Hey, this is Paul Martin and Ray the Roadie for the Rock and Roll Chicago podcast. So, what's the word today, Ray? I just feel like I'm the luckiest guy in the world. So, you're a lucky man.

I am a lucky man. Ooh, a lucky man you are. Yeah, a little ELP, Emerson, Lakeland, Palmer.

Right. But yeah, I feel kind of lucky. Are we talking with them today? No, no, no.

Actually, I don't think any of them are. I think there's only one left, if there is one. I don't think there's any of them.

Maybe none of them. Yeah, I think you might be right. I have to do some research on that and see if one of them is still lucky.

But no, it's not. No, I don't think so. No, not, and it's not lucky man and it's, well, I'll just get to the point.

It's Mr. Lucky and the Orchestra of Tomorrow. His Orchestra of Tomorrow. His Orchestra, that's right.

His, not anybody else's. It's his. His Orchestra of Tomorrow.

Of Tomorrow. Not today. It's his, that's right.

So, we sat down with Kevin Gosserup, who is Mr. Lucky, to talk about his band and some unique music that they play. You kind of Henry Mancini, a jazz type of thing. Yeah, and with a little bit of twist, a little bit of assortment in there that you don't normally hear anywhere.

Right, right. Let's talk to Kevin and see what he has to say all about it. Okay, I hope you have a really good show.

Thank you. That's Ed Sullivan. I see.

It was your impersonation of Ed Sullivan. That was, yes, it was. Ladies and gentlemen, The Beatles.

But we're not talking to The Beatles. We're talking to Mr. Lucky. Kevin Gosserup.

Okay, let's go to Mr. Lucky. And it's a really big shoe, by the way. Not a show, it's a shoe.

Big shoes to fill. Yes, it's really big shoes. Big shoes.

Like cloud shoes? Like bozo. Like bozo shoes, yeah. Not saying that Mr. Lucky wears bozo shoes.

No, no, no, no. He does not. He's stunningly dressed in his performances.

Yes, all right. Let's just shut up and talk to Kevin. Okay, let's go.

Everyone, welcome to the show. Today we're speaking with Kevin Gosserup, who is from the band Mr. Lucky and his orchestra of tomorrow. And you must be Mr. Lucky.

Is that right, Kevin? I am lucky indeed. So tell us a little bit about the group. Yeah, sure.

It's an eight piece group. And most of the players are from like the Southwest suburbs. So we do, the whole band, the inspiration is kind of, like we love the music of Henry Mancini and Burr Bacharach.

And we love music that makes people dance, you know. So we just sort of took all of that and melded it into, I guess, a new genre that we're currently calling a vintage cocktail pop. I see.

This is interesting. It's a nice name. I like that.

So how'd you come up with the idea? Well, the whole band started, I used to be in a band called the Flat Cats, a swing band in Chicago. And we had a regular gig at Alhambra Palace up in the city. And we used to hire- Yeah, the Flat Cats.

We just met one of the girls from the Flat Cats who plays with the Beatles. Oh yeah, Amanda Wolf. Amanda.

Absolutely, yeah. She's a fantastic singer. And so we hire a lot of swing dance instructors.

And one of the swing dance instructors also does burlesque. And her name is Ruby Spencer. She's a fantastic performer in Chicago.

And we were talking at one of the gigs, and we were talking about doing a live band burlesque show. And I said, well, I'm your guy. I mean, I love that kind of music.

So I gave her a list of names because we just needed to create a band for this live band burlesque thing. And one of the names on the list that I came up with was Mr. Lucky and his Orchestra of Tomorrow. And she said, well, that's the name.

So then we built the band around that. And Mr. Lucky obviously comes from the television show. Henry Mancini wrote the theme song.

Right, right. You know, I googled Mr. Lucky, and a lot of Henry Mancini stuff came up. Yeah.

Same on YouTube. Yeah, yeah, for sure. You're like, is that he wrote the tune, Mr. Lucky, you know? So it seemed like an obvious choice.

So, and I love the style of jazz playing. Some people might not even call it jazz. More like the rock and roll saxophone, like Bruce Randolph and guys like that.

So, and you know, you think of Night Train, and you think of those burlesque tunes. That's right up my alley, you know? So, so it's been great because we did the band specifically for these live band burlesque shows, which are still going on. They're called Live and Lucky, a Ruby Spencer review.

