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I've added Poll Star to the links. For those who aren't familiar with this site, it allows you to enter a band, find out all their tour dates and set up a notification when any new tour dates are announced for them. Check them out.
As many of you know, VH1 has been running a series called Bands Reunited show. I've now seen the entire series, and I think I may be able to pass along some wit and wisdom. Let's see....
Overall... It's a good idea to hang on to the contact information of your former bandmates and to try and keep current with the info. And it's a good idea to play your instrument occasionally so that at the twenty year reunion, you don't have to look at the camera and say "I haven't played the drums in nineteen years. Jeez, I hope this works..."
A Flock of Seagulls -- You know, I don't think there was much to learn there. Maybe if you're going to be a band with your brother, you shouldn't stop speaking to him. Your family is far more important than the band.
Berlin -- It's important to establish the way in which credit will be handed out in the band earlier, as opposed to later.
Dramarama -- Try not to break up with your bandmates publicly on the radio. And, if, after you reunited with the band (saying how wonderful it was to be playing again), you are then offered to play a "huge California music festival", don't break up the band over it. Again.
Extreme -- When the other members of the band tell you to walk softly around the guitarist, it's probably not a good idea to surprise the guitarist with a camera crew in public while he's eating lunch. In fact, the whole "ambush interview" thing probably should be reconsidered.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood -- Keep some perspective on your work. No matter how good or bad your one hit was, it's only one song and it's only music.
Kajagoogoo -- Know what the strength/asset of your band is, and don't fire said strength/asset.
Klymaxx -- It's important to have legal contracts between members of a band regarding ownership and intellectual property.
Romeo Void -- I'm still not sure as to who this band is; but the lesson here is that record companies tend to place more emphasis on image than sound.
Squeeze -- I didn't get much of anything from this one; don't know what to tell you.
The Alarm -- It's probably not a good idea to quit your band. On stage, in front of an audience. Without warning your bandmates.
I went and caught Something's Got To Give today for a bit of escapist fluff. And that's exactly what it was. It's a cute enough movie, formulaic and unsurprising. Keaton does good work (with the exception of a far too extended crying jag towards the end of the film); I'm not sure if the Academy nominated her because of her work or because she's who she is. Jack, well, he's playing a character that's written to be an awfully lot like Jack Nicholson. Keanu Reeves and Amanda Peet both appear, but they more of took up space and moved the story along than did actual acting. They didn't have much chemistry with either Keaton or Nicholson (respectively).
Watch time: 1:14.
I bloody well hate name tags. To me, they facilitate a false familiarity. A person might walk up to me, read my name tag and act like she knows me (she might even be able to pull it off). I'd much rather have her talk to me. Just ask me my name; it's really no big deal. And we'll probably end up talking for a bit, maybe even get to know each other a bit.
CMU is reporting that Def Jam Records may be manipulating the SoundScan data. I don't know if this is true, but it would hardly surprise me if it is. Perhaps this is just my own cynicism, but someone will always figure out a way to game any system. SoundScan is just the latest victim.
eMarketer has an interesting article about some trends to watch in 2004. The number 1 trend? Digital music.
Online retailers will have the most success in selling digital music as a break-even product or loss leader. The mass appeal and low price of music make it an excellent impulse purchase
Thanks to Kurt for the tip.
For the next three days, I will be spening most, if not all of my time away from computers. Accordingly, there probably won't be a lot of activity.....
Tonight, JoS brought a YAD for kicks. During setup, we talked about influences and what we each would like to play (if we had our druthers). He seems to be more oriented towards classic rock, so things were shaping up to be somewhat interesting.
We started going over some covers, and it seemed like he had a decent feel for the general gist of the tunes, but not quite getting where all the interesting parts should be. But that's not necessarily a bad thing; I don't do everything 100% each time through a song. Tempo was back as in issue, though. Out of the seven or eight covers that we went through, the tempo increased for at least half. Not sure as to why the rushing occurred, but it occurred none the less.
