Swim with the Fishes

Greetings. It's been a week. You probably thought I was dead.

This week was marked by Jack's transformation into a fish. About a week ago he figured out that he could go under water and not die, and since then he's been in the pool, swimming, more or less constantly. I think he's down there once or twice a day for hours at a time. It's a lot more fun to go now because of that, so I've been trying to be there as much as I can, so I haven't been putting in much time on the horn.
This week's Yacht Rock was a bit of a pressure cooker for me due to the fact that I had to play keyboard on a few tunes to cover Brandon being out. I am not a good pianist, so I really had to put in the time to try and approximate what he would normally play with ease. The biggie that I was concerned about was the rhodes part on "I Keep Forgettin'." I did pretty well. Actually, I wish I was more comfortable, because when I am playing keyboards and getting it right, I enjoy it.
One thing I noticed (again) about my playing is how I get lazy about breathing. At times I find myself not taking in enough air, and then I can't make it through phrases. This happened to me last night in a couple of spots--the first one that comes to mind being the solo on "Heart of Rock and Roll." I was thinking about my stage movements and the solo, and I didn't get a good breath in the solo, so then I was trying to make up for it in every hole until the solo ended. I guess I just need to be more aware of it. It's kind of stupid, actually. If you're talking, you never stop to think about the fact that there's no air in your lungs. I need to slow down a little, I guess, and not be so sloppy.
Yesterday I did some recording at Metronome Studios for a band called Attractive Eighties Women. Tom Gibson and I played on a tune about zombies. I played bari sax and alto sax.
After that it was to the pool!
Tonight I'm playing a private function at the World of Coke--a little three hour hit. I'll be home before midnight!

Thursday (night)

Thursday night was the premiere of Reagan Rock (a continuation of Yacht Rock into the early 80s). Highlights: the oppressive heat of the 10 High made everyone uncomfortable. Gina Niespodziani made some awesome 80s compilation videos that played in the background. Lots of NBC News clips, Dallas and Dynasty, Miami Vice, Knight Rider. some early 80s movies. Funny stuff. I remember it all very well. Peter and Nick brought a ziploc bag of "cocaine", which they cut and snorted on a big mirror they had.
The Reagan Rock set was pretty pressurized. We all seemed to be concentrating on getting it right, and when we came back with a set of Yacht Rock, everybody seemed to go kind of mushy (the heat also wilted us).
Speaking of the heat! For the past several weeks I've been thinking my laptop was dying due to the heat. It seemed like it would start fine, and by two-thirds of the way through the set, it would get weird. I can't say more than it would react differently to me. Last night I finally figured out that it was NOT the laptop, but instead the EWI itself. When the heat and humidity go up, the little diaphram inside that measures breath pressure changes slightly, and it was causing notes to stay on. Just barely, but it was still transmitting data through the MIDI. So, when I would then change patches or turn the EWI and off, there would be an interuption of the data, and it would cause the computer to do weird stuff. Ah ha! The solution was to turn down the sensitivity to breath slightly, and it goes back to acting like my EWI rig. What a relief to know what was going on!

Saturday hurt me

Saturday hurt me. I was up until at least 2:30 AM Friday night, and then I woke up at 6 AM so I could get my butt down to the Georgia International Convention Center by 7:15 AM. We (basically my church gig at St. Ann's with Kevin Wyglad) played for what looked like a jillion people for the Eucharistic Congress for the Archdiocese of Atlanta. We finished just after 11 AM. I took Beth to Peachtree City, and then went home and ate lunch. Then I loaded the truck with my Yacht Rock stuff and headed to the zoo for the Brew at the Zoo.

I played with Y.O.U. in their set. They were, of course, awesome. Then we reset and played a long Yacht Rock set. We did well, and the crowd responded in kind. I didn't have much sax playing in the Yacht Rock set--mostly EWI. I do wonder how much I contributed last night--I was pretty wiped out.

