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SwingOrama Forum: Music: Bands: Air Mail Special

By Airmailspecial (Airmailspecial) on Monday, July 10, 2000 - 11:45 am: Edit

The summer is really flying by! It's already July! Our Neiman's gig is still happening on Mondays as well as Sea World on July 16 and Aug. 25. The discounted Sea World tickets should be in on Mon or Tues., so let me know if you want any. Regular price is $38 as opposed to the discounted price ($25) that I can get for playing there.

Last Monday went off (!) and I'm expecting more of the same this week. Tony (our drummer with the awesome voice) will be back in town for this Monday as will our regular (and equally as awesome) singer, Janet. Don't forget the new times are in effect: dance lesson at 7:30, music and dancing at 8:00.

There were some new dancers there last Monday that really swung to the roof off! Some of us on stage started getting distracted from playing the music by all those hip moves going on out there on the floor!

Hats off to Bob Caufield and partner (whose name I don't remember because I didn't write
it down next to Bob's email address)! You guys rip! And welcome back to Shawn from SwingORama.com as well as good ol' Andy Powers ... the dashing dance virtuoso in the slick hat. Boy, did I really get a big surprise when half of the guys (and goils) I train kung foo with walked in at around 9:00
and started dancing up a storm! ...But no ... no one was "kung-foo-fighting"...

See you Monday!

Love from the note factory,
Randy Morser

By Carla on Tuesday, July 11, 2000 - 11:16 am: Edit

Is Neimans all ages?

By Shawn Hanna on Tuesday, July 11, 2000 - 04:15 pm: Edit

YES!

By Airmailspecial (Airmailspecial) on Monday, July 17, 2000 - 08:41 am: Edit

Wow... All I can say is wow. Sea World was really fun tonight! Rod Cradit played Tenor with me for the first time ever. I guess a good word for the way he played might be...stupendous or incredible ... or captivating. I was utterly blown away. Most of the band read the music sight unseen, as the regular 7-piece band doesn't ever need to read charts. I guess I forgot how much easier heading up a 7-piece band is than 11-piece big band. Though the band sounded better and better as the night progressed, something occurred to me while playing the 2nd or 3rd piece of music that I'd never seen or heard before (Janet, our singer, is always getting new music to surprise us with on the day of the gig) : in the big band idiom, rehearsals are good. Ha ha. 'Nough said.

Those of you that went to see us at Sea World tonight also got to see me in the ol' captain's chair: conducting and acting as MC for the evening. It's truly a rare sight to see me on a microphone. I guess it was fun, though. I surprised myself by actually enjoying talking on the mic. Still, Janet's a bit easier on the eyes and ears than I am, so we'll just leave all
that out-front microphone business to her when we're at Neiman's. All and all I'd have to say the night went pretty well, with the last set being my favorite.

We're at Neiman's tonight with the good ol' , take-no-prisoners, swing-the-roof-off 7-piece band as usual (Monday, July 7). Hope to see you there. Remember, the free dance lesson is at 7:30 and the music starts at 8:00. Neiman's is on the corner of Carlsbad Village Dr. and Carlsbad Blvd.

Love from the note factory,
Randy Morser

By Airmailspecial (Airmailspecial) on Wednesday, July 19, 2000 - 09:25 am: Edit

Last night was the most fun I've had playing music in ages! There were more good dancers out there than I have seen in one place in a good long while! Jimminy Christmas! You guys went off! The band had a blast playing for so many awesome dancers. Even the first-timers fresh out of the lesson were going off! Would you believe that even I was even persuaded to dance? The band leader with two left feet! Someone persuaded me to try to learn on the break. For course the dance instructors wasted not time in starting a mini-jam circle around me. Needless to say my two left feet choked on all the attention... It was pretty funny.

I have a question for y'all. Where else would you like to see Air Mail Special and on what night of the week (tues-thurs) would y'all want to go dancing? Please keep your suggestions to the greater San Diego/North County area. I am thinking about starting another swing night and I surmised that you guys would be the ones to ask about there wheres and whens.

We'll be swingin' up a storm next Monday. Same bat-time, same bat-place, same bat-channel. (Neiman's. Free lesson at 7:30. Dancing from
8-11.)

