Sometimes I like playing free music. This was a good vibe night. Good listening, good fun.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu5QQxqnvRQ
Enjoy! J
Enjoy! J
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
12/30/14, Gardens show at Cake Shop!
Was a special night. Gardens opened up the evening and we added Lathan Hardy on tenor sax and clarinet. I really enjoy this project at this stage, it's never the same performance and it always keeps me uncomfortable. I need that. Tonight I could hear new horizons, new possibilities. Radically different from our last show. I enjoyed 2 of the other bands as well. The one I didn't enjoy, well, Cake Shop has an upstairs where you can hang out. I was feeling kinda odd and lonely so I honored my inner animal and went upstairs to stare into space.
I feel strange. Going into it I felt this sadness. The music was really good but couldn't shake that feeling. It's okay, I've learned not to alter a feeling and just be honest and put it into my playing. If I feel happy that's what you get, sad, well I ain't gonna lie to ya.
I've spoken about this before but I'll keep writing until an answer comes. I do enjoy a nice drink now and then but I can't really be around drunk people. I've never felt safe around that kind of energy. It's exhausting. I lose my open vibe easily and start to contract. It doesn't feel good. And I'm in music. Music is presented in bars. What do I do about this? What can I do? Its in my vision to present in alternative spaces and concert halls. I will not stop trying until that is realized. I know it is possible.
It really gets into other areas of this here life. Where I meet people. Church is social, bars are social. Neither has ever suited me. They are kind of one in the same to me, just different prayers. Like one couldn't exist without the other. That phony duality we humans insist on creating. And apparently I'm not strong enough yet to not be triggered by the vibes. It's cool. I'll just keep working on it till I am more loving and better at the psychic bubble wrapping of my core being.
For now I'll just pray for an answer. I'm not inspired by the choices I have. I'm open to something I can't yet see, hear or feel yet. I do have faith that it's out there.
With love, J
I feel strange. Going into it I felt this sadness. The music was really good but couldn't shake that feeling. It's okay, I've learned not to alter a feeling and just be honest and put it into my playing. If I feel happy that's what you get, sad, well I ain't gonna lie to ya.
I've spoken about this before but I'll keep writing until an answer comes. I do enjoy a nice drink now and then but I can't really be around drunk people. I've never felt safe around that kind of energy. It's exhausting. I lose my open vibe easily and start to contract. It doesn't feel good. And I'm in music. Music is presented in bars. What do I do about this? What can I do? Its in my vision to present in alternative spaces and concert halls. I will not stop trying until that is realized. I know it is possible.
It really gets into other areas of this here life. Where I meet people. Church is social, bars are social. Neither has ever suited me. They are kind of one in the same to me, just different prayers. Like one couldn't exist without the other. That phony duality we humans insist on creating. And apparently I'm not strong enough yet to not be triggered by the vibes. It's cool. I'll just keep working on it till I am more loving and better at the psychic bubble wrapping of my core being.
For now I'll just pray for an answer. I'm not inspired by the choices I have. I'm open to something I can't yet see, hear or feel yet. I do have faith that it's out there.
With love, J
Blues for Amir
After I dropped out of Berklee College of Music in '88 I joined a band, not a good band mind you, but a rather typical all over the map 80's original band called Wise Guise (yup, it's logo was a mask) that had sounds ranging from U2, the Cure to whoever that guy who wrote My Sharona. The drummer was none other than a very young Greg Saunier who you may have heard of, he went on to form Deerhoof and is still tearing up those drums in such a joyous manner. I knew him in high school and re-connected with him somehow to join this group. He had been playing drums for about a year at this point and well, he made the band really. He was that good, even then. Trouble was he was heading off to college in a couple months. When he left I went into denial about how good he actually was. No, actually I went into mourning! I git stuck in the denial part. We went through a couple drummers afterwards, some who had no volume, couldn't play, and some who had tremendous volume but the wrong vibe.
I left that band after putting myself through some real pain. Oh why did I stay in the first place? The leader was encouraging me to step up to better music but I for some reason beat that dead horse to a pulp.
When I did leave I started a new band with this drummer named Amir. We couldn't have been more opposite but I just wanted to start a band where I could write songs. Amir had this kinda yuppie thing going on. He dressed the preppy dress and went to a fine school. He was spoiled, self centered, handsome and the ladies liked him. He was loud drummer who loved to talk about his Sonor kit. It was black and shiny. He was also my first experience with an alcoholic musician. That is a problem in music. I'm writing about this cause years later I can forgive him, accept my part in a dysfunctional musical relationship and I can kinda see where it came from. Neither of us were adults at this point so I spent a good deal of time in his home.
Here's the denial part. He could not play drums. Frankly, he was the worst drummer I have ever worked with. Yet, when we recorded and listened back to the individual tracks I would listen to the kick drum and hear bump de bump bump dedede bump de bumpbump bump and I remember saying to myself: "Oh I've never heard an isolated kick before, maybe that's the way it's supposed to sound?" No time. No 2 measures in the same tempo. He liked to bash the cymbals so you couldn't hear the rest of his kit, which was out of tune and way too bright. I almost strangled him when he bought a piccolo snare. No tone, no time. When I get with a bad rhythm section I start to feel doubt about my own abilities. I start to wonder if I can play at all. My father used to tell me he couldn't hear anything but those horrible cymbals on a gig, no guitar, no bass, no vocals, just cymbals and an occasional crack of that horrible snare drum. His father once said to my father at a gig: "Amir will never be successful in music, he has no talent."....... I can't imagine being a father saying such a thing.
Once in a while though, he surprised me. In rare moments of vulnerability he could come up with an interesting rhythm, something that didn't sound like anything else. He would kill it soon enough the same way most of us do: compare it to something successful then shape it into an awful boring John Bonham style or Stewart Copeland. I would always encourage him to be inventive and try to write around those interesting moments. A few good little gems did emerge. And like any dysfunctional relationship, these little moments kept me interested in sticking around. I've been told this by women I've dated in the past: they could see something I wasn't yet willing to see, something really good. I could see that in Amir.
The other side of dysfunction: I had a mind then to play with inferior musicians, this way I could shape them to my needs. Oof. That feels horrible to write that but it was true. Underlying that really is this: I was afraid of getting rejected by better players, so I played it safe and tried to control what I thought I could, which hindsight being 20/20, was pretty unkind of me. Not to mention, impossible!
Amir was alcoholic. I had a crappy '79 Ford Fairmont station wagon that we hauled our gear around in. He had this little crappy Isuzu that he called "IshitZu" that he could haul his drums around in. He wrecked that. Next bought a beautiful red early 70's BMW 2002. Could't haul anything in that car but one of his many girls. Resentment started right here. No consideration for his other bandmates, just a car to attract girls. Didn't matter. He got drunk and totaled that one too. All the while I started the cycle of worry if he will live or die and the denial of his true problem and the belief that I can do anything about it. So.....he bought a BMW Bavaria. This one had 4 doors. His kick drum couldn't fit in the back seat. I was furious. But......he got drunk and killed that beautiful car too. Lied about the scene to me and I blew up at him once I uncovered the lie. At this point we lived in a total college type house in Baltimore off of Charles Street. Amir had a different lady in his bed every week. Once in a while an upset lady would come to me asking me questions about him and furious about how she was treated. A couple of them even made moves on me saying "you seem so nice yadda yadda." I never went that way. I knew after my close call with a rooftop I needed to grow up a bit before I could date or sleep with anyone. I was on a 2 year hiatus from that scene and my bandmates and their friends actually thought I was gay which to me doesn't matter but to them was a subject of gossip.
Eventually the lady who I almost ended my existence over showed up again. Amir and my Singer both fell for her. I'll spare the story. I just sat back and watched the end of that band. She dated Amir first, they got a place together, she left and dated our singer. She dated, they hated. It was ugly. I wanted that band to end anyway so I figured why not let it go out in style. Truthfully, it was kinda funny. Both of them came crying to me as their lives were falling to pieces asking me about her. I had been telling them about her for 2 years at that point "here's what happened and that's why I choose not to date right now", yet when she showed up to a gig, they ignored all that.
So Amir and I went our separate ways. I think he went to college to become a banker or something his father wanted him to do. NYC.
Then I got the news. He was drinking and didn't have his keys to his apartment. So he tried to climb in through the fire escape. He fell. He died. He couldn't have been more than 23 or 24 years old at that point.
Why am I writing this? I do think about him from time to time. A lot of what ifs come to mind. What if he had been treated with the love and support he needed? The bits of time I spent in his home I only saw criticism and I felt no warmth. Maybe with all those ladies he was really looking for that warmth. Would he have been a better drummer if he was loved unconditionally? No doubt in my mind that he would have been. There were glimpses of something really lovely and wanting to get out there. I could see that at such a young age. What if he hadn't died and transcended all the pain he was in? Would he still be playing? Would he be playing without all that comparison poison? Would he be playing no longer to prove something? Would he be playing just cause he can? What would he be like as a grownup? I certainly was not perfect then either and still am not, but I am better. I love running into those folks I may have had bitterness with and seeing that we crossed through some bad stuff to get to another place. I love letting that past go and saying "man, you inspire me today, just as a part of you did yesterday". I wonder if Amir would be one of those people. If we could talk about those days and say to each other: "sorry I was such a mess in those days, how are you today?"
What did I learn from all of this? Funny, this was all 25 years ago!
If you are playing with something to prove you will not make good music. If you are playing with people that have something to prove you will be dragged down to a dishonest place, you will not make good music. It's something I think most of us have to pass through and that's okay so long as we pass through it. I could see that with my friend and I at that time. We were both playing out of a painful place, doing our best. The playing was kinda desperate. Maybe that's all that needs to be said about that band. Maybe that's how we found each other. Playing to seek approval and to tell our tormentors to fuck off. Cool...that's been expressed. Let it go.
Right around the time the band was dissolving, I got head hunted by another group. The drummer was none other than my lifelong friend Barry Hampton (RIP) and he was fantastic. I also got to play with Cleveland Johnson who is terrific too. I guess I learned to never sell myself short. When a situation isn't working move on. It's beyond the music when I'm in a band thinking I can fix another person. In fact, that has nothing to really do with music, and everything to do with being sick yourself. And life is too short for that. Bands are tricky. Really tricky. They are a complex relationship. If you choose to make music your life, choose the people you want to work with wisely. Have a vision. And if it's not working, move on and change what you can change, which is only yourself. That was 2 years of my life I chose to work on someone else's problems. That wasn't very nice to him and certainly wasn't very nice to me. And as a musician, work with those that challenge and inspire you. Leave the drama for those who get high on drama. Music is really a powerful medium. Handle it with care. Of course, Amir and I weren't the last dysfunctional musical dance I've been in, and that is okay. It's better now and keeps getting better. And that's all that matters.
J
I left that band after putting myself through some real pain. Oh why did I stay in the first place? The leader was encouraging me to step up to better music but I for some reason beat that dead horse to a pulp.
When I did leave I started a new band with this drummer named Amir. We couldn't have been more opposite but I just wanted to start a band where I could write songs. Amir had this kinda yuppie thing going on. He dressed the preppy dress and went to a fine school. He was spoiled, self centered, handsome and the ladies liked him. He was loud drummer who loved to talk about his Sonor kit. It was black and shiny. He was also my first experience with an alcoholic musician. That is a problem in music. I'm writing about this cause years later I can forgive him, accept my part in a dysfunctional musical relationship and I can kinda see where it came from. Neither of us were adults at this point so I spent a good deal of time in his home.
Here's the denial part. He could not play drums. Frankly, he was the worst drummer I have ever worked with. Yet, when we recorded and listened back to the individual tracks I would listen to the kick drum and hear bump de bump bump dedede bump de bumpbump bump and I remember saying to myself: "Oh I've never heard an isolated kick before, maybe that's the way it's supposed to sound?" No time. No 2 measures in the same tempo. He liked to bash the cymbals so you couldn't hear the rest of his kit, which was out of tune and way too bright. I almost strangled him when he bought a piccolo snare. No tone, no time. When I get with a bad rhythm section I start to feel doubt about my own abilities. I start to wonder if I can play at all. My father used to tell me he couldn't hear anything but those horrible cymbals on a gig, no guitar, no bass, no vocals, just cymbals and an occasional crack of that horrible snare drum. His father once said to my father at a gig: "Amir will never be successful in music, he has no talent."....... I can't imagine being a father saying such a thing.
Once in a while though, he surprised me. In rare moments of vulnerability he could come up with an interesting rhythm, something that didn't sound like anything else. He would kill it soon enough the same way most of us do: compare it to something successful then shape it into an awful boring John Bonham style or Stewart Copeland. I would always encourage him to be inventive and try to write around those interesting moments. A few good little gems did emerge. And like any dysfunctional relationship, these little moments kept me interested in sticking around. I've been told this by women I've dated in the past: they could see something I wasn't yet willing to see, something really good. I could see that in Amir.
