Early influences part 1 BASS!

  Today I taught a guitar lesson to a young student who wanted to learn "Too much Heaven on their Minds" which is from the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack. Got really excited to teach that one, that record is part of my early childhood experience.

  Truth be known, the 2 records that taught me the most about playing really good bass were that one and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Youngs Deja Vu. They were both around my house in the 70's and when I started playing that beautiful low end grabbed me the most. It formed my bass style, flat wound strings, any old Fender bass and a good tube amp. There was also "The Harder They Come" soundtrack and Bob Marleys "Rastaman Vibration", both excellent bass records.

  What did I like about teaching this song besides the fact that it rocks hard as can be? It's intricate. There are time signature changes that happen on the fly and it's full of surprises. I find todays music to be, well, lazy and rather soulless. I couldn't listen to Rush today but I'm glad I learned some of those songs when I was 15. They weren't easy! So it's really cool to see a young person interested in such a piece of music, something funky written for hippies 45 years or more ago and it still stands the test of time.

  I've been really excited about teaching bass these days. My brother, as some of you know, is a great bass player. Super inventive, unusual ideas and has made many ok bands sound great. I draw a lot from his playing. He's not super technical, but we spent a lot of time learning chords and arpeggios. On bass, get those arpeggios together, keep yourself in time and you will work if you want to and have a positive attitude! And I don't hear much bass playing that's as compelling as those old records. Yeah, styles change, I accept that. But classiness and good taste? That's timeless. So if you haven't listened to some of those old cats, give them a spin and learn something. Whatever you take from them you can take anywhere and make a better band with it. You get to the the secret improviser in the band who has a job that's way better than the shredder getting all the attention. You are making a world come together with those 4 fat strings.

J

11/26/14. Writing Session!

Got an hour in of writing! Started out just reviewing some stuff I wrote in Los Angeles and building on a piece that I really love but forgot about. Going to spin that baby into gold! Also got a new piece started. I have this ultra crappy Silvertone nylon string folk guitar that belonged to my mom. That thing has a million songs in it. It gets the most play time out of all my guitars. I pick it up, play some lines, chords, improvise until something clicks then I record it on my cell phone or whatever is available. My I phone amazes me. If I need to video something or record something just to remember what I was doing, it's right there.

Trying out this new morning routine. It was get up, write 3 pages of whatever junk was running around in my head, meditate then.....I'd check my email, Facebook, did i sell anything last night on EBay? What's different? I'll start with the 3 pages of garbage then move to meditation, then next is exercise for 10 minutes, get the blood moving while listening to some tracks that get me excited. Today it was "Mirror in the Bathroom" by The English Beat and "The Volcano Song" by Budos Band.

The email, EBay, Facespace, yadda yadda can wait till after breakfast. Realized that checking all that stuff right away, I'm living for other peoples agendas. It's no wonder I'm not getting what I want to do done if I live for other people. Hmmm, who did I please? Who did I bum out? I gotta know so I can fix it!!! Meh..... seldom is it that important that it can't wait. I'll do my best to change this habit.

J

11/25/14, practice session, emailed some demos!

Tonight I practiced for 2 hours, saxophone. Again, long tones, scales and just played for an hour improvising over a couple of chords. Also tried out a beautiful 1929 gold plated Conn tenor and emailed a bunch of demos off.

Something to be said about the word should. I hate that word. It implies wrongness. I like must. I've turned my "should" practice the horn daily and "should" write music daily into must. Hey, it's gotta get done right? Glad to do the work! Got a change within the group and I need to up my game significantly on my horn. Plus, I want more session work. My tone is there but that articulation. Most session work I've done, the notes are easy, but I struggle with that fast and clear tonguing. I don't know if I can do what I really want to physically but I'll keep working it. Consistency is the toughest part. I can get it once in a while, a rapid fire single tone with 16th notes up tempo.

Facebook fast is paying off. Starting to get a little fidgety so I'm writing more. Netflix fast is next.

J

The money gig. Music and relation to the all mighty dollar.