And, but then the band has taken on a life of its own. So now we've gotten plenty of other gigs and are doing our own thing. So when did you start this whole shindig? I think it's been three, three years.

I mean, pre-COVID for sure, three or four years now. So. What happened during COVID? Not much.

Oh, no. Yeah. We sat home like most musicians.

So your sets that you do, is this like a, something, is it set up in advance, like a show? I mean, all the shows are identical, you know? No, no. That's part of the thing about live band burlesque is, is that it's improvisatory on the dancers parts. Cause we don't even rehearse or necessarily meet them before the show.

All right. So I'll give them a list of tunes to choose from. Things like The Stripper or Night Train or Mr. Lucky.

They'll pick one of those tunes and then we just play it and they dance to it. Okay. Yeah.

So it's pretty loose and it's great. It's a great time. But you don't always, you don't always have them.

Sometimes it's just the band playing out. Yeah. Sometimes the band, we just have our own gigs.

And we've played the Drake Hotel. We did their Halloween show last year. The Roxy, we play there a lot.

We love that venue. That is a nice place. Yeah, for sure.

That sounds very interesting. Yeah, it's good. And I mean, it's been a good outlet for me.

I grew up in central Illinois and my grandfather was a bluegrass musician back in the forties and fifties. And then my dad was a guitarist. So started off playing rock and roll in the fifties.

Ended up being like country variety by the seventies and eighties, you know? So when I said I was going to play the saxophone, I was like the black sheep of the family. And, but you know, my, my natural exposure was to like Boots Randolph and Ace Cannon and guys like that. So, you know, who really did so much in the country world, but we're also just fantastic saxophonists.

But the jazz world doesn't really embrace those guys so much, you know? So, so there's just sort of it out there that was perfect for me because I love doing that kind of like popular music and I love jazz too. You know? So it's been fun finding people around that also have that appreciation for that sort of thing. Because a lot of the straight ahead jazzers, they don't want anything to do with that.

You know, they'll take the gig for the dough. Right. But finding people that actually love that music has been.

So when you picked up the sax, I decided you want to take that. Were you able to find somebody down in Central Illinois that knew jazz? No, not really. I mean, I grew up just like in the normal band program, like most kids, you know? And I think it wasn't until college that I got really lucky because my roommate was a serious jazz player and still is.

And, but he also loved guys like Boots Randolph. And even in the jazz world, there's a guy Lockjaw Davis that was the lead tenor player for Count Basie for years. But really rough, aggressive, raw sound.

You know, they call that whole school of Texas tenors. It's kind of like honking guys. And that's the stuff I gravitated towards.

So what year was it you started playing saxophone? I guess that would be 1978. When he was five. Yeah.

So five years old. So, but you also do some rock and roll. Oh yeah, for sure.

And even in Mr. Lucky, we do lots of rock and roll. We cover a lot of like 60s, you know, pop tunes and things like that. And do you have a vocalist? We do.

In fact, you had mentioned the Beatles earlier. One of the other Beatles, Jen Zayas, is our lead vocalist for Mr. Lucky. So, yeah.

So, and she's fantastic. One of the best in Chicagoland. And I'm really lucky because I also played saxophone, obviously, with Cadillac Groove.

Right. No. What? Really? I'm just the same guy.

I knew that recognition. And then, of course, the two horn players, John Harp and Carlo Isabelli, also play with Mr. Lucky. Okay.

And Carlo plays like everywhere. Yeah, pretty much. Can't throw a rock at a gig without hitting Carlo.

Yeah, you're right. He's everywhere. Yeah, it's true.

And then for our rhythm section, we usually just do pickup. Okay. That's the one thing that's different.

You know, a lot of the rock and roll gigs, I mean, the common language in rock and roll seems to be like the tunes. Like if you call it Superstition or if you call it Hound Dog, you just expect that the guys are going to know those tunes. In the jazz world, you expect people are going to be able to read charts and know the styles.

So in a rock gig, you would say, okay, well, we're going to do Night Train. And everybody needs to know Night Train, you know. But in the jazz world, I would just say B-flat blues, double shuffle, and then count it off.

They don't even necessarily care what the tune is. So you've got a drummer, bass, stand-up bass. Yep, you have an acoustic bass, drummer, acoustic bass, piano, and guitar.

