Hi Folks,

I thought it was long overdue for an update. The year began sadly with the passing of a great friend and talent, Delaney Bramlett. Check out clips of him on youtube, you’ll see what an influence he was on Eric Clapton.

I did an interesting show in Battersea, London with the Rhythm Kings. We were the backing musicians for a charity show supporting Outward Bound, they have provided encouragement to underprivileged children by taking them out of the cities and exposing them to endeavours that they would not normally experience. The music was a celebration of the BeeGees. Robin Gibb, Lulu, Mel C (Spice Girls), Beverley Knight and Mark King were among the singers. I had a few days off before rehearsals began for the RKs tour of Holland. The Dutch tour went well, great audience response and good attendance. We also did two shows in Hamburg opening for a show that was held in a circus tent. It’s called Rock and Roll Circus and mostly celebrates the music of the Beatles. The show was very good with a large band, jugglers and acrobats, they will be touring around Germany over the next few weeks, check it out.

I did two nights at a really nice club in Monaco with HHs, we had good attendance for both shows and I believe they would like us back there again soon. We stayed at a wonderful hotel that is situated on the hairpin bend of the Grand Prix curcuit.
On returning to London, I did a radio recording with Jools Holland and his band. His studio is in Greenwich where I grew up, I’ve known Jools for a long time, he was a friend of my sister Becky when he was a teenager. The show will be broadcast on April 27th on the BBC.

Last week I played a wonderful club in San Diego with my friend Jim Soldi and his band Cactus, we had a great response and I’m sure we will be back there again before too long, Karen and I spent the next morning visiting the Maritime Museum a few blocks from the hotel. We were aboard one of the last of the 19th century iron hull sailing ships still in operation, a cold war Russian submarine and other interesting boats. It was a very nice way to spend the day before driving back to Los Angeles.

This week I fly to Memphis to participate in the Folk Alliance with Freebo, James Burton and Rodney Crowell, very much looking forward to it.

Back to Europe again soon for shows with HHs and later the RKs. I hope to see some of you on the road.

All the best

Albert