  I'm doing that thing again that I don't like in myself. I'm avoiding someone. Don't really feel like talking to this person but I will. Why not? Well, he's given me a money gig, easy money and I need that money. He's also treated me a couple times in a way I find objectionable and well, I don't accept dis-respect at any cost. But at the heart of the matter is the baffling music for money relationship I have. Really if he treated me golden I may put off the dialogue I need to have for a much longer period of time. Other peoples behavior is often a good excuse for me to exit a situation I don't really belong in. I've worked jobs for years that I knew I didn't really need, dis-respecting myself in those years because I need to eat and keep a roof over my head and buy a delay pedal.

And maybe that's the answer. I love to earn. I love to earn from my music, there is no better feeling. But it's not about the money..... A money gig= Music for the sake of money. Nothing wrong with that but...well, I'm having these feelings.

  I just read this morning "If you want to be rich you'll need to stop being such a consumer". That really hit home. I don't really need that delay pedal and when I do someone will give me one if I happen to actually release some work that makes me a visible man. Weird how that is. You work hard, get lucky, put yourself in the right place at the right time then people give you clothes and equipment so you can advertise for them. Cool. I like clothes. Really, it ain't so much about the money. In a perfect world though I would have my own tailor. And I'd pay him or her handsomely cause, well, I like paying people for their creative endeavors. How am I a consumer? I seem to be consuming an enormous amount of time watching stuff on the internet. Finally the TV industry has broken into my safety zone with Netflix. I don't know what is worse. Having a credit card addiction or an internet addiction. I'll take that advice to heart. I'm already one day at a time on Facebook, next is Ebay and Netflix. Let em' go and deal with the feelings I'm afraid to deal with.

  So yeah, back on the subject. This gig paid me about a C-note for 3 hours of playing classic rock covers on guitar with another fellow. Nice people run the bar, good vibes, audience is cool, but I came away every friday feeling completely depressed. I'd carry that depression into saturday then end it with Gospel of Mars practice on Sunday evening. I'm generally a happy guy. The days following Sunday I'd feel good then on Friday I'd go right back down that deep hole and feel horrible. I don't know exactly why. I can blame it on the fact that I don't really enjoy the bar scene, people drinking too much and all that boring nonsense, but I feel it may be my ego. I don't like to blame, that's my self pity when I blame. I do understand that my feelings are a mere barometer pointing out to me whether I'm moving closer or away from the promised land. In this case it's simply away. I never feel like this after a performance by a band I really love to be in.

  But I come away with the question why is it so easy to play this music and get food on the table and a roof above my head and such a challenge to create something new and get a cup of coffee? I usually feel awful playing covers for money, like I'm dividing myself into two personas. I'm in people pleasing mode, the worst kind of mode I can be in. I don't really know how to act like anyone but myself. These gigs I feel like I'm being trained. I just like being me.

  I've played in money bands before, there was Jamallad, a reggae band I played in during the early 90's. I lasted about 6 weeks on the road. I liked earning $400 a day at points. I didn't like being yelled at by the band leader for being my goofy self. I also played in "The Miss U's", a Rolling Stones Cover Band in Portland Oregon for a few years. That was fun then it wasn't buy I continued on as if it were like the first fun and lucrative show. What behavior in both groups did I have in common? I drank a lot. Liquid tolerance. They call it truth serum but, it can help me lie my ass off used properly.

  The Rolling Stones band, well, the first gig I walked away with a couple hundred bucks. Easy money and fun. Next, $150, next $100, next $75. See the pattern? But again, it was a fun band, I think, oh I don't really know any longer. Trouble is whether it's your original vision or a cover band it's still a band with egos and personalities and agendas. It's a matter of how much am I willing to deal with. And I have my own ego, vision and agenda to contend with. I'm not that easy apparently.

  That band ended with a whimper for me. The third to last show I screamed on stage. I was wondering why I couldn't feel anything any longer. The second to last show a girl flashed her ample breast at me and I was sober. I thought "well, that was nice of her. This is an ugly bar and we are a cover band lady...." I went home depressed.