So it's usually full of eight pieces. See. And then the three horns, right? Yep, three horns and a vocalist.

I see. So before the pandemic, how long? Was it maybe a year or so before the pandemic you guys got together? I think, yeah, a year or two. So you're playing a lot too? Yeah, for sure.

Yeah, we've been really lucky. So, and it's a challenge with eight pieces, right? It's a challenge with eight pieces for like a rock pop band, you know, for something that's even a little more off to the sides. Right.

Yeah. I mean, it's easy to get gigs. It's just tough to get paid for them.

Well, yeah, sure. You can play, but we're not paying eight people. That's, that's the, that's the challenge.

So you guys started playing out again last year or? Yeah, pretty much as soon as we could. Yeah, as soon as you could. Yep, absolutely.

And keeping a full schedule? Yeah, yep, yep. We were doing pretty well. And same thing.

We're at the Roxy a lot. Once again, it's just such a beautiful venue to play. And Roxy is where? In Lockport.

Lockport. Yeah. Right downtown.

It's an old theater. Now it's a performing arts venue and just wonderful. And as well as private events, you know, some summer stuff.

So I would imagine you'd probably do good at some corporate events, right? Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. So, and you know, now that things are picking back up with COVID, we're discovering that some places have just totally dropped their budget.

So it's just trying to readjust to that. And a lot of places you can't get a gig because they're honoring contracts from. Of course.

Prior to the pandemic. A lot of festivals. Yeah.

They're still booking the people that couldn't play for the last two years. Right. But it's been good with the people that I play with because even though we've been like a regular band for three or four years, I mean, all of them I've worked with off and on, you know, for 10 years or whatever.

So, so when anybody calls for any kind of gig, we could put together a duo, trio, quartet, quintet up to a big band, you know, just from the people that we all know. So it's been pretty flexible. You do the booking for the band or? Yep.

Yeah. That's got to keep you busy. Yeah.

You know, I wish it kept me busier like most bookers, but yes. Do you guys just keep yourselves in mid, you know, Chicagoland area, Midwest or? So far it's been, and because I, I'm lucky enough to get to work with top-notch players. Everyone's busy.

So, so I can be choosy about when I pick gigs just so I can make sure that the cats can actually make it. Right. But like Jen, our vocalist is a great example.

She works with the Beatles. She's got her own jazz trio. She's very, I'm very successful.

Right. You gotta, everybody's got a schedule and you gotta adapt to that and decide which is the priority. For sure.

You know, but I want to be able to call guys up and say, Hey, you know, the, the gig, but we're going to do Tijuana Taxi and Spanish Flea and, and the in-crowd and we're going to do all that stuff. And I want guys to be able to say, yeah, I'd love to do that. And what's your crowd? What's your fan base? We've been lucky with a lot of swing dancers, which is really fun.

You know, it's just great to look out on a dance floor and see it filled with dancers for sure. Age-wise, how you, anything in the younger age groups? Surprisingly, there's no more. So, yeah.

So we also do some things like Cantina Band from the Star Wars song, you know, so somebody always recognizes something and we throw a lot of, I don't want to say tricks, but, you know, I've arranged a lot of tunes that I guess the goal part of it too, is to like find those tunes that you forgot how much you liked, you know? So if we play a tune like 16 tons, you know, like not a lot of people actually cover that tune when you hear it. And you're like, what do you get? Yeah. I forgot.

16 tons. What do you get? And then you get people out there like, Whoa, I remembered it. I said, that's been sort of the goal.

So sometimes I will take some tunes, like I did an arrangement of a tune and I called it Campania de Tres and I played it for the crowd and I introduced it as a big Latin number, you know? And it was actually the theme from Three's Company, you know, just done as a Latin tune. And when we played it for quite a few minutes and then you could just see people all of a sudden, they're just, I've heard this. I've heard this.

For a second. So I enjoy stuff like that. So you've arranged stuff.

I do. Yeah, for sure. Absolutely.

So what about writing? Some? Yeah. I've written some originals for the band. So mostly instrumentals.

Any recording? Not yet. Yeah. Just planning on it.

Well, I'd love to. Yeah. So.

Got enough material? Oh yeah. More than enough material. Right.

