Mitch Shiner's First Pro Gig (Albeit Impromptu)

Hi all --

Last Saturday evening, my son Mitch was with his friend and his father at a club in Milwaukee (Roots Cellar) to listen to Mitch's music instructor at Mapledale Middle School , Jamie Brewick, who had a gig with his band "Sanctuary" which plays a lot of jazz fusion in the vein of Miles Davis' "Bitches Brew". Between sets, the band's regular drummer got an urgent call – his son was taken to the hospital, and he understandably had to leave. Brewick knew Mitch was there, and asked him if he could step in and finish the gig.

He did, and it wasn't until the second to last song of the set that he was introduced and the audience was told that Mitch was in 8 th grade. I am told that the crowd went crazy.

Mitch had enough time before the second set began to call his mother who in turn called a friend of hers who is a professional photographer to get to the club to take the attached photos of Mitch during the gig. I hope you enjoy seeing this face as much as I enjoyed hearing about the whole thing at 11:30 p.m. Saturday night, which was 1:30 a.m. Sunday Central time.

This summer, Mitch will be attending the UCSD Summer Jazz Workshop here in San Diego as well as the Jamey Aebersold Jazz Camp at the University of Louisville . Last summer, he went to the UCSD Jazz Workshop and had one-on-one lessons with the likes of Jeff Hamilton, who is probably best know for his work as Diana Krall's drummer on her Grammy award winning album "April in Paris". His combo was led by Eric Reed, who played in the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra as a pianist and has a successful career in his own right.

Mitch is a member of the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Jazz Studies Program, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Honors Band and has had private lessons on the drums since he was 10. He's appeared in other gigs with his jazz ensembles, but never with a group of true professionals.

Saturday night was indeed memorable for him and, I hope, signifies things to come for something that he is truly passionate about – Jazz. I guess it's true that inside every cloud there is a silver lining. Sanctuary's regular drummer's son at last report was doing OK.

RS


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