  The last show..... We had a booking at this outdoor festival one sunny afternoon in Portland. It was to be on a Sunday. The band knew I was losing it so the leader called me the day before to check on me and make sure we were on for sunday. I said of course we were, and I truly was excited since it was going to be awesome weather and I like playing outdoors. I woke up the next morning and looked outside. It was one of the most beautiful days I had ever seen before. I said, "man, it's so nice out I think I'll go for a hike on Sauvies Island and pick some blueberries." So I went and did that. I quite honestly had no memory of our gig and that I even had a gig. I didn't remember till I went back to work a few days later and heard the many messages on my work phone from 2 bandmates on stage wondering where I was.

  I called and apologized profusely, I felt terrible about it. The leader said not to worry about it. A few months later I realized they went on without me hiring another without even giving me a good firing. I gave that band a lot of good service including use of my practice space, and not even a proper goodbye.
 
  So I wonder if I still carry this un-resolved business into todays life. I don't even remember if I felt hurt or not. I did know that I needed to leave that band, I just wanted to leave with more dignity.

  So what is it about the money gig that feels so craptastic for me? I like earning. I love earning with an instrument in my hands more than anything else. I do know this now. Getting involved in situations that I don't feel good in, don't feel respected in, that I know in my heart you are off course but I proceed anyway into, Im not being nice to myself and therefore I'm probably not being nice to someone else as well. Better to be honest, keep the faith and go for my dreams. It I need money find another way to earn it if I don't feel good doing the cover gig.

  People have said to me about my guitar shop days "at least you are doing something music related and that's cool right?" Well, if you like that work then do it. For me? Doing something so close to what I love and not being with what I truly love can really take a bite out of my energy to do what I love the most. Kinda like being in love with someone but being too afraid to be with her or him for fear of rejection so you go with that persons sibling or cousin and you don't really dig that person. Why would anyone do that? That ain't  nice!

J

11/24/14 Listening sessions

Today had a couple listening sessions. One on my own and one with Beth for Gardens. Just shopping the old hard drive mall for material. I have too many un-finished projects! That's why it's important to sit with someone else and go through them. A frog lays 10,000 eggs and only a dozen make it to become more frogs, the rest become fish food or, frog food often, even the poor tadpoles. It's nature. It's simply the creative process. I can't possibly eat all these eggs alone....

Some of the material we'll be using is stuff I wrote in Los Angeles, some really good numbers, and one track is something I did with Sara Lund. I like that this material will see the light of day. It needs to be born. How long before a fetus is deadly to it's mother? Amazing to still be alive!

 We set a date for having an EP finished, Valentines day 2015. I like deadlines. I like assignments. I've made some of my best work for other people. Evolutionary Jass Bands "What's Lost" was an assignment for Mississippi Records. Eric Isaacson gave us a concept and a deadline and we needed to to provide the work. Proud of that one to this day.

J

11/23/16 Gospel of Mars rehearsal.

Nice band practice tonight with Gospel of Mars. Been tough coordinating schedules since we all have rich lives and travel. Feel blessed to be a part of such a great crew.

Tonight we worked on new material, specifically on the rhythm. Rhythm is everything. EVERYTHING! When I was kid I listened to the Jimi constantly. Of course I wanted to be a flashy lead player but discovered that he was actually an okay lead player but an outstanding rhythm player. That part is much harder to grasp. Without it there is little to invent. Our group works on beats and riffs. We really push each other out of our comfort zones. "Jef, think outside the box on this one!" sez Mr. Moore on drums. Not easy for me to do so I'm glad to work with a non jazz jazz group to keep me reaching for something fresh. Otherwise, I'll easily be lulled to sleep playing things that I think sound good.

Melody is what comes last to me. I keep hearing folk melodies with the pieces we are working on. I like to think of us as a folk band more than anything else. Good jazz is folk music to me, so is good rock n roll. It tells a story. When I hear folk music from another land in another language I can pretty much tell what they are singing about just based on how it feels. Music is a universal language that way. It's for folks. I like to keep the melodies simple and that is the hardest part for me! KISS....

Keep It Simple Sexy!

J1

11/22/14, what did I do today?

