Praise for Sakshama Koloski!

I've been working hard, teaching, playing, getting better on my horn by practicing for long stretches. It's important to reward oneself to keep going. To remind myself of the progress I have made. Gifts to oneself are mighty motivating.

Sakshama Koloski is a cat that lives up in Queens who makes terriffic playing mouthpieces. I first met him 2 years ago when he made his own version of the fabled "Double Line" Otto Link, the ones that people for some reason pay up to $1800 for. I had to try that one. But really I was mostly interested in his Dukoff "Shorty". Most players play on Otto Links, few have the great Dukoff Hollywood pieces and I'm one of those guys who likes something different. Me and this other horn player (much better than I! He plays with Sting.) were trying pieces out together. We both tried his Link and compared it to the original he copied. We both agreed his version was simply better, much better. But it wasn't for me. He had a "Shorty" piece that was already sold and I put that one up. The other player immediately said "now that is a great sound!" I agreed. I kept coming back to it.

But it took me 2 years to commit to buying one. I get bored easily and move on from one thing to the next, that fear of commitment thing. Not good for a musician! I'm much better than I was! Keeping a practice log helps tremendously.

So I finally contacted him a few weeks ago and asked if he had one and told him I am interested in one with a 6* opening. That was in March. Within a month he built the perfect piece for me. I just got home from practicing and I did not want to stop! The more I played the more I found my center and even with an easy tip opening like this one has, the tone can be huge. I can get that gut bucket sound or a really pretty wooden flute sound on command. My subtone has never been better. And it's flexible. It forces me to relax my body if I want to get the sound I hear in my head. I like that. A tool that commands me to chill out and enjoy the music!

So check him out! Well worth the investment!

http://sakshamamouthpieces.com/

Arlen Roth.....

I work at the legendary Southside Guitars (http://www.southsideguitars.com/) in Williamsburg. We have some great players come through and one of our regulars is Mr. Arlen Roth. Yesterday he was picking up an old Princeton Reverb we fixed for him.

I got to sit in his presence for 20 minutes stealing his licks. Nothing like sitting right in front of a master and just listening, absorbing.

Goddammit. I'm practicing guitar again! I needed that inspiration.

I learned how to play slide well from sitting in a tiny cafe for 2 1/2 hours watching Corey Harris about 4 feet away from me. it was like "oh that's how it's done!" A lifelong series of lessons in one sitting. I have the same feeling today after watching Mr. Roth. I'm in love with that brass tube and six strings again......

There used to be a scene!!!

There used to be a scene! Back in the 90's when Umbra Penumbra was in Portland, back in the 80's when CBGB was all the rage, back in the day when......

I hear this all the time. Stories of heartbreak at the loss of community. Stories not so much of the past but of pastness itself. I once gave a kid a ride from Breitenbush hot springs in Oregon down the mountain to his little village. He was doing some kind of camp thing and had his thumb out and a couple huge bags of laundry. I had my old '69 Falcon, losing its reliability at this point but said, "well, it'll be cool to give a youngster a ride, maybe he will have a fresh perspective."

The conversation turned to music. "I make reggae beats on my computer" he days. "I played in a reggae band back in the 90's" I replied. "The 90's man, you're so fucking lucky!"

Thing is, I knew he was absolutely right. I am lucky. That was a great time to be in my 20's. I had some great bands and closed the decade with a modicum of success.

And, those days are over and I'm happier than ever.

So when I hear that phrase "there was a scene back then" I say: There is a scene now. It's loaded with 20 somethings doing their beautiful thing.

I go out and hear new music these days. I don't dig most of it, some blows me away (usually the electronic stuff!), the kids freak me out with their beards and politeness and the obsession with filming everything on the ol' Iphone rather than truly be in the moment losing your mind to the music before you. And.....thank god for that. I'd think something was truly wrong with the world if the kids didn't make music that irritated and alienated me to some degree. Imagine if they made music that sounded like mine when I was in my 20's. I'd be pretty bored. And truthfully 90% of the bands I saw back in the day didn't move me so the ratio is the same. I'm a musician and I have high standards after all.

So the scene? People get married. Get careers that pay. Have kids. People move on. Maybe your scene is still with those folks you got to share that wonderful dramatic slice of time called your early 20's? Maybe you can be the weird person who makes music they love and shows a different lifestyle than your married friends. Kids need variety. People need variety. Maybe your scene is with your wife or husband now? That can be awesome and hip. Me? I may never be married, or maybe I will. I'll never stop making music and the music I make is always changing. It's taken this long to strip away the layers of "shoulds, supposed to's and have to's" to finally make music that is honest and pure. My scene is simply where my heart is. I'm surrounded by wonderful people all the time and like I said, some days I'm so happy I feel a little embarrassed to share all my smiles. In 20 years I'll be retirement age and I'll still be making music I love and the bearded hipster 20 something will be 40 something and may be complaining about "there used to be a scene, Glasslands was so....."

