Workplace Psychology

Saturday night I was fortunate to pick up a jazz gig for a corporate reception downtown--1,200 industrial-organizational psychologists.  I was informed that they were workplace psychologists--"we study why people are or are not happy in their jobs"--which I thought was kind of funny considering how difficult they'd been at my job!  Let's just say the event was not well run, and for a two hour event there was a good four hours worth of bullshit.

The band tonight was Tyrone Jackson on keyboard and Kevin Smith on bass.  We also had an old man play clarinet with us (who was pretty dang good!), and the former president of the organization sang and played piano (not so good).
We played mostly my tunes, plus a couple of Pat Metheny songs, a Joey Calderazzo thing, and an Ellis Marsalis favorite.  We had a great time playing!

Here are the mp3s:

Leigh was our handler for this event.  She made sure I didn't strangle anyone.
davidfreemanmusic.net

Schooner Invasion!

The Yacht Rock Revue was boarded by the Yacht Rock Schooner last night and held hostage in on own ship.  Ok, maybe it wasn't that bad...Nick, Cobb, and Dannells were out last night, so Kevin Spencer, Ganesh Giri Jaya, and Shannon Pengelly filled in.  It wasn't really that different--Cobb's been out for a while, and I've played the last few Schooner gigs with Kevin and Shannon.

The 10 High changed the start time to 10 PM, which made for happier patrons (who still rolled in around 10:15 PM).  I think it was better for our collective psyche, too, to have some people in the room while we were playing.

We ended up with a pretty solid crowd;  it was pretty much as packed as last week, which is to say it was fairly stuffed, particularly around the bar.  They were definitely rambunctious and fine looking people (women)!

No gear troubles to report, though I think that I should probably move up to some harder alto reeds.  The reeds I am using right now are fine, but when I lean on them (say on Baker Street, or something else where I am really pushing a ton of air into the horn), the reeds are kind of giving out on me.  It's tough to say whether it's because they are overall too soft or just old and getting mushy.  I think I'm going to go up on strength and see how they work.

One funny thing:  Ganesh made the setlist, and he recycled an old Schooner setlist, so ALL the songs with sax and flute were in the first set--it was pretty much one right after another.  The second set was NO saxophone--I should have put my horns away on the break so I could get home a little quicker!  Oops!

I'll be happy to have all the usual guys back next week.  We are back to full strength!
davidfreemanmusic.net

House Live lives at Ventanas

Tonight I did a House Live gig at Ventanas (again!).  Nothing new to report...we ate at Baja Fresh across the street, the weather was nice, the views were great, the gig was easy...how about some pictures?

This is what Reggie looked like when I left.  Note the agony in his face.

Here's Wayne and Jeff at Baja Fresh eating chips.  We ate three baskets of chips while we waited thirty minutes for our burritos.

My burrito.

My bowl of salsa.

The chips.

The cup.

Wayne eats.

Jeff eats.

At one point during the gig, a helicopter came in for a landing on the roof.  They might have been giving rides.  I went up there on the break hoping to score a ride, but there was no helicopter.

Weird picture, ain't it?

The Baja Fresh guys were up there providing food...we could have eaten for free!  They were set up right next to us.

The view while I awaited my helicopter ride.

If there'd been a helicopter parked here, I would've been in it.  Maybe next time?
davidfreemanmusic.net

Easter Sunday

Sunday was a killer.

If I were to guess, I'd say that I fell asleep on the couch Saturday night somewhere around 2 AM.  At 5 AM, I was up seeking caffination and a weather report.  It was Easter gig time!

My first Easter gig of the day was outside at 6:30 AM.  Here's a picture of the congregation in the parking lot.  This is some sort of strange Marietta ritual!  The past two years, the temperature at start time has been 36 and 38, so 60 degrees this morning felt wonderful.

Here's a picture of Graham Kuhn (piano/vocals).  I'm not sure why were taking pictures at a church service, but we did.

Tuning was a little sketchy, but over all it was way better than in years past.  I played sax and flute on this.

When that one was over, we packed up and moved into the church gym.  Kevin Wyglad, Graham, and myself were the band for the overflow mass from the church's 8:30 service.  We ended up with a couple of hundred people in there.  I had fiddled with the keyboard before we began, and Graham ended up starting the first song with a phased clav sound instead of acoustic piano.  Oops.  I played sax and flute on this one too.

The third service I played was the 10:30 mass in the parish hall.  I also ran sound for this one (and it sounded pretty good, if I do say so myself!).  This one had me on flute, Brian Cray on piano, and Chris Cromett (I think that's correct) on vocals.  Whereas the previous two services had been fun because we have played together enough to make changes on the fly, this one was fun because we'd never played together (and Chris was REALLY nervous).  We sailed through with no problems.

After a family gathering at our house I took a multiple hour nap before jumping in the truck to run down to Buckhead to play my regular Sunday night church gig.  Nothing new to report on that one.  I think they've changed up the amplifier settings, though.  The spot where I usually put the master fader was really honkin' loud.  Loud is good, though.

I came home and fell asleep on the couch, which is why I am awake at 5:30 AM!
davidfreemanmusic.net

Schooning in Suwanee

Last night I played with the Yacht Rock Schooner in Suwanee (for the first set).

It was a tough situation;  the Wild Wind there had morphed into a sports bar for the purposes of the Final Four (R.I.P. Michigan State) with every TV on the game (they even had a screen over the stage with a projector TV going).  The soundman was about an hour late to setting up.  We were also asked to wait until halftime of the second game before going on.

The end result was that the band was flat.  I think it was safe to say that there was very little interest in playing music that night, and it felt like it.  There was no crowd and thus no energy from a crowd.  It was really bland.

