Sunday/Monday

Not much to report.

Sunday was a day of digging out. I unloaded all my gear from the truck and put it away. I played my church gig that night (and took Jack with me). Jack puked in the parking lot before we went home.

The only thing memorable about Monday was that I was teaching and my phone lit up because of an incoming call. It was the store--Music and Arts. But I was there (and had been there for two hours). So I called them back, and as we were talking, I walked out front to let them know just how dumb they were. While I was standing there talking on my cell phone to the guy four feet away from me on the store phone, my phone beeped--it was the other clerk calling me!

The biggest news of the day is that Y.O.U., my favorite local band, has decided to disband.

Rain and the Jazzoo

Yacht Rock was supposed to play a pair of gigs yesterday--the Sandy Springs Festival and Jazzoo at the zoo (duh).

The Sandy Springs gig got rained out. We showed up and it was pouring. Then the rain stopped. It's on, we thought. As we were loading our stuff on to a golf cart to take into the festival, the golf cart driver got a message that the gig had been canceled. So...back in the truck! We walked over to the stage to see what we would be missing. Twas a nice little ampitheater in Sandy Springs. By the time we got back to our vehicles, the rain was coming again, so I drove home in the rain. It kept raining for a few more hours.

Two nice things about that gig getting cancelled: 1. We still got paid. 2. The squeeze of trying to pack up, sprint to the zoo, and set up again was eliminated. Instead, I went home and ate supper, and then left around 6 PM.

I loaded into the zoo around 6:30. It was still raining, but miraculously we were able to drive through the back of the tent and unload there. How sweet was that! Very sweet, I tell you.

The crowd was thick at the Jazzoo. Lots of rowdy drunk people, probably due to the free alcohol samples at the different booths within the tent. It was a good gig, though. The stage was high enough to keep them at bay.
The sound was weird on stage. You know those gigs where it seems like you can't hear your amp well, and you keep bumping the volume up, but you never really get anywhere until it's wide open? It was one of those--probably because we were in a tent with an asphalt floor, and no wall behind the stage (just a drape). Eventually, I got to where I could hear my monitor, but if I stepped away from it, I heard nothing. This proved to be no fun when it came time for Taking it to the Streets. Trying to play when it felt like I was un-miced caused me to overblow and get tired. On Baker Street it was a little easier because the alto is easier to hear. I don't know why--could be that it cuts a little more, could be because it's higher, could be because the bell is closer. I don't know.
I went back (beginning this past Thursday) to an older alto mouthpiece of mine that is a little less open. I was playing on a wide open piece and it sounded great when I was jamming a ton of air into it, but it wore me out. The older piece is a little more closed, and I can get the same sound without feeling with less effort. I'm going to have the open mouthpiece refaced to see if I can bring it down to something I can get more use out of.
When we were playing Baker Street, Mark Dannells was playing a rippin' guitar solo with one foot on the monitor. Dannells always does this--it's his standard guitar hero move. Towards the end of his solo, he must have shifted his weight onto it because it slipped out from under him. He fell flat on his back, but amazingly NEVER MISSED A NOTE! That guy is awesome.
Speaking of awesome, Mark Cobb was once again on fire. He is really sharp right now. Mark's so creative that even though we're playing the same songs night to night, I can hear within the beat what he's thinking about (musically) on a given night. The fills turn into a question--"Do you hear me? Do you hear what I'm telling you?" You know it. Mark Cobb is driving the band right now.
One crappy thing--the drum set was a rental, and we used the part of one of my gig bags to deaden the bass drum. As soon as the gig ended, the rental guys jumped on stage, grabbed the drumset and ran out the door. It's going to take a couple of days to see if I can get my stuff back. Argghhh! I brought my EWI home wrapped in my t shirt.
I'm playing my parts, particularly the keyboard stuff, with a feeling that the end is near. Kind of like the tour is almost over. It'll definitely improve the band to have two full time keyboardists, but I'll miss the challenge, and I think it'll feel really weird to go back to doing almost nothing on alot of these songs. Nobody's said exactly how it'll all shake out. We'll see.