Eff that. Move on! You set the scene!

The Berlin Wall O' Sound!

I don't like stages much. I've played some great ones, okay, Carnegie Hall, I liked that stage, but for what I do in music I really like having no division between the audience and myself. I understand why things are the way they are with a big PA system and lights, I just don't really enjoy it.

Evolutionary Jass Band had 3 gigs booked at a new venue in Portland Oregon. I was excited to reach out to new territories but also nervous cause we pretty much had our venues down, they understood us and our needs and the fights were already over. Give a sound guy a different set of needs and it's confusing to their regular way of doing things. I've seen the strangest reactions from sound folks. One venue the guy threw a direct box on the floor and yelled "I guess you guys just don't need me" after we said we didn't need the direct box. The best reaction was telling the monitor guys to take the next 45 minutes off and we'll mix ourselves (Jackie O, All tomorrows Parites UCLA 2002). They smiled and said thank you!

So back to our gig at this new venue. I did a research mission to the venue 2 weeks prior to hear a jazz group. It was a big band, a Wednesday night with about 20 people in the audience and the room is a big, bright sounding brick room with nothing damping the sound. They had everything miked including the trumpets and the PA blasting away like a typical rock club. The good ol' cold war. The Berlin Wall 'O Sound! Separation of observer and observed by 10,000 kw of power through massive JBLs. People were holding their ears, for a jazz band.....

I don't make music to hurt people. I make music to help ease this life. I play loud but not that loud.

So we got our email requesting us to specify our microphone needs and telling us to be at the venue by 5pm for a 10:30 pm show so we could sound check.

Fuck that. We drove back from Seattle that day. We figure 8pm was plenty of time. Dis-respectful? Hindsight being 20/20, we owe that club an amends for being so late and they had a right to be pissed. On the other hand our request was simple. 2 overhead mics and a vocal mic and we'll play on the floor. They replied that's not the way it's done.

Ego gets involved. We are the artist. We request an open mind.

We get to the venue and the good ol' cold war heats up again. My man starts putting mics on everything. I let him know this is not acceptable. He lets me know our request are not acceptable and to trust him. I let him know 'listen, our concern is that it'll be too loud. I just saw this big band here 2 weeks ago and my ears were bleeding and you were doing sound that night as well, all due respect, I just don't want that!' Things get tense, voices get raised and somehow we come to a compromise. Yes, I'm a control freak sometimes, but I'm tired of being controlled by people who only seem to be concerned with the importance of their job. Ego vs. ego.

The show went well, the next show went better and by the third show 6 weeks later the sound man approached me and said "I get it. Your band really doesn't need much at all. Thank you."

I didn't feel like I won or anything, I was just glad that someone in this world could open up like that. I get it. It's hard to be vulnerable. It's hard to be honest and open to new ideas, especially when things have been done one way for so many years. And people want to feel useful. That I respect too. It was never my intent to say "oh, we don't need you so go piss off", it was to say, "hey we have different needs, here they are, can we work together?"

So why take lessons?

There is a wealth of knowledge here on the interweb. One can turn on their Youtube and get guitar lessons for free. Heck, when I'm stuck and need to teach something I don't know myself I use this as a resource.

I hear a lot of teachers worry today about this free information. Some feel it's taking away students, after all why pay for lessons when you can get them for free?

One word: Accountability.

I recently started taking bi-weekly saxophone lessons with Tim Price. Sure I could get the material he shows for free but the reason I pay him is I want to get to the next level. Fast. I simply won't do the work if I'm left to my own devices. Every 2 weeks I need to interact with Tim and turn over my progress. Oh sure, there is a part of me that says "oh man, why are you doing this? Why pay? What's the point of learning this Lester Young solo?" Then I show up and say "wow, I could not do this last week!" I NEED to see my progress or I start to get depressed. Ruts suck.

I also don't like looking like a lazy ass. I gotta show up and do well.

My favorite record I've done which sold the best was an assignment. "Jef, make a record of dirges." I would never do that on my own but thankfully Mississippi records asked and we delivered.

I sell a lot of guitars to beginners. I get asked "should I take lessons to get started?" I always answer yes. Just committing to showing up says you care about yourself. And self care? It rocks. Best thing one can do it take care of oneself. So reach out. Hear what someone else has to say about your playing! And by all means, commit to your growth!

JB