The other side of dysfunction: I had a mind then to play with inferior musicians, this way I could shape them to my needs. Oof. That feels horrible to write that but it was true. Underlying that really is this: I was afraid of getting rejected by better players, so I played it safe and tried to control what I thought I could, which hindsight being 20/20, was pretty unkind of me. Not to mention, impossible!
Amir was alcoholic. I had a crappy '79 Ford Fairmont station wagon that we hauled our gear around in. He had this little crappy Isuzu that he called "IshitZu" that he could haul his drums around in. He wrecked that. Next bought a beautiful red early 70's BMW 2002. Could't haul anything in that car but one of his many girls. Resentment started right here. No consideration for his other bandmates, just a car to attract girls. Didn't matter. He got drunk and totaled that one too. All the while I started the cycle of worry if he will live or die and the denial of his true problem and the belief that I can do anything about it. So.....he bought a BMW Bavaria. This one had 4 doors. His kick drum couldn't fit in the back seat. I was furious. But......he got drunk and killed that beautiful car too. Lied about the scene to me and I blew up at him once I uncovered the lie. At this point we lived in a total college type house in Baltimore off of Charles Street. Amir had a different lady in his bed every week. Once in a while an upset lady would come to me asking me questions about him and furious about how she was treated. A couple of them even made moves on me saying "you seem so nice yadda yadda." I never went that way. I knew after my close call with a rooftop I needed to grow up a bit before I could date or sleep with anyone. I was on a 2 year hiatus from that scene and my bandmates and their friends actually thought I was gay which to me doesn't matter but to them was a subject of gossip.
Eventually the lady who I almost ended my existence over showed up again. Amir and my Singer both fell for her. I'll spare the story. I just sat back and watched the end of that band. She dated Amir first, they got a place together, she left and dated our singer. She dated, they hated. It was ugly. I wanted that band to end anyway so I figured why not let it go out in style. Truthfully, it was kinda funny. Both of them came crying to me as their lives were falling to pieces asking me about her. I had been telling them about her for 2 years at that point "here's what happened and that's why I choose not to date right now", yet when she showed up to a gig, they ignored all that.
So Amir and I went our separate ways. I think he went to college to become a banker or something his father wanted him to do. NYC.
Then I got the news. He was drinking and didn't have his keys to his apartment. So he tried to climb in through the fire escape. He fell. He died. He couldn't have been more than 23 or 24 years old at that point.
Why am I writing this? I do think about him from time to time. A lot of what ifs come to mind. What if he had been treated with the love and support he needed? The bits of time I spent in his home I only saw criticism and I felt no warmth. Maybe with all those ladies he was really looking for that warmth. Would he have been a better drummer if he was loved unconditionally? No doubt in my mind that he would have been. There were glimpses of something really lovely and wanting to get out there. I could see that at such a young age. What if he hadn't died and transcended all the pain he was in? Would he still be playing? Would he be playing without all that comparison poison? Would he be playing no longer to prove something? Would he be playing just cause he can? What would he be like as a grownup? I certainly was not perfect then either and still am not, but I am better. I love running into those folks I may have had bitterness with and seeing that we crossed through some bad stuff to get to another place. I love letting that past go and saying "man, you inspire me today, just as a part of you did yesterday". I wonder if Amir would be one of those people. If we could talk about those days and say to each other: "sorry I was such a mess in those days, how are you today?"
What did I learn from all of this? Funny, this was all 25 years ago!
If you are playing with something to prove you will not make good music. If you are playing with people that have something to prove you will be dragged down to a dishonest place, you will not make good music. It's something I think most of us have to pass through and that's okay so long as we pass through it. I could see that with my friend and I at that time. We were both playing out of a painful place, doing our best. The playing was kinda desperate. Maybe that's all that needs to be said about that band. Maybe that's how we found each other. Playing to seek approval and to tell our tormentors to fuck off. Cool...that's been expressed. Let it go.
Right around the time the band was dissolving, I got head hunted by another group. The drummer was none other than my lifelong friend Barry Hampton (RIP) and he was fantastic. I also got to play with Cleveland Johnson who is terrific too. I guess I learned to never sell myself short. When a situation isn't working move on. It's beyond the music when I'm in a band thinking I can fix another person. In fact, that has nothing to really do with music, and everything to do with being sick yourself. And life is too short for that. Bands are tricky. Really tricky. They are a complex relationship. If you choose to make music your life, choose the people you want to work with wisely. Have a vision. And if it's not working, move on and change what you can change, which is only yourself. That was 2 years of my life I chose to work on someone else's problems. That wasn't very nice to him and certainly wasn't very nice to me. And as a musician, work with those that challenge and inspire you. Leave the drama for those who get high on drama. Music is really a powerful medium. Handle it with care. Of course, Amir and I weren't the last dysfunctional musical dance I've been in, and that is okay. It's better now and keeps getting better. And that's all that matters.
J
12/29/14. Rehearsal for Gardens show and honesty
Was a good day today. Beth and I rehearsed for our Gardens show at Cake Shop on the 30th. Felt good. Decided to put one piece on the back burner and shape it more before presenting it again. I love the piece, but I agree, better to present when it's reached a higher level of connection.
That's been a subject of conversation lately with many of my musical friends. Connection. Really, for me I say just be honest with your creation. Don't worry about friends, money, love, and most importantly, don't worry about what other people are doing or thinking, for that is none of my business or yours. Can't control it thank god, so just do your best work.
It's a fine line. What I do I can easily cross into self indulgence. I only hope that I don't. When I run out of things to say I stop talking.
Been thinking a lot about jazz today. I don't really know why I've been thinking so much about it. Maybe because there is so much I like about it and so little happening that interest me. I can't think of a more awful existence for me to play jazz standards for the rest of my life or to be lumped in with the 'jazz' genre yet, I do play the tenor sax and I do improvise with that thing and work very hard to be a better player, man and musician. Yet when it comes to booking shows....I don't enjoy most of the acts I may be booked with. What seems logical as a bill almost never works, especially if it's with 'jazz' acts. I usually wind up standing in my room (the sidewalk in the cold with the smokers in front of the venue!) waiting my turn. I've spent years in that room.
I do know this. When the band is in front of the right audience majic happens. That's all I need to know. I do want community, a scene, some kindred spirits on the journey. It has been really lonely at times but... I'm not afraid to be alone. Or I should say I'm no longer afraid to be alone.
Let the music speak for itself.
I did spend another 3 hours practicing my horn. One of those times where I feel like I'm getting worse on my instrument. That's a good thing. It means I'm practicing things I'm not very good at rather than running up and down what I already know. Breakthrough? I remembered to sand my reed a bit halfway through. Went from stuffy to musical in a few strokes. Miracles are just remembering what worked before and doing it again sometimes. Before that I just wanted to eat a taco and go home. After that I felt progress.
J
That's been a subject of conversation lately with many of my musical friends. Connection. Really, for me I say just be honest with your creation. Don't worry about friends, money, love, and most importantly, don't worry about what other people are doing or thinking, for that is none of my business or yours. Can't control it thank god, so just do your best work.
It's a fine line. What I do I can easily cross into self indulgence. I only hope that I don't. When I run out of things to say I stop talking.
Been thinking a lot about jazz today. I don't really know why I've been thinking so much about it. Maybe because there is so much I like about it and so little happening that interest me. I can't think of a more awful existence for me to play jazz standards for the rest of my life or to be lumped in with the 'jazz' genre yet, I do play the tenor sax and I do improvise with that thing and work very hard to be a better player, man and musician. Yet when it comes to booking shows....I don't enjoy most of the acts I may be booked with. What seems logical as a bill almost never works, especially if it's with 'jazz' acts. I usually wind up standing in my room (the sidewalk in the cold with the smokers in front of the venue!) waiting my turn. I've spent years in that room.
I do know this. When the band is in front of the right audience majic happens. That's all I need to know. I do want community, a scene, some kindred spirits on the journey. It has been really lonely at times but... I'm not afraid to be alone. Or I should say I'm no longer afraid to be alone.
Let the music speak for itself.
I did spend another 3 hours practicing my horn. One of those times where I feel like I'm getting worse on my instrument. That's a good thing. It means I'm practicing things I'm not very good at rather than running up and down what I already know. Breakthrough? I remembered to sand my reed a bit halfway through. Went from stuffy to musical in a few strokes. Miracles are just remembering what worked before and doing it again sometimes. Before that I just wanted to eat a taco and go home. After that I felt progress.
J
Monday, December 29, 2014
12/28/14. Holiday blues
Good title for a song. Holiday Blues. Actually I feel good today, just got back to practicing my horn and realize how hard of an instrument tenor sax is. Spent a good hour and a half just doing long tones, getting a full sound, then working on a Lester Young solo, 'Shoe Shine Swing'. It's astonishing, the confidence in that solo, and the joy. That's what it's all about, being joyous in music no matter how I feel.
The holidays have a way of de-railing me though I am glad to have spent time with my beloved family. My morning routine is all out of whack right now but I know what to do to correct that.
That's what this post will be about. Duke Ellington started his day with a glass of hot water and a steak. He said something about building a foundation for the day. It's very true. Without that time in the morning it's not so easy being creative. Whatever that means to you, yoga, lemon water, meditation, a good shag, whatever one needs to do to make the day successful by all means culitvate that. When I'm off my routine, I feel it and lately, yup, those blues become bad blues.
So welcome back Jef, this is a good start. I practiced about 4 hours this evening and the more I play, the more I want to play. The more I write, the more I want to write. So I'll just keep going.
J
The holidays have a way of de-railing me though I am glad to have spent time with my beloved family. My morning routine is all out of whack right now but I know what to do to correct that.
That's what this post will be about. Duke Ellington started his day with a glass of hot water and a steak. He said something about building a foundation for the day. It's very true. Without that time in the morning it's not so easy being creative. Whatever that means to you, yoga, lemon water, meditation, a good shag, whatever one needs to do to make the day successful by all means culitvate that. When I'm off my routine, I feel it and lately, yup, those blues become bad blues.
So welcome back Jef, this is a good start. I practiced about 4 hours this evening and the more I play, the more I want to play. The more I write, the more I want to write. So I'll just keep going.
J
Sunday, December 21, 2014
12/20/14. Good day for earning! I love teaching....Bogmen show.
Today was a long, long, long day. Earned well so I'm happy about that. Taught some of my regulars in the beginning. Taught about the rest stroke on bass. Really cool to hear one go from clunky to smooth and I always try to let my students feel free to express when something isn't working. There is always a solution. Sometimes doing something "the wrong way" leads to your own personal style. Jimi Hendrix and Django Reinhardt did nothing right, neither do I. But that doesn't mean they couldn't play. My brother and my best friend are both right handed but both play bass left handed cause that's simply what seemed logical to them. They both are the finest players I know! I'd rather have them on my team than someone hung up on doing something "right".
One of my students had me figure out an Interpol song. Really tricky at first but we both found how the riff worked with some effort. That's another thing I dig about teaching. I guess you can say I'm out of the scene, and quite happy about that. But these kids, they keep me hip to what is going on. Some of it I don't dig, some like this song I really enjoyed. Makes the world a bit more open.
Tonight I did a guitar tech gig for The Bogmen. Fantastic band. Yay positive music! They sold out 2 nights at the Bowery Ballroom. Again, inspiration for doing my thing better. There is nothing like being a band for so many years. Billy Campion has been a huge inspiration for me. I've had the good fortune of laying down some horn and guitar tracks on his some of his new works and I always come away feeling uplifted.
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J
One of my students had me figure out an Interpol song. Really tricky at first but we both found how the riff worked with some effort. That's another thing I dig about teaching. I guess you can say I'm out of the scene, and quite happy about that. But these kids, they keep me hip to what is going on. Some of it I don't dig, some like this song I really enjoyed. Makes the world a bit more open.
Tonight I did a guitar tech gig for The Bogmen. Fantastic band. Yay positive music! They sold out 2 nights at the Bowery Ballroom. Again, inspiration for doing my thing better. There is nothing like being a band for so many years. Billy Campion has been a huge inspiration for me. I've had the good fortune of laying down some horn and guitar tracks on his some of his new works and I always come away feeling uplifted.
J
Friday, December 19, 2014
12/19/14...taught a class and finished building an amp.
Fun day. Played a little bit of guitar, finished cleaning up my old Silvertone, checked off the list then taught a class at NEST. Really fun. It's great working with groups, even kids who eat too much candy can be fun. It's the progress that makes it all worth it. It's a challenge with 5 kids. Each one needs a bit different style of encouragement. This is my 2nd time there so I'm getting to know them a bit better. I like South Park so I got their respect now!
So I finished one big project on my list, the ol' hi fi:
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How does it sound? It's my best work so far. I'll just say there is nothing like hearing music through a very simple machine. I'm shocked at how much clear bass there is on my NS-10 speakers, which have a reputation for having no bass. Every studio has them, every studio hates them. Ok, I did mod mine but still, this thing in the bomb. I never use EQ. Don't need it, especially on a little guy like this. Pure sound.
