Just enough and too much

How many tunes must I learn? It seems that everybody needs me to learn their tunes these days. Famous Players (10 tunes), Fundalicious (4 new tunes and lots of review), Bittersweet (5 tunes), Ginette (4 tunes), Soulsisters gig (10 tunes), Cellar gig (10 tunes), Lee Aaron Tour (15 tunes), and tunes for students (3 tunes). That's this week!!!!

Alright it's a lot of work, but I'm not complaining. I love the work and the DIVERSITY! Everything from "What You Do To My Body" by Lee Aaron to original jazz tunes by a New York trumpet player.

Sicamous, South Park, Putz's, and Prog

Ok. This blog will cover a few things here. Essentially Wednesday to Sunday.....and album reviews.....and Phil Collins, the putz.

First of all...

Wednesday at the Cellar. Quite a few new tunes for us in Crash and even though it was a little slow this week, I always look forward to playing with that band. Recently, we've had my hip-attached childhood-friend Scott Sanft playing keys. I have known Scott for years and years and we have played in dozens of bands together. One of which is the Famous Players band, which is sort of the ultimate cover band. We do everything from Frank Sinatra to Franz Ferdinand and literally everything in between. All of the players are incredible in that band and I'm fortunate to play with these guys and although occassionally we're forced to play some "questionable" material, it's still enjoyable and we take comfort in the fact that we're all in it together. We don't really get to "blow" the way we normally do with that band which, by the way, is fine; that band is not about jazz odysseys, but my point is that it's great to hear Scott really play with Crash because I don't get to hear it often enough. Most of you that know Scott, know that he's a monster on the keys, but you should all hear him on saxophone!!!!! He claims that no one will ever hear it, but I suspect otherwise. Sorry buddy.

Next...

Thursday at the Cellar. Not gigging, listening. I had the double fortune of having the night off and Oliver Gannon playing with his Quartet at the Cellar. Man oh man, what a great battery recharger. Ollie is so musical and he's such a great guy. I owe him everything. Thank you Ollie.

Next...

This may be my last weekend off for awhile so I wanted to get away. I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone and go visit my mom at her modular home (fancy word for trailer.....honestly it's a really nice resort!!!) in Sicamous and be a good son for the Mother's Day weekend. I LOVE the road! Maybe I'm weird but I really enjoy being by myself and driving. Perhaps that's a bit anti-social, but I love being alone with my car, music, thoughts, and scenery.

Now as I was preparing for the trip, I had to sort out the most important thing: driving tunes. I decided there was some important albums that I had never checked out that I needed to. So, next step was CD shopping for some new things. I should mention that on the previous night, I picked up the Oliver Gannon box set which included 3 of his CD's live at the Cellar, so in addition to those for the trip, my intentions were to pick up 8:30 by Weather Report and Transatlanticism by Death Cab for Cutie and whatever caught my eye. The A&B in Langley provided the WR but sadly let me down with the Death Cab. I DID end up with some kick ass albums for the most part:

Oliver Gannon - That's What

I realize now how much influence Ollie had on my playing. It's also cool/strange to hear him now that I'm.....well....a professional and no longer a student. I mean, don't get me wrong, I will always be a student of music.....you know what I mean. Ollie deserves all of the success he has achieved for himself.

Genesis - Trick of the Tail

When I was in high school, there were two types of music: jazz and progressive rock. I loved the prog band bands of the 70's but I always seemed to skip over Genesis. I mean the Peter Gabriel days of Genesis. I did own The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and last year I bought Foxtrot, but I haven't given either of those a fair chance. Brad Turner was listening to Trick of the Tail the other day and it caught my ear. It was cheap at A&B, as was all of the Genesis so I picked up a whole whack of it (as you'll see). I didn't realize Trick doesn't have Peter Gabriel on it, but regardless it was good. One thought that I had while listening to this album, which obviously features Phil Collins, is this fear that I have. The fear is that one becomes a total putz as they get older. When you're listening to this album and listening to Phil kick ass in 13/8 and the sound of his drums and the band, it's hard not to think of how much of a putz he has become now. Think of that classic South Park episode "Timmy 2000" and how true their version of Phil is. Funny enough, Matt Stone from South Park is good friends with Neil Peart: the drummer from the other prog band that at the time of Trick of the Tail, was doing equally experimental and cool stuff. Bottom line is that you can become either cool (Neil) or a putz (Phil) if you're the drummer of a prog rock band in the 70's; there is a third category however of ultra-cool reserved for Bill Bruford.