Well, peoples, places and things.... But sometimes distraction is good. Went to see my friends play last night, they have a duo called Hungry Ghost. I can watch Sara Lund drum for the rest of my life. She's that good and I miss jamming with her. Super inspiring. And Andrew has come a long way. I really dig his playing and his sense of tone. Of course, I built his amp. Good to hear that thing, so rich and colorful! So I came away inspired and though I got no writing done I did get a lift!

Practiced my horn for 2 1/2 hours last night afterward. Working on my new mouthpiece which I dig. It's powerful. Any change like that requires weeks of getting used to it. So I worked long tones and scales, articulation then just improvised for an hour or so. Feels good.

Taught 3 students yesterday. 2 of them I taught the song "Bang Bang" by Nancy Sinatra. What was good about that was I didn't write anything down, just showed them and within a brief period of time they got it sounding good. That's the power of not having the thing written before you. It gets in you quicker. That's why I'v always had a hard time playing from transcriptions. I can't remember things too well and even after playing them a million times, the muscle memory doesn't even make it music. But if I catch a lick by ear or see someone play something...yeah, it's music almost right away.

So I got to have an instrument in my hands for almost 7 hours yesterday. That's a good thing. That's how I like to role! 40+ hours a week on music, something will happen.

J1

11/21/14 progress

Got 2 1/2 hours in on my horn tonight. What is going well is my sound. I'm liking it better than ever. And my tonguing / articulation is getting easier. Starting to be able to play some fast passages. It's taken me a long time to get to this point so I'm happy about that.

Worked on "Tanya" by Dexter Gordon. There is no badder player than Dex, especially on that tune. Tomorrow I need a writing session.

J1

I can't get started! Ugh, procrastination, success and working together.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls33JN395OE


 I hate the word potential. "You have so much potential.....blah blah". It's an awful word. Just get on with it. Make your record or song or whatever. I hate it the most cause I've heard this said to and about me enough times I gag when I hear it.

  Something is holding me back and that something is me and my petty fears and poor rituals. My habits. I want to make the best music I can make in this lifetime and I want it to reach enough hearts to, well, make a more that comfortable living and I only want to do it by making honest music.

  Lately I can feel my conditioning. It's like this fog made of vagueness. It's quite physical. I know I need to exercise more, that is one way to move the fog along so I may see the sun better. I've never been able to quite get into a routine.

 What I'm an ace at is distracting myself. Facebook, relationships I shouldn't be in, underpaying jobs I have taken on for years of my life, my tube amp fixing backup plan business (which I fell back on for 2 decades!), Netflix, Ebay, credit card addiction, cleaning up the result of that, being in bands I don't like but have been too afraid to 'hurt any ones feelings' and my self esteem is low enough that I like that they like me even though the music we are making does nothing for me, chasing money gigs and the list goes on and on.

  I have 3 projects going on. I love them all. One is Gospel of Mars which is a bit of a jazz group. We are fantastic. We need to move on making a record. I know partly out of my fear I've created situations where I'm always waiting on this person or that, you know, putting it off. We need that record. The second is called Gardens, it's relatively new. Just me and a good friend. Our last performance I said "oh damn, we actually are good". It was obvious that we have a lot of that evil 'P' word that needs to be realized. The third is my solo material. Solo guitar and saxophone. People like what I do with this and it will be good to organize and finally get record 2 done. It's really good. It's a solo project so I am accountable to no one but me. I need help.

  So this post is the beginning of many. I'll start with a 5 question bit about getting on and breaking through. It's nothing original, I lifted it straight from a Tony Robbins viddy. I'm finding it quite effective today. It's really meant for crisis times but for me, I don't have those and when I do, action is not a problem: I am accountable to finding a solution or I die. When there isn't a deadly snake in the room, I get vague and my action is scattered. Not much gets done and I write these blog post.
You'd probably rather just hear the music right? I would.

  #1 The problem: I have a hard time getting started. I know I have a lot of talent and massive potential (ew!) but I'm not doing all I can to realize my life. I feel vague, not in control of my days. No crisis, just a feeling of 'meh, whatevs'. I know that I am being rewarded and reinforced for my inaction somehow, but I don't exactly see what the reward is. What is the reward for being vague? Answer? I think it's so I can continue to live in a fantasy. Everything is fine, I'll get there someday. I'll do this later etc. It's fate cause I'm so talented etc mixed with the lie that nobody understands my music so why try?