Why go through the trouble to build this? I sold my entire record collection years ago and got rid of my amps as well. I needed to. I wanted to be lighter. I got lighter. But I am a musician too. Projects like this are inspiring. I need some inspiration right now.
See, a simple amp like this, I can hear things. I'm hearing instruments I never knew were there. Jimi Hendrix was a really good singer and he used very little distortion! He sounds so clear! Depeche Mode sounds warm. I can hear people walking around the studio on some tracks! Music is just more alive through a simple amp like this! The emotion of the music comes right through. I wish everyone could experience something this good!
I'll spare the technical yadda yadda, or maybe put that on my neglected tube amp whatever page. Here I'll just say I'm way pleased with the results, pleased with the mixes I've been making on my headphones these last couple years, pleased with my own concept of sound.
It's giving me inspiration to get this Gospel of Mars record made. I know what I want it to sound like. Gonna have to go analog, and I want the depth of these old jazz recordings. Critical that it's that good sounding!
Jeez. I've been listening to MP3s all night. Vinyl may kill me!
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So the list of stuff in the way:
1... Fix tail light in my car and fix my now broken glove box (thanks stupid car thief!)
#2... Get new back tires for my car!
#3... Finish building my overdrive pedal!
#4... Build 45 triode amp (75% complete!) DONE!
So I finished one big project on my list, the ol' hi fi:
Why go through the trouble to build this? I sold my entire record collection years ago and got rid of my amps as well. I needed to. I wanted to be lighter. I got lighter. But I am a musician too. Projects like this are inspiring. I need some inspiration right now.
See, a simple amp like this, I can hear things. I'm hearing instruments I never knew were there. Jimi Hendrix was a really good singer and he used very little distortion! He sounds so clear! Depeche Mode sounds warm. I can hear people walking around the studio on some tracks! Music is just more alive through a simple amp like this! The emotion of the music comes right through. I wish everyone could experience something this good!
I'll spare the technical yadda yadda, or maybe put that on my neglected tube amp whatever page. Here I'll just say I'm way pleased with the results, pleased with the mixes I've been making on my headphones these last couple years, pleased with my own concept of sound.
It's giving me inspiration to get this Gospel of Mars record made. I know what I want it to sound like. Gonna have to go analog, and I want the depth of these old jazz recordings. Critical that it's that good sounding!
Jeez. I've been listening to MP3s all night. Vinyl may kill me!
So the list of stuff in the way:
1... Fix tail light in my car and fix my now broken glove box (thanks stupid car thief!)
#2... Get new back tires for my car!
#3... Finish building my overdrive pedal!
#4... Build 45 triode amp (75% complete!) DONE!
#5... Fix leaky shower thing.
#6... Set up stereo when I finish building my amp and enjoy the heck out of it!
#7... Sell more stuff on Ebay, beat my December goal for sales there!
#8... Get 2 rolls of film developed, stuff I shot over the last 3 years.
#9.. Finish 2 videos to promote guitar and bass playing for hiring me as a session player or teacher.
#10.. Make new nut for my electric sitar, set it up better and CLEAN IT!
#6... Set up stereo when I finish building my amp and enjoy the heck out of it!
#7... Sell more stuff on Ebay, beat my December goal for sales there!
#8... Get 2 rolls of film developed, stuff I shot over the last 3 years.
#9.. Finish 2 videos to promote guitar and bass playing for hiring me as a session player or teacher.
#10.. Make new nut for my electric sitar, set it up better and CLEAN IT!
#11..Clean top on my classical guitar. Get rid of scuzzy looking tape residue! (fixed crack on this and Epiphone today, will finish clean up tomorrow, in process.) DONE!
#12.. Decide what to do with 2 extra mouthpieces. Sell as is or get them re-faced then sell them for more $$$. (Sent out for re-face to my man in Portland) DONE!
#12.. Decide what to do with 2 extra mouthpieces. Sell as is or get them re-faced then sell them for more $$$. (Sent out for re-face to my man in Portland) DONE!
Down to 9!
J
Thursday, December 18, 2014
12/18/14, stuff on the ol' list gettin done!
Today I had a nice break from working so I managed to get some things rolling. Had a Gardens listening session and Tarot reading...sometimes ja just need to play cards, do something else, take a break. Feeling the need to relax.
Here's my formidable but dwindling list:
1... Fix tail light in my car and fix my now broken glove box (thanks stupid car thief!)
#2... Get new back tires for my car!
#3... Finish building my overdrive pedal!
#4... Build 45 triode amp (75% complete!)
Here's my formidable but dwindling list:
1... Fix tail light in my car and fix my now broken glove box (thanks stupid car thief!)
#2... Get new back tires for my car!
#3... Finish building my overdrive pedal!
#4... Build 45 triode amp (75% complete!)
#5... Fix leaky shower thing.
#6... Set up stereo when I finish building my amp and enjoy the heck out of it!
#7... Sell more stuff on Ebay, beat my December goal for sales there!
#8... Get 2 rolls of film developed, stuff I shot over the last 3 years.
#9.. Finish 2 videos to promote guitar and bass playing for hiring me as a session player or teacher.
#10.. Make new nut for my electric sitar, set it up better and CLEAN IT!
#6... Set up stereo when I finish building my amp and enjoy the heck out of it!
#7... Sell more stuff on Ebay, beat my December goal for sales there!
#8... Get 2 rolls of film developed, stuff I shot over the last 3 years.
#9.. Finish 2 videos to promote guitar and bass playing for hiring me as a session player or teacher.
#10.. Make new nut for my electric sitar, set it up better and CLEAN IT!
#11..Clean top on my classical guitar. Get rid of scuzzy looking tape residue! (fixed crack on this and Epiphone today, will finish clean up tomorrow, in process.)
#12.. Decide what to do with 2 extra mouthpieces. Sell as is or get them re-faced then sell them for more $$$. (Sent out for re-face to my man in Portland)
So, oh yeah, got most of this baby done. Should be making music by tomorrow night:
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Excited about this lil' project. It's been a while since I've built a hi-fi amp. It runs on ancient 45 triodes from the 1930's (tubes pictured are from the 20's!) and will deliver my speakers a whopping 2 watts of power. Well, I do live in New York. I can only use about 1/2 a watt before the neighbors get irked. Looking forward to hearing the new Gospel of Mars record on this amongst other things.
Fun thing about this project is a lot of the parts are leftovers from when I was obsessive about this stuff. I simply forgot I had them. What do I like about tube hi fi besides the sound? It's kinda my recycling contribution to the world, using up stuff that was built long, long ago. When I was a tech I saved a lotta amps from the landfill. And I like old tubes. New ones aren't that good and manufacturing tubes is wretched on the environment. I'd rather support the ladies and gentleman at RCA in the 1930's than those making the poor excuse for tubes today.
Good to not play the horn today. Need to digest yesterday.
J
#12.. Decide what to do with 2 extra mouthpieces. Sell as is or get them re-faced then sell them for more $$$. (Sent out for re-face to my man in Portland)
So, oh yeah, got most of this baby done. Should be making music by tomorrow night:
Fun thing about this project is a lot of the parts are leftovers from when I was obsessive about this stuff. I simply forgot I had them. What do I like about tube hi fi besides the sound? It's kinda my recycling contribution to the world, using up stuff that was built long, long ago. When I was a tech I saved a lotta amps from the landfill. And I like old tubes. New ones aren't that good and manufacturing tubes is wretched on the environment. I'd rather support the ladies and gentleman at RCA in the 1930's than those making the poor excuse for tubes today.
Good to not play the horn today. Need to digest yesterday.
J
Conn Pan American saxes, best horn for cheap!
Just got this, yeah it's a project but I'm willing to learn a thing or 2 about fixing my own horns. It's a Conn Pan American alto I bought for $60. It's a rare one, a 64M with the fancy engraving and strange micro tuner on the neck. It's also silver plated with that gold plated inner bell. Depression era horn, amazing how classy a 'second line' or 'intermediate' instrument was when the country was broke!
I used to have one years ago, I had that and the current 20's Buescher Truetone alto I still have. Those are great altos. As good as anything. I just liked that Pan Am Better. I sold it cause a fellow who wanted to buy a mouthpiece from me fell in love with it and made me a good offer.
Basically it's just a Conn 6M like Charlie Parker played on and countless other players of the day. It just has in my opinion, friendlier key work. These feel more modern to me. I love a god 6m but dig these even more and yes, they are every bit as good. And they have that clear, punchy powerful sound I really love in an alto. The one I had had guts. I need that. My Buescher is more like a good sounding Selmer: lush and sweet, absolutely beautiful alto. (I love Selmer altos). So in a perfect world I'd keep both but I don't really play alto so the Buescher may need to find a new home when this is done. It's served me well. Been on lots of recordings with me.
So if you want a good alto on the cheap, give one of these a go! Better sound than a student horn today by far, more depth, character, color. You'll stand out when you need to.
Or, buy my Buescher! It's in great shape and I'll sell it cheapisch....
I'll let you know how this project goes.
I used to have one years ago, I had that and the current 20's Buescher Truetone alto I still have. Those are great altos. As good as anything. I just liked that Pan Am Better. I sold it cause a fellow who wanted to buy a mouthpiece from me fell in love with it and made me a good offer.
Basically it's just a Conn 6M like Charlie Parker played on and countless other players of the day. It just has in my opinion, friendlier key work. These feel more modern to me. I love a god 6m but dig these even more and yes, they are every bit as good. And they have that clear, punchy powerful sound I really love in an alto. The one I had had guts. I need that. My Buescher is more like a good sounding Selmer: lush and sweet, absolutely beautiful alto. (I love Selmer altos). So in a perfect world I'd keep both but I don't really play alto so the Buescher may need to find a new home when this is done. It's served me well. Been on lots of recordings with me.
So if you want a good alto on the cheap, give one of these a go! Better sound than a student horn today by far, more depth, character, color. You'll stand out when you need to.
Or, buy my Buescher! It's in great shape and I'll sell it cheapisch....
I'll let you know how this project goes.
12/17/14, Gospel Of Mars lab work. Oh perfectionism! Be gone!!!
Had a good session in the lab last night. Exhausted from working so much but nonetheless got some new ideas committed to recording. Some melody is starting to come together slowly. My altissimo notes are finally starting to become consistent enough where I don't lose them and make the horn sound like a sick duck! When I started working on them years ago my teacher/friend told me to just be patient, they may take years. He was right! I'm slow too and that's okay.
Really digging the Buffet mouthpiece still too. Realized that if I'm lazy and into my bad habits, I sound awful on this piece. It forces me to open up right away then I get a terrific sound, or at least one I really like. Keeps me going for the best rather than the known.
Also reached out to an engineer friend to help with the record. That's a step! Need to record and let it go.
I only handed out demos for the first time in 2010. A real exercise in letting go of my ideal results. Before I would treat it like "this must only be heard by someone who thinks it is genius!" So the bit of perfectionism kept me from living my life. Still a bit of a struggle but I understand now, it doesn't matter. What an individual thinks of the music I'm involved in is actually none of my business. Thank God for that! No more hiding please.
Also, landed a Gardens gig at The Cake Shop on December 30th. Happy about that. Writing all this reminds me, it was a productive day!
Oh, and my students all taught me a thing or 2 as well. They are making me a better teacher. Need some help with your guitar or bass? Gimme a shout! I'll help you get to the next place you want to be!
J
Really digging the Buffet mouthpiece still too. Realized that if I'm lazy and into my bad habits, I sound awful on this piece. It forces me to open up right away then I get a terrific sound, or at least one I really like. Keeps me going for the best rather than the known.
Also reached out to an engineer friend to help with the record. That's a step! Need to record and let it go.
I only handed out demos for the first time in 2010. A real exercise in letting go of my ideal results. Before I would treat it like "this must only be heard by someone who thinks it is genius!" So the bit of perfectionism kept me from living my life. Still a bit of a struggle but I understand now, it doesn't matter. What an individual thinks of the music I'm involved in is actually none of my business. Thank God for that! No more hiding please.
Also, landed a Gardens gig at The Cake Shop on December 30th. Happy about that. Writing all this reminds me, it was a productive day!
Oh, and my students all taught me a thing or 2 as well. They are making me a better teacher. Need some help with your guitar or bass? Gimme a shout! I'll help you get to the next place you want to be!
J
Sunday, December 14, 2014
12/14/14...is that a holy number?
Today we had a great session, Aaron and I, inventing new tracks. What happens in the practice room needs to make it out into the world. Sometimes our best work is reserved for the tiny universe in the basement of a posh apartment building. We have too many ideas to keep up with. Aaron has no shortage of rhythms to bring to the table and it keeps me creating too.
Starting to feel all this practicing of intervals come into the music. I'm getting better melodic ideas every minute and I'm really grateful for that. I'm glad I'm not where I want to be in my playing just yet, it keeps me working hard and keeps me trying new ideas I can't play yet. Without trying new things there would be no point to music let alone life, for the best part of life lies ahead in the greater mystery. That's what I love about music. The best stuff has yet to happen.