Mark Cobb taught me about funk drumming--it's much funkier when you play backbeat on the snare and do the accents with the kick drum.

I got home around 10:30 PM, and I bet I was alseep within an hour. I needed it. I woke up with the lights and TV still on...with just enough time to take a shower, swap out gear, and head out to my next gig--12:15 mass at St. Ann's.

Thursday night

I've had plenty to blog about, but very little time to do it. Here we go:

Thursday was generally uneventful. I taught a little, ate, and boogied down to Yacht Rock. Nothing new in terms of songs...we're gearing up for next Thursday's official premier of "Reagan Rock" (Yacht Rock as it slipped into the 80s).

Y.O.U., who form the core of Yacht Rock, are releasing a new record July 25 at Smith's Olde Bar. I will be performing that night, and we've recruited trombonist Eric Alexander to help out. It should be a very cool night--the new Y.O.U. stuff sounds AWESOME!!!!

Back to Yacht Rock...it was pretty packed, which is always cool. I heard there was a line out on the sidewalk. Musically, I think we were pretty good. Mark Cobb is sooooooooo good, it makes everybody else sound better.

Something new we'd never talked about: the "Baker Street Phenomenon." Gerry Rafferty released the song Baker Street in 1978, and the popularity of the tune made it necessary for every other band of the time to have a saxophone player and saxophone solos. And thus begat David Freeman!

A Wild Friday

Yacht Rock set sail from Andrews Upstairs last night.  We did well.  A good cruise.  A few highlights...

I used my new reeds (the ones I'd frantically worked on yesterday) on both alto and tenor.  Both worked well.  Actually, I may have softened the tenor too much, because I choked off the high note in the riff for Who Can it Be Now.  Oops.  Got a little excited.  What can I say--I was going for it.

I'd like to hear what I played on the solo for Little Jeannie.  Jim Horn played the original, but he basically just plays the melody.  Sometimes I do that, but last night I augmented it a little more, and it felt good.  Hopefully it stands up on the recording!

In May, my EWI ran out of batteries in the middle of the gig.  This month, I made it almost to the end.  They're lasting almost exactly a month.  I've got to be sure to switch them out before the next gig, so my rig doesn't die in the middle of the Rosanna solo or something like that.

It was packed.  Insanely packed.  I have a feeling this is what Ruperts went through about twenty years ago. 

There was a chick fight right in front of us, but I missed it because I had my eyes closed during a solo.  When I finished, guys were pulling them apart and one had a cut on the bridge of her nose.  How crazy is that?

No encore last night.  Maybe we've peaked?

The first load of gear to go out the door witnessed two guys being held in handcuffs for the cops.  One tried to steal a bottle of vodka from the bar, and the second guy punched the bartender in pursuit of the bottle.

After I loaded out, a bouncer body slammed a guy right at the front door and held him to the ground be the throat.  Excessive force?  Jaco Pastorius, anyone?  Brandon (one of our keyboardists) was sort of confused about what to do, as they were almost up against the side of his car.

Whatever that street is...the cross street with East Andrews...is always clogged with cabs and cars, but last night was really bad.  I sat for four of five minutes in dead gridlock (at 2:30 in the morning!), watching in my rearview mirror with strange detachment as a county hoss and a frat boy tried to kill each other on the sidewalk.  Another fight!  Lots of wrestling involved in this one, but not many punches landed.  

I'm off to Calloway Gardens tonight for a wedding reception.   Hopefully there will no fighting!

Reed Crisis!

I spent the bulk of yesterday dealing with a reed crisis.  By Wednesday night I'd lost faith in my alto set up, and I was worried that maybe mouthpiece had a flaw which made it incompatible with 90 percent of my reeds.  The one good reed would feel AWESOME, but the other nine reeds in the box would be really terrible.  So yesterday I went to work sanding, carving, and praying to the reed gods and we got it sorted out.  What a relief!  I don't want to drop a ton of money on another mouthpiece to replace it (especially if it was just a bad box of reeds).