Love from the Note Factory,
Randy Morser

By Natalie Roy (Hepnat) on Wednesday, July 19, 2000 - 12:34 pm: Edit

Randy,
As far as San Diego is concerned, Tuesday and Thursday are already big dance nights, run by dancers for dancers. Both nights are DJed with the Tuesday night venue having occaisional live music, so if you're looking for one-off's, that's a possibility. Wednesday night there's the Cannibal bar that is sporadically attended.
From here, click HOME, selsct the calendar, and you can see for yourself what's up.

By Anonymous on Wednesday, July 19, 2000 - 02:31 pm: Edit

Jimminy Christmas??!!

By HopMichael (Mhwang) on Wednesday, July 19, 2000 - 03:19 pm: Edit

Do I hear Crickets, Pinocchio?

By Airmailspecial (Airmailspecial) on Tuesday, July 25, 2000 - 04:07 pm: Edit

For those of you that are new to the mailer: Welcome! Just to ease any misgivings some of you might have had bout the meaning of the subject line, no, Air Mail Special does not have a new singer. Janet is still all of our favorite girl.

However, as most of us in Air Mail Special work in many bands besides this one, I thought I'd let you know about a new singer that a few of us have been working with. Her name is Sacha Boutros and wow, can she sing! She's only twenty years old and she's already turning heads all over San Diego. She will be performing in a trio down at a restaurant in Point Loma called Michelangelo on Shelter Island drive this Thursday, July 27 from 7:30-10:30.

Along with her will be myself ... and the great Mike Wofford. Mike was the music director and pianist for Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn for years as well as having performed and recorded with many other of the great musicians in jazz. He is considered to be one of the greatest jazz pianists in the United States and Europe. He is an absolute joy to play with and listen to. I hope you can make it down to hear him as he does not always play in places so easily accessible to the public. So, between Sacha Boutros, Mike Wofford, and lil' ol' me, it should be a pretty swingin' good time. Unfortunately, there is no dance-floor at Michelangelo, just a little space for maybe three couples or so. But the food is great and the music will be too. See you there!

Love from the note factory,
Randy Morser
Thurs., July 27
Michelangelo in Point Loma on Shelter Island Drive
Vocal: Sacha Boutros
Piano: Mike Wofford
Guitar: Randy Morser

By Airmailspecial (Airmailspecial) on Monday, July 31, 2000 - 07:52 am: Edit

Neiman's is rockin' tomorrow night! See you there! The new time is now in effect. Dance lesson at 8:00 and music from 8:30-11:30.

Love from the note factory,
Randy

By Shawn Hanna (Admin) on Tuesday, August 01, 2000 - 08:46 am: Edit

Last night was fun! Over 80 dancers were at Neimans for the show. Billy and Susan looked great. They are so smooth together. Their bounces are perfectly matched and all the practice time really shows. Impressive!

Dick Braun, who plays there Tuesday nights now, sent me one of his CDs (he has several out). I'll put some of them in MP3 format (as well as some of the Air Mail Special songs) on the site soon.

By Ian Campbell (Ian) on Tuesday, August 01, 2000 - 11:42 am: Edit

Tell him to put them on MP3.com so he can get paid whenever people listen.

By Airmailspecial (Airmailspecial) on Tuesday, August 08, 2000 - 04:29 pm: Edit

Talk about a crowd! Neiman's was really hoppin' last night! You know it's a good night at Neiman's when people are dancing in the lobby, in the dining area, and in the parking lot! The jam-circle you guys put together last night was killer! ... Aerials galore!! It looked like there were about thirty or forty people in the dance lesson too; not just advanced dancers either, but also a few "stumblers" like myself. The difference is that they could actually dance by the end of the evening (unlike myself). Marco and the crew have been doing a great job teaching those lessons. I noticed more than a few of you getting a good laugh out of watching me trying to salsa-dance on the break. Ha ha.