I love a good mystery....don't you?
J
Starting to feel all this practicing of intervals come into the music. I'm getting better melodic ideas every minute and I'm really grateful for that. I'm glad I'm not where I want to be in my playing just yet, it keeps me working hard and keeps me trying new ideas I can't play yet. Without trying new things there would be no point to music let alone life, for the best part of life lies ahead in the greater mystery. That's what I love about music. The best stuff has yet to happen.
I love a good mystery....don't you?
J
Recording great sounding horn tracks and breakthroughs in improvising.
Last nights post was written in bed so I was quite literally asleep when I wrote it. I'm sitting on my bed now, it is my favorite place. Why pretend I don't love my lazy Sunday side (or monday, or tuesday).
So I had a nice breakthrough recording horn tracks. See, I actually like the sound of my horn recorded on my cellphone or a cheap tape recorder better than well miked into a nice setup. I record on this Apple MacBook Pro, Pro Tools 8 or whatever. I abandoned most of my nice fancy gear as part of my vision to actually figure out my money so I can pay a good engineer to handle that end. So I demo on this lovely machine.
One of the frustrations of recording saxophone is the lack of body that gets to the tape. Coltrane even expressed this frustration. He knew what the problem was, it was the same thing then as it is now and it's the same reason I like the sound of my horn recorded on a crap machine with a crap mic: you need space to capture the whole picture. Put a close mic on my horn and it sounds just not right, much like the awful sound that comes through a pa on most rock gigs (unless my man Johnathan Schenke is on the board!!!). It winds up sounding thin and I wind up adding EQ and compression to fatten the bird up. I don't like that either. So last night I did the obvious. Took some getting over my lazy Luddite monophonic way and experiment with stereo tracks and....wait for it...2 microphones.
I use an old British Reslo ribbon mic about 2 feet away from my horn (never pointed into the bell, the sound comes out of the tone holes. On the bell you get a weak upper sound and a giant low B flat!) and an Oktava small diaphragm condenser mic (MK012) with the omni capsule about 8 feet away. No Eq, no compression necessary. It sounds like my sound I've worked hard to achieve. Sits right in the mix nice and easy. Never gotten a better recorded sound.
Pt2.....breakthroughs in improvising. When I was learning how to play guitar I realized right away that players like Jimi Hendrix were making things up right on the spot and players like Randy Rhodes or Van Halen practiced their solos. They were all fine players but I was too lazy to learn the solo to Eruption or Crazy Train. I could never retain transcriptions and kinda felt that was a phony path for me. It's rock, not classical and even back in the day orchestras improvised. Vladimir Horowitz was known to make a mistake now and then and improvise his way back into the written page. That must have been a thrill for the audience, that bit of spirit. But since we live in a world of recorded music, we expect perfection. We know when a piece by Bach or Chopin is off or then the solo to Crazy Train is not right and we criticize the player for being sub par or having a bad night. Bollocks.....
It's tricky cause I teach guitar now. The kids don't really like to improvise. There is this fear of making a mistake, playing notes out of the scale or just sounding bad.
I don't know how I did it, I must have just been willing to sound bad for a long, long time before I sounded any good. I still sound bad on my horn, not my sound but sometimes my lack of ideas is obvious. I read something the other night Charlie Parker said: "I'm not doing anything that much different really, just playing and trying to find the pretty notes". Ooooh. I like that. I'm noticing on guitar after a million years of playing that's what I'm naturally doing now. Finding little melodies anyone can sing to. I wouldn't want to listen to myself when I was young: bad tone, definitely what I would call wank on some of those solos, and sometimes just exploration.
What's the difference between wank and exploration Jef? Well, to me wank is knowing a bag of licks and showing them off. It's stripping away your vulnerability and covering up your insecurity. It's playing hard and fast in the comfort zone only cause you can. It's wank. Whether you are in a band or not it's like saying you aren't accountable to anyone cause you aren't connecting with anyone really anyway. It's okay, part of the process. Exploration is just that. You are trying something fresh. Going into uncharted waters and seeing if your boat will sink or float. It involves risk. I think that's what people don't like about it: risk. Players and audiences alike don't like risk with the exception of a few players and audiences. Me? Music is the one place I really like risk. I'm doing my best to carry that to the rest of my life.
So what is my breakthrough? I'm teaching the chords to Minor Swing by Django Reinhardt to some of my peeps. So far they are kinda enjoying it. Just thinking about these things and expressing them is causing me to search for the pretty notes. Play with more melody and connection. I'm starting to notice this and I'm really pleased. My playing is simply becoming prettier and for the crazy music I make, it needs that balance.
Speaking of playing better, the sun is now shining here in Brooklyn. I must go for a walk and breathe the air. Going to the farmers market at McGolick Park to buy some of those amazing farmers market eggs!
Till next time, J
So I had a nice breakthrough recording horn tracks. See, I actually like the sound of my horn recorded on my cellphone or a cheap tape recorder better than well miked into a nice setup. I record on this Apple MacBook Pro, Pro Tools 8 or whatever. I abandoned most of my nice fancy gear as part of my vision to actually figure out my money so I can pay a good engineer to handle that end. So I demo on this lovely machine.
One of the frustrations of recording saxophone is the lack of body that gets to the tape. Coltrane even expressed this frustration. He knew what the problem was, it was the same thing then as it is now and it's the same reason I like the sound of my horn recorded on a crap machine with a crap mic: you need space to capture the whole picture. Put a close mic on my horn and it sounds just not right, much like the awful sound that comes through a pa on most rock gigs (unless my man Johnathan Schenke is on the board!!!). It winds up sounding thin and I wind up adding EQ and compression to fatten the bird up. I don't like that either. So last night I did the obvious. Took some getting over my lazy Luddite monophonic way and experiment with stereo tracks and....wait for it...2 microphones.
I use an old British Reslo ribbon mic about 2 feet away from my horn (never pointed into the bell, the sound comes out of the tone holes. On the bell you get a weak upper sound and a giant low B flat!) and an Oktava small diaphragm condenser mic (MK012) with the omni capsule about 8 feet away. No Eq, no compression necessary. It sounds like my sound I've worked hard to achieve. Sits right in the mix nice and easy. Never gotten a better recorded sound.
Pt2.....breakthroughs in improvising. When I was learning how to play guitar I realized right away that players like Jimi Hendrix were making things up right on the spot and players like Randy Rhodes or Van Halen practiced their solos. They were all fine players but I was too lazy to learn the solo to Eruption or Crazy Train. I could never retain transcriptions and kinda felt that was a phony path for me. It's rock, not classical and even back in the day orchestras improvised. Vladimir Horowitz was known to make a mistake now and then and improvise his way back into the written page. That must have been a thrill for the audience, that bit of spirit. But since we live in a world of recorded music, we expect perfection. We know when a piece by Bach or Chopin is off or then the solo to Crazy Train is not right and we criticize the player for being sub par or having a bad night. Bollocks.....
It's tricky cause I teach guitar now. The kids don't really like to improvise. There is this fear of making a mistake, playing notes out of the scale or just sounding bad.
I don't know how I did it, I must have just been willing to sound bad for a long, long time before I sounded any good. I still sound bad on my horn, not my sound but sometimes my lack of ideas is obvious. I read something the other night Charlie Parker said: "I'm not doing anything that much different really, just playing and trying to find the pretty notes". Ooooh. I like that. I'm noticing on guitar after a million years of playing that's what I'm naturally doing now. Finding little melodies anyone can sing to. I wouldn't want to listen to myself when I was young: bad tone, definitely what I would call wank on some of those solos, and sometimes just exploration.
What's the difference between wank and exploration Jef? Well, to me wank is knowing a bag of licks and showing them off. It's stripping away your vulnerability and covering up your insecurity. It's playing hard and fast in the comfort zone only cause you can. It's wank. Whether you are in a band or not it's like saying you aren't accountable to anyone cause you aren't connecting with anyone really anyway. It's okay, part of the process. Exploration is just that. You are trying something fresh. Going into uncharted waters and seeing if your boat will sink or float. It involves risk. I think that's what people don't like about it: risk. Players and audiences alike don't like risk with the exception of a few players and audiences. Me? Music is the one place I really like risk. I'm doing my best to carry that to the rest of my life.
So what is my breakthrough? I'm teaching the chords to Minor Swing by Django Reinhardt to some of my peeps. So far they are kinda enjoying it. Just thinking about these things and expressing them is causing me to search for the pretty notes. Play with more melody and connection. I'm starting to notice this and I'm really pleased. My playing is simply becoming prettier and for the crazy music I make, it needs that balance.
Speaking of playing better, the sun is now shining here in Brooklyn. I must go for a walk and breathe the air. Going to the farmers market at McGolick Park to buy some of those amazing farmers market eggs!
Till next time, J
12/13/14, horn tracks!
Finally carved out some time to record horn tracks on a song Gardens is putting together. I really like where it's going. First version was rather trashy, this one keeps getting more lush and majestic. It's nice to trust my equipment. I love the way my horn sounds on these tracks, full and rich, a nice tenor sound. Used my Buffet piece on it which worked better than I could have imagined.
I really enjoy layering horns. I don't plan too much, I just sing an idea as I'm listening to the rhythm section then experiment.
The more parts I play the more ideas come around.
More tomorrow. J
I really enjoy layering horns. I don't plan too much, I just sing an idea as I'm listening to the rhythm section then experiment.
The more parts I play the more ideas come around.
More tomorrow. J
Friday, December 12, 2014
12/12/14.....working hard, maybe too hard? Well, learning saxophone is hard work.
Damn I'm tired. Managed to get a couple hours in on my horn just doing long tones then improvising over some blues. I love my sound these days. Buffet mouthpiece just gives me the right kind of fat all the way to the top. Towards the end of the first hour I started falling asleep.
Well, it was after midnight and I have been awake since 6:45 this morning. I worked all day on this beautiful west village home. I was there 4 days this week, had 2 shows, fixed some amps and guitars, taught a bunch of lessons.
Earning money, I love to earn. I love all of these jobs equally. It's hard to strike a balance sometimes when money is involved. One gig paid, the other didn't. But the time is coming when I'll have an instrument in my hands more than not. There is nothing I want to do more than make music.
So this practice session is just one step closer to that. It was a good one. A really good one. I like where my improvising is going.
The day started out with a high compliment I received from a fellow respected Ebayer and saxophone guru I've never met. He must have watched my demo video for a mouthpiece I'm selling:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BPI33yW_mM&list=UUMhr-A-1fGhPjvHFF9fBP-A
Well, it was after midnight and I have been awake since 6:45 this morning. I worked all day on this beautiful west village home. I was there 4 days this week, had 2 shows, fixed some amps and guitars, taught a bunch of lessons.
Earning money, I love to earn. I love all of these jobs equally. It's hard to strike a balance sometimes when money is involved. One gig paid, the other didn't. But the time is coming when I'll have an instrument in my hands more than not. There is nothing I want to do more than make music.
So this practice session is just one step closer to that. It was a good one. A really good one. I like where my improvising is going.
The day started out with a high compliment I received from a fellow respected Ebayer and saxophone guru I've never met. He must have watched my demo video for a mouthpiece I'm selling:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BPI33yW_mM&list=UUMhr-A-1fGhPjvHFF9fBP-A
New message from: drlarryross (2001
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New message from: drlarryross (2001
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)Thursday, December 11, 2014
12/11/14, Parquet Courts at Webster Hall
Today was fun. Played tenor on a song with one of my favorite bands Parquet Courts at Webster Hall tonight. Very inspiring to see folks work hard and have that vision really come together. It's also nice to play in front of 400 rabid fans!
Oh, and I got my first horn arranging credit on their new album, Parkay Quarts "Content Nausea". Here's a review! http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/20005-parkay-quarts-content-nausea/
I'm on the song "Pretty Machines" and gotta say I love it! Here it is:
https://soundcloud.com/krazypunx/06-pretty-machines
I got to harmonize with my new friend Jeff Tobias on alto sax. Really got me thinking about how much I miss playing in a horn section. We talked a bit about forming a horn section for hire. Ya know, horns make a band go from good to sexier than good.
Man I've got great people around me.......
J
Oh, and I got my first horn arranging credit on their new album, Parkay Quarts "Content Nausea". Here's a review! http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/20005-parkay-quarts-content-nausea/
I'm on the song "Pretty Machines" and gotta say I love it! Here it is:
https://soundcloud.com/krazypunx/06-pretty-machines
I got to harmonize with my new friend Jeff Tobias on alto sax. Really got me thinking about how much I miss playing in a horn section. We talked a bit about forming a horn section for hire. Ya know, horns make a band go from good to sexier than good.
Man I've got great people around me.......
J
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
12/9/14.....progress and finance.
Ok got last nights gig out of my system. No longer depressed. We did play well and some rooms just aren't right for us. No biggie. Now I know. Just brought up some frustrations!
