(April 2010)
I’m happy to announce the official release date of my greatest production ever! - Melissa and I have a baby boy, Jude Fahn Alpers, who arrived on February 23, weighing in at 8 pounds 3 ounces and measuring 20 inches long. He is just the most amazing little guy and brings such joy to us every day. Now I’m just waiting ‘till he’s big enough to carry my gear around for me!
I managed to do some playing before and after Jude’s arrival - a real highlight was a 3-night run with the Pacific Symphony at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa, as part of Chris Botti’s weekend of Valentine’s Day concerts. I had a big drum solo feature which is always fun - throw in a 60-piece orchestra moving air all around me and it doesn’t get much more thrilling.
I also played African percussion on the ASCAP showcase reading of Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews’ new musical “Witness Uganda”, an exciting new piece, and mixed in some nice dates in town with folks like the Jazz Poets, Pi, and Yarone Levy. I also started working with a very cool new ensemble called Ácousa - it’s a vocal quartet plus bass and cajon.
And we had a great CD release party in January for the Wonk album - we had a terrific turnout and it was just a great night for all of us in the band. We have more dates coming up in the spring including a featured slot on the KJAZ 88.1 stage at the Eclectic Music Festival in Pasadena on May 1, so we’re all looking forward to that.
Right now I’m getting ready for a showcase gig with singer/songwriter Mark Ballas (the 2-time “Dancing With the Stars” champion) - I played on his EP “Waiting For Patience” - and I’m currently busy writing and producing the music for my friend Lorna Ventura’s forthcoming documentary on New York City dancers - it’s going to be really great when it’s all finished.
And I couldn’t let Oscar season pass without noting my contribution to James Cameron’s “Avatar”, which carries yours truly’s trace fingerprints on the soundtrack - I assisted composer James Horner in the pre-production of the score. It’s now the highest-grossing film of all time - I’m just sayin’!
Many thanks to all of you for your continued support and inspiration - thanks for stopping by and I hope to see & hear you soon!
JDA
April 2010
(January 2010)
First of all, Happy New Year to everyone - may your 2010 be full of health, hope, and happiness!
2009 was a great year for me, and it rang out in fine style. I spent another few months on the road with the second national tour of Wicked, a great company to work and travel with, and I miss those friends already. After I got back from Wicked I played the 50th Annual LA Holiday Celebration concert at the Music Center with Vox Lumiere and the Definiens Project, and after a breath to enjoy Christmas I got to ring in the New Year in Vegas onstage yet again with the MVPs - this year we opened for Earth, Wind, and Fire, which was an honor and a real treat.
While I was on the road the debut album from my band Wonk was released - I’m very proud of my playing and production on this and it’s just the most fun band and greatest group of guys to play with. Our official CD release party is January 27 at the Baked Potato in North Hollywood, would love to see my LA friends out there if you can make it. I’m also happy to be on the brand new release from bassist (and fellow Wonk rhythm section mate) Derek Frank, I play percussion throughout his excellent “Let The Games Begin”. With those two coming on the heels of Kate Higgins’ “Little Parts” (which I produced as well), Pi’s “Fire Horse Girl”, Funk This’ “Diggin’”, and Sarah Taylor’s “The Cure To Everything”. it was a really nice year for me on the recording front.
Moving from the indie to the corporate world: James Cameron’s 3-D blockbuster “Avatar” is out in the universe now as well - although I was a tiny cog in the machine, I did assist composer James Horner on the pre-production of the score, so I’ll take my small satisfaction in a job well done over box office points I guess.
I’ll be busy writing and playing in the weeks to come, and I have a fun gig coming up in February with the acclaimed trumpeter Chris Botti and the Pacific Symphony.
And Melissa and I have a special “production” coming soon...very soon!
Many thanks to all of you for your continued support and inspiration - thanks for stopping by and I hope to see & hear you soon!
JDA
January 2010
(October 2009)This autumn I’ll be heading out on the road once again to join up with the national tour of Wicked - I’ll be with them for two months as Oz rolls on through the midwest and east coast. It’s always a pleasure to be a part of this company and to travel with so many incredibly talented actors and musicians. It’s always tough to conceptualize packing cold weather clothes in the L.A. heat though!