Thursday business

Thursday was another day that didn't look too bad when I checked my calendar.

I went by Music and Arts to buy a new saxophone stand. I have a couple of Hamilton stands that I've been using, but the bumpers at the bottom don't cradle my horns well, and I've tried to bend them and get them to work, but it's never been what I wanted. The older ones have a V shaped bumper--the newer ones are pretty flat, and they don't work that well in my opinion. It started to bug me, so I moved on. I had a Hercules stand that was holding an old saxophone up at home, and so I switched one of the Hamiltons out for that. I went and got another one so I'd have two in my bag.
While I was buying my stand, I overheard the clerk working say that he is now the manager. If my memory is right, that's the fourth manager in four years. Ahh, retail! I'll have to get the scoop on what happened to the other guy. Anyway, when he got around to me he mentioned that they brought on a new woodwinds teacher for Wednesday. No big deal--they'd asked me about coming in on Wednesdays and Thursdays but I declined because I teach from home on those days. So I asked who it was, and he said it some Fulton Co. band director. She's primarily a clarinetist, but is willing to teach beginner saxophone. Ok...and then the guy tells me straight out that the store will be funneling potential clarinet students towards her (just like I presume that the reason I have so few flute students is because they funnel the flute students to the end of the week when a there's a flute teacher at the store). What the hell is that? If the idea is to have a woodwind person there every day of the week, shouldn't the schedule be the determining factor in who ends up with the student? Maybe I'm making too much of this, but it's been my experience that having a mix of flutes, clarinets, and saxophones keeps my schedule much more full. I have fifteen students at the store right now. Seven are saxophones. The other eight are clarinetists.

On to Yacht Rock.

It appears my tenure as the second keyboardist is coming to a close. Mike Bielenberg will be coming on next Thursday to replace Brandon Still. I've known Bielenberg for probably ten years, and he is an excellent keyboardist and a really creative guy. Good news for Yacht Rock for sure. I think there are a couple of more random gigs for which he won't be available, but it sounds like he's our man for the future.

Last night was pretty good. Not the crowd disaster we had last week, where the rain kept everybody away. This week's group was pretty good. I'd say about average, numbers-wise. Lucky for them MARK COBB IS BACK! After about four of five shows where he was not quite on the ball, he was back in a big way, and it was really cool. Tempos were good, the grooves were good...he's back to being awesome. I love it. When he's playing well, it makes everybody else in the band play better. For me, his playing determines whether or not we're happening, musically.

Mark Dannells played some great stuff. I remember this one wrong note he played, and he bent the hell out of it to fix it. Even when it was wrong, it sounded so good. I'm a big fan if solos that sort of trip and recover--too safe is no good. I'm not saying totally-suck-and-get to the end; but the note that makes your face go ouch! and then you figure out a way to make it work--that's cool. That note was a great example.
I crashed one Magic. I got behind on the chords, and it took me an entire verse and chorus for my head to get up to speed. I hate it worse because Nick was standing next to me while I was making a mess. It reinforces the need to find another keyboardist! Fair enough. I need to be more consistent if I'm going to keep up with the level everyone else has set.
Yacht Rock has two gigs on Saturday with an hour and a half to go from one to the next. We're going to need a roadies and a police escort to make it.

Update on Flute/Guitar Duo

In case you're interested, I have added mp3s of a couple of songs from last night to my website--it's on the "sounds" page down at the bottom.

You might also notice that when Dan is soloing, there's another guitar comping behind him. The beauty of technology! Dan ran his guitar through a Boomerang pedal, allowing him to record the chord changes during the first chorus. There are a couple of minor mishaps (when the form was too long for the pedal's memory!, or as in Jordu, when Dan said "I was sure you'd take more than two choruses!") but who cares...it's a really cool way to make the gig happen.

Duo with Dan

I played a flute/guitar gig with Dan Baraszu tonight. I'd bet I've known Dan now for about twelve or thirteen years. In that time, I don't think he's ever made a mistake! We had a good time--it was a relaxed gig, and they even insisted that we eat! I had some kind of spicy shrimp pasta.

I recorded the affair (except for the first couple of tunes). Here's some 2 minute samples if you want to hear what we did.

