2008-08-08T20:55:12Z No Author Copyright 2008, No Author SPHPBLOG

I’ve always thought Ellis Hall was the best kept secret in the music business. I played in his band for many years before I went solo myself! So tonight it was fun to put our music together for a great set in Salt Lake City. What an incredible talent and spirit Ellis Hall is! Thanks for a great night in Utah! Thanks to Zone VII Photography for this photo!
]]> http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080713-175257 2008-07-13T00:00:00Z 2008-07-13T00:00:00Z

Tonight was such perfect weather here in Temecula. It’s usually blazing hot, but tonight it was cool and just perfect! It’s great to see all the familiar faces here at Thornton. Here’s a great picture sent to me by Lee Levenson!


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Ahhh…we played V98.7’s festival two years ago and it was great, but tonight was even better! I got to watch Take 6 perform before us, and The Ohio Players play after us! What a great lineup! Very inspiring! V98.7 presented me with an amazing bottle of Moet & Chandon “White Star” champagne right before my show to honor my new CD “Stars”. They had seen that I'd been posting photos of various stars in my diary. So here's their star champagne to add to the collection! Thanks for the champagne…and a great day in Detroit. See you soon for the State Fair!]]> http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080615-185629 2008-06-15T00:00:00Z 2008-06-15T00:00:00Z http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080613-195551 2008-06-13T00:00:00Z 2008-06-13T00:00:00Z http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080606-195501 2008-06-06T00:00:00Z 2008-06-06T00:00:00Z

Surprise! I performed at the MTV Movie Awards tonight with Adam Sandler as part of his acceptance speech when he won the "Generation Award". Respect! I had a blast, and it was an honor to be there for my friend Adam and his whole posse as he won this amazing award! Woohoooooo! This picture was taken backstage with (from left to right) Betsey, Sanetta, Lochran, myself, Frankie, and Adam and his daughter Sadie. ]]> http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080601-212303 2008-06-02T00:00:00Z 2008-06-02T00:00:00Z



I've spent the whole week here in Moscow, Russia. What an amazing trip. I got to play with a local Moscow jazz pianist, Sergei Chipenko, and his band. He and his band was incredible. What a fun trip...a meaningful trip...we played a lot of great music! Thank you for 2 great shows! I had a blast learning a little Russian, and bringing a little Americana to Russia! The first picture is of me in Red Square, and the 2nd is with myself, Sergei Chipenko and his beautiful wife Valeria.

Dasvidanya

Mindi


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Today was incredible! I woke up verrrrry early and performed on KUSI's morning show. Then I walked down to the gaslamp district and went live on the air with KIFM. How fun! My band arrived, and we performed at 5:30. It was an incredible show....people for as far as the eye could see jammed into the streets. What a spectacle! You're the best audience in the world, and you know how much I love coming to San Diego. You made my day! AND...I got to meet George Benson and see him perform to close out the night...genius! This photo was taken by Mark Roberts while I was singing "Every Time". Thanks, Mark!]]> http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080524-175949 2008-05-24T00:00:00Z 2008-05-24T00:00:00Z
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What a great sold-out night here at home! What a great way to kick off this great festival with style! We played a few new songs…a few old favorites…and we had a blast. This is one of my favorite places to play, and to see concerts. It’s such a great intimate vibe…and I even saw bunnies and ducks running around tonight! Brilliant! This photo is of myself and my husband Jason Steele playing as he “sat in” for our last song of the night. He rocked it! Thanks to Lee Levensen for the great picture!]]> http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080516-210221 2008-05-17T00:00:00Z 2008-05-17T00:00:00Z

This was an invitation only night, and we had some great people come down to check out our acoustic set. Gibson gave Jay Gore a great acoustic to play for the evening. And we went through about 4 new songs from the new cd just to give people an “Unplugged” “Storyteller” vibe. Thanks to Tom Desavia at ASCAP for putting this together for us!


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Tonight I came back to San Diego to release my cd here. It’s been our tradition from the start that I’ve released every cd first in San Diego. Well, this year, we did that in my home town of St Petersburg, so we worked our way here as quickly as possible. I just got word that 430 people came tonight…unbelievable. Thanks for all your support, and for hanging over shelves and aisles to see us! We had a great time. Thanks for another unforgettable night in San Diego!! Thanks to Mark Roberts for this great photo of the crowd! And thanks to Peter Tellone for this cool photo of the show!

