January 24, 2003 - Hollywood, California &

January 25, 2003, Tempe, Arizona

Let me just say this first, …… I HATE L.A.!!! But it did end up being a very cool and interesting day.

We arrived in Hollywood early in the morning and when I jumped off the bus, the first thing I realized was that I was on Hollywood Boulevard on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The very first STAR I saw was for DeForrest Kelly of the original Star Trek series. I always loved his acting - he always seemed to infuse the perfect blend of frustration and passion. Like when he used to say, "Damn it Jim! I'm a doctor not a scientist!" or "Damn it Jim! I'm a doctor not a bricklayer!" The next STAR I saw was Paula Abdul's. How in da' hell did Paula Abdul get a STAR?! I know she probably sold millions of records, but I don't know a single person that bought one of her records. (Toné just said, "Yeah you do!") Oops!

It was a day full of surprises. Right across the street, they were unveiling a new STAR on the Walk of Fame for Suzanne Sommers (how did Paula Abdul get a STAR before Suzanne Sommers?). Barry Manilow and Merv Griffin showed up to speak on her behalf. So we just watched it from across the street. Ninety percent of the women that walked by the tour bus looked like full size Barbie dolls. There is more silicone in Hollywood than there is at an IBM factory!

While we were loading in gear, Victor was doing an interview on the telephone. He called me over 'cause he wanted me to hear the guy talk. Without going into detail about HOW the guy talked, I just fell out laughing!! Joseph Wooten and I were laughing so hard that Victor had a hard time continuing the interview because he had to mute the phone to laugh! One funny thing about all the Wooten brothers is that they cry when they laugh when something is REALLY funny to them. I knew that once he started crying, that he was gonna' have a hard time finishing the interview!

Another thing I noticed about Hollywood was that there were cameras everywhere. There were movies being shot everywhere and news cameras and all the tourists have cameras, the policeman had cameras, there were cameras in the venue… Now I know why there's footage of everything that happens in L.A.. If you're in Hollywood, you know you're gonna' be on somebody's film!

The gig was at the Knitting Factory. This is the venue where Herbie Hancock just filmed his concert DVD. I heard that Marcus Miller also filmed a soon to be released concert there. It was a sell out crowd. Ma'Ryia Mahome from Bass camp and her friend Lisa Kalayji were there. Our original drummer, JD Blair made a surprise visit. He's performing at the Super Bowl with Shania Twain and since he had a couple of days, off he came to visit. Jennifer Lopez also came to the concert. She was in town filming a movie. She's now known as J-Lo but she's got the J-High too (tee hee)!!! Cassandra Wilson performed before we did. She was incredible! Another pleasant surprise was that Calvin Jones, an old friend of mine from the University of Miami, was playing bass for her. I hadn't seen him in almost 20 years. He told me he's also the touring bass player for "Bring in Da' Noise, Bring in the Funk" and Eartha Kitt.

As soon as the gig was over I went in the back of the bus, closed the lounge door and went to sleep. Eight hours later I woke up in Tempe, AZ. Danette gave me the key to my hotel room and walked me to my room. My hands were full so she grabbed my hotel key and opened the door for me. As soon as she opened the door, I saw that it was a very nice suite (sweet). There were a couple of candles burning and didn't think that was too unusual. Then Danette said, "Man, they even lit incense for you!" and I STILL didn't get it… I shoulda' known something was up when Danette didn't close the hotel room door right away. When I walked into the bedroom portion of the suite I looked at the bed to see how big it was…and my beautiful (and crazy!) wife was lying in bed! I just stood there in disbelief for about 10 seconds…then I heard Danette shut the door. Toné, Victor and Danette had been in on it together the whole time! Earlier in the week, Toné had told me that she was flying to Florida to visit a friend of hers, but the whole time they were scheming this surprise. It was the best surprise of my life. What happened after that can't be discussed in this diary entry….!!!

Toné and I spent my first day off walking around at a shopping area by Arizona State University. Arizona is a very "brown" state! We found out that the Grand Canyon is about 4 hours away, so we may rent a car and drive there tomorrow. Stay tuned!!.....

peace,

anthony