Today I didn't get any music done. Worked pretty much all day. Jobs are my patrons right now, gotta put dough away to pay for making records so I don't mind. Plus the jobs today were fun, good for my head. I like diversity.
Got a job offer playing horn for the Bogmen on the 19th and 20th of this month. Psyched about that. Horn section! I love it. A bit intimidated cause the other players are pretty heavy but ja know, god only gives an opportunity when you are prepared for it. Best take it!
I did get two little things done on my list o' stuff to do:
1... Fix tail light in my car and fix my now broken glove box (thanks stupid car thief!)
#2... Get new back tires for my car!
#3... Finish building my overdrive pedal!
#4... Build 45 triode amp )
Today I didn't get any music done. Worked pretty much all day. Jobs are my patrons right now, gotta put dough away to pay for making records so I don't mind. Plus the jobs today were fun, good for my head. I like diversity.
Got a job offer playing horn for the Bogmen on the 19th and 20th of this month. Psyched about that. Horn section! I love it. A bit intimidated cause the other players are pretty heavy but ja know, god only gives an opportunity when you are prepared for it. Best take it!
I did get two little things done on my list o' stuff to do:
1... Fix tail light in my car and fix my now broken glove box (thanks stupid car thief!)
#2... Get new back tires for my car!
#3... Finish building my overdrive pedal!
#4... Build 45 triode amp )
#5... Fix leaky shower thing.
#6... Set up stereo when I finish building my amp and enjoy the heck out of it!
#7... Sell more stuff on Ebay, beat my December goal for sales there!
#8... Get 2 rolls of film developed, stuff I shot over the last 3 years.
#9.. Finish 2 videos to promote guitar and bass playing for hiring me as a session player or teacher.
#10.. Make new nut for my electric sitar, set it up better and CLEAN IT!
#6... Set up stereo when I finish building my amp and enjoy the heck out of it!
#7... Sell more stuff on Ebay, beat my December goal for sales there!
#8... Get 2 rolls of film developed, stuff I shot over the last 3 years.
#9.. Finish 2 videos to promote guitar and bass playing for hiring me as a session player or teacher.
#10.. Make new nut for my electric sitar, set it up better and CLEAN IT!
#11..Clean top on my classical guitar. Get rid of scuzzy looking tape residue!
#12..Install strap buttons on my beloved Jazz Bass. DONE!!!!
#13.. Get those cheap 'beer bottle' strap locks and install them on my guitars. DONE!
#14.. Decide what to do with 2 extra mouthpieces. Sell as is or get them re-faced then sell them for more $$$.
Had 19 on the list last week, down to 14 now. Little things. Little things that had been bugging me for too long. Feels good to be able to hold my instruments better now!
So far it's about the instruments first. Glad to see I'm taking care of the music stuff before the other stuff! That is the most important after all.
J
#12..Install strap buttons on my beloved Jazz Bass. DONE!!!!
#13.. Get those cheap 'beer bottle' strap locks and install them on my guitars. DONE!
#14.. Decide what to do with 2 extra mouthpieces. Sell as is or get them re-faced then sell them for more $$$.
Had 19 on the list last week, down to 14 now. Little things. Little things that had been bugging me for too long. Feels good to be able to hold my instruments better now!
So far it's about the instruments first. Glad to see I'm taking care of the music stuff before the other stuff! That is the most important after all.
J
Monday, December 8, 2014
12/8/13, Gospel Of Mars at the Tea Lounge and thoughts on zombie culture
Greetings Earthlings....Answer me this. What the @&*$ are you doing?
That's the question that came to mind tonight on this gig. Okay, it wasn't a gig I liked at all. We all have those nights. You know the vibe. You are pouring your heart out, giving away loads of energy and..... so little is coming back.
I learned a few things.
For starters, when asked to do a gig ask a few questions. See, we have played so little this fall I just wanted to get us in front of people.
Questions like, does this pay anything at all? How does the economics of the venue work? Do they have a back line? (they have a drum set and a guitar amp). What is the other act all about and will this truly make a compelling evening of music to the audience? And perhaps most importantly, does the venue actually care about music or like music at all?
Yes, the vibe was grim. Depressing atmosphere. Really started to make me think about the world and handed me a large dose of challenge to 'accept the things I cannot change'. I've been asked if I could move somehwhere else, where would I move to?
New York of course, in the 1940's, 50's or 60's. Or maybe London or Paris, in the 1960's. Oh the past fantasy. The ultimate escape. The imaginary idealist machine, or I mean, time machine.
The Zombie myth is about mass mediocrity and mindless consumerism. 4 out of 5 folks in the place were on their laptops. One fellow was mixing his Garage Band session not more that 15 feet away. Really? You are in a venue with live music and you're going to mix your thing here? Go home!
My escape? To a time before cellphones and the Internet. Ironic right? I'm posting this jive right here on the internet and here I am expressing my disgust for what we have become. Well, truth be known, if I were sitting in a venue and someone got up and played and I wasn't into it, I'd leave. Nothing wrong with that. I do it all the time. Leaving is honest and respectful. But checking your email in such a situation? Come on.
So Jef, just play somewhere else where you are loved....
Ok. Yes, of course. This was a mistake.
Tea Lounge. College type of place. Not one person working there treated us with any warmth. In fact the vibe was complete indifference. I don't expect much, but a nice vibe goes a long way. It's clear they actually don't really want music there, they made it clear. I'm not sure the staff wants customers there. I felt like we were a pain in there ass. I don't get it. You are in customer service in a crap economy. You have a job. Do it well. Don't just do the least possible to get a tip. Blow me away. And please, if you are going to make a breakfast burrito, heat it up. Disgusting food is bad for business.
A zombie comes back from the dead and doesn't appreciate anything. You'd think they would be like "cool! I'm alive again! Let me get it right this time! I'll meet a nice lady or guy, do out on some dates, maybe get a new apartment..." But no. They come back and eat brains of those who work hard to have a brain that doesn't work too hard. We are alive. What is happening? Where is passion? Where is outrage? Where is love? Where is life?
Ack. Okay. Got the poison out of my system (but not the nasty breakfast burrito yet!). I feel better now. I'll do my best to not let this happen again. Bob pointed out if you haven't heard of a venue before you play there, chances are there is a reason for that. Do some homework. Treat yourself and your music with respect and take good care of you and your music.
And listening back we played well. It wasn't all bad. Even my 'really glad to be here' wasn't disingenuous. It's an opportunity to share and we did just that. Sounds like we reached a few people. That makes me happy.
Lesson learned. Tomorrow is a new day!
J
That's the question that came to mind tonight on this gig. Okay, it wasn't a gig I liked at all. We all have those nights. You know the vibe. You are pouring your heart out, giving away loads of energy and..... so little is coming back.
I learned a few things.
For starters, when asked to do a gig ask a few questions. See, we have played so little this fall I just wanted to get us in front of people.
Questions like, does this pay anything at all? How does the economics of the venue work? Do they have a back line? (they have a drum set and a guitar amp). What is the other act all about and will this truly make a compelling evening of music to the audience? And perhaps most importantly, does the venue actually care about music or like music at all?
Yes, the vibe was grim. Depressing atmosphere. Really started to make me think about the world and handed me a large dose of challenge to 'accept the things I cannot change'. I've been asked if I could move somehwhere else, where would I move to?
New York of course, in the 1940's, 50's or 60's. Or maybe London or Paris, in the 1960's. Oh the past fantasy. The ultimate escape. The imaginary idealist machine, or I mean, time machine.
The Zombie myth is about mass mediocrity and mindless consumerism. 4 out of 5 folks in the place were on their laptops. One fellow was mixing his Garage Band session not more that 15 feet away. Really? You are in a venue with live music and you're going to mix your thing here? Go home!
My escape? To a time before cellphones and the Internet. Ironic right? I'm posting this jive right here on the internet and here I am expressing my disgust for what we have become. Well, truth be known, if I were sitting in a venue and someone got up and played and I wasn't into it, I'd leave. Nothing wrong with that. I do it all the time. Leaving is honest and respectful. But checking your email in such a situation? Come on.
So Jef, just play somewhere else where you are loved....
Ok. Yes, of course. This was a mistake.
Tea Lounge. College type of place. Not one person working there treated us with any warmth. In fact the vibe was complete indifference. I don't expect much, but a nice vibe goes a long way. It's clear they actually don't really want music there, they made it clear. I'm not sure the staff wants customers there. I felt like we were a pain in there ass. I don't get it. You are in customer service in a crap economy. You have a job. Do it well. Don't just do the least possible to get a tip. Blow me away. And please, if you are going to make a breakfast burrito, heat it up. Disgusting food is bad for business.
A zombie comes back from the dead and doesn't appreciate anything. You'd think they would be like "cool! I'm alive again! Let me get it right this time! I'll meet a nice lady or guy, do out on some dates, maybe get a new apartment..." But no. They come back and eat brains of those who work hard to have a brain that doesn't work too hard. We are alive. What is happening? Where is passion? Where is outrage? Where is love? Where is life?
Ack. Okay. Got the poison out of my system (but not the nasty breakfast burrito yet!). I feel better now. I'll do my best to not let this happen again. Bob pointed out if you haven't heard of a venue before you play there, chances are there is a reason for that. Do some homework. Treat yourself and your music with respect and take good care of you and your music.
And listening back we played well. It wasn't all bad. Even my 'really glad to be here' wasn't disingenuous. It's an opportunity to share and we did just that. Sounds like we reached a few people. That makes me happy.
Lesson learned. Tomorrow is a new day!
J
Sunday, December 7, 2014
12/7/14 Two rehearsals, two great bands, Gospel Of Mars and Parquet Courts.
Had a nice band rehearsal with Gospel of Mars tonight. Biggest struggle is finding names for the new material. What story do these new songs tell? Rhythm section is sounding great, easy to have ideas when stuff is clicking. We have a show tomorrow at Tea Lounge in Park Slope. I feel great about it now. Listening back to rehearsals I can hear the work paying off.
Right afterwards went to play with Parquet Courts on a song they recorded under the name Parkay Quarts. Great band. I'm playing with them at Webster Hall this Thursday. Andrew and Austin are really great songwriters and I'm always stoked when they call. Really psyched to see all their hard work really bringing in the awesomeness they have earned. It's great to see this with friends. Inspires me to keep moving forward!
J
Right afterwards went to play with Parquet Courts on a song they recorded under the name Parkay Quarts. Great band. I'm playing with them at Webster Hall this Thursday. Andrew and Austin are really great songwriters and I'm always stoked when they call. Really psyched to see all their hard work really bringing in the awesomeness they have earned. It's great to see this with friends. Inspires me to keep moving forward!
J
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Best worded ad ever....
Okay I don't like to make fun of people but, when I read ads like this I'm in love.
This is for one of those saxophone pad savers:
Specification
1:Band new and high quality
.
2:Name:Cleaning Brush Cleaner Saver Pad for ALTO SAX Saxophone Soft
.
3:This Cleaning Brush posses great cleaning ability that you can buy one to
clean your Saxophone.
4:Obviously,if you choose our product,the more satisfaction you will get it.
5:This Cleaning Brush quality is good.
6:A reason investigation indicate that if you keep your Saxophone clean enough,
the higher quality of the sound in the saxophone you will get it.
7:Not only effective but also useful for you to clean your musical instrument.
8:There is no doubt that you can use it to clean another musical instrument.
9.It is high time for you to clean your saxophone.
10.On the contrary,if your don’t clean your musical instrument,you might feel
a little wrong of the sound in your lovely instrument.
Best line is the last one: You might feel a little wrong in the sound of your instrument!
You are marketing this to musicians. Musicians never feel right about the sound of their
instrument!!!
Poetry baby, poetry. If they have a tenor one consider it sold!
J
This is for one of those saxophone pad savers:
Specification
1:Band new and high quality
.
2:Name:Cleaning Brush Cleaner Saver Pad for ALTO SAX Saxophone Soft
.
3:This Cleaning Brush posses great cleaning ability that you can buy one to
clean your Saxophone.
4:Obviously,if you choose our product,the more satisfaction you will get it.
5:This Cleaning Brush quality is good.
6:A reason investigation indicate that if you keep your Saxophone clean enough,
the higher quality of the sound in the saxophone you will get it.
7:Not only effective but also useful for you to clean your musical instrument.
8:There is no doubt that you can use it to clean another musical instrument.
9.It is high time for you to clean your saxophone.
10.On the contrary,if your don’t clean your musical instrument,you might feel
a little wrong of the sound in your lovely instrument.
Best line is the last one: You might feel a little wrong in the sound of your instrument!
You are marketing this to musicians. Musicians never feel right about the sound of their
instrument!!!
Poetry baby, poetry. If they have a tenor one consider it sold!