Out of the Weekend

This past weekend I had no gigs which made it a good weekend to go to Mississippi and visit my grandmother. She's doing well considering her age. While we were there, Jack and I fished (we caught a bunch of catfish and a couple of turtles, but I returned them all safely to their natural habitat). Jack also drove the golf cart all over the neighborhood (highly illegal, but in a town as small as Leland, MS, who's going to catch us?). Jack had fun and we all had a nice visit.
Reggie got so excited chasing the geese in the back yard that he dove into the lake. I guess it's the lab in him. He can swim, though! He only did it once, so it's safe to say that he still does not like the water.

My grandfather died January, 8, 2009, and left me his truck. There has been an issue with executing the will (the title was in his name, not my grandmother's), and since it has been nine months, she is now able to transfer the title to me. So, Reggie and I drove the truck back. It's a 2006 Toyota Tundra (with double cab). An extremely nice truck with all of 5800 miles on it. It is huge...it fit in my garage with about a foot of space to spare (like 6 inches from the wall and 6 inches from the door!). Yikes!
To kill time, I took pictures of Reggie in the backseat on the way home.


I know...too many pictures of my dog, but I assure you, he's no ordinary dog!

I got home Sunday evening, and twenty minutes later I was out the door to go play my church gig.

Monday night I had a Platnumb gig at the Marriott Marquis downtown. Here's the traffic on the connector yesterday afternoon around 3:30.


We were supposed to be there between 3:30 and 4 to "stage" our equipment in the back hallway. Unfortunately, everybody got there after 5 (I got there around 5:45), so I rolled my stuff in and set up, and still had time to go to the break room and eat. Weather aside, I'm not at all sure why having me arrive at 3:30 was better than having me arrive at 6. It would have been a waste of 2 and a half hours of my life.
The gig was the usual mundane corporate thing where the attendees are either scared someone in their office will make fun of them, or just so stiff to begin with that there will never be any sort of wild drunken ruckus. In other words, I have no stories.

It was a bummer having to unload my stuff when I got home. Usually I pull into the garage and shut the door and go inside, but I had to park in the driveway due to the fact that there's an aircraft carrier of a truck parked in my spot!

Man on the Run

It's been pretty wild the past two days.

Yesterday (Wednesday), I played a duo gig with Louis Heriveaux. It was a three hour gig, but we probably only played an hour's worth of music. If that. Super easy. The rest of the time, we just sat there and talked (while some guy gave a presentation). Super easy. Now for the bad news...in the process of opening the door to my truck and switching hands, I dropped me tenor. In the gig bag, but it got a little messed up--the right hand is not sealing and the bell got bent (easy enough--I bent it back). Nothing that can't be repaired. Mostly I'm just feeling like an ass for being casual and dropping my horn.

Today was another two gig day. I played a trio gig with Tyrone Jackson and Tommy Sauter in Gwinnett from 6-9. The toughest part of that was the traffic (which was terrible with all the rain, and trying to be out there at 5 PM). After that, I jumped in my truck and boogied down 85 (again in the rain) to the 10 High for Yacht Rock. We played well, but most people stayed away. Let's hope it's because of the weather! I would like to elaborate, but it's 4:15 AM and I'm going to bed.

No gigs this weekend. What a weird month! All these gigs stacked up during the week, but this will be my second weekend with nothing.

The Weekend

This weekend was pretty easy. Friday I taught a few lessons. Nothing in particular to say about it.
Saturday was also pretty straightforward. Jack had a t ball game. That night I had a wedding reception--jazz quartet plus a singer. It was a wonderful alternative to the usual "we exist to serve you" sort of ass-kissing wedding gigs to which I've grown accustomed. We set up, we played, they dug it, and it ended. A three hour gig. No big deal. Why can't they all be that relaxed? Also, the food was awesome.
Sunday brought a recording session...the new Platnumb demo. No big deal. I sat in the control room and played EWI (strings and synths) on some stuff, and saxophone on two tunes. Done in an hour and a half. After that, I taught a clarinet lesson and hit my church gig.
I tried to stay up and watch the football game, but I fell asleep at half time. I'll probably have no better luck tonight.

