From time to time I get sudden flashbacks to some bad or embarrassing scene from the past. They make me shudder or exhale or sometimes even mutter something to try and make the thought pass on. They are nothing big and I don't know why they plague me decades later but they live on in my body somewhere. One of the most frequent visitors is from college days - freshmen orientation, to be exact. It was the only time in my life I asked a total, absolute stranger for a date. We'd hardly had 20 words together before I asked her out. She declined, of course, but it was the gaping moment of silence that preceded that jabs me in the gut every now and then. I doubt she was stunned. I think she just wanted to see me squirm for a bit before she replied - give me time to regret. It worked.

But the memory that caught me off guard this morning is one that I'd forgotten for many years. It was third grade. Spring. The teacher told us to write a poem about Spring. I wrote the first thing that came to mind which was a song we'd learned to sing in second grade. It went like this:

"Robin, Robin, singing in the rain
Robin, Robin, Spring has come again"

"Pretty little Robin in the apple tree"

The teacher liked it so much (perhaps it had that familiar ring to it) that she sent it off to a children's literary magazine who published it. I knew none of this until it was printed. My parents had signed a waiver to allow the publication, I might have even received some money, I don't remember. I just remember being horrified that I would be found out - I had stolen this poem from our second grade sing-a-long book. I seem to remember trying to tell my mom that I hadn't written this poem but I don't remember her reaction or if she even understood what I was telling her.

I guess this all came back because it's Spring - the robins are here. I can't remember the third line of the song (and there were other verses but I only used the first one). If you know the rest or where it comes from let me know. I'll put the tune up later when I have time.

I've been playing music with guitarist Bernie Petteway on and off for many years. We had a quartet, The Wasabi Brothers, for several years playing electric/eclectic jazz-sort-of. For the last few years we've been playing sporadically with drummer Ed Butler as the Bernie Petteway Trio.

I'm reluctant to call this a "jazz trio" though we do play jazz. It's more than that so let's just say we're an "improvising ensemble" using a wide array of material from the jazz, popular, and folk traditions as a spring board. This is a fun ensemble to play with and while we tend to draw out of the same pool of tunes from one performance to the next, everything that happens is pretty spontaneous. We play well together.

You can hear us almost every 1st Thursday of the month at the General Store Cafe in downtown Pittsboro, NC - just off the traffic circle. The food there is great and there are wonderful crafts scattered around the restaurant making it a very interesting place visually.

We'll be there this coming Thursday, February 1st, at 8:00 PM for 2 hours of good music for our friends. Hope you'll come! 

UPDATE: Gig canceled due to bad weather. The General Store Cafe will be closed tonight.

UPDATE 2: - In March we'll be performing on the 15th, not the 1st.