  #2 Get to the truth and deal with it:

  Ah, there is the reward. I don't care to look at the truth of this life which is that I'm not satisfied with where I am. But the truth may be too beautiful to look at (I am as good as other people say I am and I do have a lot to give) or too ugly (I'm really not that talented, I just got a lot of attention as a teenager cause I got good at what I do very fast and now I'm below average and I can't keep up. Would be better to be a lawyer or a chimney sweep!)

  But, I want to explore the former. The beautiful. And since music is what I do best, I want to keep moving forward.

  The truth? In me there is an underlying rejection of popular music. As I kid I had an overbearing rejection to popular culture, popular people, not popular people. I was kind of a hater. I'm not that sad kid any more thank god, but the habits of rejection are still there.

  Funny thing is is I do like popular music. I keep buying nice hits for my Iphone. Stuff I can sing along to and dance along to. I had this core belief that if it's simple, it's no good. So I went for rather alienating music in my college years trying to compete with fusion and metal guys. (Competition is a myth ladies and germs!) Today my favorite music is simple and clear. I even dig country.

  Lets dig deeper. I have this superiority/inferiority complex. It runs deep. It's part of my conditioning. To work on and share music is quite transcendent. It contradicts the nasty 2000 year old pattern meaning I don't get to live in the lie that I'm superior or inferior to anyone or anything! We are all cut from the same cloth. Working on music is working on my capacity to love these days. It was at points when I was trying to sound like the Police or Lungfish, working on my capacity to lie. Today it really is about love.

  The truth is I love a good melody and a good beat. I love to sing and dance and smile. Some day maybe a hit will be revealed to me if I keep writing daily. That will be a day worth celebrating.

  How to face and deal with these truths? I need to surround myself with people that keep me real and honest.People that are positive and willing to show up to rehearsal and do their best. If I fail them I feel horrible. I like feeling good.

  #3 Get a vision and get strong!

  Okay. I'm afraid to say what my vision is. All that fear of rejection and looking stupid comes right up.

  What is my vision in music? I wake up every day at 10 am, meditate, write, have breakfast, relax, and by 3pm I'm in the studio producing, playing, writing, collaborating, enjoying the creation of sound. I make so much music that most of it goes in the trash but the stuff y'all get to hear is good and plentiful. And oh yeah, it's my studio, I own a 2 bedroom apartment and a house in the country and I'm on the road at least 1/3 of the year playing in front of audiences. And I'm making a mil a year living the life I want.

  All this guilt comes up around the last sentence. Am I greedy? What are my friends going to think? Are they going to think I'm a sellout?

  What is a sellout? Kenny G makes people happy and seems to enjoy his life. I don't like his music at all but I do like that he seems like he's on a high frequency vibe. Whatever makes you happy.

  #4  Get a role model!

  Okay. Never really had one. I'm gendered male. In other words I don't ask for directions when I'm lost. I act like I know where I'm going and how I'm going to get there. It's a lie. I'm way lost and I need help! I don't know anything about the music business and have avoided it cause that would mean clarity and taking responsibility.

  I grew up a huge Jimi fan. But go so turned off by Jimi fanatics. Why are devotees always so poor and dirty? Plus, the poor cat thought he was crap and he died at 27 years old. My role models all have problems.....hmm, I have problems too. So I'll focus on the triumphs. How they got from point a to b all the way to z.

  Alright. I picked up a book of Coltrane interviews and a biography. I love his music but do not wish to sound like him or make music like his, but reading his interviews and bits about him, his humility is what really grabs me. I need to cultivate that.

  I once asked my friend Lawrence Clark about his practice routine. It sounded intimidating. He's really disciplined. I'm a space cadet. But I put together what I could do as a routine and did it. And....I got somewhere. I'm further along. And when I hear him play I'm inspired to work hard.

  I just got off the road doing guitar tech for Tv on the Radio. They sound incredible this tour. What did I get out of it? I raised my standard of weekly income which is great, but more importantly I got surrounded by good vibes and got to stay in the nicest hotels I've ever enjoyed. I like it. I want more. I want to take my projects as far as they have taken their music. At one point I could not have done that gig. Too full of jealousy and resentment. The antidote? Work on your own music and your own self. It's taken years to be happy in that. I would never want to be in their band but I sure love that band and I sure love my own bands!