Yacht Rock last night was unaffected by the weather.  On the way to the gig, I had to stop at a gas station and move all my stuff out of the back of my truck and into the cab due to a furious downpour.  For sure I thought we'd be playing to an empty room last night.  I guess it cleared off, though, because we had a good night, crowd-wise.  My only complaint would be the guy that stood front and center and whistled super-loud to show his approval.  I'm glad he enjoyed it, but every time I came out for a solo, and pretty much had to wait until he ran out of air before I could begin.  Not very smooth, dude.

On the end of Takin' it to the Streets,  I got into a cool thing where I was swinging back and forth between a high A (on tenor), and a flat A, sort of a Stevie Ray Vaughan thing (in my head). 

Tonight we're at Andrews Upstairs.  The weather's nice, so I'm hoping for a great crowd and great show.  We're bringing Regulate in over I Keep Forgettin'.  That crowd is gonna fall out when they hear it.  I guarantee.

Memorial Day

My friend Nick married Elliott yesterday. Congratulations!
I played flute for the wedding ceremony in a sextet of trumpet, violin, flute, acoustic guitar, harpsichord (keyboard), and vibraphone. Nick wrote arrangements of several Y.O.U. songs, a Beatles song, a few classical things, and a Monty Python tune. It was some pretty intricate stuff, but we made it through ok.  The performance fried my brain.  
I was also invited to play on a few songs at the reception. We did a few Yacht Rock songs, as well as some Y.O.U. stuff. That went pretty well, considering the swapping of instruments and singers from song to song.

More than anything, it was a nice chance to hang out with my friends (away from a gig for a change) and show off my wife.  Surrounded by a bunch of other musicians, I felt almost normal!

Highlands, NC is a beautiful little town in the mountains. Beth and I had a wonderful time.  I am tempted show a picture of Beth after sampling the wine, or a picture of me feeding Mark Dannells wedding cake, but you will have to imagine it.  Or you can email me and I'll show you.

Hittin' it Hard

After several days of messing around with my website (davidfreemanmusic.net or davidfreemanmusic.com), I've finally got the horns back in my face for some good practicing. I'm preparing for a big wedding this weekend in North Carolina, in addition to my in town stuff (practicing for certain lessons and keeping the Yacht Rock stuff under my fingers). Things are in good shape, I think.

It's the last few days of the school year, which means many of my students will be taking some time off. My gig calendar looks pretty good through the summer, so I think things are going to be ok. I've also got multiple things that I'd like to achieve by August, so here's hoping that everything lines up.

Itchy

Another wild weekend!  

Thursday was a two gig night.  I first played for the opening of the Hotel Palomar in midtown--me and a DJ and a percussionist (and later on we were joined by the duo Days Ahead).  After that I bolted over to the 10 High for Yacht Rock.  We had a strange cruise.  The crowd had very few familiar faces, and at some point that night a few people turned on us.  The night ended with someone throwing a cup at the stage.  Not cool at all.

Friday was a period of recovery and working on my website, davidfreemanmusic.net, a little more.  I also mowed the yard and attempted to control some of the brush in our backyard.  I was probably exposed to poison ivy.  It happens every year...you'd think I'd be able to identify it at this point, but no.  My shins are starting to itch, so I think my fate is sealed!

Jack had his final T-ball game Saturday morning.  From there I raced (in the rain!) to the Yacht Rock gig at the Dunwoody Beer Festival.  The Tupperware Party played a set at the end of the rain, and then it cleared off enough that we could get set sail in Dunwoody.  I think we made a ton of new fans.  We sold out of captain's hats in about 2 minutes.  

Sunday I played my church gigs.  In between, Jack and I attended Ingrid Bencuya's 6th birthday party.  Happy birthday Ingrid!  Mark Bencuya loaned me a couple of videos.  I checked out Weather Report at Montreux 1976 and the story of Stax Records.  The Stax thing just about killed me!  What a story!  You gotta see that one.