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From St Petersburg we drove to Orlando, where we went to the station. They had a huge Escalade with my likeness on the side. Wow. Check out the video they shot of our performance and evening in Orlando. Pretty cool! And...this is the Program DIrector of WLOQ, Paul Cross. I've been collecting pictures of stars in different cities to celebrate my new cd....check out his KISS tattoo with the Paul Stanley star! Rock on, Paul!

http://www.wloq.com/Article.asp?id=667814&spid=

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It’s so great to be back at the Tangier. We had a great night here a few months ago, so we had to come back soon! Sharyn, the daughter of my web mastermind for myspace.com/mindiabair was wearing these stars, and I’ve been taking pics of stars for this tour! It was another great sold out night tonight…we’ll be back again soon! We love it here! ]]> http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080503-205710 2008-05-04T00:00:00Z 2008-05-04T00:00:00Z

Today was an incredible day. We had a few hundred people come down to be in the audience for our show. And we went “Live” globally online at 6pm. The results were incredible….our listeners voted on their favorite songs, and we played them in the order they were voted on. Also, they could pick their camera angles. I loved that part! And everyone “shouted out” to us constantly during the set. They really did mean interactive when they said interactive!! We had a blast. Played a few new songs…and a few old favorites! Stay tuned…the footage will be available soon in some different places! So if you didn’t make it to the online show, no worries! Thanks to Cary Gillaspie scenicjazz.com for this photo!]]> http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080501-185547 2008-05-01T00:00:00Z 2008-05-01T00:00:00Z

As I'm on the road, I'm taking random shots of stars where I am ...just as a little homage to my new cd title "Stars"! Am I just bored, or what?! I thought it was cool! This is the star on the metal plate next to the "L" for the Lobby elevator in my hotel in San Diego...I got all blurry artistic with it! ]]> http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080426-012739 2008-04-26T00:00:00Z 2008-04-26T00:00:00Z



Today I sat in for the KIFM morning show with Mike V and Lenny. It was such a fun morning...early...but fun! I sang my new song "Stars" live on the air as well as played my new single "Smile" and a few other oldies but goodies!

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Today I played the National Anthem at the San Diego Padres game vs the Giants. It was a great day! We lost the game, but it was a fun game and fun to play!]]> http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080424-012340 2008-04-24T00:00:00Z 2008-04-24T00:00:00Z

Sometimes as a member of the Recording Academy, you get to do cool stuff. Well, tonight was one of those nights. The Recording Academy here in LA hosted an evening with Mel Brooks, the creator/writer/director/actor/all around genius guy who’s responsible for a lot of my favorite movies…”Blazing Saddles”, “Young Frankenstein”, etc….. it was incredible. They brought in guest stars to ask him questions and he was riveting. Among the guest stars were Carl Reiner, Maya Rudolph, Tim Meadows, Norm McDonald, Norm Crosby, Jason Biggs, and more. What a night. I even got to spend time with Brooks Arthur who produced the Adam Sandler cd that I played on as well as hung out with us for my time on the road with Adam. What a great guy…and a legend. This picture is of my father (my date for the evening!), me and Mel Brooks!


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This place is incredible….sprawling historic buildings amidst beautiful mountains. We flew in from LA where it was 70-75 degrees. It started snowing on our drive up the mountain, and by the time of my concert, it was like a blizzard outside! We played in a lodge at the top of the mountain above the Broadmoor to kick off the weekend. It was incredible…all the walls were glass, and all you could see was snow falling and big fireplaces on the verandah. Genius! In the lodge, there was a huge moosehead mounted on the wall, and a few people thought they saw it moving to the music during the show. Well, it wasn’t the drinks! It did move, and he even interrupted me during the show to talk! Yes…as beautiful and stunning as the Broadmoor is, they’re keeping it real with the talking moose! He was a great part of the show! I wish he could travel with us! To end the show, Earl Klugh “sat in” with us playing acoustic guitar on my song “The Joint”. It was crazy! He was amazing, and just brought his personality to the song. He’s such a legend. I sat in later in the weekend with Earl Klugh for his concert…what a highlight for me!! Great weekend!]]> http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080403-191740 2008-04-03T00:00:00Z 2008-04-03T00:00:00Z http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080328-191335 2008-03-28T00:00:00Z 2008-03-28T00:00:00Z

An incredible artist and good friend of mine included me in a series of mixed media paintings featuring artists of different types…actors, musicians, painters, etc. I thought what he did was amazing. I was stunned when I walked in and saw the actual painting! Looks like he just sold it to a buyer in Hong Kong. I just wanted to share his great work with you! If you want to check out his other work, you can check him out at www.sabatinocreative.com
www.timsabatino.com/studio
http://haute.net/sabatinocreative

Thanks Tim for such a beautiful painting!!
Congrats on selling it!!
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I met with the Ambassador to Turkey along with the Counsellor Deputy Chief of Mission today here in Rumania. I felt very important! It’s not every day you get to chat with ambassadors! After that, we did soundcheck and played a great club in town called the Kristal Glam Club. It lives up to it’s name. It’s amazing inside… we should have shot a music video here! …metallic couches everywhere and the most beautiful chandelier that’s probably 2 stories high that changes colors throughout the night. What a vibey place! We had a great night!

