New Facebook Music page started

For those interested, there is now an official Gary Wicks Music page started on facebook. You can stream MP3's, see new photos from the road and get those shorter than blog yet longer than tweet updates!

-G.Wicks

(click on the subject heading of this post to be redirected to the FB music page.)

Sorry I slept on the news!

Hi folks! So sorry that I've slept on the news blog page here. It's been real busy in the last year or so touring and gigging and practicing and recording. Not to mention I am trying to get my 21st century web persona caught up! I had to Tweet about my Facebook so MySpace could connect YouTube! Oy....

Anyways...the last year's highlights include: recording on The Manhattan Transfer's latest studio effort entitled the Chick Corea Songbook; playing with Chick Corea in Perugia, Italy when he sat in w/us at the Umbria Jazz Festival; Regina Carter sitting in with us at the Vienne, France jazz festival; hanging with Victor Wooten at the Montreal Jazz Festival!

In addition to the performing highlights I have also been busy acquiring a few new endorsements! I am now endorsed by Eden Electronics Bass Amplifiers; with the string company D'Addario, with the Kala Ukulele company's new UBass; with Charlie Chadwick and his amazing Chadwick Folding bass, & with Reunion Blues gig bags.

So, excuses aside, it's been busy and I will make am effort to update here more often. Till next time....

G.Wicks

Helsinki, Finland: 8 Dec, 2008 (TMT Winter Tour)

(TMT Here are a few photos from the Symphony show rehearsal in Helsinki Finland.







G.Wicks & Tallinn Philharmonic

























Adam Hawley















Steve Hass

















MD, Yaron Gershovsky (and some of my charts)












Janis Siegel & Yaron Gershovsky










Alan Paul, Cheryl Bentyne, Tim Hauser, Janis Siegel & Yaron Gershovsky.

The work side of the tour!

Here are a few photos that show the working side of touring with The Manhattan Transfer.







Musical Director, Yaron Gershovsky, conducting the symphony in rehearsal in Tallinn, Estonia. (Did the piano give the location away?)


















MD, Yaron Gershovsky, soundcheck in Copenhagen, Denmark; Tivoli Concert Hall!














My stage set up on the road. The dreaded Stick Bass, my trusty old Yamaha and two David Eden WT-800's!














The really cool looking stage in the Tivoli Concert Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark.













Drummer Steve Hass & Guitarist Adam Hawley soundchecking in Oslo, Norway.














Soundcheck in Stockholm, Sweden.






On deck of the Ferry ride from Denmark to Sweden. (Yes the North Sea is cold this time of year!)
l-r:
Drummer-Steve Hass;
TMT Crew Member Extraordinaire-Laurie Green;
Musical Director-Yaron Gershovsky;
& G.Wicks

Photos from the Road

Myself & a Royal Guard, Oslo, Norway

Statue in Park, Oslo, Norway

The Royal Palace, Oslo Norway

Changing of the Guard at the Royal Palace in Oslo, Norway

Canals in Copenhagen, Denmark

Spices in the market place in the old city of Jerusalem...wish you could smell it!

Wailing Wall, Jerusalem

Priest inside of Rock of Agony Church

Wall of the old city in Jerusalem

Rock of Agony Church-Jerusalem, Israel

Panorama of Tallinn as seen from my hotel window.

Panorama of the Mediterranean Coast in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The Manhattan Transfer European Tour-Winter '08

The winter tour has been an interesting and exciting adventure so far! We started out in Milan, Italy, and as the pic to the left here might suggest, the Italian dining never disappoints! From there we ventured north to Scandinavia. We spent our time working from Oslo, Norway, to Copenhagen, Denmark to Stockholm, Sweden with many other cities in between. It was dark and cold and I fell victim to the dreaded common cold-a rough one. Luckily our bus driver is a licensed nurse and had lots of helpful pills!!
We just spent a few days in Tel Aviv, Israel and got a good dose of sunshine & hummus!! A quick day trip to Jerusalem led me to the Wailing Wall & other exciting parts of old Jerusalem including the Via Dolorosa! Now I am in Tallinn, Estonia where it is cold and dark again! Next up is Helsinki, Bratislava, Moscow & Samara, Russia. All the concerts have been great and well attended. The first Tel Aviv show was broadcast live on Israeli Radio! More to come soon! (Pics below...Me in Copenhagen; Jerusalem; Via Dolorosa sign)

Endorsements

Endorsements are a strange thing. You see actors & athletes on TV and in magazines endorsing all sorts of things from foods and drinks to shampoos and clothes to sporting goods. In the musical world, these are a bit harder to achieve and yet, I think, all the more useful and helpful to the working musician.

This month I penned and endorsement with David Eden bass amplifiers. I have used their amps since my Boston days with my old bands The Daddys and The Rockett Band!! Well, here I am a few years later with an endorsement from them. I am pretty psyched because I have really liked these amps for ages!

When touring alot, I am often at the mercy of what equipment is available. Some times this is fine, but often it is stressful and frustrating. Now that I am working with Eden, I look forward to a happier backline experience on the road!