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Music updates (November 2023)

The latest and greatest in my life's music:

The Castaways added Jason (guitar), Angel (vocals), and Amolak (trumpet) to play a huge party at Alex's, which must have had over 100 people.

Castaways septet

And I attended two Afterglow Chorus concerts: one as a spectator, and one as a participant. It was great, and also found a couple more jazz musicians within the group. I'm hoping to introduce them to the Castaways group eventually, but haven't had the chance yet.

These last couple months have been a little busier (life, work, travel to Asia - and writing this in the airport on the way back), so I'll leave this post here for now.

For a more personal life update, I did get engaged to Yee Aun on September 16th - music to my own ears. With that in mind, I'll share a pair of songs for listening:

DIMENSIONS (Live) - Joshua Milo

Spotify link | Website

This song was playing as we drove into Carmel-by-the-Sea on the night before the proposal. Energetic throughout with ups and downs, and a groove that you can't help but bob your head to - I rarely drive, but this song's fusion feel made for perfect driving music. Or as Yee Aun calls it, "Mario Kart music" (not a bad thing!).

It Only Takes a Taste - Drew Gehling and Jessie Mueller

Spotify link | Waitress the Musical

Going back to the early days, here's a song that is near and dear to my heart. If I remember correctly, I originally heard Waitress from the Sara Bareilles demo album, but then the version with Drew Gehling and Jessie Mueller breathed entirely new life into it. I saw the musical when they toured in Pittsburgh with a couple friends, and this song in particular is one I've always loved.

Post-graduation, I was thinking about making music again, and this became the first song I covered and posted in several years: my recording and blog post here. At the time, I was just scratching the surface of getting to know Yee Aun better, but as it goes, it only takes a taste when it's something special.


Other stuff to look forward to:

As always, recommendations, jamming, gig invites are always welcome!

music, recommendationsBobbie Chen