Mahavishnu Orchestra - Visions of the Emerald Beyond

WOW!!! Exactly what I wanted out of a M.O. album: organic chop-fest!!! Not too slick like Black Sabbath, but with blistering chops. I can only take so much of this stuff at a time, but man is it ever fun every now and then. The band on this album has totally changed from what I'm normally accustomed to (no Billy Cobham, etc) and usually this would've scared me, but I was still kicking ass. AND he's added vocals, horns, and strings and never does it take away.

(At this point in the trip, there was a blizzard while I was driving. Nice. Snowing. May 12. Lac Le Jeune.)

Weather Report - 8:30

One of those guilty albums that I should've owned but don't....until now. Unbelievable. That's all I can say. So great and obviously this band is a huge influence on Soulstream. Point of interest: the last tune on this album "Sightseeing" sounds a lot like a tune on the first Bloomdaddies record. I shouldn't complain, I've got tunes that sound exactly like Bloomdaddies tunes.

Genesis - Genesis

A return to my childhood. I almost wore this tape out when I was a kid. It so good to hear this again and I can't believe how much this album influenced me throughout my life and never realized till now. I could sing every part on this album as if nothing had changed.

Oliver Gannon & Bill Coon - Two much guitar

My old teachers going at it. Once again, although I still have a lot to learn, it's cool to listen to these guys as a...peer? I love both of their musicality, how it's always motif to motif to motif. They're also both masters of ornaments. Those little saxophone "turns" which, on the guitar, are tricky.

Genesis - Selling England by the Pound

My favorite so far of all the Gabriel era Genesis. More melody in the tunes. Definitely gonna listen to this one a few more times and explore it.

(At this point in the trip I just passed a Native Indian protest banner that said: Fighting Terrorism since 1492)

Pat Martino - Think Tank

A little disappointing. He's just too Pat Martino on the whole thing. I think Pat should only play like Pat for like 10 seconds on every tune. The band seems not too into it either even though it's an unbelievable band (Joe Lovano, Lewis Nash, Christian McBride, and Gonzaldo Rubalcada). I also didn't dig Pat's tone, seemed a bit thin. I want to find the ultimate Martino album, if anyone can suggest one please do. I really want to be a fan of his. He almost gets me with each solo he takes....almost.

Genesis - Trespass

The last one I promise. Why has half the band changed for this album???? Phil's not even there. Anyways, I dug it. I need to listen to it some more, but on the surface I liked it.

Oliver Gannon - Live at the Cellar

Awesome again. Lots of Ollie's originals, which is really cool. One of my favorite originals of his is a tune called Warm that's based on Body and Soul with the Coltrane subs. *note to self - add Warm to trio book.


I can't believe I made it through all those albums! My weekend was fun with Mom and I got some much needed work done. Talk to y'all soon.

Misc.

Back in town now. Soulstream was fun this week. Randall was on the road with Tom Cochrane in Phoenix (always liked Phoenix) so we had the young and incredible Tim Proznick. When Randall goes away, I step in as leader of the band which my control-freak personality kinda likes although it's a little bit more stress with organizing tunes, people, and keeping egos, musically or otherwise, in check.

Back teaching as well after a week hiatus. Teaching is a very important part of my musical world, financially and spiritually. I love teaching and I think in the same way that I'm growing as a musician, I'm growing as a teacher as well. I'm really trying to challenge my students more now, rather than give them the answer. I see them getting a little frustrated, but I think it's because I've been babying them a bit. I'm discovering that they need to figure out most things in music on their own and on their own terms.

