David Freeman Music

Friday: Yacht Rock headed up to the northeastern corner of Georgia, hopped the state line, and continued into South Carolina until we reached Walhalla. Never heard of it? You're not alone. I'm guessing this was some sort of local concert series.  It looks like a old school auditorium, smells like an old auditorium. A charming little room. Sounded good, though. I don't remember much about the gig, but it did enjoy the chance to sit on a bench outside for about an hour and practice. Actually, that's not true. The room was so dark, I never saw anyone in the audience. I remember that. Saturday: We played at The Senate in Columbia, South Carolina for the first time today. Since we were early to load in and the weather was perfect, I had a chance to walk around the state capitol complex and some of the University of South Carolina campus. By the time I made it back, set up was in progress. We played this gig with the drum riser pushed off-...

Thursday: I was finally in town and able to perform with the Atlanta Latin Jazz Orchestra at Venkman's. Such a cool gig--the music is fantastic, and I have as much satisfaction learning the music as I do actually playing with the guys in the band. The Georgia Tech big band opened for us. I think somebody said that Tech has five big bands--wow! That's more than Indiana had when I was in school. I wonder how many bands the bass player has to play in (usually the problem with multiple big bands)! This particular ensemble had seven saxophones, too--also a problem for jazz programs. Anyway, ALJO was fun. My preparation was good. Justin Powell's trumpet solos were brilliant. We're back November 21! Tech big band Friday afternoon, I got a call to fill in with FunkCake at the Copper Coin in Woodstock. Funk Cake is a modern brass band--trumpet, two saxes, trombone, sousaphone, and drums, and they play their own originals and funny arrangements of modern pop songs. A...

Hooray for in-town gigs! Friday: I got to sub in with Bumpin' the Mango again, in Roswell again (part of their "Music on the Hill" concert series), but this time on bari sax. Neil Newcomb played tenor. I had a good week of practice leading up to this gig, but things got off to a rough start. On the second tune of the night, I got to PAGE THREE! of What is Hip  before realizing that I was playing the tenor chart on bari--since we're a fourth apart pitch-wise, there are weird notes but not a lot of outright clashes that would tell me something was wrong. Instead, I was like, "this feels so familiar but sounds kind of strange." Man, I felt soooooo stupid! Realizing what was happening, I half transposed the tenor chart down a fourth/half played by ear the rest of it. As soon as the song was over, I deleted the chart from my iPad so there would be no evidence of my wrongdoing! It never happened! Then I spent three or four songs trying to gauge (based purel...

Wednesday: We've had a string of Wednesday gigs going, ending with this one in Grayton Beach, Florida at A.J.'s, a roadside dive bar a half mile north of the Gulf of Mexico. On this particular night, we were guests of Berkshire Hathaway--some sort of corporate party thing, so we crammed the gear onto a tiny stage and got ready to play. Setting up in this space wasn't too bad, and soundcheck was quick and painless, so I went for a run before dinner. It wasn't too hot, but the humidity made up for it! For a private gig, this one wasn't too bad--the crowd (which appeared to be mainly middle aged women) was on the dance floor early in the night. Between the people watching and the TV watching (there was a screen in my line of sight that played Gomer Pyle USMC , Green Acres , and two episodes of Hogan's Heroes ), I was occupied. Tuesday night, I'd begun to feel the beginnings of a cold, and around the time we finished this gig, I was dying...

Wednesday , Yacht Rock flew to Washington DC for a gig in Maryland. While we were waiting for the van and trailer to pick us up, Monkeyboy spotted Mike Stern (who played with Blood Sweat and Tears, Miles Davis, Michael Brecker, Steps Ahead, and the Brecker Brothers) in baggage claim. I think we startled him, but he was a good sport about it. Today's gig was a corporate party for insurance people, and they added Robbie Dupree and Matthew Wilder onto the bill. Kip and Zack had made the trip north the day before, and they had about half our gear set up before we even arrived (practicing for Saturday). Much time was available between soundcheck and dinner, so I headed out for a run. Started in Maryland, ran across the bridge to Virginia, and came back. the path alongside I-495 Washington, DC in the distance National Harbor ferris wheel  Our gig was at the Gaylord National Convention Center. Also on this gig was Matthew Wilder and Robbie Dupree. Always...