As we trudged through the set, I was mentally diagnosing what was wrong.  My conclusion was this:  at this point in its existence, that group of musicians does not play for each other--the play for the gig.  By comparison, I would say that on any given night with Yacht Rock, I can be interested in what somebody's doing on stage, and I can play to that, whether I'm marveling at Bencuya's keyboard prowess or enjoying Mark Cobb's bubbling creativity (something he would tell you is his way of dealing with boredom on the gig), or how Pete's reacting to what Nick or Greg is doing.  We play for our own enjoyment as much as we do for the crowd's enjoyment.  And while it's true that we need the vibe from the crowd to really get off, I know that because we like playing together, we can still have fun when the crowd sucks.  Last night, the Schooner guys missed this part.
www.davidfreemanmusic.net

8 Traxx

Friday night Yacht Rock played our monthly gig at the room formerly known as Andrews Upstairs, but now called 8 Traxx Disco.  In addition to changing the name, they also asked that we start an hour earlier than usual so that the DJ might commence spinning after midnight (and presumably "take it to the next level"?)

We were supposed to begin at 9:30, but there was no one there, so we waited until 9:45.  At that time, there were still very few people there (the main level of the room was completely empty).  People finally started trickling in somewhere around 10:30 (our usual start time!).  Nice move.  We played until 12:15 or so before giving way to the DJ.  The club had requested that we clear the stage in fifteen minutes so that the DJ might set up and get going, but fifteen is impossible for me--thirty minutes is possible if I'm flying, and forty-five minutes is my average.  When we started tearing down, our crowd dispersed, and by the time we were clear of the stage, the room was empty.  I'm not sure if the club had really thought this one through--not only did they mess up our gig by starting early, but trying to mash a set with the DJ on the end of the night killed her gig too!

Playing-wise, things were good.  We continued on the previous night's good playing--perhaps were even better since the great Mark Cobb was playing with us last night.  I had a couple of minor oops moments (Bb in the bass instead of C for the last chord of How Long and a really sad glissando in Steal Away that made Bencuya laugh).  Other than that, things were pretty good.  Saxophone-wise, I'm still overblowing a bit, and I had no good ideas for the second solo of Takin' it to the Streets, but I could hear myself pretty well and my reeds felt pretty good.

One funny thing:  I was putting everything I had into Baker Street, and I was leaning way back, and the girl in the front row happened to lean way forward and she nearly headbutted me in the...groin!  Seriously, the combination of me bending my knees and leaning back and her (I presume) rocking it out caused her forehead to hit me high on the left thigh.  I kept playing, but it was a weird moment!

My denim suit looked fantastic, but was very hot.

Some idiot had spilled fog juice all over the carpet right where I was set up--it was like playing in an oil slick.  I'm sure all my gear has that stuff all over it, which now means the inside of my truck now has that stuff all over it.  Buy a funnel!

Kip Conner ran sound for us.  Even though he was there (with Zack, his assistant) all day fixing stuff and making everything way better, several people in the band still complained about the job he did.  I think that for some of these guys, it's just their way of discussing the sound post-gig--bitch about what the guy SHOULD have been doing.  I think Kip did a great job, and I'm way happier that he was there instead of that diabetic ogre we used to see.

What a night!  The crowd, in the end, was pretty solid, so we made our money and got out early.  Greg Lee and Bencuya and Co. helped load my gear out.  Thanks for that!

I'm playing with the Schooner tonight, and then my first church gig STARTS at 6:30 AM Sunday morning.  Somebody sleep for me!
www.davidfreemanmusic.net

The Yacht Rock Weekend Begins!

Thursday night was a really good night of Yacht Rock at the 10 High.  It was much more crowded than it has been, and the band played really well.  All my equipment even worked!  Weird, huh?
Pete said that Dannells' and my dancing was a "swirling hurricane of physical friendship."

More tonight...we are at whatever used to be Andrews Upstairs (now 8 Track Disco?), beginning at 9:30.
www.davidfreemanmusic.net

Please Pleaserock Me

Last night was Please Pleaserock Me at Smith's Olde Bar.  It went very well.  Most of my charts are almost right.
Back to Yacht Rock for the rest of the weekend, and then Easter church gigs.  Stay tuned!
www.davidfreemanmusic.net

Baritone Saxophone

Here's a computer video of me screwing around with my bari sax.  I was demonstrating for a friend that I'd fixed a leak with made the low end unplayable.  Nothing great, musically speaking.  That's the beauty of the baritone saxophone!

You might want to turn down your speakers before the video starts.

www.davidfreemanmusic.net

new Cobb!

Mark and Katy Cobb had a baby boy this morning!  Gadson Cobb is alive and well!  Congratulations!

Sunday in the Rain

Sunday night was a strange one.

I went to Buckhead and played my usual church gig.  No problems there, though a big pine tree had blocked one of the streets so I had to navigate around it.

The second gig was a Yacht Rock gig at Park Tavern for the Pamoja Penda Music and Art Festival.  Due to some crappy weather that blew threw Atlanta a few hours before (probably knocked down the pine tree), the crowd had dwindled from a few thousand to fewer than one hundred by the time we had arrived. A bummer, no doubt, but it did make the load in easier!

All of my equipment worked for a change.  I was sort of anticipating some sort of disaster (because that's the norm these days), but everything was fine.  The only thing I can think of is that I had to change batteries on a wireless pack in between songs.

This week should be pretty good.  We have another Beatles tribute gig at Smith's Olde Bar on Wednesday night, Yacht Rock Thursday and Friday, and the Yacht Rock Schooner (where I will attempt to not go flat) on Saturday.  It's manageable.

www.davidfreemanmusic.net