After the covers, we talked, discussing different approaches to the music business. Then we started improving our way through two different ideas. The first one had me playing noodling some semi-ambient chord structures. After goofing on it for awhile, we abandoned the idea for a snippet that Rich has been working on for sometime now. After working through some possible structure for a bit, we called it quits for the night.
I think that we'll probably play with him again.
Chick Corea has been added to the list of performers at the Grammy Awards. Also on the list are 50 Cent (yawn), Celine Dion (the horror, the horror), the Foo Fighters (could be decent), Alicia Keys (also could be interesting) and Richard Marx (did someone lose a bet?).
The guy who invented the Ctrl-Alt-Delete combination on DOS systems retired from IBM today.
""I may have invented [Ctrl-Alt-Delete], but Bill [Gates] made it famous," Bradley said."
R. Kelly and Michael Jackson are not going to be allowed to be in contact with each other at the upcoming Grammys. Apparently, there's some concern that they might share tactics on luring children into their, um, embrace.
James Brown has got himself arrested. Again. I wonder how long it will be until the "Free James Brown" t-shirts of the late 80's will make a recovery?
--Update--
Wow, I think that James has been to the Nick Nolte school of grooming.
Tonight, I caught Garaj Mahal at the State Theatre. It was my first time for both -- I've never seen or heard Garaj Mahal before, nor have I ever set foot in the State Theatre.
Garaj Mahal is comprised of Alan Hertz on drums, Eric Levy on keys, Fareed Haque on guitar and Kai Eckhardt on bass. I'll openly admit the only reason why I decided to see this show is because I wanted to catch Kai playing. I played with him briefly while I was studying under him, but it's a very different thing to see someone playing out on their own as opposed to imparting knowledge.
First, some words about the State Theatre itself. It's a pretty well done place, art deco architecture and decor, and it reminds me rather much of a few Cinema/Drafthouses I have been through. They had an interesting choice of entertainment in between acts, though. A movie screen scrolled down from behind the top curtains and then actually ran a reel of bands that would be playing there soon (Coming Attractions, I suppose).
Garaj led out with a strong, pocket groove. Alan laid down a monster pocket and didn't let up for the entire evening (J.D. would have been proud of this guy). He and Kai locked in early and stayed tight all night. The band has an overall jazzy feel to it, which fits with the backgrounds of both Fareed and Kai. I noticed a number of songs were in odd time signatures (5/4, 7/4 and one that was either 9/4 or 17/8 -- I sort of lost it for a bit). There's a heavy jam band component, though, particularly in the segues between songs.
They did take a short break. When they got back, Alan was doing some interesting techniques on the drums. He held in his hand a cymbal hanging on a string that he would bounce a stick between the hanging cymbal and other instruments on his kit. He also was doing this "pull-off" -like technique on the high hat that was really well done. Garaj saved their more interesting music for the end of the second set. For those who left early, you really missed out.
Some words on Kai (since I am a bass player, you'll have to forgive me when that's my focus). He has such a nice feel when he plays; he's a kind a giving guy, and that comes through in his playing. His technique is such he mostly plays fingerstyle, but when he thumps, he only single thumps. I've gotten so used to seeing Victor and Anthony double thump that seeing well done, quick single thumping was a nice change of pace. I noticed that he doesn't look at his hands much, particularly when soloing. And, speaking of soloing, his solos were elegantly phrased, blending high octane runs with dynamic emoting.
Would I go and see Garaj again? Yeah, I probably would. The band I would compare them to is the Flecktones; a jazz foundation, lots of other influences thrown in on top. They are not the same at all, but they mine a similar vein. Garaj played some funk, some jazz, some Celtic music, some blues, some gospel -- in short, all the things that make jam bands fun. You never quite know what's going to be next. I also picked up their studio album while I was there. More on that in the near future.
There was an opening band. I suppose I should say a few things about them as well.