Gotta get enough, gotta get enough lettuce to write for sure. So what would you like to, what would you like to put out? Like a, I call it all Mancini kind of music. Well, that would be great.

I mean, it would be great to be able to do like the Mancini and Bacharach tunes that we just love as a group, as well as some of the fun stuff and then mix in some originals tunes. So yeah. And like I said, everybody in the band has tons of experience.

So it'd be, it'd be an easier recording just a matter of getting eight guys together at the same time. Is there anyone in particular you use for staying the bass or for drums or something? No, I've been really lucky because we've had a few. You are Mr. Lucky.

Yeah. Excellent point. Yeah.

Because drummers, we've had just some great Chicago drummers. A guy named John Scoville does it a lot. And he performs with Jenny James, just tons of, he's all over the place.

And then another guy, Michael Vittorio has played with us. He's fantastic. The Life Crisis.

Exactly. Frank Rossi. Yeah.

And he also loves Mancini and Bacharach. So it was very easy to, you know, have a great time with him. And then bass players, same with piano players.

They're just so busy all the time. It's really difficult to get one guy to commit, you know, so you just come across any. And there's so many great bass players around.

You should book far enough in advance where you can get a date lined up like that. Exactly. I've got the Excel spreadsheet so I can plug in all the players as it comes along.

But I have a good book, you know, all the charts are solid. So I can just get any good guy to kind of read it. And guys from Cadillac Groove.

I try to cycle them in and out every chance I get. Tom has played drums for us as well. Did a fantastic job.

So yeah, it's a fun gig, you know. Oh yeah. It's easy to sell.

Again, and it's different. Yeah, for sure. It's different.

You know, there's not a lot of bands like that, like yours around. So to go see something like that, it's going to be fun. Yeah.

Now my one big regret is that like the Willowbrook Ballroom is gone. Because that would be perfect, you know. Right.

Yeah, there just aren't a lot of big ballrooms left. No, not at all. Is there a dance floor at the Raxi? There is.

Yeah, it's beautiful. So you're on a regular rotation there? Are you like booking it monthly or something? We are there monthly. I think starting in August, it'll be officially the second Tuesday of every month.

It'll be, we're there every month. I think our next date there is, gosh, I feel bad. I'd have to look.

I didn't come in with the dates in my head. No, that's right. So on June 11th, we are doing an aloha brunch at a place called AO Hawaiian Hideout up on the South Loop.

Okay. And so that's great because it's not exactly a tiki bar. It is a Hawaiian restaurant.

But we'll get to pull out all of that exotica and, you know, do Quiet Village and all the Mancini stuff. We have a full band there. Oh yeah, for sure.

Yeah. I know you said you do some duo or some trio stuff, right? Yeah, for sure. Yeah, because some places you just can't get paid people in.

And never say no to a gig. That's. Oh yeah, if you're going to do like something at the studio on Lockport, you're not getting any people up on that stage.

No way, no way, no way. So what do you have to say to people who say jazz is eight guys or four guys or whatever it might be while playing different songs in different keys? Yeah. Well, yeah.

And, you know, and coming from the background that I did, like I said, I was a black sheep in my family because I played the saxophone, you know. So, you know, a lot of criticisms of modern jazz, I mean, I think are valid in the sense that it's just not really that accessible to the average person, you know. I mean, there's a lot of modern jazz that I really appreciate because they're killer players, technical, just amazing.

It doesn't really grab me personally that much, you know. I gravitate towards the older guys, guys that were amazingly talented, like Fats Waller or Dizzy Gillespie that also put on a great show, you know. So I think that's what I would tell people is find those jazz artists.

And there's still a million of them out there that are amazing players, a great technique, really have something to say with their instruments, but also recognize that there's a crowd out there that they want to entertain, you know. And that's been our goal all along is to, you know, we want to play jazz, but maybe you'll forget that it's actually jazz and you'll just say, this is great. I mean, Duke Ellington said there are two kinds of music, you know, good and bad.

Exactly. We want to play the good stuff. And even here, there's no like radio outlet for jazz anymore.

Used to have WNUA and that was a great station. I love that station. I used to listen to it a lot and then it just went away and there's nothing.

Yeah. And WDCB still does jazz, but they just don't have a huge signal, you know, because, um, yeah, like in Joliet, I mean, where do you go to hear jazz in Joliet? Right. Nowhere.