I have to say that I enjoy playing for this crowd more than just about any other... I'd be really upset (as would Neiman's and the people involved) if someone were to get knocked in the head by someone else doing an aerial on a crowded floor. Many of you have spoken with me about how scary it can be to be dancing and see someone come flying through the air towards your partner from behind or to get clipped by a girl being swung around her partner at 250mph. Those moves are best left to jam circles or outside, not on a dance floor crowded with your friends. I want to keep this swing venue open as a place where dancers can come out and dance every Monday in North County. But if we don't watch out for each other, someone will get hurt and it will all go down in flames. I'm sure many of you remember when the girl got nailed in the head when BTO used to play Neiman's and the paramedics had to come and take her to the hospital. None of us want that to happen again, so please keep all those killer moves f r the circle or the parking lot.

OK! Enough depressing (but necessary) talk. Though most of the gigs that we have been getting called for lately are private, there are still a few that I can invite you all to. They are as follows:

August 10
Michelangelo in Pt.Loma
Vocal: Sacha Boutros (many of you have seen this awesome little
singer
dancing at Neiman's)
Guitar: Randy Morser
Piano: Frank Chang
7:30-10:30pm
no cover

August 17
Randy Morser Trio (the smallest Air Mail Special)
Rhythm Cafe in Oceanside
8-10pm
no cover

August 25
Sea World
Air Mail Special BIG BAND (the 11 piece version)!!
7-11pm
email me for discounted tickets.

And of course, the rest of the Mondays in August with the good ol' 7-piece AMS

By Airmailspecial (Airmailspecial) on Friday, August 18, 2000 - 06:56 pm: Edit

Just a quick last minute note to let you know that the trio will be rippin' it up tonight at the Rhythm Cafe in Oceanside from 8-10. This will
be a live recording session that will be going onto CDs in time for you to buy them after the show if you want to stick around for a few
minutes. I'd love to have you all down there to add your "wild applause" to the recording
(if not, then we'll just pre-record some to make it sound like we have fans...ha ha..just kidding). You'll find this new little jazz
room on the Southeast corner of Oceanside Blvd. and College Ave. The Rhythm Cafe is a cozy little establishment that serves everything from soup and sandwiches to espresso and the like. I've eaten there before, and the food is
unbelievable! John Giulino and Mark Smith will be copiloting the evening with me as we run the gauntlet of jazz, Latin, standards, and bebop!

Love from the note factory,

Randy
Randy Morser: Guitar
John Giulino: Piano
Mark Smith: Drums
I-5 to Oceanside Blvd. east approx. 3 or 4 miles. Southeast
corner of
Oceanside Blvd. and College Ave. in the new shopping center.

By Airmailspecial (Airmailspecial) on Monday, August 21, 2000 - 11:03 am: Edit

Good news! The owner (Rhythm Cafe in Oceanside) liked the trio so much that he asked me to come back and record again in two weeks with a larger ensemble (quartet). The saxophonist I'll be adding used to play with Harry James, Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Woody Herman, Terry Gibbs, and many other swing/jazz greats. He is none other than Gary LeFebvre, one of the most respected sax
players in So. Cal. It's going to be a BURNIN' record date.

Hope you can make it.

Randy

Ps. More good news: We've been averaging about 110 people at Neiman's on Mondays for the last three or four weeks.

By Airmailspecial (Airmailspecial) on Thursday, August 24, 2000 - 04:34 pm: Edit

Hey gang! We're swingin' with Shamu at Sea World this Friday! You can get your tickets from me for a whopping $10! Or, if you want, you can make Sea
World happy and pay $30 or $40 at the gate. I know it's a tough decision, but let me know if you want to go for the cheaper price and I'll
get you hooked up. It'll be the 11-piece version of Air Mail Special this time, so don't miss it! We'll be playing from 7-11pm. See you Fri!

A few other gigs are happening in the near future as well.