The opening band was G13 from Ocean City, MD. Their sound seemed to be a cross between Phish and the Allman Brothers, just without either's passion or depth of musicianship. Well, truth be told, only the lead guitarist sounds like that. He had a complete Dickey Betts rip-off going on, and that's just about all he did. Both singers left quite a bit to be desired: the bassist's was too nasally and whiney, while the guitarist's was way too much a whiskey voice for what he was trying to sing.
Actually, the only highlight of the set was the drummer, who had nice chops and a good feel. The kit drummer, I should specify. I can only surmise the percussionist is a good friend of the band or a family member, because he added almost nothing sonically. The only thing that he did add some movement on stage. For this band, that will have to pass as stage presence.
Overall, the band suffered from the general curse of low- to mid-level jam bands -- songs that last forever (their shortest one clocked in at 16 minutes) without going anywhere or saying anything.
Two new ones for Classic Cafe in Manassas are on the books. There are some tenative ones still hovering out there; hopefully, there will be some confirmation soon.
Starpolish has an interview with accomplished bass player Billy Sheehan. Regardless of your opinion of Sheehan's playing (I think he's good, but overhyped), the interview is an interesting and worthwhile read. Some good points about the music business in general:
"I think the rule still holds true that if you're a good live band and you... if you live by the record deal you die by the record deal. So if you live to make a record and that happens and you don't sell 20 million for each of the next five releases -- which is pretty unlikely -- then you're doomed. But if you depend on your live show, your live performance and what you can do live and what people come to see you for, then you're generally going to be OK. ... [They] remember me performing -- not so much as a recording artist, but as a performing artist. So I like to urge players to really develop that aspect. I remember when Van Halen got signed in California -- as the story goes, Warner Bros couldn't not sign them because they were selling out 2,000- and 3,000-seat venues. So they were thinking, 'If we don't sign them, someone else will.' "
And bass playing specifically:
"...I grew up a club player in Buffalo, and that's my most natural element. It's easier to translate that to a stadium than it is to translate that stadium vibe to a club. I can go nuts onstage and have a riot in a stadium a lot easier than I could do my stadium shtick in a club. I can't do it without eight roadies and 50 racks of gear."
Something that he and I will agree upon: Roadies are good things to have.
Mike Stern's latest album These Times does not seem as strong to me as his previous outing. Don't get me wrong; the disc is certainly competent enough, with rock solid performances both by Stern and his supporting musicians (Will Lee, Victor Wooten, Dennis Chambers, Bela Fleck and Richard Bona just to name some of the cast).
The disc opens up with a late 70's blues/funk melody over a syncopated Latin-ish rhythm. The two follow up songs promenently features Bona for a mellow, together feel (and Fleck's banjo work on I Know You adds a graceful counterpoint to both Bona's singing and Stern's guitar work). The album wanders from a bluesy feel, to world influences, to bebop and again. It's almost a sampler of sorts, held together by Stern's cohesive playing style.
80's band Tears For Fears are coming back with a new album in April. Their biggest hit probably would have been either Shout or Everybody Wants To Rule The World (both from the Songs From The Big Chair album). For me, though, their best tune was Woman In Chains.
I've added Billboard magazine to the links; It's kind of the granddaddy of music rags, but there's still some good info there (as well as charts, for those who like that kind of stuff).
Since Alex's little incident with the police down in Florida, the promised Rush tour of 2004 is starting to look a bit in doubt.
Florida state prosecutors this week said they would make a decision on whether to charge the guitarist in two weeks time. Among the charges he could face are aggravated battery on deputies, resisting arrest with violence and disorderly intoxication - if found guilty of all three he could face a jail sentence.
Depending on the speed with which charges went through court that could affect Rush's up coming 50+ date world tour due to start in May.
Commenting on the case Brent Batten - crime writer with Florida newspaper Naples Daily News, commented: "Any felony conviction could jeopardise [sic] the tour scheduled for this year. The reality of the situation serves as a cold slap in the face to Rush fans confident a rich rock icon with a clean record and top-notch defence lawyers would get off with a light sentence, possibly in the form of a community service concert in our own back yard."
Thanks to Marty for the tip.
I found this in a local music shop; just thought I'd pass it along for local DC bands.
