The one and only Mark Cobb came back to the 10 High last night. He's been on hiatus with the birth of his son. His playing was inspired. I love what he brings to the gig.
Greg Lee was out due to the birth of his daughter this week, so Greg Partridge filled in on bass and did a terrific job. His playing was super smooth--it was like he'd been playing with us for a while. Ganesh Giri Jaya came by and contributed Greg Lee's vocals. It never ceases to amaze me how Nick, Pete, Greg (and Ganesh when he's there) are able to reassign harmonies at soundcheck and then remember them at the gig. Very impessive!
No problems last night. I fiddled with my alto mouthpiece earlier in the week--it turns out the table was not flat! That's why the thing would feel different as the reed dried out. The altissimo, for instance, would be great at the beginning of the gig, but later on it would be really tricky. I thought I was moving back on the mouthpiece, but I think when I would put a little more in my mouth I was probably helping the reed seal against the table. Aha! Anyway, I used a sheet of glass and some sandpaper to try and flatten the table and I think the results are very good. It's much more consistent. I sent my backup mouthpiece to Mojobari to have it refaced, and I may send this one next just to have it tweaked.
The band played well last night. It was a pretty safe night musically, since we didn't want to put any pressure on Partridge while he was helping us out. Mark Cobb stopped mid-song at the beginning of the second set and had some idiot thrown out. He was mad because he was not chosen for the "Most Yachtily Dressed" contest so he was booing us. For a second I thought Cobb was going to go Axl Rose on him.
Greg Lee is back tonight--we're putting the band back together!
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