Sacha Boutros (the girl that sat in and sang Lullaby of Birdland on Monday) will be singing at Michelangelo on Shelter Island this Thursday
(tonight) from 7:30-10:30. She's asked me to play guitar with her down there and also invited our AMS pianist, John Giulino. It should be a fun
little trio! Next Thursday (August 31) AMS will be having another live recording session at the
Rhythm Cafe in Oceanside and we'd love to have you down there (so we don't have to dub in wild applause later...just kidding)! It's not a huge room, so we'll only have four of us from AMS down there. Last time we did this it was a blast! The recording was so good, we decided to record a
larger ensemble than the trio we had there last time. Good ol' Frank LaMarca (sax) can't make it down that night, so we'll have Gary LeFebvre sitting in for him on tenor saxophone. Gary used to play with Buddy Rich, Harry James, Stan Kenton, Terry Gibbs, Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Sonny Stitt, and many more. He's one of the best tenor players you'll ever hear/see. I really hope you can make it out for that one. Gary is someone everyone should hear at least once in their lifetime. The Rhythm Cafe is in Oceanside on the
Southeast corner of Oceanside Blvd. and College Ave.

Love from the note factory,
Randy Morser,

Guitarist and pilot of Air Mail Special

By Airmailspecial (Airmailspecial) on Monday, August 28, 2000 - 02:50 pm: Edit

Sea World was great! What a blast! Rod Cradit was on lead tenor and he was blowing minds all night! I don't know who clapped louder for his solos, the crowd of a couple hundred people listening down front or the rest of us musicians on stage. Gary LeFebvre (lead alto that night) tells a story about Rod beating Stan Getz (the most famous white tenor player in history) in a cutting contest (tenor battle) when Rod was only in his early 20's. Well, now I believe it! Gary's solos were burnin' that night too, eh? And what about Les Kepics and Greg Beck on the dueling trumpet solos!? Trading 8 bar phrases, then 4's, then 2's, then 1's, and counterpoint! That wasn't planned, either!

Janet sang like a bird, and I had a lot of fun making fun of trumpet player Les Kepics (all of our favorite Del Mar Bugler) all night on the microphone. Les has never had so much applause for being late to a gig in his life (and he's been late to a lot of gigs)! In short, we had more fun than is legal in this state and got paid for doing it. It was so cool to see some of the Neiman's crew out there dancing too!

Speaking of Neiman's... Tomorrow night will be our 19th week at Neiman's. Many of you are back at the Jr. colleges again, studying your brains out and writing papers for the man. Unfortunately for us, that means that many of you may no longer able to feed the swing-addiction that you have allowed to consume your Monday nights over the course of the summer with us at Neiman's. Depending on the attendance tomorrow night, we may be packing it up to find another venue that is more centrally located so that more of you might still be able to come out; and also give a few down-towners a chance to come out and dance. Or, we may just shrink the band down a little and keep on plugging away. I'd rather not do that though. I don't want to have to tell anyone in AMS that they have to stay home while we're out gigging. Who would I choose? Every one on the band (accept maybe the guitar player) is indispensable! So, we'll probably just have to look elsewhere.

You guys are the most fun, talented (making me wish I took dance lessons), responsive, and loyal crowd that I have ever had the privilege of playing for. I hope that we will be able to see you all at another venue should we fly south for the winter. If it turns out that tomorrow is our last night at Neiman's, I'll be sure to let you all know all the wheres and whens about or schedule. Hopefully we will be able to continue the weekly swing-madness somewhere else in SD/North County. If you know of any all-ages venues with a large dance floor that I might have missed in SD or North County, please let me know so that I can check them out. Maybe we can keep it swingin' in North County and get down south as well! Only time will tell...

Love From the Note Factory,
Randy Morser
Pilot, Guitarist of AMS
PS. We are still scheduled to do a live, instrumental recording on the 31st at the Rhythm Cafe in Oceanside. I'll keep you posted.

By HopMichael (Mhwang) on Tuesday, August 29, 2000 - 12:58 am: Edit

This may seem obvious:

Have you checked out the Rocket? Contact Margaret Adams or Jim Cruzen...

By Jeff Eldridge (Jeff) on Tuesday, August 29, 2000 - 08:07 am: Edit

We'd love to see you at the Rocket! Contact them at www.rocketswingclub.com

By Airmailspecial (Airmailspecial) on Wednesday, August 30, 2000 - 01:46 am: Edit

We will be starting up on Wed Sept. 20th at the Lucky Star on University and 54th in the K-Mart shopping center. They've got a HUGE dance floor and we'll still have free dance lessons before the show. The lesson will start at 7 and the music will be swingin' from 7:30-10:30. The cover will only be $7 with a 1 drink min. This place is all-ages, too! There is also talk of another venue or two on different nights in SD, but those reports are still... unconfirmed... email me at jazzgitrst@aol.com to get on the list!

