Gilligan

Yacht Rock had an unusual gig Monday morning…we were paid by a company to rerecorded the theme to Gilligan's Island with different words relevant to their business.  Pretty funny, considering that we're getting on a cruise ship Wednesday!

photo cred:  Mark Cobb

It's a pretty simple song.  I think the rhythm section guys took the second take.  A couple of the guys had vocals stacked in a half hour.  My part was fun…I recorded a piccolo track, four flute tracks, a clarinet track, and four saxophone tracks.  Maybe I was nailing it…almost all were first takes.  I tend to think it was also just "good enough" for a quick recording.  The whole thing sounded really good together!  It was fun (for me) to do something different.

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Sunday

Church gig day!

My AM gig featured Indra Thomas, an operatic soprano.  She did a few with her accompanist and a few with the band/choir.  Big voice, but I couldn't understand a single word she sang.  It was all vowels and vibrato.

My PM gig was pretty good.  We've finally located a guitarist;  he played on two songs with us.  Other than that, I spent most of the gig trying soprano reeds and watching the Giants/Cowboys game on my phone.  The five hour House Live gig the night before did wonders for my flute face.

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OutHouse Live

I got a call to play a House Live gig for a private party at a home in Buckhead.  It was a Peter Pan themed party, and Jeff, Wayne, and I were dressed as Indians and situated on the back steps of the house/mansion next to a teepee.  I guess that was better than the two girls who spent the evening in the pool pretending to be mermaids.

see the DJ set up on the left?  I was behind the tree next to those windows

A beautiful house!  We weren't actually allowed in the house (except that the only way to my position on the steps was through the kitchen, but I promised to keep my eyes closed).  I even got yelled at by the caterer/party planner for daring to take a picture of the pool house.  He then yelled at his assistant and instructed her to yell at the band about it.

the pool house

I just want to point out that one of my favorite aspects of playing in Yacht Rock is that we are seldom treated as anything less than honored guests--it's not uncommon for the bride and groom to ask us at their wedding reception if there's anything we need.  I hope I never have to go back to regular gigging situations where I'm treated like a dog.

Anyway…other than that, the gig was five hours of music outside.  It got cold.  At 8:30 it was already down to 55 degrees.  My hands were stiff and my feet were numb, and I had my mouthpiece and flute headjoint pushed on as far as they'd go.  I was really hoping the noise ordinance in Atlanta (11 PM) would save us, but when the cops came at 10 to turn it down, the caterer bribed them with free food, and the police agreed to ignore the noise until the neighbors complained (which I guess they did not).  Damn!

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The Attempted Trio

I played a weird trio gig tonight with David Ellington (keyboard) and Nadav Spiegelman (bass).  We had a lot of trouble finding a groove.

This gig was weird before we ever got there.  The contract I signed a few weeks ago said the gig was 7:30-10:30 PM.  Last week it became 6-9, with the first half hour solo sax.  As of yesterday afternoon, this was still the case.  This morning, it became 6-9 PM for the trio, no solo sax.  At 4:15, I got a phone call (still at home) asking if we could start at 5:15 and play til 9.  Jump in the truck and away I go!  Ellington and I were set at 5:15 with Nadav a few minutes later than that.  The client pushed the gig back to 5:30-8:30.  5:30 passed…5:35…5:40…5:45…5:50…5:55…6 PM!…6:05…finally at 6:10, one guy came in and ordered a beer, and the client gave us the signal to begin.

So, there was that.  They also tried to stick us with a closet to store dead cases on the fourth floor (we were out on the Grand Terrace on the seventh floor).  The ever resourceful Ellington found an empty closet ten feet from where we were set up.

Later on we were given the slash-across-the-neck-signal (illegal in the NFL) mid tune by the head waiter so he could saber a champagne bottle.  He finally got it on the third try.

All that was pretty comical.

The playing part just never clicked.  I don't think we could ever hear each other well enough.  I could hear myself and Nadav, but Ellington was faint…he said the same about Nadav.  The time was all over the place, and it just made every note tricky.

On top of that, my hands just weren't working well.  I'm pretty out of shape for a gig like this.

 David Freeman Trio - October 25, 2012 by David B Freeman

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House Live at the Aquarium

House Live did a gig last night for the well fed people of H & R Block.  This one was a little different--two drummers, a DJ, and me.  Steven Walker played drum set and Wayne Viar played congas and other hand drums.