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I’ve been told I’m playing the palace before, but it’s never been like this! This has been an incredible trip, and we played in Ciragan Palace. It’s stunning! Today I did a bit of sightseeing at the Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar, and also saw the Sofya Church and the Blue Mosque. What incredible architecture! Thanks for your hospitality and such a fun night at the palace. What a day!]]> http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080319-082252 2008-03-19T00:00:00Z 2008-03-19T00:00:00Z

Wow…it took about 24 hours to get here, but it’s beautiful! This is my first time in Istanbul. The ancient architecture mixed with the modern architecture is stunning. The food is incredible, and everyone’s been so nice! I had lunch at a little café near the water and walked around a bit…here’s the Bosphorus River…beautiful!]]> http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080317-112605 2008-03-17T00:00:00Z 2008-03-17T00:00:00Z

Whew! We slept a few hours after our Denver show (actually about 1 1/2 hrs for me!) and flew immediately to Atlanta to play tonight! What a whirlwind. I played the Robert Ferst Center in December with Rick Braun and Peter White for our annual Christmas Tour, and it’s such an incredible place to play….I couldn’t wait to bring my band back. It was an inspired night. Earl Klugh was in the audience…what a legend! And I’ll be playing with him in a few weeks in Colorado Springs for his Jazz Weekend there…can’t wait! I also had so many friends in the audience. I guess I brought my own cheering section! We forgot about the “no sleep” factor, and we were inspired by our surroundings! Thanks for a great night!

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Wow….we flew from Southern California tonight all the way to Orlando, FL to play for you at the “Arts and Music Festival”! It was a long flight, but I was so star struck by our opening act that it brought me back to life! Sam Rivers played just before us, and if you don’t know Sam, then you need to check him out. He has quite the resume, but I became a fan of his through his long tenure with Dizzy Gillespie. He’s a monster! And as a sax player, I just had to get my picture with this legend! Here we are backstage right before we did a vodka shot together backstage, compliments of one of my friends/fans Cindy Adams…who brought us a whole bottle of Belvedere (my favorite)! Thanks Cindy for the vodka inspiration, and thanks Sam Rivers for the musical inspiration! ]]> http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080223-192300 2008-02-24T00:00:00Z 2008-02-24T00:00:00Z http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080222-192214 2008-02-23T00:00:00Z 2008-02-23T00:00:00Z http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080214-112118 2008-02-14T00:00:00Z 2008-02-14T00:00:00Z

My new cd is officially done, and we're just finishing up all the fun stuff that goes along with the music...like the photo shoot! It's always fun to get dressed up for a day and put the "face" to the music! Here's a sneak peek!
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What a great week at sea! There were so many great artists on the ship to play with! I did a saxophone/trumpet panel discussion with Kirk Whalum, Rick Braun, Euge Groove and Gerald Albright. What fun to talk saxophone for an hour or so with those guys. I had a few guests in my shows on the boat. Rick Braun came and sat in with me for a few songs. He was incredible! And Jeff Golub came up and rocked the house as well! On the last night of the cruise, I sat in with Wayman Tisdale to play his version of “Cruisin” (very appropriate!). It was a perfect week. It was so nice to hang out with everyone and just have a great time together! Thanks to Alan Aronoff for this picture of us on the cruise!]]> http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry080120-125114 2008-01-20T00:00:00Z 2008-01-20T00:00:00Z

This is our last night of the Christmas tour, and what a night! All of our families are here to cheer us on. This has been incredible! Richard Elliot even stopped by to play he and Rick Braun’s hit “R&R”. We dressed him up in a Santa suit to come out and play! He brought the house down. I think everyone knew it was him, though….the tiger striped saxophone gave it away!! Thanks for a perfect end to our very fun tour! Happy Holidays everyone! This is Richard Elliot disguised as Santa!!]]> http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry071222-194943 2007-12-23T00:00:00Z 2007-12-23T00:00:00Z

Last year at the Tower Theater the guys in the band played a crazy trick on me and had a half naked man (good looking too might I add!) bring my saxophone out to me! No scantily clad men tonight, just a really fun show! And a local fan Julie brought us homemade burritos backstage. I ate four!! They were incredible! Now it really feels like Christmas in California!
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Sacramento is always such a great place to play! I feel the vibe as I come into town. We played to a sold out crowd tonight, and it was incredible. I’m realizing that we’re getting closer to home now and it’s almost Christmas! We haven’t breathed in that California air for a while now, and it’s nice to be in our home state! Thanks for such a great night! And thanks Craig (Doctors for Entertainers) for the amazing Christmas cookies! This picture is of me at the airport...look at all those bags! ]]> http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry071220-194716 2007-12-21T00:00:00Z 2007-12-21T00:00:00Z http://www.mindiabair.com/blog/index.php?entry=entry071216-194636 2007-12-17T00:00:00Z 2007-12-17T00:00:00Z