One of my students got into the VCC music program this semester. I usually have one or two students doing college entrance auditions each year, but this year I only have one. He's a great player, person, and musician and he should do well up there.

I'm going to Sicamous this weekend to visit mom and get some "work" done. Me, mom, my guitar, 4 books, Roger the laptop, and the Shuswap...

Cumberland and Duncan

Upon pulling into Cumberland, only one word came to mind: White Trash. I guess that's two words isn't it? Appliances, broken cars, and sleeping dogs replaced the usual flowers and garden gnomes for front yard adornment. The gig however, looked super cool. It was at an old converted church that they now call The Abbey. It's run by a bunch of hippies and they have concerts, movies, and an ongoing art gallery in there. There of course was the obligatory tension between band and soundman; this time only a little coming from Randall, the brunt suprisingly coming from Brad. And as usual, the soundman shut the f$*# up when he heard us play.

I was totally wrong about the white trashness of the town and we sold out the Abbey and got a huge standing ovation. People loved it and frankly, they should of. The band played their asses off.

That brings us here to Duncan. Brad left us to go and do a concert with his childhood idol/teacher Donny Clark. Fortunately, we had a sub of equal stature, the incredible Phil Dwyer. I've heard probably a thousand stories about Phil Dwyer but never met him. The legend in my mind had been built up beyond belief although I have no idea what this guy even looked like! I guess he did end up looking like I had imagined him, but I could not have prepared myself for what he was going to sound like. Not only did he know all of the tunes, within seconds he understood where each of us were coming from musically and supported us and made us all sound better. Randall was the only other guy besides me that had never met Phil before and the two of them got off on the craziest cuban rhythmic stuff all night.

After the show, Phil told a story about how he once almost got in a fight in a bar in Duncan. His family has been in Duncan since the 1800's and one night while at a bar with his grandfather, a redneck called Phil a commie because of the Chinese Workers hat he had been wearing and challenged Phil to a fight. Phil's grandfather got up and in this guy's face and said:

"You don't fuck with a Dwyer in Duncan!!!!!"

We found that out first hand last night.

Victoria

Well, with the exception of the intro to Amoroso (uggggh....I gotta play Jesse Zubot's violin part on guitar. Not hard, just a bit weird), the gig went smashingly. The crowd however left a little something to be desired. It seemed that the gig was promoted well enough as there were posters literally everywhere here in Victoria, but Victoria just didn't make it out. That is with the exception of team Shoichet and her fan club. So maybe 25 people. But those who were there enjoyed it which is the best we can do I guess.

They say the ratio of women to men in Victoria is 3 to 1...I really like Victoria! It's also summer (spring really, but it seems like summer) and that means the sun and the girls are out in full force.

Today, we go to Cumberland. I'm thinking the smaller town will be better as they probably don't get much in the way of great jazz concerts. Also, with it being a Friday, more people are more inclined to go out and check out a band that they've never heard of before.

From the road!!

12% battery

Had a kickass show last night in Nanaimo and it was only our first night of the tour. The band, the sound, and the bar were great. The only problem was what happened an hour before we played.....and frankly the 3 hours that preceded that. I'm speaking of course about my Flames.

10% battery

What can I say. The Ducks played great and kicked their ass. End of story. I wish I had some magic and insightful thing to say, but I don't. The other team played way better than my team. No penalty whining. No injury whining. Nothing...

8% battery

We're in Victoria tonight and I've always loved this city. The soundman was a bit of a prick and Randall almost pulled a Jerome Iginla on his ass (that's our goblin!!!), but unfortunately it never came to that. I'm so fortunate to be playing original music with these guys and girl and tba (brad turner, andre lachance, pepe danza, randall stoll, bill runge, and rebecca shoichet w/child).

7% battery

Bye for now....

Check out the running blog too!!!