   Heck. I'm surrounded by role models. I will ask them more about how to get to point b!

#5 Give much more than I expect to receive.

  It's funny how easy this has been when I had my amp repair business. But with music? Well. Progress, not perfection. When i perform I give it my all but always feel I can give more. I want to give more. I like giving. I like giving cause it feels good. I need no other reason than that. So I will plant this into my mind and up the game.


  So here's what I will do with this blog. I need to create more accountability around making music and getting it out there. I am the king of letting myself down but I hate letting anyone else down. So every day here I will post what I did do each day to move further towards the promised land. I invite you to come along on this journey and please feel free to comment, help, be a community, give suggestions, give me a pile of money, whatever makes you feel good!

  Enjoy and get out there and do your best!  J1



  

"What's the most people you've ever played in front of?" Questions kids ask....

  I had a student the other day, maybe 9 years old ask me "What's the most people you've ever played in front of?"

  I answered 3000 at Carnegie Hall. " Whoah!! Were you scared?"

  No, actually it's one of the most normal feeling moments of my life, kinda like if I was a banker and I got a job for a day at some big bank. Like, this is what I'm just supposed to do with my life.

  "What's the most scared you've been playing for people?"

  Hmm. That would be for an audience of 1, specifically my grandmother. When I was 15 she used to ask me to play guitar for her. She would read the paper while I would run through a few songs I knew. Then she would look up and say "Oh, have you started yet?"

  Brutal.....

  I love teaching kids cause they ask such great questions. Stuff I haven't thought about in a long time.

  "What's the fastest you can play?" Oh, I don't know. You've heard of Eric Clapton? "Yeah." How about Chris Impellitteri? "Who's that?" Exactly kid....speed kills. Now write me a good song.

J1

Buffet tenor saxophone mouthpiece....

As a saxophonist I still haven't found that majic mouthpiece. This madness can go on for years. I met a fellow recently who has the dream setup: a Selmer Super Balanced Action tenor in that Coltrane serial range with his $1200 Slant Signature Otto Link piece worked on by one of those famous re-facers. He was complaining about the piece being too this or that, I don't remember. He just had it re-worked and wasn't happy. Yikes. His mouthpiece cost more than my horn....and he's still not happy. I wonder what that is really all about?

I recently picked up a Buffet C2 tenor sax mouthpiece on the cheap to flip like a burger on Ebay. The auction had no description and poor photos but did say good condition so I took the gamble and won. I've had a couple of these before and I've always been able to sell them for a decent amount.

Trouble is, this is a great piece. You see them marketed as "classical" or "legit music" (what does that mean???) pieces but this piece really is great for jazz as well.

What do I like about it? First and foremost is the sound. Really is a happy place between a good Otto Link and a Selmer Soloist. More focused than a Link with that nice 'quack' on the attack that I like from a Soloist. It's dark and even, gives up the 'toasted baguette' thing I like: solid and hearty with a warm crispy exterior. It's got loads of harmonics but is also so clear in the center. Great depth.

It's easy to play, altissimo pops easily, subtone is lovely. It really likes double embouchure. I get not just a 'big' sound but the right kind of big sound. Big and muscular, not too many doughnuts big. Plenty of power despite the small tip opening.

And.....just like a beautiful sounding but quiet Selmer Airflow I played last month (Priced at $500 New Yorker dollars!) it is the most in tune piece I've ever played. This will save me and whatever producer I'm working with time on any intonation issues I may have.

I have 3 pieces right now, this one, an 80's rubber Link that I always seem to come back to and a James Bunte 42 piece which is more on the brighter more rock side of the spectrum. I'll play this Buffet a bunch and won't be surprised if I go back to my crappy Link in a month but for now I say give one of these a try. There are plenty of great options out there that don't cost Otto Link or Selmer prices. Heck, I had an old French made Bundy that knocked out some thousand dollar pieces! Experiment! Have fun and make the best music you can!