David Freeman Music

Last night's Yacht Rock adventure was (for me) plagued by gremlins, or technical difficulties, or "AAAAA!  MY SH** IS F***KING UP!" My first major issue dealt with my saxophone effects pedal.  There was way too much noise in the channel--a flat ton of hiss.  I'm not sure why, but I tried swapping out cables and that didn't cure it, and I tried bypassing my effects pedal (plugging the sax directly into my mixer) and that cured it, so I think that maybe the output jack has gone bad.  I won't know until I can set it up at home and check it out. I put the pedal away since I assume it's messed up.  I was checking it with my tenor, so I ran from my receiver directly into my board, which cured the hiss.  Strangely, though, the gain was jacked way up.  I assumed that the gain from the pedal had been helping me up to this point, so I didn't sweat it. We started the gig, and the first or second tune we played, I had an alto solo, and when I switched on my a...

I got a ton of practicing in today.  It was wonderful. Half of my students today were either sick or randomly absent, which left me a couple of hours open this afternoon.  While dealing with the ones who were there, I had this thought:  if I could teach my students to love practicing the way that I love practicing, I bet I could love teaching . www.davidfreemanmusic.net

  Yacht Rock was back in Atlanta for a Friday night gig at Andrews Upstairs. Andrews is transforming from a live music venue to a DJ, and they have done some remodeling to accommodate more people.  The stage has been radically transformed--the multiple levels and nooks and crannies have been removed.  It made for a tight fit for the seven of us! We played well considering the stage setup.  I was all the way stage left;  then Bencuya, then Greg, then the Cobb with Nick and Pete directly in front of him, and then Dannells jammed in the opposite corner.  It was a tight fit, but we made it work ok. Being next to Bencuya made me a bit apprehensive.  If there's one guy who would know when I was not playing something exactly right, it'd be him. I think the next time we play Andrews (and maybe just in general), I'd like to split my sax line off from the rest of my stuff.  In general, I'm only playing saxophone when I'm soloing, and it'd be cool to...

Yacht Rock played in Cabo this week (February 2-4, 2010).  I had a gig Monday, February 1, so I stayed up a little later than usual and slipped out the door at 3:30 AM to pick up Nick and make our way to the airport. We flew to Denver and then on to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where we landed to a light rain (and massive flash flooding!).  After dropping our stuff in our rooms, we went to lunch, and then spent the remainder of the day acting like rock stars on a day off in Cabo!  (mucho tequila). The actual gig occurred the following day (Wednesday).  We played a private function for the Young Presidents Organization--I believe they were all young millionaires.  They were into it from the moment the doors opened and enjoyed every note. The band played pretty well considering the circumstances.  The keyboards were not what we'd asked for, and we played standing up (I'd asked if they had piano benches or drum thrones, and I guy came back with a bar stool). ...

Tonight I had the pleasure of playing a trio gig with Tyrone Jackson and Kevin Smith.  It was a meeting of the minds...Tyrone's piano playing challenges me like no one else in town.  I usually come out of gigs with him feeling like my brain is mushy! This gig was no different.  Right from the start, I was totally focused on what he was playing to me, and it stayed that way for the whole night. www.davidfreemanmusic.com

Last night I played the Wild Wing Cafe in Suwanee with the Yacht Rock Schooner (the B band to the Yacht Rock Revue). It's a strange feeling getting dressed for a Yacht Rock gig at home.  I have become "that guy" when I put on those clothes;  it's weird to put on my clothes and walk through through the house. I pulled up to the Wild Wing across town--in a shopping center with a Wal Mart and a Dollar Tree, and I couldn't help but think that I was going to kick everybody's ass--in the band, in the audience, in Suwanee.  The environment definitely challenged me.  I was playing with a big chip on my shoulder. The band played pretty well.  Some things, Peg , for instance, really grooved.  I think they're still trying to find bedrock on some of the other tunes.  I can't remember what it felt like when we started out, so I can't say that we didn't have the same struggles.  We've reached a point, musically, where we have our identity, and I don...

Mark Cobb! Mark Cobb! Mark Cobb! Cobb was pretty on fire last night, especially in the first set.  At one point, he took some crazy fill, and kept flipping it over and playing a different way every eight measures.  So cool...I loved it (every version of it).  That stuff really makes the gig for me. My first set went pretty well.  I actually got off a good solo on Takin' it to the Streets .  I never ran out of ideas.  Bencuya recorded last night (mostly for the banter, but maybe there will be something musically good, too).  The second set he will hopefully erase!  I kind of tripped and kept falling for a couple of songs.  In particular, I totally bit it on All Night Long  (I have not mentioned today that I hate that song, so...I hate that song!).  I was pretty terrible. Last night was judged by Wheat Williams.  Wheat is an amateur musician who knows a lot about the music we are playing, and most conversations with him ...

I played a last minute trio gig tonight at the Westin Buckhead with David Ellington (piano), and Kevin Smith (bass).  It was some sort of awards dinner thing (my specialty!).  I don't have much to say about it other than the crowd ignored us and we ignored them.  They were really loud, and I couldn't always hear very well what we were doing. We tried several of my tunes...some were more successful than others! www.davidfreemanmusic.net

I ended up with nothing for this past Friday or Saturday night.  It was good and it was bad, as my self worth is closely tied to my gigs. Sunday night I did my usual church gig.  After watching the football game, I got started on a new pleaserock.com project focusing on The Beatles, titled Please PleaseRock Me.  Several songs have horns (either in the original, an excellent cover version, or because we want them to fill up the sound), so I'm pumping out horn arrangements. This week just got a little busier.  I just picked up a last minute gig for tomorrow night, so I cancelled students and a rehearsal.  Thursday is Yacht Rock at the 10 High.  Friday is Yacht Rock in Nashville.  Saturday is Yacht Rock back in Atlanta. www.davidfreemanmusic.com

Hey wow, it's been almost a week since I last blogged. Not much happening this week, musically speaking.  Monday and Tuesday was the usual teaching muck.  I tried really hard to be good and not spew sarcasm.  Some lessons were more successful than others in that regard!  I did teach a handful of students who actually pay attention to what I say, but the majority are not practicing enough and not taking my suggestions. Wednesday I taught from home, which was a little better, but it's still teaching. Thursday night was Yacht Rock at the 10 High.  A pretty good show overall.  We had "Good Luck Ganesh" holding down the drums while Mark Cobb is enjoying the weather in southern California.  The on stage sound was a little different from usual--Ganesh doesn't play with the same volume, and that altered the balance.  It's still good, just different.  Anyway, I couldn't hear Bencuya very well (compared to other weeks), so that was disappointing. ...

It's been a busy weekend for sure. Friday night we played Andrew's Upstairs.  We sold it out again--such a strange feeling (still) to see a line of people waiting to see a gig that I'm on.  The gig itself was pretty good.  I was much more tired than the night before, so I don't think I was as sharp, but I can't recall any major disasters.  It doesn't sound like FM  is going to make the cut.  We played it again (debuted it at the 10 High the night before), and people don't give much of a reaction.  That's a bummer.  I love playing it, and I'm pretty good on the string part (and getting there on the sax solo), but I guess songs with long rambling jazz solos don't appeal to these people.  Perhaps Steely Dan is overrated. Andrews video made a video recording (I would say "taped" except for the lack there of) of the performance.  As usual, I'm kind of curious as to how it sounds, and then I'm also scared that my performance will n...