Easy gig!  Steven even let me play his drums for a while.  It was fun, even though I'm not good at it.

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The Day After

So…Sunday morning, there I was, bright and early at my AM church gig.  I got a message earlier in the week that I would be playing only alto, so I knew it was a concert band situation.  It turned out to be a great change of pace…I played in the "orchestra" (a combo wind ensemble/strings/rhythm section), covering the sax part by myself.  Easy stuff.  Easy load out!

I got home in time for brunch with my in-laws, and then it was off to another Yacht Rock gig!  Jeez!

We played a Stewart Cink charity event (the Cink it Challenge) in Suwanee at some super swanky golf club.  Nice place.  Is it weird that we now hang out with Stewart Cink?  That he recognizes us by sight?  That he and I have conversations about sunburn on our heads?

This one could have gone poorly, but everybody was relaxed after last week, and we had Kip Conner running sound for us, so everything sounded fantastic.  We played great!  Fun gig.

davidfreemanmusic.net

Thriller/Purple Rain

Yacht Rock played the albums Purple Rain and Thriller last night to a sold out Variety Playhouse.  Amazing show!  Thanks to the choir, the audience, the Variety Playhouse crew, and the Pleaserock crew (KD and Nackers) for making it happen!

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life...

Purple Rain

Ghostbusters costume

Thriller!

Stay Puft Marshmellow Man!

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The Final Countdown

Yacht Rock is in final preparations for the big event:  Thriller/Purple Rain at the Variety Playhouse.  It should be a really good gig--we're getting more comfortable with these special occasions (and having a week to focus solely on twenty songs helps).

We had a big rehearsal Wednesday night at Avatar--the band and the choir, all laid out the way we'll be on stage at the Variety.  I was seated next to the great Mark Bencuya.

We were super loud.  We took a break between albums, and I was shocked to hear (without earplugs) how cranked my amp was.  At the end of Lady in my Life we inserted a sax solo, and when I went out front to play it, WOW!  The loudest thing in midtown.  It was awesome.  I'm not sure how the choir handles the volume.

Last night (Thursday), we played a private event at one of the office buildings in Atlantic Station for Live Thrive, a company that helps companies become more environmentally friendly.

Office buildings don't handle lots of gear and catering coming through.  Horrible, horrible load in.  It would have been more efficient to hire a helicopter to drop our gear on the nearby terrace.

The office had some pretty amazing views.

This event was not well attended.  At one point, I counted forty-two people in front of us.  Thus, we didn't have much enthusiasm in our playing.  Mentally, though, it was a nice break from the stuff we've been playing all week.

Come see us play at the Variety on Saturday!

davidfreemanmusic.net

AM/PM

Sundays are church gig days.

AM:  Paul Poovey did a good job subbing on trumpet with us. Things were pretty solid--no train wrecks, and not much rushing by the horn section.  Good playing all around, though I played a couple of gruesome wrong notes.

A couple of slots where we normally would have played were taken up by a guest--smooth jazz guitarist Roland Gresham.  He did a couple of tunes with pre-recorded tracks.  It put the whole band to sleep.

PM:  The PM gig was ok.  I had a good soprano sax reed and a bad flute face (that's what happens when you haven't picked up a flute in two weeks), so I leaned more on the former.  I didn't play anything noteworthy, regardless of the instrument.

I must comment on the outfit of the lady in the second row.  Fedora, olive t shirt, pleated high waist camouflage pants, half a forearm of bracelets on each arm, knee high black velour boots with four inch clear stiletto heels and gold metal toe caps.  What the hell are you wearing?  Did you just come from a Duran Duran fan club meeting?  Hungry like the wolf?

davidfreemanmusic.net

Too Much Guitar

Yacht Rock played the Candler Park Fall Fest last night, doing our Dazed and Confused set list with special guests Derek St. Holmes and Rick Derringer.  Lots of guitars on stage;  lots of guitar amplifiers on stage;  lots of stage volume.

My position was directly behind Mark Dannells' amp, which fortunately is a closed-back cabinet, so it didn't send much my way.  It turned out to be a pretty good spot--I had almost nothing to play, so I mostly hung out and watched my friends rock.  Nice work!

with Derek St. Holmes

Rick Derringer

davidfreemanmusic.net