Right. Yeah. They certainly had across the street.

Definitely not across the street. No, no, no, no, no. Yeah.

So when people come out to see Mr. Lucky and they'll see like, okay, well, they've got three horns and maybe we're doing a jazz standard. We do plenty of those, you know, but then we'll do something like Cantina Band or Manah Manah from Sesame Street, you know, and everybody recognizes those tunes. Everybody loves them and you forget, you know.

That's true. What about like Sinatra or anything like that? Yeah. We do all that.

Yep. Sinatra, Bobby Darin. Yeah, for sure.

And anybody, I think anybody will tell you, you walk in, you see a band with horns. Everybody loves horns. I mean, in any band, I mean, there's bands that play with and without horns.

Sometimes they have them sometimes, but when they bring the horns in, it just brings the whole band out. It's yeah. Yeah.

It's a great sound. Yeah. It's a different thing for sure.

I'm sure you're aware of that from Cadillac Groove. Yeah, absolutely. So yeah.

And the Cadillac Groove guys, I mean, they embrace the horns and they love it. You know, so. I mean, when you guys do that little New Orleans deal and you go out into the crowd and stuff, the whole place goes nuts.

They love it. Yeah. It's a blast for sure.

Well, I was going to ask you about the New Orleans thing. Do you, do you guys do it as Mr. Lucky and his orchestra tomorrow? Do any New Orleans type jazz? Yeah, for sure. Absolutely.

So yeah. Yeah. And the band is great because once again, they're all top notch pros.

So, so if somebody just comes up and says, Hey, can you guys do one of the Sands or can you throw out a polka real quick? Cause my aunt's visiting from Wisconsin. Yeah. Just rip it right off.

No problem. So, and I've always wanted. That stereotype of yours is from Wisconsin.

No, no, not that everybody in Wisconsin polkas. That was just a coincidence. No, it wasn't.

I would have used the same. Example. But I've always wanted a band like that where, I mean, really what the music we play is the music that we like.

So, so, you know, somebody wanted to cover a tainted love. I'm like, yeah, let's do it. You know, somebody else wants to cover a Dixieland tune from the twenties.

Yeah. Let's do it. You know, if, if it swings, if people are going to enjoy listening to it, that's really all that matters.

So we can do something like you know, like any sixties Motown tune or whatever. And then go straight into a Sinatra tune. And if it keeps people moving or happy or smiling, that's all that matters to me.

Right. You got good variety. Wide spectrum of music there and stuff.

Absolutely. And it's the same thing. I walk into a place and somebody's playing a Herb Albert tune, you know, like Tijuana taxi.

Like that makes me smile. Cause who's doing that? Nobody. And those tunes I like, like Java.

They all her tune, you know, I mean, I sold millions of copies. People love that song, but nobody's going to play that. No.

Well, except for us. Yeah. I mean, like, like you're saying Tijuana taxi.

I remember hearing that on WLS or something in the sixties. Yeah, absolutely. Come on there and like, Hey, I know that song.

Right. For sure. So then sometimes we'll take that idea and dig a little bit deeper.

And then, you know, like a song like a stranger on the shore, which was a huge jazz hit that was like on the pop charts in the sixties. Right. You know, that's sort of like the second level of like, I mean, maybe not everybody knows that tune, but the people that do, it'd be like, I haven't heard that tune for four years, you know? And that makes me smile.

Sure. And you're keeping, keeping it alive. Really? Yeah.

I mean, if you're not doing it, who else is doing it? That's it. You know, it's the same thing. Everybody knows like the pink Panther theme, you know, but nobody actually plays it because it's considered, you know, some sort of cheesy song or whatever, but you play it.

Everybody loves it. Oh yeah. Yeah.

I love it. I love the movies. They're great.

Yeah. Me too. Yeah.

They're happy songs. Do you, do you do a lot of movie themes or? We're doing more and more. Cause I like adding stuff like that.

And I like doing some obscure stuff too. Like, like the theme from Mannix, for example, is killer. That's a fantastic tune.

So I'm like, well, everyone should play that. So, and I don't even care if people recognize that. Like if somebody asks, great.

Mannix, Mannix. Yeah. I don't remember the theme from Mannix, but I used to watch it when I was a kid, every Sunday night.

