Friday, April 8, 2011

Thursday

Last night was the regular Yacht Rock gig at the 10 High.  We had a better crowd than the previous few weeks, but they showed up (almost en masse) about halfway through the first set.

Pete's on vacation this week, so we had Kevin Spencer covering for him, and Cobb's out so Ganesh was in (on a red Vistalite kit!).  Ganesh sounded really good.  I'm not crazy about his regular kit, but the Vistalites sounded perfect, and matched his style well.  I dug it.


I played really well--it was a pretty mistake free night.  It was kind of surprising.  I also got off a couple of pretty good solos (on two brand new reeds).

We substituted Lonely Boy for Who Can it Be Now (and I was happy).  Much more fun for me to play.  Surprisingly (or maybe not), I was able to pull it out of my butt.  I wish we played that one more often.  That song was followed with an audible--I Just Want to Stop--which was easily the roughest song of the night, but I did ok.  I remembered more of it than I thought I would!  Lot of chords in that one.

Here's something different:  I made a time lapse movie last night (with my iPhone on top of my amp).  The audio is from last year's summer show at the Variety Playhouse (Mark Dannells on guitar, me on organ!).  Pretty cool.


davidfreemanmusic.net

Thursday, April 7, 2011

The Return!

Still alive I am.

Friday:  Big Beatles show at Eddie's Attic, home of the acoustic guitar strumming folk hero.  I guess Nick has enough pull to get us in there.  Anyway, I knew it would sound really great because the sound guy (Shalom) is top notch and is also a freak for the Beatles, and sure enough it sounded great and we listened to weird bootlegs the entire time we were setting up.

The Beatles stuff is still pretty hit and miss with me, and the fact that I'd been feeling the depression revving up in me for the day or two before didn't help--I was pretty non-commital about the show.  I played as hard as I could;  gave it my all.  Maybe it's the fact that I'm always playing and then sitting a couple out, and then coming back and doing hand claps, and then going and sitting, but I never feel like I'm part of the band.  I'm the favorite hired gun.  The feeling was compounded by the fact that the stage was small and we (the horn section) stood off to the side in the dark the entire night.  Not a ton of fun.


Bencuya and I played Norwegian Wood (the Herbie Hancock version) to open the show.  I was pretty uptight for both sets.  The sound on stage was so clear and loud, I could hear my inhaling being picked up by the microphone.  Really weird.  In the second set, I followed some strange idea that I was unraveling and totally missed the bridge.  It snuck up on me.

The other biggie of the night was Jealous Guy (the Donny Hathaway version).  I got a solo on that one.  My first set solo had an error (followed by an audible expletive), so the second set solo was played like I wanted everybody in Decatur to feel it.

We added My Sweet Lord for this show, which got me seriously listening to All Things Must Pass.  One of my faves, for Beth:



Speaking of the sound guy:  in between shows, I was sitting at the bar eating, and the sound guy came up to me.  First thing out of his mouth:  "You claps on Eight Days a Week need to be more defined.  By the end, you were getting it."  No "nice show" or "sounds good."  What an asshole!

Saturday:  I played a wedding gig at Agnes Scott with a bunch of friends.  Not much to say about that one--it was a nice jazz gig in a comfortable setting.  Very easy.  At some point, we gave way to an iPod full of hip hop.  They tried to bring us back out to play a few requested songs, but it didn't go so well--they then demanded that we play something more upbeat!  We once again turned on the iPod to calm the masses.  Easy gig;  I was but a sideman.


Funny thing about this gig:  I had originally gotten the call for this gig but turned it down because I had something on the calendar.  A few weeks later, my gig died.  I contacted the leader of this gig to say, "Hey!  Hire me!" but he said they'd already asked somebody else.  I was bummed.  Days later, I got another message asking if I was available--the other guy had fallen through.  Yes!  The gig came back to me!

On  the way home I saw a nasty car fire.  I passed by right as the firetruck was pulling up.  285 on a Saturday night!


