So it's been a while since last we played, lot going on, etc.  Other bands, people getting babies, babies having babies; craziness.  There was a presidential election, remember that?  Glad all that's behind us and we've finally entered the era of light without heat that Steve Vai was always talking about.  Anyway, we've got this show on August 30th; my friend Pete Fitzpatrick's band Falcatross is having their record release for their new record "Sprung". (Which I think is more about what Spring has done, rather than about what happens when, according to Mix-A-Lot, a girl walks by with an itty-bitty waist and a round thing in your face, but we will see.)  Anyway it'll be me and Chris, and maybe some other guests?  Looking forward to playing again! 

So we've been keeping it on the low for a while, but we have some new personnel and shows and the like. The extreme success of Deaner, Rydholm and MacIntosh in other ensembles made all being in the same room a logistical impossibility for much of the past year, but there are some fresh recruits for this season. Newly added to the Latin Hustle Fantasy Bossa Nova League Dream Team are the redoubtable Koven J. Smith on drums, the indefatigable Madelyn Burgess on bass and vocals, the insoluble Gideon Crevoshay at the piano and with vocals, and the indescribable Sean Imboden as "The Flute Player". Individually, they are formidable. Together, we are unstoppable. This summer, all the pieces fit.

Well, we did it again. For the first annual JG Birthday Jam Cake Shop show, Chris, Heather and I busted out some sweet Latin Hustle tunes, a few TLA tunes, and a new George Michael song as well. Our setlist:

The Garden's Inside
Limits
O Amor Em Paz
O Barquinho
Ho-Ba-La-La
So Many Stars
Windows Fade
Buried Treasure
An Easier Affair

Generously received by a supportive audience, in spite of some serious clams on my part. The set held together, and something became available to us towards the end. We had the unenviable task of following Kevin Barker, and did our best to warm the crowd up for In Interview (perhaps their best show ever) and the apocalyptic jamming of Je Suis France.

An unexpected treat: Excalibrah performed between each band. If you had told me a year ago I'd be sharing a stage with Brah and Flip, I would have said you were crazy. But there we were; a dream became reality. Amazing. We agreed to do a Latin Hustle/Excalibrah collabo, which is pretty much a license to print money.

Next up: more stuff.

JL

Okay, last night at Carnegie Hall, Ganda literally knocked 'em dead singing in David Byrne's "Here Lies Love". It was off the chain, and Ganda totally owned that stage, the giant hall, and all the people in it. David Byrne was the only person able to even come close, but the applause for Ganda was the loudest of any. I won't go into details about the show, since you all know how to use Google. But it was a 100% complete victory, so send a few good thoughts Ganda's way!

JL

Heather returns to Brooklyn, as Chris goes around the world for six weeks with +/-. No matter--this is officially Bossanovember, (which comes after Zeptember and Rocktober), so Latin Hustle begins again now. Expect a flurry of activity soon, where we actually play music.

We also welcome onboard Ganda Suthivarakom, who will be singing and making possible a world of duets, adding another variable into the complex equation which must be solved for performance to occur. Unlike previous bands, however, this one simply needs a critical mass--the more people involved, the *more* likely we can play, not less. Take that, suckers!

So Heather's continued out-of-townness means this won't be a real Latin Hustle show, but Chris and Julia and I will be there doing some tunes. And I'll do some tunes without them, so they have time for a game of bocce before we all get back up and play with Annie Hayden. I have found an awesome battery powered amp, so we'll be able to set up in the audience, confounding their efforts to get away from us. Take that, suckers!

Please submit all song requests in writing to this address by, oh, August 22. Not that I'll probably be able to honor them, but it's nice to know how far short of expectations I'm going to fall.

It's Aug. 30, Union Hall in Brooklyn, 7:00.

Attention everyone: it is now totally hottt on the streets of New York. To combat this, we have been continuing to not be all in the same room at the same time. But fear not--Latin Hustle has not forsaken you. We're getting some more jams together for our summertime outdoor cafe lifestyle, and you'll be updated as to where and when we will manifest. You'll be retroactively invited to a barbeque that started at 4.

If you missed our first show, you missed something. What exactly you missed depends on your capacity to hear quiet music over the din of packed bodies in a tiny club. But the people felt The Magic, so we were 100% successful. Our set list was: Resolution O Amor Em Paz Chega De Saudade Free Your Own Self Limits The Garden's Inside Ho-Ba-La-La The other bands (Jonny Cohen and Pete Nelson, Evelyn Hurley, Mark Robinson, Stick Insect, Dave Park, Flin Flon) were totally phat, except for Flin Flon, who were whatever is beyond totally phat to the skrillionth degree. The next day, LH had its first Teenbeat Banquet, my tenth, I believe. In short, we are under way. My friends, we've come home. Next up: more shows in Brooklyn, more songs, the warmth. Stay tuned.

Preparing for first Latin Hustle show. Three days of fasting, followed by one day of eating only grapes. We've increased our normal 3.5K run each morning to 5K for this entire week before. The usual array of situps, pushups, etc. I think, no, I *know* we are ready to be burned clean in the all-purifying fire of Latin Hustle. Hopefully this will not be a fire code violation for the Galaxy Hut. The annual Teenbeat anniversary shows and banquet are very much like the Olympics; you train for a lifetime to get there, then you have to forget everything and just go out there and have fun with it, knowing that the world is watching, and that one mistake will end your entire career.