J
12/6/14, practice, breakthroughs and being encouraging. Thoughts on Kind of Blue
Taught 3 lessons today. The 3rd is a student who like many of my students is resistant to the idea of improvising. She's really good and the more I work with her the more I can see what she might like to explore musically. I taught her the harmonic minor scale in the key of A then the little 3 note chords in Django Reinhardts "Minor Swing". I said "now you see where this is going". I could tell she was dreading the idea of cutting loose and playing the un-written. So we played a few choruses and she smiled and said "that wasn't nearly as terrible as I thought it was going to be!" Yes! Minor victory! I love seeing growth and progress in the people I share with. She found those minor 6th chords and the progression to be spooky. Kinda perfect for a teenager to learn improvisation. Spooky dance music.
I've improvised from day 1 myself. Rock you know. I read this discussion about Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" online the other night on a forum that was set up like a poll. The question was do you think this record is over-rated? Not really and interesting question to me. Either you vibe with it or not, and whatever you like or don't like is nobody's business but your own. But it did remind me what an impact it had on my life. My parents had a scratched up copy of this album. I was already deep into their Billie Holiday Smithsonian collection, but when I heard "Kind of Blue" it spoke to me right away. I could hear myself being able to play music like this some day. I knew I had to be willing to be terrible for many years before I got even close to being this good, but the possibility was there so I didn't care. For an album that isn't based on Tin Pan Alley, it sure drew me in with its simple structures and beautiful playing. The energy of it is just so fresh even to this day.
So on this particular day it's raining outside, cold, depressing and I discovered more damage from my car burglar and also discovered that he or she did steal one thing important: my umbrella. It set me in a bad mood and on days like this I don't care to do much but curl up in bed and be dreaming away. But i managed to get out to my space and practice for 3 1/3 hours tonight. It was a really great session. Working on arpeggios and intervals then I spent about 2 hours just improvising on a couple pieces from the band. The music we make is all modal. It's not what a jazz critic would call jazz thank god, but it does carry elements of the genre. I've been struggling with what to do in a modal piece. Running up and down scales and arpeggios only keeps me interested for so long. Rhythm is everything. Some of my main influences are those Ethiopian sax players who play those beautiful 5 note scales. You can't play 5 notes without a mastery of rhythm and make is interesting. So I'm focused on my rhythm. But something else is starting to break through. I'm starting to hear alternate chords against the key. And it's starting to show up so clearly. That is new for me. It helps that I have a concept of sound and I've worked hard to get that consistently. I love my horn and mouthpieces and I've had a good luck with my reeds lately. Getting all that together allows me to just work on ideas.
It's starting to happen. I like it. And the best part for me is it's something more I can offer the audience. I want to give the people my all. And that's all there is to do.
J
I've improvised from day 1 myself. Rock you know. I read this discussion about Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" online the other night on a forum that was set up like a poll. The question was do you think this record is over-rated? Not really and interesting question to me. Either you vibe with it or not, and whatever you like or don't like is nobody's business but your own. But it did remind me what an impact it had on my life. My parents had a scratched up copy of this album. I was already deep into their Billie Holiday Smithsonian collection, but when I heard "Kind of Blue" it spoke to me right away. I could hear myself being able to play music like this some day. I knew I had to be willing to be terrible for many years before I got even close to being this good, but the possibility was there so I didn't care. For an album that isn't based on Tin Pan Alley, it sure drew me in with its simple structures and beautiful playing. The energy of it is just so fresh even to this day.
So on this particular day it's raining outside, cold, depressing and I discovered more damage from my car burglar and also discovered that he or she did steal one thing important: my umbrella. It set me in a bad mood and on days like this I don't care to do much but curl up in bed and be dreaming away. But i managed to get out to my space and practice for 3 1/3 hours tonight. It was a really great session. Working on arpeggios and intervals then I spent about 2 hours just improvising on a couple pieces from the band. The music we make is all modal. It's not what a jazz critic would call jazz thank god, but it does carry elements of the genre. I've been struggling with what to do in a modal piece. Running up and down scales and arpeggios only keeps me interested for so long. Rhythm is everything. Some of my main influences are those Ethiopian sax players who play those beautiful 5 note scales. You can't play 5 notes without a mastery of rhythm and make is interesting. So I'm focused on my rhythm. But something else is starting to break through. I'm starting to hear alternate chords against the key. And it's starting to show up so clearly. That is new for me. It helps that I have a concept of sound and I've worked hard to get that consistently. I love my horn and mouthpieces and I've had a good luck with my reeds lately. Getting all that together allows me to just work on ideas.
It's starting to happen. I like it. And the best part for me is it's something more I can offer the audience. I want to give the people my all. And that's all there is to do.
J
Friday, December 5, 2014
Upcoming show! This Monday December 8, Gospel of Mars at Space Jazz at Tea Lounge in Brooklyn!!!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1580719558815843/
Come out and vibe with us. This will be a lovely evening. Gospel of Mars goes on at 8, Space Jazz at 9:30. Monday December 8 at Tea Lounge!
Tea Lounge is: http://www.tealoungeny.com/
j
Come out and vibe with us. This will be a lovely evening. Gospel of Mars goes on at 8, Space Jazz at 9:30. Monday December 8 at Tea Lounge!
Tea Lounge is: http://www.tealoungeny.com/
j
Beats.....12/5/14
Tonight, laid out the groundwork for a new song in ProTools. Beat, bass, 3 layered rhythm guitar tracks. Feels good. I'll lay down percussion and saxes tomorrow. Off to a good start. Tough to make pop length songs! So many possibilities to fit into a 3 minute miracle. It's going to happen. Keep stripping away excess till it's just the point.
I'm amazed at technology. A band in my laptop, at least some demo fellows in there.
Also created this event. Promotion, oh yeah, promotion! Gotta let y'all know when we have a gig!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1580719558815843/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular
Sooo, come out and vibe high with us!
J
I'm amazed at technology. A band in my laptop, at least some demo fellows in there.
Also created this event. Promotion, oh yeah, promotion! Gotta let y'all know when we have a gig!
https://www.facebook.com/events/1580719558815843/?ref_newsfeed_story_type=regular
Sooo, come out and vibe high with us!
J
Project pile list update.... 12/5/14
Today was unusual. Worked an 8 hour day for my favorite painting company. Sometimes it's good to do something outside of my routine. I guess they call that an honest days work for some reason. I enjoyed it!
Here's some project pile updates:
#1... My main 'jazz' amp. FIx cabinet and either repair or replace tube socket. DONE!!!!!
Literally took 1/2 an hour total. It's a good thing cause the bright channel in this amp is really beautiful sounding. Rich! Nothing quite like it. It's a huge part of my sound on guitar.
#2... Fix tail light in my car and fix my now broken glove box (thanks stupid car thief!)
#3... Get new back tires for my car!
#4... Finish building my overdrive pedal! (I built one for a friend that turned out sooooo good, started to make one for me and never finished. About 63% complete!)
#5... Build 45 triode amp (stereo! I want to listen to my few records again in style! A tube stereo is a rich person thang. One of my ways to feel rich! Got all the parts as of today.)
Laid it out to get a visual:
This amp is going to be the most beautiful one I've built.
Here's some project pile updates:
#1... My main 'jazz' amp. FIx cabinet and either repair or replace tube socket. DONE!!!!!
Literally took 1/2 an hour total. It's a good thing cause the bright channel in this amp is really beautiful sounding. Rich! Nothing quite like it. It's a huge part of my sound on guitar.
#2... Fix tail light in my car and fix my now broken glove box (thanks stupid car thief!)
#3... Get new back tires for my car!
#4... Finish building my overdrive pedal! (I built one for a friend that turned out sooooo good, started to make one for me and never finished. About 63% complete!)
#5... Build 45 triode amp (stereo! I want to listen to my few records again in style! A tube stereo is a rich person thang. One of my ways to feel rich! Got all the parts as of today.)
Laid it out to get a visual:
#6... Fix leaky shower thing.
#7... Set up stereo when I finish building my amp and enjoy the heck out of it!
#8... Sell more stuff on Ebay, beat my December goal for sales there!
#9... Get 2 rolls of film developed, stuff I shot over the last 3 years.
#10.. Finish 2 videos to promote guitar and bass playing for hiring me as a session player or teacher.
#11.. Make new nut for my electric sitar, set it up better and CLEAN IT!
#12..Finish nut for my home made tele, make it smooth like I do for clients. Set it up properly!DONE
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Built this in the summer. Best Esquire ever! 5 pounds, pine body, nice big Vee neck and now when I play open chords the nut doesn't bug me and.....it plays in tune finally. That last 30 minutes makes the difference between something good and something great. Also finally buffed out the finish. Looks all nice and shiny like the grown up guitar she is!
#7... Set up stereo when I finish building my amp and enjoy the heck out of it!
#8... Sell more stuff on Ebay, beat my December goal for sales there!
#9... Get 2 rolls of film developed, stuff I shot over the last 3 years.
#10.. Finish 2 videos to promote guitar and bass playing for hiring me as a session player or teacher.
#11.. Make new nut for my electric sitar, set it up better and CLEAN IT!
#12..Finish nut for my home made tele, make it smooth like I do for clients. Set it up properly!DONE
#13..Clean top on my classical guitar. Get rid of scuzzy looking tape residue!
#14..Install strap buttons on my beloved Jazz Bass.
#15.. Get those cheap 'beer bottle' strap locks and install them on my guitars. Dropped my '58 Jazzmaster really hard the other day. Been putting it at risk for 10 years now!
#16.. Decide what to do with 2 extra mouthpieces. Sell as is or get them re-faced then sell them for more $$$.
#17: fix top crack on classical.
#18: fix top crack on my '46 Epiphone Spartan.
#19: price out humidifiers and put that into my spending plan!!!!
#14..Install strap buttons on my beloved Jazz Bass.
#15.. Get those cheap 'beer bottle' strap locks and install them on my guitars. Dropped my '58 Jazzmaster really hard the other day. Been putting it at risk for 10 years now!
#16.. Decide what to do with 2 extra mouthpieces. Sell as is or get them re-faced then sell them for more $$$.
#17: fix top crack on classical.
#18: fix top crack on my '46 Epiphone Spartan.
#19: price out humidifiers and put that into my spending plan!!!!
So that is 2 down, 17 to go! Already feeling a little space clearing up. Gotta make a beat now.....
Thanks for dropping in! J
Thursday, December 4, 2014
12/5/14....writing sesh. Shift happens.
Tonight Beth and I worked on some new material for Gardens. Got 3 new starts. I love that. Sit down together and bounce ideas off one another. Feels so rich to work with her. It's a challenge to schedule writing sessions but when we do get together, it's so easy. Today, one step closer to the promised land.
We were talking and I got to notice a shift in this life. For the first time in my life I'm totally excited about the music I'm making and the projects I'm involved in. I've spent my whole life with one foot out the door looking for that thing that will give me a bunch of money or approval. I always felt gross about that but had zero control over that feeling. That's gone. I don't have all that I want but I do have all that I need and this is just where I'm at on this journey.
I can see a life of following through on the horizon. Follow through on the 2 projects I have to the end. That's amazing. I actually want to make records. So far audience reactions have been really favorable. I want to give and give and give more.
It's been a topic of conversation this week, this quote I got from Tony Robbins has been on my mind.
"If you want to be a success you need to stop being such a consumer." I need to keep that in the front of my materialistic mind. John Fogerty found a need to make a full length album after Suzie Q became a hit. He figured his only criteria need be this : the songs need to be simple and clear enough that the people listening can sing along to them in their cars. He rented a tiny apartment and had a guitar, a mattress and a few other possessions. He didn't have a rack of pedals, a guitar collection, an Ebay, an internet forum about tubes and capacitors and how to play like Van Halen. He just had some ideas. He needed to write that album. He wrote 3 in that apartment. They all went platinum. We live in an infinitely more materialistic and distracting world now. Not good for getting your work done.
Stay committed and keep it simple.
And the list of stuff to do. I picked up the washers for my amp, ordered a socket and a friend is sending me some of those cheap beer bottle strap locks. Ask and ye shall receive!
Thank you for reading! J
We were talking and I got to notice a shift in this life. For the first time in my life I'm totally excited about the music I'm making and the projects I'm involved in. I've spent my whole life with one foot out the door looking for that thing that will give me a bunch of money or approval. I always felt gross about that but had zero control over that feeling. That's gone. I don't have all that I want but I do have all that I need and this is just where I'm at on this journey.
I can see a life of following through on the horizon. Follow through on the 2 projects I have to the end. That's amazing. I actually want to make records. So far audience reactions have been really favorable. I want to give and give and give more.
It's been a topic of conversation this week, this quote I got from Tony Robbins has been on my mind.
"If you want to be a success you need to stop being such a consumer." I need to keep that in the front of my materialistic mind. John Fogerty found a need to make a full length album after Suzie Q became a hit. He figured his only criteria need be this : the songs need to be simple and clear enough that the people listening can sing along to them in their cars. He rented a tiny apartment and had a guitar, a mattress and a few other possessions. He didn't have a rack of pedals, a guitar collection, an Ebay, an internet forum about tubes and capacitors and how to play like Van Halen. He just had some ideas. He needed to write that album. He wrote 3 in that apartment. They all went platinum. We live in an infinitely more materialistic and distracting world now. Not good for getting your work done.