Sunday:  Church gig number one was fine.  That one's gotten into a groove.  No dirty scowls from the leader, and no bitching from the band.  Even the substitute sound guy was on it.  Yay!

Sunday night, Yacht Rock played a wedding at the Temple in Buckhead.  Pretty easy stuff.  They wanted all the 80s music we could do--no problem.  We also threw in some funkier stuff for dancing.  A few examples:

sax solo at 1:55
 Use Me by David B Freeman

sax solo at 3:30
 Kiss by David B Freeman

sax solo at 2:30
 Caribbean Queen by David B Freeman

I guess you could say that Use Me and Kiss are about the same solo.  No argument here.  It didn't help that they came back to back in the set.  Hopefully you can see (hear) past that.




Monday:  I spent all day Monday desperately charting out songs (eleven in all) for a Tuesday morning rehearsal.  I finally finished at 5 AM on Tuesday, then packed up my gear and got in bed at 6 AM.

Tuesday:  I was up at 9, and at rehearsal at 10.  Considering I wrote all my charts, found my sounds, and maybe played through things once, I fared pretty well.  I've got a ton of work to do in the next week, getting ready for the big show at Variety Playhouse (the Second Annual Reagan Rock Prom).

No big deal, right?  I got home, took a shower, and went back downtown for a House Live gig at Ventanas.  The three hours of sleep I got did not carry me through.  I drank three cups of Coke on the break, and that helped for a while, but then I crashed.  I felt like the gig would never end!  Somehow, I made it to 10 PM, packed up, drove home, and went straight to bed.  Which was good because…





Wednesday:  I was back at rehearsal at 10 AM again!  What a nightmare!  Obviously, nothing was any better than it had been the day before for me--I hadn't played a note of the stuff in the previous twenty-four hours.  We waded through the rest of the stuff we were learning for this week.  Now it's up to be to internalize it.  Bencuya and I may get together to make sure all the keyboard parts are covered…great…a test!  I'm going to pulling an extraordinary amount of music out of my butt.

I spent tonight organizing, repairing stuff, paying bills, and cleaning off my desk.  Tomorrow, it's time to bear down.  Next week looks to be just as crazy.

davidfreemanmusic.net

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Can't Stop/Can't Sleep

Fear not, blog readers…I shall return!  Last week was nightly gigs, and when it finally ended this Monday (yesterday, technically, though I am still awake), I had to chart out ten new tunes for a Tuesday morning rehearsal.  The blog will continue soon!  I need to sleep first!

davidfreemanmusic.net

Friday, April 1, 2011

Double Shot

Yacht Rock did two gigs yesterday.  We had an early gig at the Apparel Mart and  then our usual 10 High thing.

Oddly enough, I have never in my fifteen years of wandering around Atlanta played the Apparel Mart.  Never been in there (though the ring on my finger came from there).  It looks like a giant hotel lobby full of stores--this is accentuated by the fact that it has the same interior architecture as the Marriott downtown (or is it Hyatt?).  Anyway, it looks pretty cool.


We were collectively a bit daunted by the acoustic possibilities.  Would it be an mess of washy echoes?  Surprisingly no.  It felt really dead on stage.  I guess because there was nothing for the sound to directly bounce off, it just kept going.  After a couple of songs, we had ourselves balanced out pretty well.


The gig began with me in a Benadryl haze (the pollen is wearing me out right now).  We played for an hour and a half (and it felt like it) to a curious crowd.  After playing two saxes, two keyboards, EWI, flute, tambourine, and bongos, the only thing anybody wanted to say to me was "Is that your real hair?" to which I replied "Is yours real?"  I think eventually I'll upgrade to "Are you pregnant?"  I mean, yeah, it's a wig.  What difference does it make?

We dragged through the next set (which only took about a half hour).  At some point in there, I bit the dust on My Life--my hands just couldn't find the right notes.  Lots of unappreciated laughter across the band stand.  Should I be grateful that I was at least audible across the stage?  Should I maybe shut up and just play it right?