Branford Marsalis on teaching

Survival

I made it through Thursday night's double-whammy unscathed.

My first gig last night was a little trio hit at Neiman Marcus in Lenox Square Mall. I never understood what it was for--I think it was some sort of private party for high rolling customers. We (Tyrone Jackson and Tommy Sauter) were stationed in the men's department next to a bunch of extremely high priced Tom Ford clothes. Nothing much to report other than our self-amusement.
I need to learn some new tunes. The three of us have played these sort of gigs for years now, and so I know what tunes we know in common, but since the two of them are more "on the jazz scene" than I am, I'm not picking up newer tunes as quickly as they are. I usually bring charts of things I want to try, but I was traveling light due to the fact that I had to run out the door when the gig was over.
Speaking of which, when the gig ended, I boogied on out of there (I had a half hour to get from Lenox to Va. Highland, park, get in, pull my horn out, turn everything on, change clothes, and get on stage). Unfortunately, a security guy who looked like one of my cousins stopped me and said I had to check in with "LP" before leaving. LP? I was totally confused. All I could think was "Latin Percussion." Finally it dawned on me, so back down the escalator, back through the labyrinth to "LP" so some lady could look in my gig bag. Then they wanted me to go out through the employee's entrance, which would have put me in the tunnel (the tunnel faces where Tower Records used to be in the Around Lenox shopping center). Bad! I was parked right outside the front door! She finally let me go back out the front, so back up the escalator, past my cousin the security guard, and away I go. All that B.S. cost me eleven minutes that I needed.
I got to the 10 High at 10:22 PM. The gig starts at 10:30. I made it, but just barely. I could have used those eleven minutes!

The Yacht Rock gig was pretty sluggish. Both of our front guys are out this week, so Ganesh sang for Pete and Greg moved off bass and sang for Nick. We had Donny come and play bass and sing. He did very well. The feel of the show was pretty uneven...it felt like we had a bunch of subs. Personally, I had no disasters, other than I Just Wanna Stop, which was an audible that I didn't want to hear. If you follow this blog religiously, you may recall that we played that tune for two back to back shows in July (a 10 High and Andrews gig), and I never got comfortable with playing the string part. I was always a chord behind. So hearing "I Just Wanna Stop! ...two, three, four!" was not good. I did what I could but it was pretty much the same results as July. I did not fare well with the orchestra, let's say. So it goes. Live to play another day...
The crowd seems to be turning up later and later. For a while we were pretty packed before we started, and then it would thin out as the night went on. Lately it's been getting thicker right around when we go on break.
Also, I would be remiss if I didn't point out my love of curvy Italian-looking women. Viva Italia!

The Easiest Gig I Ever Did

I had a duo gig last night that was supposed to be four hours long. It was a private dinner for about ten super VIPs in town for a business meeting. We were to provide the music during the cocktails before and after the meal.
Louis Heriveaux and I played the gig. Louis has become one of the finest jazz pianists in town, and is also one of the coolest, most laid back guys with whom you could ever hang out. Good thing, too. We played from approximately 6:30-7:05 PM, and then the crowd went in to eat. At that point, we were on break. Louis ran to a McDonalds to get some food to eat with the medicine he's taking. When he returned, we continued to stand by until the guests returned around 9:40 PM. When then played two tunes and they all got back on their mini bus back to the hotel. We were finished at 9:55 PM. I don't think we made it through ten tunes the entire evening.
So what did we do between 7 and 9:40? We hung out, talked, talked on the phone, text messaged the world. I guess Louis' medication made him sleepy, because for a while there while we were talking, he'd say something, and as I was responding to him, he'd fall asleep. In a minute or two, he'd wake up and we'd repeat (he speaks, I speak, he sleeps). This went on for a half hour, I'd bet, before he finally shook it off. While he was asleep, I took a picture of him.
Easiest gig ever.
I've got two gigs tonight (a jazz gig at Neiman Marcus in Lenox from 7-10 PM and then my usual Yacht Rock hit). Let's hope the race from Lenox to Virginia Highlands is an easy one.