02/06/2026
Okay -
I'm a total loser and forgot to send out this missive last month. Been busy, okay? I am in the midst of trying to line up four music projects for this year and it is all a little messy in my doddering brain. More about that below - but first - this!
Oly Jazz carries on with yet another completley unreleased Obrador album, this one from their early days. This was recorded by KAOS 89.3 FM folks live to cassette back when and captures the band in fine form. The cover shot is them at McNeil - you can see the bars on the door in the top right corner.
Obrador members Paul and Michael sent us these notes:
Obrador's 30+ year highlights include playing several Washington prisons. We played the Walla Walla pen two times, McNeil Island, Monroe and the Purdy women's facility. Those long volunteer travels were full of stories of being inside a very closed environment. Kim McCartney, a student at the The Evergreen State College was doing prison advocacy studies and arranged all of Obrador's prison visits. Each visit provided stories for all of us. At our McNeil Island federal pen visit, we hauled gear all day. On trucks, on the road, on dock, on ferry, on truck, off truck, upstairs to on stage. We were the first group to play there due to a 2-year lockdown, so they were ready for an afternoon of Jazz, Funk, Latin and original music. When the curtain came down the prisoners came in and the lights on the crowd turned off. The curtain opened and we couldn't see a soul in the 800+ crowd, but could hear a very satisfied roar after each tune. You'll find every kind of guy in prison. I saw a guy that looked like a nerd I knew in high school standing next to a guy that scared you by barely looking in his direction. At Monroe, we saw guys in the 4th row smoking re**er. At Purdy, we hurried to our next tune as fast as we could, due to the heckling cat calls from the crowd. Being in a prison and not being a prisoner was like being in the middle of a National Geographic article.
Next up:
Von Cube - Live Session
(Not recorded in a prison. td)
Hey! I forgot to tell you anything about the new Von Cube - Live Session album we released Jan. 1. Oops.
The Scoop:
Grady sez: Nick and I played this show in 2016 (I think) at Arcade Digital Studios in Tumwater, where Nick and I recorded a ton of stuff. Bruce Whitcomb (owner and proprietor) and our old pal Steffi Eubanks would feature a different band every couple of weeks or so for their radio show, The Best Damn Music Show In Olympia, and for some reason they called me. Nick and I hadn't played live for a couple of years due to the death of our bass player and brother Tony Martinello, but we decided, let's do this thing as a 2 piece, in honor of Tony.
There it is!
Grady - guitar and vox; Nick - drums
Now back to the TD blah-blah-blah. (Please note the "liklihood of completion" percentages below are estimates and should not be used for betting purposes.)
Project One: Pipe Organ album. Maybe with a choir. Recording at the First Christian Church in Olympia, WA. Basically a bunch of mostly TD oldies scored for this project by the amazing Jim of Seattle. And no, I will not be the organ player. You need specialized skills for pipe organ! Likelhood of completion 80%.
Project Two: The Dyer/Fishtrap thing. True Olympian drummer (1 of 2) Jeff Parkhurst plays with many bands. One of them is Fishtrap, an Oly old-school electric blues band. Discussions are progressing toward doing an album of interpretations of selections from the Tom Dyer song catelog. Plus a little Howlin' Wolf and Ho**er. If you have any TD favorites you think could use this treatment, please do let me know. Likelhood of completion 80%.
Project Three: The Dyer/Stein Logic Experience. True Oly drummer Michael Stein and I have been learning Apple Logic (I'm a Pro Tools guy) with the idea of making some weirdo pop music using Logic's unique tool set. It is proceeding slowly, but proceeding. We want a beautiful, talented young person to be our media conquering front person, so if you have any good candidates, send them out way. Likelhood of completion 65%.
Project Four: The Icons - Untitled. The Icons have been tossing around the idea of our third album for a year or so. We have now set a date for our first get together: March 1. No idea where we are going on this one so it should be an adventure. Unlke the last album, there will be no leftovers waiting to be rehashed and served. All fresh! All new! Likelhood of completion 70%.
One more thing. Just helped hang a huge, three floor Jon Strongbow show at the Department of Ecology in Lacey Washington. While is technically not open to the public, I've been told if you go there and are nice as punch, they will let you take in its breathtaking and magnificnet scope.
This concludes today's informative builletin.
td 2/6/26
PS. Seahawks gonna win.