This past month has been very busy and full of great music. I just finished mastering the Wonk album, which is at the manufacturer’s as I write this and will be out in the world in November. We’re all thrilled with how the record came out and can’t wait to get back to playing shows in the new year.
I just finished doing a very special show at Room 5 in L.A. with my wife Melissa Fahn, it was great to get back on stage and perform our music again - thanks so much to Justin Reinhardt, Zac Matthews, and Christian Nesmith for playing so beautifully with us. I also did a bunch of dates this past month with the lovely singer/songwriter Pi Jacobs to promote her new album “Fire Horse Girl”, which I played on as well, we played CD release shows throughout California and New York.
The film I scored in late 2008, “Old Dogs”, is still out and thriving on the festival circuit, sounding good in 5.1 surround and garnering lots of awards. And I’m on a couple of new releases as well that I enjoy a lot, “Diggin'” by Chris Clermont’s great group Funk This!, and my old friend Sarah Taylor’s just-released album “The Cure To Everything”, give both of those a spin if you can.
And Melissa and I have a special “production” coming soon...a few months out!
Thanks for stopping by - hope to see & hear you soon!
JDA
October 2009
(August 2009)
It’s been a busy summer so far. I just came back from filling in once again on the national tour of Wicked, it’s always a pleasure to travel and perform with so many talented musicians and actors. I spent three weeks in Austin, Texas, a great city for music, and I had the great fortune to reconnect with my old friend (and incredible bassist) John Fremgen - I got to sit in with some amazing musicians on some of my nights off from the show and that’s always fun.
I am home now putting the finishing touches on the debut album from Wonk, my new group that also features Justin Reinhardt, Derek Frank, Anthony King, and Dan Boissy. It’s an instrumental funk/jazz/fusion collective and just a great outlet to do some playing. Our first gig (July 21 at the Baked Potato in North Hollywood) was a great success and we’ll be starting a once-a-month residency there on September 16. Look for a CD release gig later this fall.
I’m also going to be doing some gigs with the singer/songwriter Pi to promote her new album, “Fire Horse Girl”, which I played on, we have a number of dates in California and New York coming up the next couple months. I’m especially looking forward to our LA release party on October 17 as she will be sharing the bill with my wife Melissa Fahn, so I get to pull double duty that night!
On the production front, I’m happy to announce the release of Kate Higgins’ album, “Little Parts”, which I produced and played on. I absolutely love this recording - Kate’s a fabulous singer/songwriter and it was a real pleasure working on this project with her.
Somehow in the middle of all this I took time out for a vacation in the south of France with Melissa. Didn’t touch a drumstick!
Thanks for stopping by - hope to see & hear you soon!
JDA
August 2009
(May 2009)
Hope everyone’s having a great spring. I’ve been busy in and out of town, keeping busy with the usual dizzying variety of music. In March I did a short tour with Vox Lumiere’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, which took us up into Canada and ended with a 2 week run at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston, what a great venue and city.
Back in town, I just wrapped up playing a workshop production of “The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown” at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. It’s a new musical by the acclaimed young composers Brian Lowdermilk and Kait Kerrigan - great songs, and the cast was amazing, a real pleasure to work with so many talented folks.
Next month, I’m heading out to join the second national tour of “Wicked” for a couple of cities. It’ll be a lot of fun to play that show again, I’ve missed it since we wrapped at the Pantages in January, and I’m excited to meet up with the folks in that company.
And I’ll follow that up with a quick trip to Summerfest in Milwaukee, the largest outdoor music festival in the country. I’ll be playing with the singer-songwriter Malea McGuinness. It’ll be nice to play outdoors after so much time in orchestra pits!
My original funk instrumental project, Wonk, is making progress, we finished our basic tracking in February and we’re working on overdubs and mixing when we can all find time in our busy schedules. Hope to have that album out before the year is over, and to be doing some gigs by summertime.
Thanks as always for your interest and support and hope to see & hear you soon!
JDA
May 2009