By oopapadoo*Aletha* (Oopapadoo) on Wednesday, August 30, 2000 - 10:53 am: Edit

I loved the Lucky Star when Shawn showed up for Tammi Thomas. The only reason we didn't return was that there was too much Cha Cha, Foxtrot and Polka mixed in with the Swing. I'd definitely show up to see Airmail Special.

Oh, and the pot stickers were good too.

By Shawn (Adminorama) on Wednesday, August 30, 2000 - 04:55 pm: Edit

That place has struggled to attract swing dancers. The space is great, but it just has not caught on as a dance spot, alas.

By Airmailspecial (Airmailspecial) on Thursday, August 31, 2000 - 03:55 pm: Edit

Well, gang, here goes nothin'. We're recording live tonight at the Rhythm
Cafe in Oceanside. It will be an instrumental set with only a quartet. It
is a smallish room with only enough space for the our of us on stage. I'm really looking forward to it so that I can experiment with a few
musical ideas that I've been toying with that just aren't possible with the larger versions of Air Mail Special. I'd love to have you all down there witness the swingin' virtuosity of Gary LeFebvre's tenor saxophone playing. He'll be
sitting in on the recording tonight instead of good-ol'-Frank, who had a previous commitment. Gary's a real mindblower. He's worked
with whole pile of my favorite jazzers, including Harry James, Buddy Rich, Louise Belson,
Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Art Pepper, Frank Butler and more! We'll be swingin' the roof off from 8-10. Take I-5 north to Oceanside Blvd. Go 3
or 4 miles to College Ave.. Cross College and make your next right into the shopping-center driveway. The Rhythm Cafe is straight ahead.
If you keep going straight, you'll drive through the window ... can't miss it.

It looks like this coming Monday will be the deciding night for our future at Neiman's. It already looks like this will be the last
night, what with everyone back in school and whatnot. Still, we've got Wednesdays down
at the Lucky Star in La Mesa starting Sept. 20. More on that later. See you tonight!

Love From the Note Factory.
Randy Morser,
Guitarist and Pilot of Air Mail Special

By Shawn (Adminorama) on Wednesday, September 06, 2000 - 03:38 pm: Edit

NO MORE AIR MAIL SPECIAL AT NEIMANS! They don't want to compete with Monday football. A new regular venue is coming soon.

Stay tuned.

By Airmailspecial (Airmailspecial) on Thursday, September 14, 2000 - 09:21 am: Edit

Hey everybody! I'm writing to you from Mother Nature's own oven (Fallbrook), letting you know that the band will be cooking San Diego venues in the next few weeks like Mother Nature never could. Here's a little bit o' the schedule that might interest you:

Thursday Sept. 14

Live recording session and film coverage by Channel 8 News with Larry Himmel Rhythm cafe, Oceanside (Oceanside Blvd. and College Ave.) 9-11pm, no cover Randy Morser trio w/
Frank La Marca
guitar: Randy Morser
bass: Ted Williams
drums: Tony Marillo
Tenor Sax: Frank La Marca
*the room is a little small for dancing, but the band will be smokin'! I've never played with Ted or Tony, but they're both legends in he jazz community.
******************
Sept. 20 and 27, Wednesdays
Air Mail Special starts up the weekly thang The Lucky Star, SD (54th and University) The notorious AMS strikes again (7 piece as at Neiman's) Free dance lesson from 7-7:30 and music from 7:30-10:30. Monstrous dance floor and good service. $7 cover w/ 1 drink min. all ages welcome)
******************
Oct. 10, Tuesday
Air Mail Special (the 7-piece, swingin' monstrosity)
Rocket Swing Club, Point Loma
8-12pm. I'm not sure of the cover yet, but I'll let you know
Huge dance floor and lots dancers of all levels

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