FREE Studio Time!! The Studio Recording Technology Program at the College of Southern Maryland is in search of bands for our students to record.
Here's the deal, we need rock, blues, country, and jazz bands with good attitudes, very solid players, original music and a lot of patience to be recorded by our students. In return you will receive a CD of your session mixed by one of the course instructors about two weeks after your date.
The studio is in Waldorf and you will need to be available all day on either a Monday or a Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm.
You will need to provide us with a rough tape or cd of the song you want to record. The instructors will evaluate it to determine if you fit what we are looking for.
If you are interested, contact me, and I'll give you the info you need (I didn't want to put the guy's phone number on the web...).
Actually, it was me this time. I was driving out to Manassas for a rehearsal with JoS. We were planning on trying out a potential lead guitarist. As I was driving down 66, noticing that the interstate is covered with white stuff, the forecast was for one to three inches of snowing turning to freezing rain and the temperature was already at 26 degrees (and heading south), I decided that driving out might be okay, but back would probably be dangerous. Hence, I pulled the plug. Maybe I'm a wimp, but why take chances?
Lame, misogynistically insulting Circuit City ads notwithstanding, it seems that women actually spend more money on technology than men do. Maybe all my brother's protests about how his wife was the one that wanted the big screen TV the size of Nebraska were actually true....
Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno have announced a new way to let artists sell their music online rather than only through record labels.
[Gabriel and Eno] call the plan the "Magnificent Union of Digitally Downloading Artists" - or MUDDA.... "Unless artists quickly grasp the possibilities that are available to them, then the rules will get written, and they'll get written without much input from artists," said Eno.... By removing record labels from the equation, artists can set their own prices and set their own agendas, said the two independent musicians, who hope to launch the online alliance within a month.
I'm glad that they're getting on the bandwagon; hasn't Prince (or whatever he's calling himself these days) been doing this for a few years now? In any case, more avenues and options are almost always a good thing.
Last night, VH1's Band Reuinted show put Kajagoogoo back together to play their two hit songs. For one thing, I had no idea these guys had any other hits beside "Too Shy". For another thing, I still like the bass line from "Too Shy". It was interesting and really pedalled the song forwards.
I think that once the series is complete, I'll probably do a post on all the things I learned from watching 80's bands get back together....
There's an interesting article about rising record royalities in the NY Times. Unlike the RIAA, the royalty groups do not view the web as a bogeyman, but rather as a good thing:
"After tracking radio and television and cable for all of these years, suddenly you're tracking something much bigger than all of that put together," Ms. Preston said of the Internet.
"Where I think a lot of other people in the business were spending time with lawyers trying to find ways to sue everybody,'' she said, "it was pretty clear to us that the public had accepted all of this new technology. There was no way to kill it even if you wanted to. So, you might as well get out there and embrace it and find out how you can license it and how you can collect from it."
Thanks to Eric for the pointer.
-- Update --
Kevin Doran also has some thoughts on the subject, and he points towards a standardization effort in Europe to get royality rates more uniform and less Byzantine.
Looks like I won't be studying with Anthony today; the weather's sufficiently bad in Waldorf, MD that the stores in that part of the world are closing down. Too bad, it would have been nice to go to lessons today (particularly since Anthony's going back out on tour for a few weeks), but safety comes first.
I also would have liked to have picked up another set of Fodera strings, but I suppose I'll have to go online for that.
Here's a good reference website if you want to know about free speech (or, more accurately, the arbitrary limitations placed on "free" speech) on various college campuses (or is that campi?) throughout the US.
Thanks to Glen for the pointer. And to Eugene for pointing out a particularly laughable restriction at Macalester College (which bans speech that aggravates another).
I got a delivery from Tour Supply in yesterday. For those of you that haven't heard of this place, I'd recommend it for performing musicians. They specialize in carrying all the small things that you need to get through gigs. For example, I just received a few rolls of gaffer's tape (much like duct tape, but not so sticky when you pull it up, so it's okay to use on cables and cords), a brick of nine volt batteries and some velcro cable ties.
