MarcoPanascia.com

June 28, 2006 TOKYO, JAPAN

Hi everyone,

I've recently noticed that some of my favorite artists' websites feature a blog section. ChristianMcBride.com and TerriLyneCarrington.com are two excellent examples. I thought I would add a more personal touch to my website by doing the same. As always, your suggestions and comments are very welcome, so feel free to contact me anytime.

I am writing this first entry from my room at the Capitol Tokyu Hotel in Tokyo.  I've spent this past week here in Japan with Eldar and Todd Strait, playing some concerts and meeting up with the press to promote the newly released CD "Eldar: Live at the Blue Note". Sony Japan has released the CD with a slightly different artwork, which I kinda prefer, compared to the US version. I am not sure what the European version looks like... maybe it has its own different design, too? This is my third visit here in Japan, and it's been quite enjoyable so far. Musicians are treated like royalty here, and the sound guys work very hard with the performers to make sure that the sound on stage is nothing less than perfect. Playing live with two rented basses (upright and electric) has been a bit of a challenge, since the action on both instruments was much higher than I can normally handle, but with some bridge tweaking, I was able to make it work without putting myself at risk for some nasty tendonitis.

It is great to acknowledge that within the past three months I have been blessed with the opportunity to perform in three different continents (Europe, America and Asia). To me, it's definitely a dream come true, and I am thankful to Eldar and Sony for letting me be part of this journey. If you happen to be in New York City, July 5-9, please come to the Blue Note for our official CD release party. We're sharing the stage with jazz legend Randy Weston, who's also releasing his own new CD, and I am sure that we will all be having a great time.

Eldar and I will be touring the US extensively over the summer and fall, in several cities including Los Angeles, Atlanta, D.C., Cleveland, Seattle, San Jose, Monterey, Oakland, Chicago, and more. Some European dates are also being booked. I hope to see some of you at the gigs, let's hang!

Even though Eldar's gig has been keeping me quite busy of late, I have resumed writing my original music, which is something I deeply love doing. My plan is to form a steady quartet (possibly, a quintet) and record it by the end of the year, if a label interest will come to fruition. Over the past couple of years, I have been really admiring several NYC-based peers of mine like Marcus Strickland, Mike Moreno, Kendrick Scott and Jonathan Kreisberg for being able to balance their major gigs with their own original projects. My goal is to follow their example, and come up with a quality original project, possibly employing some of the talented musicians I have just mentioned, since they have all shown to be not only great performers, but great composers as well. I firmly believe that composition, more so than performing, is the one tool that allows any dedicated musician to let his or her true musical self come through. And statistically, the great performers of our time are also the best composers (Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter come to mind).

That's it for now... thank you all for your support, and stay tuned for another update sometimes soon.

Peace, Marco