On April 24, 2014 my jazz ensembles performed for the Freddie Awards Banquet at The Museum Of Flight in Seattle, Washington. I had not heard of the Freddie Awards until a few days before the event. I received word that the band that was booked originally several months prior for this event had canceled at the last moment due to an illness with a band member. The Museum Of Flight is a very familiar venue to us in that we have played for dozens of special events throughout the last 18 years or so.
The Freddie Awards started in 1988 as a voice for the frequent flyer traveler and the travel loyalty industry. Over three dozen awards were handed out to recipients in many categories such as Best Hotel Program of the Year and Best Airline Program of the Year. The Freddie Awards are held annually every last Thursday of April at a designated host city. This year it happened to be in Seattle at The Museum Of Flight, which was very fitting for the program at hand.
My jazz duo and jazz trio provided the live music ambiance for this occasion. Tenor saxophonist Alexey Nikolaev and I played for the cocktail mixer prior to dinner in the upper level of the Museum. For the dinner banquet jazz pianist John Hansen joined us on the main floor to form the jazz trio. During the awards ceremony we had to provide play-on music for the award winners. Kind of like Letterman or The Tonight Show. We have had experience doing these type of choreographed events before.
Alexey and John are two of some of the best jazz musicians Seattle has to offer. A Smooth Groove Productions special event will deliver top shelf live jazz music. This night was no exception. The guys really played great stuff. Here is a video of us playing a Sonny Rollins tune called Airegin.
It was a very nice evening overall. We came in at the last minute and nailed the gig with minimal planning.
As always it was a pure pleasure to work with my good friend Andrea Sligar and her professional catering staff at McCormick & Schmick's, and the folks at The Museum Of Flight. Their food presentation is always fabulous and classy. We look forward to being a part of the next event at The Museum Of Flight.
Follow us on:
For booking inquiries of Emmanuel del Casal Jazz Ensembles,
please write to emman@smoothgroove.net
Or, call us at 1-866-771-2500.
