Jon's Debut on the Vegas strip: a success!

Greetings all!

I'm writing this from an Italian cucinna in the Palazzo where I just finished my first night of work. I was so busy today leading up to tonight that I completely forgot to eat until just now when I finally was able to exhale.

I spent the afternoon having photos taken and shooing a promo video at the office. This took all afternoon. Then it was off to work.

The gig was a success. Mostly. There are some positives and some negitives but all in all, a very positive experience.

I played at the Palazzo from 7:30-11:30 with a break in between. To begin with it wasn't very full but about halfway through, the audience from "Jersey Boys", which plays litterally next door to the piano bar, flooded the seats and tables and we finally got something going.

I played with a few other players. One was very good, up to even my satisfaction but, not the other two. Not that they were bad guys or bad singers, but they both had this habit of playing drums on the keyboard...which is ok I guess in and of itself, except they each tried to MULTI TASK while playing them. I e figure out their next song. This resulted in sluggish tempos and nothing makes me more insane than having to deal with sluggish tempos ESPECIALLY if it's a product of not paying attention.

But I'm dwelling on the negative. The positive things were that I like the room, I like the pianos and the people I met were nice. Also my new boss, Steve Beyer, came by and expressed his approval of what I was doing. It's always nice to recieve praise from someone important.

One thing that bothered me and probably will tomorrow also is my voice. It wasn't up to par as a result of my recent cold and- did I mention I had a fever and a deep cough?

Please nobody comment on how important it is to take care of my voice. Believe me there is nobody more familiar with that concept than I am.

The good news is that while I work tomorrow, I then have a few days to recuperate.

I am exhausted. I haven't slept well the last few nights: lots on my mind, but now that the gig is over, and the fear of the unknown has been extinguished, I'm suddenly ready to sleep for a week...

Thanks for checking in and reading about my progress. I love being able to share this wonderful experience with my friends and family.

Till next time-
J