This week should be pretty low key, which is a good thing because we're gearing up for Nick and Elliott's wedding.

still going

Greetings.  What a day yesterday!  Beth called not long after I got up reporting water in her car (it was raining).  Of course, I was expected to fix the problem immediately!  So, I eventually diagnosed that the drains for the sunroof were clogged and the excess water was draining into the headliner.  I worked on cleaning out the two tubes that carry the water to the outside (basically, I tore apart the interior of the front corners of the car).  I had to stop so I could go teach.  When I got back, I had to pick up Jack at a friend's house (Beth was at ASO Chorus rehearsal).  We boogied home so that I could clean house and get the laundry done while she was gone.  I cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed the house, and got the laundry cleaned and put away.  That left me just enough time to read three stories and get Jack to bed before he crashed.  After he went to sleep, I ate supper and finished working on the car (including the worst part--putting it all back together).  I got to bed at 3:15 AM.  Hopefully the car is done so I don't have to hear about it anymore.

On the gig front, I played a whole bunch last week, and I've got a bunch of stuff this week.  That's good, because we're just about out of money.  Attached is a nice shot of me at the Star Bar playing with YOU.

Yacht Rock performed at 500 Songs for Kids this past weekend.  It's always a ton of fun to watch other bands do their thing.  Their music careers, I'm assuming, have been much different from mine.  I have been a hired gun from the day I started--call me, and I'll come play with you.  Most of these guys, I'd guess, have always been in a band (with a certain amount of exclusivity to that).  I wonder if I was fifteen years older if I would have spent more time as "the sax player in the band," instead of an add-on.

Website Builder

I noticed while trying to contract musicians for a wedding ceremony in North Carolina that most musicians are difficult to find.  By that, I mean that if you are in search of a trumpet player in Asheville, and you type "trumpet Asheville", you don't get alot of useful results.  You might find private lessons, but not a link to somebody who can play your gig.

This spurred me into getting a website up and running.  I purchased a domain name (davidfreemanmusic.com) and found a host (who also provided me with the free domain davidfreemanmusic.net).  I started last night trying to get something out there, but I do not speak enough computer language to know what I'm doing.  davidfreemanmusic.net  is there, but it's really just a place holder until I get around to making a good looking website, and optimizing the search engines so when somebody looks for "saxophone Atlanta" they can actually track me down.  Good luck to me!

Lessons

I have a student who is dragging through to his final lesson before he quits lessons for good. He comes in, refuses to play through his scales or anything in his book, and reminds me that he will after mid-May, he will never put an instrument up to his lips again. I cannot figure out for the life of me why he continues show up and waste my time. What is the rationale for spending the money so I can babysit the kid for a half hour? 30 minutes in a week is not quite 0.3%! What's the point? Can you improve on anything if you do it less than 1% a week?

I have another student who has quite an attitude, makes no effort to improve, and then makes comments like "I'm not paying you for this!" (actual quote!) when I act silly (entertaining myself) during his time. He lost his book about two months ago, but hasn't replaced it. He now expects to come in and use my copy every week. I'm guess I'm letting him push me around, but I think to myself that if I can remain calm for the thirty minutes I am with him, it will just about pay for a tank of gas.

The majority of my students practice a little (not enough, but a little). A handful practice everything I give them. The remainder (maybe six or seven?) show up, and have not done any work on their own. They even count the thirty minutes a week they spend with me as their practice time. A major waste of money! So I wonder, should I get rid of them, or continue to babysit them and take their money if they want to give it to me? Sometimes I think that if I got rid of every student who was wasting my time and their money, I would be teaching three students a week! Would that be better or worse?

Here's hoping the parents will pay a little more attention. If the kid ain't working on it at home, he's not making progress. Thanks for the money...I think.