When gig number one ended, we collectively hauled ass out of the Mart, down the elevators, loaded our cars, and boogied over to the 10 High, where we set up in a flash.  That gig went better, and I was much cleaner on My Life.  I played another really good solo on Lowdown.

For April Fool's, we came back from the break dressed in our street clothes, and opened with Pearl Jam's Even Flow.  I tried to film it, but for some reason, my phone wouldn't comply.  The rest of the set was regular Yacht Rock stuff, with us sounding really fried--I felt pretty good, personally, but we weren't really clicking.  The band closed with The Who's Shaking All Over.

Time to shift gears!  We're playing all Beatles tonight at Eddie's Attic.

davidfreemanmusic.net

Thursday, March 31, 2011

80s in Athens


Yacht Rock played a private gig for software developers in Athens last night.  It was 80s themed, so we pulled all of our Reagan Rock stuff out for them.



We were on a super tiny stage.  From my spot, my back was against the wall (literally!) and the microphone clipped on the bell of my horn kept hitting my keyboard.  Mark Cobb's right side crash hung over the top of my other keyboard--I think that it was probably closer to me than him.  All of that being said, the volume wasn't too bad, though the bass was awfully loud.




The gig was really fun.  I don't know if the crowd was into it, but I enjoyed playing some different tunes.  We also hit some stuff beyond the realm of Reagan Rock--just stuff that the Y.O.U. guys used to play as covers.  I got off a really good alto solo on Talking In Your Sleep--wish I'd recorded that, but I wasn't thinking I was going to play anything on it at all!



davidfreemanmusic.net

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Humane Society Benefit

Yacht Rock played a benefit for the Humane Society at Sweetwater Brewery last night.  I was worried--the weather was a little too chilly for me to have fun outside (and last time we were there we nearly froze to death).  It turned out to be a non-issue.  I mean, my horns were flat as hell, but everything continued to function, so I could deal with it.


By the end of the night, though, my hands were really not working well.  We played Lido Shuffle as an encore and my hands just couldn't do the triplet thing in the synth build up.

Mark Cobb had some strange experiments with gaff tape throughout the night.  Every set had stripes across the head of a different drum, it seemed.  That and a strange pair bell cymbals (I guess)--about four inches in diameter, that rode atop his hi hat for a while.  He's looking for some Steve Jordan/Chris Dave mojo.

So that was it.  No rain, and we were finished at 9 PM.  Not too bad.

We're off to Athens tonight.


davidfreemanmusic.net

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Church Snippet

Not too much going on at the moment…I recorded (on my phone) a song we played at church gig number one a couple of days ago.  I went for a Lenny Pickett approach (on a crappy reed!).  Still, not bad for first thing in the morning.  I start playing about a minute and a half in.

 Mt. Bethel UMC-March 27, 2011 by David B Freeman

Church gig number two was pretty easy.  I played lots of low stuff on flute.  I'm dreaming of an alto flute.  Wish I could afford one!

davidfreemanmusic.net

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Dixie Tavern

I played with the Yacht Rock Schooner last night at the Dixie Tavern last night.  Not bad for a bar gig!  The gig itself was good, but I nearly died waiting around--I was told to be there at 8.  Ready to go at 8:10, but the soundcheck began at 9:30 (which means they checked the sax line at about 10), and we didn't actually start the gig until 10:30.  Waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long to hang out.  Next time, I'm rolling in at 10.


Anyway, once we started playing, everything was cool.  The band was solid, and there was something for me to do on every song of the first set.

Someone from the crowd told the two singers that the difference between the Schooner and the Revue was that the Schooner's sax player is so much better.  Thanks?

davidfreemanmusic.net

Friday, March 25, 2011

10 High

We (Yacht Rock) used the 10 High as a preliminary rehearsal for the big 80s prom coming up in a few weeks at the Variety Playhouse.  New oldies included Careless Whisper, Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, I Can Dream About You, and True.  All came off without a hitch (ok-I had a medium small disaster in I Can Dream, but nothing fatal).  We also added Hold the Line, which was alot of fun to play--I played power chords on the chorus and a synth part on the second and third verses.  Easy stuff for me, but I bet we won't do that one too much--the vocals are super high.

