Keep the faith, and strive for tone!