Stay committed and keep it simple.
And the list of stuff to do. I picked up the washers for my amp, ordered a socket and a friend is sending me some of those cheap beer bottle strap locks. Ask and ye shall receive!
Thank you for reading! J
Gaaah! Unfinished projects! Help me complete these little task!
Okay..... what is standing in the way today? Oh I see, a number of small, rather annoying unfinished projects! One or my dear amps, actually the one I use the most these days on gigs, needs a washer and a new tube socket. I've been putting it off for about 3 1/2 years now, just haven't used the bright channel! One of the problems of having made a living as a tech is when I get home the last thing I want to do is more tech work! A good friend who is a luthier has mad skills, makes a lot of lives better and all of his personal instruments play like crap! Think about it. If you own a pizza restaurant the last thing you want to do when you get home is make some cheese pies!
Steps to fix amp? Buy a washer.....buy a tube socket. Install washer, install tube socket. Time including buying stuff online or at the hardware store? About an hour total. In my mind apparently it'll a huge pain in the amp that will take the rest of my life!
Trouble is these little annoying things just nag me in my day to day. So in the spirit of accountability my dear readers, here is my list of projects. Some are music related, others aren't but do take up space in my mind that they aren't paying rent for. So I shall be publicly checking these things off right here for your enjoyment and for me to actually get them done. I'll do my best to prioritize them as well.
#1... My main 'jazz' amp. FIx cabinet and either repair or replace tube socket.
#2... Fix tail light in my car and fix my now broken glove box (thanks stupid car thief!)
#3... Get new back tires for my car!
#4... Finish building my overdrive pedal! (I built one for a friend that turned out sooooo good, started to make one for me and never finished. About 63% complete!)
#5... Build 45 triode amp (stereo! I want to listen to my few records again in style! A tube stereo is a rich person thang. One of my ways to feel rich! Got all the parts as of today.)
#6... Fix leaky shower thing.
#7... Set up stereo when I finish building my amp and enjoy the heck out of it!
#8... Sell more stuff on Ebay, beat my December goal for sales there!
#9... Get 2 rolls of film developed, stuff I shot over the last 3 years.
#10.. Finish 2 videos to promote guitar and bass playing for hiring me as a session player or teacher.
#11.. Make new nut for my electric sitar, set it up better and CLEAN IT!
#12..Finish nut for my home made tele, make it smooth like I do for clients. Set it up properly!
#13..Clean top on my classical guitar. Get rid of scuzzy looking tape residue!
#14..Install strap buttons on my beloved Jazz Bass.
#15.. Get those cheap 'beer bottle' strap locks and install them on my guitars. Dropped my '58 Jazzmaster really hard the other day. Been putting it at risk for 10 years now!
#16.. Decide what to do with 2 extra mouthpieces. Sell as is or get them re-faced then sell them for more $$$.
Most of these are small projects, they all require some decision making. That's really the block, just deciding to do them.
That's pretty much it. Putting them into a list makes it seem that much more doable. Just having these little things out of the way creates more space for making records. In fact, I need to sell off the rest of my first album to create space for more. It's a good one. Buy one from me!!!! If you like psychedelic music, it's a must have! I'll even hand paint the cover for you! Heavy vinyl pressing, what you like!
You can contact me here or on my email address: coilhead@gmail.com
Price is $15 shipped in the US, $22 elsewhere.
We'll set it up through Paypal. They make great gifts!!!!!!
J
Just found 2 more!
#17: fix top crack on classical.
#18: fix top crack on my '46 Epiphone Spartan.
#19: price out humidifiers and put that into my spending plan!!!!
I'll be updating this as I go along. So far in the last hour I've ordered the tube socket and ordered strap buttons. Hey! Progress! I win again!!!!
Steps to fix amp? Buy a washer.....buy a tube socket. Install washer, install tube socket. Time including buying stuff online or at the hardware store? About an hour total. In my mind apparently it'll a huge pain in the amp that will take the rest of my life!
Trouble is these little annoying things just nag me in my day to day. So in the spirit of accountability my dear readers, here is my list of projects. Some are music related, others aren't but do take up space in my mind that they aren't paying rent for. So I shall be publicly checking these things off right here for your enjoyment and for me to actually get them done. I'll do my best to prioritize them as well.
#1... My main 'jazz' amp. FIx cabinet and either repair or replace tube socket.
#2... Fix tail light in my car and fix my now broken glove box (thanks stupid car thief!)
#3... Get new back tires for my car!
#4... Finish building my overdrive pedal! (I built one for a friend that turned out sooooo good, started to make one for me and never finished. About 63% complete!)
#5... Build 45 triode amp (stereo! I want to listen to my few records again in style! A tube stereo is a rich person thang. One of my ways to feel rich! Got all the parts as of today.)
#6... Fix leaky shower thing.
#7... Set up stereo when I finish building my amp and enjoy the heck out of it!
#8... Sell more stuff on Ebay, beat my December goal for sales there!
#9... Get 2 rolls of film developed, stuff I shot over the last 3 years.
#10.. Finish 2 videos to promote guitar and bass playing for hiring me as a session player or teacher.
#11.. Make new nut for my electric sitar, set it up better and CLEAN IT!
#12..Finish nut for my home made tele, make it smooth like I do for clients. Set it up properly!
#13..Clean top on my classical guitar. Get rid of scuzzy looking tape residue!
#14..Install strap buttons on my beloved Jazz Bass.
#15.. Get those cheap 'beer bottle' strap locks and install them on my guitars. Dropped my '58 Jazzmaster really hard the other day. Been putting it at risk for 10 years now!
#16.. Decide what to do with 2 extra mouthpieces. Sell as is or get them re-faced then sell them for more $$$.
Most of these are small projects, they all require some decision making. That's really the block, just deciding to do them.
That's pretty much it. Putting them into a list makes it seem that much more doable. Just having these little things out of the way creates more space for making records. In fact, I need to sell off the rest of my first album to create space for more. It's a good one. Buy one from me!!!! If you like psychedelic music, it's a must have! I'll even hand paint the cover for you! Heavy vinyl pressing, what you like!
You can contact me here or on my email address: coilhead@gmail.com
Price is $15 shipped in the US, $22 elsewhere.
We'll set it up through Paypal. They make great gifts!!!!!!
J
Just found 2 more!
#17: fix top crack on classical.
#18: fix top crack on my '46 Epiphone Spartan.
#19: price out humidifiers and put that into my spending plan!!!!
I'll be updating this as I go along. So far in the last hour I've ordered the tube socket and ordered strap buttons. Hey! Progress! I win again!!!!
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
12/3/14. Blues and car burglars.
Taught 6 lessons today, practiced guitar for an hour and horn for an hour and 20. Mostly working on this new melody bit. Starting to feel ambivalent about it which is a good thing. May need to scrap it and try something new. Always good to keep reaching for the perfect song!
I'm exhausted. Started nodding off while working on intervals. Played some blues while falling asleep. That's the only way I can really play the blues, otherwise there's just too much thinking going on. Blues are a much bigger challenge to play well than say a standard is. That simple form is not simple. There is much more going on than those 3 chords. Like I said, being worn down and worn out enables me to play that music better. Maybe that's why I don't play it all that much. I'd have to induce myself into a state of something else to get it right!
I discovered on my way to my practice space tonight my car had been broken into. Minimal damage. My glove box is broken and they left my door ajar for up to 2 days so that's annoying. There is nothing worth stealing in my car. I'd feel idiotic if I left anything of value overnight but still the thought of a filthy person rummaging through my car uninvited is upsetting. But I got over it a minute into practice. Too much music to be made to be upset over a sad person needing a fix. I'm the luckiest man alive to have this outlet!
J
I'm exhausted. Started nodding off while working on intervals. Played some blues while falling asleep. That's the only way I can really play the blues, otherwise there's just too much thinking going on. Blues are a much bigger challenge to play well than say a standard is. That simple form is not simple. There is much more going on than those 3 chords. Like I said, being worn down and worn out enables me to play that music better. Maybe that's why I don't play it all that much. I'd have to induce myself into a state of something else to get it right!
I discovered on my way to my practice space tonight my car had been broken into. Minimal damage. My glove box is broken and they left my door ajar for up to 2 days so that's annoying. There is nothing worth stealing in my car. I'd feel idiotic if I left anything of value overnight but still the thought of a filthy person rummaging through my car uninvited is upsetting. But I got over it a minute into practice. Too much music to be made to be upset over a sad person needing a fix. I'm the luckiest man alive to have this outlet!
J
How did I wind up playing on a Buescher Saxophone? Well. Elkhart rules the planet...
This one is for folks that like old horns.
I've been playing sax for about 15 years now, started late in life, and it's my main instrument now. I love it. Being a recovering guitar player and even worse, a recovering consumer, I brought the same 'collection' mentality to my world of playing sax. Long story short, I've been through more tenors than any person should ever go through. At one point I always had 3 in rotation, sometimes up to 5. Talk about not getting much done! So when I ran out of credit and decided financial sobriety is a good idea I needed to answer what is the best horn for me? What is the best tool for all of my jobs?
My first influence on sax was really Lester Young. And my first teacher played the baddest Conn 10M in the universe, a 1939 model he bought in 1948. I heard him bury many guys at jam sessions on their shiny new horns. His by this point was covered in rubber bands to make it work. Anyone who really knew WC Cage in the Portland Oregon area wanted to buy his horn. I secretly broke the 10 commandments by coveting it myself. He had such a great sound on that thing. So for me I had to have a Conn 10M. Actually, I had to have a 30M which is what I got. The flagship.
Ugh....that was kinda a no fun horn. Stiff. I just played the fanciest one in the universe today, a gold plated model built in the 30's for Al Epstein who played with Benny Goodman and Andy Kirk. Gorgeous horn, totally unenjoyable to play. At least for me.
So I moved to a 10M. More fun, better horn all around. I owned a few, the 1942 model was by far the best. The '48 was kinda, meh.... And the '59, ew...not for me. That '41 had it going on though. Very dark and for a 10M it was pretty flexible. But I convinced myself I didn't deserve such a nice horn and sold it for $1942 to a guy in Germany. Mistake? Maybe. Oh well. It was red, lotta copper. I kinda gravitate towards red horns:
I won't bother with the whole list which includes a King, Buffet Dynaction, an old 30's Selmer that my band got mad at me for selling, I'll just stick with the horns from Elkhart Indiana.
Could you imagine Elkhart back in the day? It was a brass town I've been told. 3 major sax manufacturers there. So cool.
Anyway, I probably sold that 10M cause I didn't like it as much as my main horn which was a Conn Chu Berry from 1928. I had 3, 2 were about 20 serial numbers apart, one of which was a gold plate portrait model, the other bare brass. And a 1921 model that was silver. The '21 was pure Lester Young. Too Lester Young. Beautiful sounding horn. I miss that one. It looked like hell and heaven in the same bar. Sold that to buy a stupid Selmer. The gold plated one went away for the same reason as the horn pictured above: crap self esteem! I don't deserve this horn so I sold it to a guy in Staten Island. Made a few rubles on it. The bare brass one was my main squeeze for about 7 years. I did have a Transitional naked lady I bought in Baltimore at Bills Music that was mint. Traded that one for the stupid 30M. Now that was a mistake. The guy I traded it to thought I was crazy. I ran into that horn later on when I became a better player and well, there is a reason why some folks think they are the best tenors money can buy.
Here's me and my 1921 model:
So what did I like about the Chu horns better than the M series? They are flexible. More fun to play.
This is the horn. Notice the neck is from a Buescher 400. That was a deadly combo. But the neck went away to someone who 'deserved it more than I'.... See a pattern??? Anyway, yeah, this horn was good but difficult to center. Quite spread. My other '28 was too. The '21 and that tranny I had were more pure sounding. Solid fundamental, much like Prez. Oh I tried all kinds of silly tricks to get it to center. Had the original neck 5x nickel plated which made it heavier. Did it make a difference? I thought so but after a while couldn't remember what it was like in the first place. Besides, a good reed makes a huge difference. Plating does nothing compared to a good or bad reed and good or bad practice habits. Oh consumerism and marketing coupled with online forums is a bad mix for a guy with a credit card addiction!
With original neck:
I also used it with a Mexiconn 16M neck.
Those are great on these old horns. Better neck angle, better pitch, more power and focus. But....What was I after?
I simply became more dis-satisfied with my sound, especially on recordings. The old Chu, when played with a female vocalist, there is nothing like the subtone on one of these. It fills the room without ever getting in her way. Just a beautiful tone. But I am a recovering Luddite. Time to move into the 21st Century.