The second set was fast.  Mark Cobb played everything like he needed to go pee.  We flew through every song.  All of the sudden, the gig was over!

It was a pretty thin crowd.  I won't bother to speculate why.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Monday trio gig

I played a really good trio gig with Louis Heriveaux (keyboard) and Kevin Smith (bass) at the Sheraton downtown.  It was some kind of private gig…a networking thing.


Here are the audio files:



davidfreemanmusic.net

Monday, March 21, 2011

Road Trippin'

Friday and Saturday, I was on the move with Yacht Rock.

Friday's show was with the Yacht Rock Schooner in Chattanooga at Rhythm and Brews.  I just played saxes and flute, so it was a pretty easy night.  The band sounded good;  everything was solid, and it was nice to kind of have the night off on a gig.  I probably did more cell phone videos than actual playing!



Saturday afternoon was a Yacht Rock Revue gig at Eagles Landing in Stockbridge.  What a disaster!  The van was late in arriving to grab our gear, and then it took us twice as long as was allocated to pack the trailer.  We then moved our cars over to the Pleaserock office so as to avoid returning to smashed car windows.  Once we got on the interstate, we decided to take 75 south instead of 675 south (which was what my phone kept telling me to do), and somewhere in there I recalculated directions to Stockbridge instead of Eagles Landing.  So…we got off the interstate at the wrong exit before I noticed.  Back on the interstate, down 75 another few miles.  We got there with a little over and hour to get our gear in the room and soundcheck.  Somehow, we finished with five minutes to spare!


Dig the curtain behind us.  It looked just like the Hot for Teacher video.  I couldn't stop thinking about that for the first couple of songs.



It just got worse from there.  We had to kill off two and a half hours in our green room until our stuff was scheduled to be begin.  The gig was a total drag.  The room was pitch black, and with sunglasses on it seemed like we were playing inside Space Mountain, and after how many beers in those few hours I thought I was going to fall off the edge.  The crowd was really stiff, and we got bored and then we had to drag ourselves to the bitter end.

Here's audio from the night.  I recorded with my phone, sitting on one of my keyboards, so the balance is weird (right in between my amp, the guitar amp, and the drums).  Check the cowbell duel.  "Africa is percussive."

That's me on the solo--a bit of EWI magic.

Somebody cut the last chorus short.  You can hear me yell "What the fuck!" and then Dannells and I chattering about it.

 Africa (Toto): Yacht Rock Revue by David B Freeman

The theme for the party was James Bond (hence the "Octopussy" in the audio), so we played a little bit of Live and Let Die off the cuff.  That went pretty well.  Our other thing was the James Bond ending, which did not go well at all.  We were going to do it in F minor, and I figured it out on EWI (which I have set to Bb).  Unfortunately, the couple of times it was audibled, I was either playing keyboards, flute, or alto--never tenor or EWI, and my brain couldn't quite move the lick into another key!  Actually, I think the time I did try to play it, Dannells was playing it in E minor, so even when I was finally right, I was still wrong.

We loaded the gear back out, and then the van wouldn't start because we were parked on a hill and the tank was almost empty.  Greg and Ganesh left to find a gas station that was open and buy a gallon of gas.  We packed the gear up, put some gas in the van, and drove home.  When we got back to town, we went and picked up our cars at the office, and then caravanned to the rehearsal space, which turned out to be our only good move of the night.  The gate for the space was locked and nobody had the key, so then we pulled our personal gear out of the trailer and went our separate ways (which meant somebody had to be responsible for the PA in the trailer and then deal with it again the next day).

Sunday began just hours later.  I played church gig number one in a fog.  It went pretty well.  No big surprises.  I went home, took a nap, got up and hung out with Jack.  I took another nap.  I got up and went to church gig number two.  No problems.  I think I had a pretty good mix happening.  I came home and immediately/accidentally fell asleep, and woke up twelve hours later.

Another week cometh!

davidfreemanmusic.net