Gerg's Words

nothing yet-sorry!

I don't have any pictures posted yet-I'm sorry! I will try to get a whole lot published in the next day or two.

posted by swede @ 21:27 0 comments

The Day After

Well, we're all wiped out, but happy. The show went off almost flawlessly, and we raised (at the current count) $4,400 for Mercy Corps Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. I took a LOT of pictures, which I'll post in a day or two. It was a perfectly cool, sunny day, all the bands were SMOKING!!! An incredible musical experience.
A few small hitches-Kim and Selina, bringing the food and drinks, were delayed at the ferry almost an 1 1/2 hours by heavy traffic, so there were lots of hungry folks when they arrived. Albertson's came through with 4 (!!!!) massive 6 ft. long party subs and bundles and bags of chips, Costco donated over 300 bottles of water and 3 MASSIVE veggie platters, as well as lots of sodas.
All the bands were very pleased with how smooth everything went, and several of them got more gigs out of the show, people coming up and offering to hire them for parties and such. I believe everyone left with a really good feeling.
We learned a lot, had a lot of fun, heard some incredible music. It was a very good experience for me, and I feel very bleesed to have been involved in such a good cause.
BTW-our website is still up at www.hurricanejazzbenefit.org if you still feel like donating a little more to Mercy Corps.

posted by swede @ 11:36 0 comments

almost there!

Well, only 2 more days til our big fundraiser for Mercy Corps. I picked up the banners (FedEx-Kinko's gave us a GREAT rate!!!) Ski is over in the city, plastering flyers everywhere, as well as big poster sized announcements. The ad in the Seattle Times looks pretty good. Albertson's and Costco have come through with flying colors, promising a LOT of food and water. A few more things to do.
I'll take LOTS of pictures, and post 'em here next Monday.

posted by swede @ 17:53 0 comments

workin'

I've had a busy time these past few days. Ceremonies on Saturday and Sunday. All day Monday, Dave G. and I were in Seattle, walking around, trying to drum up interest in the concert at several TV and radio stations. Not too much luck. We dropped off a bunch of flyers at the ferry offices, hope to see those on the boats in a day or two.
Other news-the musical gear is all set-Mills Music is letting us use a bunch of stuff-keyboards, drums, amps, etc. We'll have a big open-sided tent over the stage to protect the performers in case of drizzle. Food and water for all the volunteers is being donated by Costco and Albertson's. Our banners are on the way, thanks to Kinko's. The main expense we'll need to deal with is a big truck to haul stuff in. Still working on drumming up more sponsors.
Tomorrow, we'll be getting all the volunteers up to speed.

posted by swede @ 16:56 0 comments

Up to date website

After a little lack of communication, HERE is the correct website for our show next Sunday.
http://www.hurricanejazzbenefit.org/

posted by swede @ 15:49 0 comments

Web site

This web site is now directly tied to Mercy Corps, so if you click on their logo to donate, it goes straight to their page, and our group will get the feedback. Please go there now and donate as much as you can! Mercy Corps is a good organization!
http://www.folkphotography.com/jazz/relief.html

posted by swede @ 18:57 0 comments

Web site for concert

Here is a "bare-bones" version of the concert's website. http://www.folkphotography.com/jazz/relief.html

In a day or two, we'll have our own specific website, which will make tracking donations much easier.

posted by swede @ 06:34 0 comments

Ready for the first day of school! 

posted by swede @ 10:21 0 comments

Update on concert

Things are humming along well. We have 8 solid hours of music set for the show. The public service announcement will go out to all the radio and TV stations on Wednesday. We'll be printing up posters in a few days. Our web page will be up in a day or two. Drew set us up with an e-mail address hurricanesurvivorsconcert@yahoo.com
We're all very excited about it!

posted by swede @ 10:06 0 comments

Helping the victims of Katrina

No, this isn't another link to an aid agency, though I wouldn't want to disuade you from doing so. I just wanted to tell you a little about what some of us here in Seattle are going to do.
Eric Ordway, a co-worker, leader of South byNorthwest, and a trombone player who knows a lot of local musicians, wanted to do something to help the survivors of Katrina. He had been stationed in New Orleans, and his wife has family in that area. He really wanted to do it with music. So, in the last 2 days, he, and a few of my co-workers and I, have lain the solid groundwork for a jazz benefit concert in Seattle, at the Mural Amphitheater stage at Seattle Center. It will be free and open, all donations accepted. The concert will be Sunday, September 18th, and run from 11 am to 7 pm (or later) featuring a number of local artists, and sponsored by Mercy Corps (ok, here's a quick plug for them: http://www.mercycorps.org/) Mercy Corps will be there accepting donations, and all of the artists are donating their time for this. We are knocking on local corporation's doors, asking for help/sponsorship. Big news, we now have jazz trumpet legend Bobbie Shew http://www.bobbyshew.com/ as the headliner for the last show of the evening. This news will bring in lots of help, I just know it.
As soon as we have the web site online, I'll pass it on. Less than 2 weeks to go, and I'm really excited about it!

posted by swede @ 22:05 0 comments