Woke up at the crack of dawn today, actually before!  Caught a 7 am plane from San Francisco to Seattle. This is my first time in Seattle I love it.  We’re staying here and playing for 2 nights.  It’s such a luxury, I’m so happy that I don’t have to pack up my luggage tonight. We’re staying in a charming hotel near by to many shops and restaurants. Tomorrow is the day where I’m going to check out the famous market.

  Tonight was so fun.  The music was just bursting and it was because we had such an enthusiastic crowd. Thank you to all who made it such a memorable night! Tomorrow I will be on the radio for a live interview and then another performance!

Packing up heading to Germany today.  Taking a red eye and getting there in the afternoon then we have our performance at night.  Will be a long day, wish us luck!  Then we head to Austria.  Should be fun! Will keep you updated!

So ecstatic to have a wonderful review written about our performance.  See Here:

http://www.montrealgazette.com/Grace+Kelly+ante/5042531/story.html

The writer Bernard Perusse wrote an incredible review on the quintet last year and I’m so glad he got a chance to come to the performance this year as well.  I actually got to meet him quickly. he’s a very nice guy.  He also put us on his 2011favorite acts in Montreal list. Check that out too.  What can I say except I’m extremely honored!! Thank you Bernie!

Had an incredible show at Montreal Jazz Festival. It was so great to be back at the legendary festival for the second year in a row! I was so happy to hear that the Grace Kelly Quintet with special guest Phil Woods had been SOLD OUT like 2 weeks in advance!! We were in a beautiful small theatre the Gesu and the audience’s energy was contagious. It is always such a pleasure playing for an excited audience and this was one! The band played great, Phil showed his usual mastery of the alto. It was so much fun. You can see some of it here:

http://www.montrealjazzfest.com/multimedia-en/video.aspx?id=1158

I came out after the show to sign CDS and there was a line through the lobby!! I got to meet so many people and funny enough a few people from Massachusetts who were in Montreal to see the fest. Before the performance I did about 5 or 6 interviews at the Festival press room. I got to talk to the wonderful writer who reviewed my cd "GracefulLee” the one feat. Lee Konitz in Downbeat. He had given the cd 4 ½ stars and a lovely review. It was so nice to meet him in person and get this, his name is Michael Jackson!! We were both having quite a laugh. Grace Kelly and Michael Jackson…first time in history!! He is a lovely guy, very funny and hip with his funky sunglasses and cool clothes. After the performance mom dad and I found some food near by and were actually talking about Michael and he bumped right into us. Crazy! The four of us chatted for a couple hours until we retired to bed.

In Montreal.  We drove from Boston, met Phil Woods in New York then all drove together, had a pleasant drive. He brought some wonderful goodies for me!! He handed me about 5 or 6 of his new cds and DVDs we could watch in the car!  We watched a couple wonderful DVDS of Milton Nascimento (who was actually at Montreal) and Elis Regina.  We then stopped for a nice Italian lunch in Lake George and Phil and I split a pizza.  We were all pretty beat from the car ride, but had a nice dinner that night and I had a craving for a crepe.  Dad and I went searching for crepes at 11 PM ha-ha and we found them, in the nick of time!  I had a strawberry chocolate crepe. Mmmm…

Slept in real late. Had a very relaxing day looking out to the beautiful green.  We went to see Earth Wind and Fire tonight!! We were out in the lawn and for the beginning it was raining but luckily it cleared up.   We packed our dinner and everything. The group sounded so funky and my goodness Philip Bailey can still hit those high notes like nobody’s business!! I ran inside near the end and was very near to the stage!  It was so exciting and I was dancing my butt off!  I absolutely LOVE earth wind and fire and knew most of the songs!!

I feel so sad to be leaving Rochester NY. We performed at one of my favorite festivals in the world!! The Rochester Jazz Festival. I was there for the first time last year and we had such an amazing time. The club we played in last year was more than sold out for both sets and people were lining up around the BLOCK. It was crazy, people wanted us back this year and the lovely festival directors John Nugent and Mark made sure that happened. This time we were at a big beautiful hall, Kilbourn Hall, and people greeted us with that same enthusiasm. They were again wrapped around the block four hours before our concert and both sets were sold-out.

We had a great two sets. I always tell people that the energy of the audience changes the music for us. If we really feel it from you then it comes out in the music. The music was soaring that night!! We played a pretty eclectic set from jazz to funk, some of my new singer songwriter works. I was pretty confident that this crowd would enjoy it all because this festival has a wide range of music. Elvis Costello is one of the main headliners along with KD Lang, Chris Botti, Bela Fleck and Natalie Cole (all different nights.) I freaked out when I looked at the poster and saw my picture right next to Chris Botti’s and Bela Fleck’s. That was pretty cool :-D

This festival is amazing. There are about 140000 people that attend it goes on for 10 days of music all day with big acts at night. The night before I got to sit in the front row of the big hall and see Bela Fleck and the original Flecktones. What can I say? When I left my mouth was hanging open. It looked like the whole audience walked out in a daze. I didn’t know it was possible to play what the musicians play on their instruments. I really think they’re from a different planet. Victor Wooten stole the show playing an unbelievable solo bass part at the end. Everyone jumped to his or her feet. I went to the jam session that night and played. Not only does the audience go venue-to-venue, stand in line, watch a show then another, but they also stay for the jam session until 2 AM!! The jam session is Packed!! Funny story. I met a woman who was sitting next to me and I started making conversation with her. I had said, "How do people stay up this late? Don’t they need to go to work tomorrow” She said, "yeah it’s pretty crazy My husband and I canceled work tomorrow so we could stay up late tonight and see you tomorrow. We knew if we had work we wouldn’t be able to stand in line and see you.” I didn’t even know what to say. I still don’t know what to say except these people are dedicated music fans!!!!

We are in NYC and I just attended the ASCAP "young jazz composer” award ceremony.  It was a great night and I’m honored to have been chosen in that category.  There were many speakers and performances.  They were honoring living legend Jimmy Heath and George Avakian and also historical legends Oscar Peterson and Nina Simone.  One of the speakers was Paul Williams. Funny story:  after I was meeting some of these people and went up to Mr. Williams to talk to him and get a photo.  He then said to me, "Congratulations Really looking forward to seeing huge things from you Grace.”  I ran back to my Dad and was so excited saying, "he remembered my name!! How did he remember my name?!”  And then I realized that my nametag was smack in the middle of my outfit. Haha.  Thought that was funny. 

It was so great to see Jimmy Heath honored.  I met him 4 years ago at the Stanford Jazz workshop and we’ve been in contact ever since.  He has so much youthfulness and still sounds amazing.  I swear he hasn’t aged at all.  He’s like cheese!  Or rather really good wine!