Now, if you, if you put it, if you started playing it, I'd recognize it. I know I'd recognize it. When you walk into the Roxy, we'll play it.

I keep thinking it gets smart. Yep. But then you have the doors closed, smashed, closing behind you and stuff.

Lower the cone of silence. Let's see here. Just us talking about it.

Just talking about it. You're right. It's just fun stuff.

Yeah. It's true. Great to reminisce and brings a smile to your face.

Yeah, absolutely. So yeah. And I've got a dozen other tunes, you know, it's just a matter of working them in.

And even some great country stuff. I don't even know what you do, but like everybody remembers that Billy Swan tune. I can help them, but nobody plays that song.

You're right. I'm like, I love that song. We're just going to do it.

So there you go. Cause you can. Yeah, right.

Probably some of the old country stuff would be. Yeah. Oh yeah.

For sure. And a lot of Patsy Cline stuff. I know that's still really popular, but some of it's fun to do with like a jazz sort of twist, you know, so, you know, walk on the floor over here.

A lot of that stuff actually can swing pretty hard and it sounds great. So do you ever consider like, you know, if you're going to do like a residency at the Roxy every month or something like every month doing something different, like movie, movie theme songs one month at some point we will, you know, for sure. Yeah.

And same thing with the burlesque shows. We've talked about doing that too. Like let's do an all man seen the burlesque show.

Right. Somebody could do a pink Panther thing. Somebody could do a Peter Gunn thing.

And then cause they would make it more of a specialty show each month rather than just, well, we're just going to see Mr. Lucky. Yeah, for sure. Not going to, you don't know what to expect.

Now they expect, oh, this is what you're going to do. You know, I want to hear the movie theme songs. For sure.

So, and then my other goal is to have some billionaire come in and open a huge Tiki bar in Joliet so we can have a residency there. That would be perfect. That would be nice.

I mean, I'm just, I'm surprised we can't find places like that anymore. It's just, it's just, uh, I don't want to say it's a dying genre, but it's, there's no outlet for it anywhere. Well, and you think about all the places that used to have just like lounge bands.

Right. Like, I mean, it was a joke in the Blues Brothers, you know, Murph and the Magic Tones. Right.

But that was the real scene. I mean, it was, you'd go into a hotel lounge and there'd be a small band playing. Oh, I had a friend of mine that, uh, back in the seventies, I think it was late seventies, early eighties, he was in a Holiday Inn band.

They traveled around and went to Holiday Inns all over the Midwest and stuff. And they'd do a week there and they'd play. And then you move on to the next Holiday Inn.

And I was like, wow. Yeah. And I, if I walked into a Holiday Lounge now and some Murph and the Magic Tones was playing Tile Yellow Ribbon or Raindrop Scoop, I would be very happy.

But you don't see that anymore. No, but you know, it's like, yeah, I mean, Tile Yellow Ribbon is a great example. Raindrop Scoop falling in my head.

Those sold millions of copies, but nobody would ever do those songs because now, you know, they're considered kind of cheese. Right. I want to do those songs because they're great.

And you know, there's a fan base out there that's willing to listen. Yeah, for sure. You know, uh, that Carpenters, you know, our lead singer, Jen loves the Carpenters.

I'm like, yeah, we can do all that stuff. You know, why not? What about Etta James? Yeah, for sure. Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, of course we do At Last because everybody has to, you know, somebody always requests it. But yeah, Etta James has a million tunes. At Last is probably to me, one of the greatest songs that was ever written.

And it's a great love song. Yeah. And a great sax part too.

And Jen has this huge, I mean, she's a great jazz vocalist, but she just belts the blues like nobody's business. But like most of the guys, I mean, versatility is the key to, you know, so like Carlo plays the trumpet and Carlo does a lot of legitimate classical gigs, but you know, he can also do the plunger and the Dixieland stuff. And John on trombone is the same thing.

You can play every style somewhere else. Work at your art and you get good at it. Yeah, for sure.

And just be open-minded. This is great. I love that music too.

Yeah, fantastic. It is. I'm glad you guys are getting out there and doing it because honestly, I can't think of any other band or anybody out there.

I mean, you might see a couple or something in some little club somewhere doing a little Franken or, you know, Edie Gourmet or something, but which is still cool, which is still cool to see that in a little, in a little club. But those are few and far between too. Well, and I see a lot of just amazing musicians, trios and jazz quartets, you know, and the players are just, they're, they're sitting in four chairs and they're just, their heads are down and they're playing and it's amazing music, but you know, I, I, I want to be entertained when I go out.

