Rock n' roll

The band workshop of which I wrote more than a month ago is now three weeks into rehearsals. My brain has been sapped of late, which is why I am only mentioning it now.

This is the fourth band workshop I've played in since I started attending the Blue Bear School of Music. Usually, these rock workshops have at least six people led by an instructor -- one drummer, one bassist, two guitarists, and two singers, and we each choose a couple of songs to create a set that we will perform live on stage after ten weeks of rehearsals. My first workshop in the winter of '06, led by Bill Spooner, added two other members, one playing keyboard and one playing sax. The next workshop I played in was also led by Spooner, and was down to the core six. I played guitar in those two workshops, and switched to bass for my third in the fall. I hadn't planned on being in a workshop at that time, due to writing projects and a personal situation that made it difficult for me to practice as much as I needed to. I was called to fill in a vacant bass spot, and gambling on the idea that I could get away with minimal practice, I decided to do it. It was something different to do, in a workshop led by someone I had never worked with before. I practiced all of my songs for a couple of weeks outside of regular rehearsals, and after that, I wound up not practicing at all. Band rehearsal time was my practice time. I think it turned out OK. Our performance of Free's "All Right Now" was one example of a song where I felt nervous and rusty (in the instrumental break, that is -- the bass doesn't play much at all during the verses), yet for some reason I received more compliments for this song than any of the others:



So now I am back to playing guitar, trying to make more practice time. We're down to five in this Spooner-led workshop, which means I will be singing a little in this one. Only my friend and coworker Julie, who sang in the last workshop I was in, is a dedicated singer. She is doubling up on keyboards, sharing vocal duties with the two guitarists. I have only tried singing one song so far, a song I picked called "The View" by Modest Mouse. Singing and playing this song at the same time doesn't feel like something I can do, so there's some work yet that needs to be done.

Julie writes more on the workshop in her blog, and recaps the humorous exchange between Spooner and our drummer over the beat to U2's "One."

And, most significantly, our bassist is my girlfriend Christina. I had always wanted a girlfriend with whom I could play music, and now that wish is fulfilled! She is actually playing in two workshops this quarter, which is a feat in and of itself. But, as she says, "it's bass." Still, it's a time commitment, and to that, I raise a glass (maybe later tonight, too early in the day right now).

First rehearsal outside of our usual weekly schedule is later this week. Now the real work begins. This is going to be a good one!

Review: Danny Gatton "Redneck Jazz Explosion"

Sometime last fall, I received my first unsolicited promos from the fine folks at the Vermont-based Big Mo Records. The prospect of hearing some smokin’ jazz guitar licks from Danny Gatton was an exciting one for me, in part because of some crossed wires in my brain.

“Danny Gatton playing jazz?” I thought. This I had to hear!

Can I be forgiven for getting Danny’s name confused with ‘80s country star Larry Gatlin?

No, to my knowledge, Larry Gatlin has never played jazz and is still very much alive (Gatton committed suicide in 1994, leaving the world as an unsung guitar hero). But apparently the name Danny Gatton sounded country enough to me that I was prepared to hear those overtones peeping through the two volumes of live recordings entitled Redneck Jazz Explosion that feature Danny leading a super tight quartet through some very autumnal sounding instrumental jazz.

Danny’s Redneck Jazz Explosion band recorded these live sides at the Cellar Door in Washington, D.C. back in 1978 with Danny playing some hot guitar, and an equally stunning Buddy Emmons on pedal steel guitar. The pedal steel is what lends the music its deepest shades of country, even as funk, pop, and straight-ahead jazz all crash together into a fiery mix of original improvisational music. Rounding out the rhythm section were Steve Wolf on bass, and Scott Taylor on drums.

The program of selections is a mixed bag, ranging from compositions by jazz royalty such as Horace Silver (“Opus De Funk” on Volume One, “Song For My Father” and “Filthy McNasty” on Volume Two) and Sonny Rollins (“Sonnymoon For Two” on Volume Two), to a soul jazz number by Jack McDuff (“Rock Candy” appears on both volumes), and recastings of pop tunes by Leonard Cohen (“Famous Blue Raincoat” on Volume One) and Bobbie Gentry (“Ode To Bille Joe” on Volume Two). Even a Rimsky-Korsakov composition, “Song Of India,” is worked into the program – with a disco beat! It’s actually quite infectious, and is the tune that has stuck with me the most over the course of several listens to the entire contents of both discs.

Throughout the program, various different effects are heard decorating the sound of Danny’s guitar, courtesy of an invention he plugged into called a “Magic Dingus Box.” The effect most often recalled is that of the rotating Leslie speaker most often heard attached to electric organs, hence the Jack McDuff covers. The textures vary throughout, and Danny used them all quite well.

I find it hard to really do these recordings justice with my own words, especially in the face of Brawner Smoot’s excellent, extensive liner notes.

And besides, a video clip is worth far more than any mere words I could ever dish out on this guy:



Is your jaw dropping yet?

Note, if you’re so inclined to snatch these discs up, Big Mo Records is the exclusive vendor for both volumes of Redneck Jazz Explosion.

An introduction, part 2

So here's the lowdown on FrontParlourblog:

Most of the posts you will read here will likely revolve around music in some form or another. And when I say music, I mean that in a very broad sense. I enjoy listening to, reading about and writing about everything from the Beatles and Bob Dylan to Prince to Ornette Coleman and Miles Davis and Juliana Hatfield and Slayer... and the list goes on.

I also enjoy playing guitar, and as I am due to start playing in a band workshop next month, I may be posting about those goings on as well.

I am taking a course in web design at AcademyX in San Francisco, and when I start really practicing the skills I am learning in earnest, I may be posting about that here. The site I mentioned in the previous post, the Front Parlour, will receive a makeover in due time to become part of my portfolio.

Whenever I have a piece of writing published somewhere, I will post about that here. Some outlets that have carried my writing include Performer Magazine, the Rasputin Manifesto, the Harbus, Ear Candy, jefitoblog, and even ucsf.edu.

And then there's the miscellaneous stuff... comments on current events, other blogs, all that good stuff... will go here.

As you see in my profile description, I am currently working as an office manager. How exactly I manage to make it work when my brain is going in so many other directions, I can't quite say. My desk is often a mess, and my brain feels that way a lot of the time too. Yet somehow it all comes together. And it must, for this job must feed my passions, as they cannot yet pay their own way. And so it goes for, I presume, at least a million or three other like-minded individuals out there. Raise your hands in solidarity!

So stick around, and think of this place as your own little front parlour, where you can kick back and relax while reading and tuning out. It's good to have you here!