In 2008 I was in Baltimore at Teds music shop on Center and Charles Street. He had this old Bundy in the window for the past 3 years, a 30's model just like the one Wayne Shorter played. Built by Buescher. It needed work but just had such a lovely sound and the engraving was gorgeous. I used it on one gig with the band, lacked the power but listening back the sound just reached out and grabbed me. I sold it for a profit to a guy in Japan. Took him a week to send the money and I secretly hoped he would flake. I even told him not to worry about it if he couldn't follow through. But he did and i was kinda bummed. This paid for a lot of my gas money on our 2008 Econo Crash tour so I was glad but something told me that if I paid to have that horn fixed up nice, it would have really made some changes.
This is right before I discovered Portlands finest saxophone dealer, Mr Peter Deley.
There is no cooler cat than him. Saxes, flutes, clarinets, kitchen knives, espresso makers and bicycles. He knows his stuff. I got my best kitchen knife from him and my current tenor. I would go to his house and try out horns for hours over Cappucinos. We'd compare SML to Selmer to Buescher to Conn to whatever modern stuff there is. I bought this 30's art Deco Buecher Aristocrat:
Sorry, crap photo but my good ones won't load for some reason!
Anyway, it was one of those old models with the skinny little bell that looks like it shouldn't be so powerful but for some reason it just projects out into the room better than anything else. This horn looked awful: on it's 2nd relacquer, someone painted it whorehouse gold at one point, and it had a Conn 10M neck (eventually sold that for a pretty penny and bought a proper Buescher neck for way less and made it a better horn. If I learned anything by all this silly neck swapping its that the neck does make a huge difference. A Buescher neck on a Conn body, the horn sounds more Buescher. I recently tried a Selmer neck on a Buescher and it really became the best of both.)
So I bought this right before I moved to Los Angeles in 2010. I started playing this more and more. The tone was simply better than my Conn. Better for cutting tracks with. But the Conn feels like a bigger tone, I couldn't get into the Buescher as much as I wanted to cause I was hooked on that cavernous Conn tone, or, I really was hooked on the idea of the Conn.
Here it is on a session I did in LA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWaJ35iKUO8
And a duo with my good friend Steven Denman:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4MDnAsiY7I&list=UUMhr-A-1fGhPjvHFF9fBP-A&index=20
And what it sounds like on a horrible recording!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhe261bgMIQ
Still sounds great. What it offered was a much wider pallet of colors. A Woody sound, the upper register I could mimic a flute. Really, the Buescher is just a better all around choice. Even my Uncle Cliff, who is a fine saxophonist, when he played it he described it as 'more organic' than his Selmer 6. He simply said "I could fall in love with this horn".
Actually, where ever I played I got high praise for the sound I was getting.
I just wasn't convinced though. Conns are 'cooler'. They mean business. I'm moving to NYC and want to be taken seriously. Bueschers have a bad rap. They don't cost much. And really I don't think most repair men aren't willing to do a great job on them so you seldom find one in great shape. Plus like my uncle said, he would have never considered one back in the 60's cause most players regarded them as "student" horns. You needed a Selmer if you wanted to work and you had to work if you wanted to eat.
So before I moved to New York I sold it to my friend Tiffany. She loves that horn.
About 2 days into my New York life I did a recording session for Fergus and Geronimo. I used my Conn, this was my only tenor now. I liked the sound I got for this amazingly diverse band, it worked but I felt it should be better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bpgbG8-fBg
I did another session for a straight rock band and became bummed that I sold that Buescher. I sounded terrible on this session. I learned a lot in this session. Stop shopping and commit to one bloody horn. And choose the right tool for the job. The worlds most popular horn is Selmer. I don't have $5k for one and really don't want one. I do need a more modern sound though.
So I gave up on all that silly useless resistance and bought from Peter the horn I've been on for the last year and a half, my 1946 Model 155 Aristocrat. A big B model.
My man Lathan bought my Chu and he loves it. He's got the right horn for his music and I've got the right horn for me now.
What do I love about it? There is nothing it can't do. It's completely flexible and takes whatever air I can give it. I haven't come close to exhausting its volume! Oh I go out and try different horns now and again and this one just knocks them out of the game right away. It's gutsy like a good Chu, got a lot of body but far more complex than the Conns I've played. And best of all, it's fun to play. It blends well with other instruments and doesn't have a personality of it's own. It's entirely up to me to create my sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX7JY7aEE8Y
I can say I've never been happier and I love to spend hours practicing with this horn. Will I get another Conn some day? Maybe. They are lovely though, this horn does it all. Difference in how they behave while pushed is significant. A Buescher can get really nasty and I like that. It's great for rock n roll. The Conn seems to stay together, pretty. It's odd that some folks call the Buescher Aristocrat the "classical pro horn". That kept me away. What a stupid thing to say.
So consider one of these. It's keeping me sane and healthy and my wandering attention towards other horns has greatly diminished. I practice way more and am inspired to create way more. I know the next sessions I'm on I'll sound great. A nice boost to my confidence.
Hmmm. Maybe I'll name this one?
J
I've been playing sax for about 15 years now, started late in life, and it's my main instrument now. I love it. Being a recovering guitar player and even worse, a recovering consumer, I brought the same 'collection' mentality to my world of playing sax. Long story short, I've been through more tenors than any person should ever go through. At one point I always had 3 in rotation, sometimes up to 5. Talk about not getting much done! So when I ran out of credit and decided financial sobriety is a good idea I needed to answer what is the best horn for me? What is the best tool for all of my jobs?
My first influence on sax was really Lester Young. And my first teacher played the baddest Conn 10M in the universe, a 1939 model he bought in 1948. I heard him bury many guys at jam sessions on their shiny new horns. His by this point was covered in rubber bands to make it work. Anyone who really knew WC Cage in the Portland Oregon area wanted to buy his horn. I secretly broke the 10 commandments by coveting it myself. He had such a great sound on that thing. So for me I had to have a Conn 10M. Actually, I had to have a 30M which is what I got. The flagship.
Ugh....that was kinda a no fun horn. Stiff. I just played the fanciest one in the universe today, a gold plated model built in the 30's for Al Epstein who played with Benny Goodman and Andy Kirk. Gorgeous horn, totally unenjoyable to play. At least for me.
So I moved to a 10M. More fun, better horn all around. I owned a few, the 1942 model was by far the best. The '48 was kinda, meh.... And the '59, ew...not for me. That '41 had it going on though. Very dark and for a 10M it was pretty flexible. But I convinced myself I didn't deserve such a nice horn and sold it for $1942 to a guy in Germany. Mistake? Maybe. Oh well. It was red, lotta copper. I kinda gravitate towards red horns:
Could you imagine Elkhart back in the day? It was a brass town I've been told. 3 major sax manufacturers there. So cool.
Anyway, I probably sold that 10M cause I didn't like it as much as my main horn which was a Conn Chu Berry from 1928. I had 3, 2 were about 20 serial numbers apart, one of which was a gold plate portrait model, the other bare brass. And a 1921 model that was silver. The '21 was pure Lester Young. Too Lester Young. Beautiful sounding horn. I miss that one. It looked like hell and heaven in the same bar. Sold that to buy a stupid Selmer. The gold plated one went away for the same reason as the horn pictured above: crap self esteem! I don't deserve this horn so I sold it to a guy in Staten Island. Made a few rubles on it. The bare brass one was my main squeeze for about 7 years. I did have a Transitional naked lady I bought in Baltimore at Bills Music that was mint. Traded that one for the stupid 30M. Now that was a mistake. The guy I traded it to thought I was crazy. I ran into that horn later on when I became a better player and well, there is a reason why some folks think they are the best tenors money can buy.
Here's me and my 1921 model:
So what did I like about the Chu horns better than the M series? They are flexible. More fun to play.
With original neck:
I also used it with a Mexiconn 16M neck.
Those are great on these old horns. Better neck angle, better pitch, more power and focus. But....What was I after?
I simply became more dis-satisfied with my sound, especially on recordings. The old Chu, when played with a female vocalist, there is nothing like the subtone on one of these. It fills the room without ever getting in her way. Just a beautiful tone. But I am a recovering Luddite. Time to move into the 21st Century.
In 2008 I was in Baltimore at Teds music shop on Center and Charles Street. He had this old Bundy in the window for the past 3 years, a 30's model just like the one Wayne Shorter played. Built by Buescher. It needed work but just had such a lovely sound and the engraving was gorgeous. I used it on one gig with the band, lacked the power but listening back the sound just reached out and grabbed me. I sold it for a profit to a guy in Japan. Took him a week to send the money and I secretly hoped he would flake. I even told him not to worry about it if he couldn't follow through. But he did and i was kinda bummed. This paid for a lot of my gas money on our 2008 Econo Crash tour so I was glad but something told me that if I paid to have that horn fixed up nice, it would have really made some changes.
This is right before I discovered Portlands finest saxophone dealer, Mr Peter Deley.
There is no cooler cat than him. Saxes, flutes, clarinets, kitchen knives, espresso makers and bicycles. He knows his stuff. I got my best kitchen knife from him and my current tenor. I would go to his house and try out horns for hours over Cappucinos. We'd compare SML to Selmer to Buescher to Conn to whatever modern stuff there is. I bought this 30's art Deco Buecher Aristocrat:
Sorry, crap photo but my good ones won't load for some reason!
Anyway, it was one of those old models with the skinny little bell that looks like it shouldn't be so powerful but for some reason it just projects out into the room better than anything else. This horn looked awful: on it's 2nd relacquer, someone painted it whorehouse gold at one point, and it had a Conn 10M neck (eventually sold that for a pretty penny and bought a proper Buescher neck for way less and made it a better horn. If I learned anything by all this silly neck swapping its that the neck does make a huge difference. A Buescher neck on a Conn body, the horn sounds more Buescher. I recently tried a Selmer neck on a Buescher and it really became the best of both.)
So I bought this right before I moved to Los Angeles in 2010. I started playing this more and more. The tone was simply better than my Conn. Better for cutting tracks with. But the Conn feels like a bigger tone, I couldn't get into the Buescher as much as I wanted to cause I was hooked on that cavernous Conn tone, or, I really was hooked on the idea of the Conn.
Here it is on a session I did in LA:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWaJ35iKUO8
And a duo with my good friend Steven Denman:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4MDnAsiY7I&list=UUMhr-A-1fGhPjvHFF9fBP-A&index=20
And what it sounds like on a horrible recording!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhe261bgMIQ
Still sounds great. What it offered was a much wider pallet of colors. A Woody sound, the upper register I could mimic a flute. Really, the Buescher is just a better all around choice. Even my Uncle Cliff, who is a fine saxophonist, when he played it he described it as 'more organic' than his Selmer 6. He simply said "I could fall in love with this horn".
Actually, where ever I played I got high praise for the sound I was getting.
I just wasn't convinced though. Conns are 'cooler'. They mean business. I'm moving to NYC and want to be taken seriously. Bueschers have a bad rap. They don't cost much. And really I don't think most repair men aren't willing to do a great job on them so you seldom find one in great shape. Plus like my uncle said, he would have never considered one back in the 60's cause most players regarded them as "student" horns. You needed a Selmer if you wanted to work and you had to work if you wanted to eat.
So before I moved to New York I sold it to my friend Tiffany. She loves that horn.
About 2 days into my New York life I did a recording session for Fergus and Geronimo. I used my Conn, this was my only tenor now. I liked the sound I got for this amazingly diverse band, it worked but I felt it should be better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bpgbG8-fBg
I did another session for a straight rock band and became bummed that I sold that Buescher. I sounded terrible on this session. I learned a lot in this session. Stop shopping and commit to one bloody horn. And choose the right tool for the job. The worlds most popular horn is Selmer. I don't have $5k for one and really don't want one. I do need a more modern sound though.
So I gave up on all that silly useless resistance and bought from Peter the horn I've been on for the last year and a half, my 1946 Model 155 Aristocrat. A big B model.
My man Lathan bought my Chu and he loves it. He's got the right horn for his music and I've got the right horn for me now.
What do I love about it? There is nothing it can't do. It's completely flexible and takes whatever air I can give it. I haven't come close to exhausting its volume! Oh I go out and try different horns now and again and this one just knocks them out of the game right away. It's gutsy like a good Chu, got a lot of body but far more complex than the Conns I've played. And best of all, it's fun to play. It blends well with other instruments and doesn't have a personality of it's own. It's entirely up to me to create my sound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX7JY7aEE8Y
I can say I've never been happier and I love to spend hours practicing with this horn. Will I get another Conn some day? Maybe. They are lovely though, this horn does it all. Difference in how they behave while pushed is significant. A Buescher can get really nasty and I like that. It's great for rock n roll. The Conn seems to stay together, pretty. It's odd that some folks call the Buescher Aristocrat the "classical pro horn". That kept me away. What a stupid thing to say.
So consider one of these. It's keeping me sane and healthy and my wandering attention towards other horns has greatly diminished. I practice way more and am inspired to create way more. I know the next sessions I'm on I'll sound great. A nice boost to my confidence.
Hmmm. Maybe I'll name this one?
J
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