Like, you know, I want the musicians to look like they're having a good time too. So, you know, and that's easy for this band because everyone is having a great time. Right.

Yeah. If you're just going to sit there and play, you might as well put the album on. Yeah, right, right.

You want to, you know, engage the audience. Yeah, yeah. Now we understand that Greg Patterson is coming in here later.

Yeah, we've already interviewed him, but he's coming in here for something else tonight. Yeah. Now what about like Buddy Rich or Gene Krupa? Yeah, same thing.

I mean, well, you know, Buddy Rich was a different kind of performer because, you know, he seemed to hate everybody, but, but, you know, he knew the value of the audience, obviously. And then of course, Gene Krupa was, you know, a wildly great entertainer. So, but yeah, like I always, every gig at some point, whoever's drumming, I, you know, I always point to the Toms and they just know we need that Gene Krupa beat, you know, because I use it all the time.

So, and we do a lot of directing on stage too. We just mix up tunes all the time. So it keeps it fresh for everybody.

Right. And somebody is going to take control. Well, that's it.

You just can't get up there and just do it. Yeah, for sure. And that's one of the reasons why I started the band is because I wanted to, you know, like I, you go out to hear some bands and, you know, you just feel like maybe they missed some opportunities, I guess.

I had this experience at the, I think it was the Elmhurst Jazz Festival, Elmhurst. And there's a big band, one of the few current big bands that's actually doing well, the Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. And they performed at this festival.

And it seemed like every time there was a chance to do something like wildly entertaining or just amazing, they took it. Okay. Like it was just one of the most amazing performances, you know, and that's the feeling I want.

Like you've got an idea and you do it and the band is there with you or the leader is just like, make this happen, you know? So I'm trying to do that a lot. And I think every band, decent bands out there, there's always one person in the band that's kind of like the musical director and is, you know, taking care of making sure everything's getting taken care of. You may not see it, but there's always that one guy or gal that's running the show.

Right. For sure. So, and once again, I've been lucky enough to work with people that are just totally on board with that.

So you write all the charts out for everything? I get the charts. I mean, some of them I purchased, but the thing is, is that you have to make sure it's the right instrumentation. So, yeah.

So I guess I do a lot of work on the charts, just getting the books right. Do you have your charts on an iPad now? No, we still have books. It's old school.

The old binders with the plastic sheets. iPad someday, but you know, I got to get eight iPads. It's.

Something's just never died. Yeah, well, it's true. The batteries never die on my book.

That's true. That's true. Speaking like, you know, musical directors, that's like, that's like me on this podcast.

I run the show here. Paul just sits in for me. Yeah.

Yeah. No comment. I thought I thought I'd hear something out of you.

No, no, no, no. I'm just agreeing with you. Yeah.

So you guys have any videos out or do you. No, same thing. Just a live performance videos at the moment.

Okay. You know, it's it's it's it's finding time to do that kind of stuff is a challenge. The my my business partner, Ruby Spencer, with the live band, her partner is a photographer.

His name is Mike White, and he's taken some fantastic photos of us just live. So we steal his stuff every chance we get. I got a couple of them.

I saw a couple of your videos online and I was trying to count how many guys in the band you had. Oh, yeah, I couldn't. Eight is the full band.

But with all the stuff on stage, you know, the congas and in addition to sax, I also played, you know, flute, clarinet, trumpet, ukulele. Like, you know, there's usually 35 instruments on stage, which is also fun. Can you count to eight? I can't.

You can count to eight. I thought maybe that was the problem. You couldn't stop at five or something.

So you play some other instruments as well. Yeah, yeah, for sure. So, yeah, not well.

I mean, that's my theory. If you can't play one instrument well, just play as many as possible. Yeah.

And before they realize you just switched instruments. Yeah, yeah. By the time they figure it out, I'm on to something else.

So you play ukulele. Oh, yeah, for sure. So, yeah, yeah, ukulele.

And well, I told you my dad was a musician. He played guitar and bass. And so I have, you know, his guitar is lap steel.

So I play with all that stuff. But, you know, but I wouldn't take money to play those in public. Paul's a uker.

I have a ukulele. Oh, fantastic. I got one.

Actually, it's a funny story. My sister-in-law brought me this ukulele, a pink one. She had bought.

She says, will you tune this for me? So I kept it for about three months and learned how to play. Before I gave it back to her. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And now you're still looking for a pink one for yourself or? No, no, I've got a new one. Oh. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

No, no, no, it's no shame. None whatsoever. So where can people find Mr. Lucky and the Orchestra of Tomorrow social media wise? For sure.

Facebook is probably our most prominent place with our schedule. And then Instagram as well. Those would be the two places to start for sure.

Website? No, not yet. Yeah, really, Facebook and Instagram have taken care of most of our. We will get a website eventually when we can put some video and pictures up.

So what do you get? You have some gigs coming up? Yeah, June 11th at the Hawaiian Hideout at noon. And that's an aloha brunch. And I've heard the food is fantastic there, although I haven't tried it.

And then we're definitely at the Roxy again. We'll be playing at the Outer Space as well. I believe July 8th we're there with another band called the Laydown Ramblers.

They're a straight ahead blues band. They're fantastic. So, so, and sometimes we try to share the bill with some other bands, just because we like these other bands.

We want to do a show with them. So sure. And usually when we do that, we try to send the horns to play with them.

A few songs and mix it up. Nice. Well, all righty then.

Well, Mr. Lucky, we're very lucky to have you here today. It's very interesting. Sounds great.

I, I have not yet gotten out and gotten out to see you guys, but not, I know you're to Roxy all the time. Definitely going to come out there. Yeah, it'd be fantastic if you guys made it out.

All righty. Well, thanks again and we'll see you soon. Thank you very much.

Thanks Kevin. Thank you. Mr. Lucky.

So that was Kevin Gothard, Mr. Lucky, in other words. In other words, in other words, come take my hand. Very good.

Yeah. He does that kind of music too. Yeah.

I learned a lot of stuff in this interview. You see, I can sing actually, maybe. Yeah.

But yeah, it was a, that was a lot of fun. And I'm sure anybody go see them and have a ball. It's just, people don't know about this music anymore.

Right. And I bet you, I bet you a lot of people know more than half this stuff. Oh, sure.

Sure. I mean, they're going to play something and you can say, wow, I remember that when I was a kid. I remember eating my cornflakes and mom and dad had it on WGN.

I remember, I remember the theme from Mannix. The theme from Mannix. That's right.

That's right. And the one from Get Smart. Get Smart, slamming the doors and stuff.

Yeah. It's Pink Panther, you know. No, it's the Petticoat Junction.

Petticoat Junction when the three girls are in the water tower. Boy, even as a little kid, I was like, Hoo-ba-chock-a-hoo, baby. That was some hot stuff there.

Green Acres, baby. Green Acres. Yeah.

Telephone up on the pole. And then Arnold Ziffel, the pig. Got Arnold Ziffel in there.

Yeah, that was a good show too. And all them songs. He could probably play every single one of them theme songs.

Yep. And I think he had a good idea there, suggesting doing movie themes for a show. I think that would be a great show.

A whole show of movie themes. I think people would love that. Be a great idea.

Yeah, we need to probably do some movie things. People forgot about the movies. Yes.

You know, good sounds. Good sound stuff. So that was Mr. Lucky.

And go see Mr. Lucky and his orchestra of tomorrow. If you get a chance. Go see him tomorrow.

Go see him tomorrow, let's say. Or the next day. Or whenever.

Whenever they're playing. Yes. And they're going to be out there, out and about somewhere.

Just look for them. Go to their Facebook, Instagram page. You know the Roxy and Lackport, right? Yes, the Roxy.

Yes. I don't know why I can't say the word Roxy. I don't know either.

I don't know. I'm tongue tied. So, hey, there's my ride.

I gotta, I gotta go. Okay. I gotta fly.

So I gotta leave the Illinois Rock and Roll Museum on Route 66. That's downtown, beautiful downtown Joliet, where our podcast studio is located. And I will talk to you guys next week on our next podcast, because my car's here.

I'll be right there. Gotta go. See, I gotta go.

All right. Thanks, Ray. Thanks for joining us.

And thanks to Mr. Lucky for joining us. We'll see you guys next week. Bye-bye.