Stop by and check them out, and tell them that I said "Hi"...
MediaCatch has hosed me again. Something like seven posts from today and two or three from yesterday have just disappeared. I think this makes the third time in five days that they have refreshed the MySQL databases (which have the net effect of wiping out any work I might have done in the interim). Not that I'm annoyed or anything.
I don't even know what to do about it; I have to put up with them for a few more months (then the contract is over). We'll see what happens then.
--Update--
I found the backup I made at work before I left yesterday, so the posts are back up.
Due to ice, snow and general nastiness, I'll not be rehearsing with DH/CC tonight. Oh well....
Neil Peart (the amazing drummer of the band Rush) speaks about his process for writing lyrics. Some of Neil's thoughts:
Writing lyrics is a tremendously demanding form of discipline; it requires precision. I don't like lyrics that are just thrown together, that were obviously written as you went along, or the song was already written and the guy made up the lyrics in five minutes. I can tell. Craftsmanship speaks. I'm not happy with spontaneity musically either. ... We do have improvisational periods during sound checks and we record them and at the end of the tour we sift through them and look for anything that happened that was magic. And there are ideas that we can mine out of that, taking advantage of the spontaneity of one day's mood. But to go on stage and expect people to indulge you; that doesn't work. I prefer organization.
The craftsman in me likes the thought here (take time to make it right, plan out the progress of the tune in advance), but the jazz guy in me screams bloody murder at the thought of removing both improvisation and winging it. To me, part of the excitement of live music is that it does change from night to night. Too much of either extreme tends to be a bad thing.
The NY Times has an interesting article about the decreasing ability of radio to create new musical stars. Yep, the Buggles were right, and video has killed the radio star.
"Every single time [Josh Groban] goes on television, you can bank on the fact that the next day his album is No. 1 on Amazon," said Diarmuid Quinn, the executive vice president of Warner Bros.
While this surprise one or two people, it seems that more poeple in America tune into TV than they turn on a radio. Although, I would hazzard a guess that particular turning point came a decade or so ago...
I added Kurt Hanson to the links over on the left. He puts up a lot of good information and news about the music industry. I'm not a big fan of the way his site is laid out, but that's his particular cross to bear. Drop by and tell him hi for me....
--Update--
I also added StarPolish. This site is targeted more at musicians, trying to help promote and distribute as well as just handing out advice.
With Mike Stern's upcoming show at Blues Alley looming, I've been trying to familiarize myself with more of his repertoire. I've been listening to his prior album Voices for a few days, and I do like what I'm hearing. The overall feel of the album is reminiscent of Pat Metheny's work -- much more so than Stern's earlier outings.
Stern is pretty clearly walking down the world music street; and that's just peachy with me, as I rather like world music. Featured heavily in the first two tracks on the disc is Richard Bona, an artist from Cameroon who is quickly becoming one of my favorites. Elizabeth Kontomanou and Phillip Hamilton round out the vocal work for the remainder of the album.
Some highlights:
It's snowing in DC, there's about four inches on the ground and the nation's capital resumes it's annual brain fade about winter weather.
Personally, I don't get it. I grew up in the mountains; four inches would be regarded as a light day and not worth waking up early over. Around here, every grocery store for twenty square miles has been completely cleaned out of milk, bread, toliet paper and disposable diapers. And don't even think about driving through the streets.
Winter drivers tend to fall in one of two camps: the ones that drive like they're trying to dodge the flakes and the ones who think 'since I got that spiffy four wheel drive, I can cruise down these side roads at sixty miles an hour'. Both of these drivers tend to end up in the side of the road, usually after some low grade vehicular incident.
--Update--
I'm looking out the window of my office to the streets of DC and I notice two things:
1) The sidewalks are completely clear and probably have enough salt on them to cover all the pretzels sold at a Yankees' game.
2) The streets are completely white and will probably be a solid sheet of ice by 7pm this evening.
It looks like JoS's last performance is going to end up paying out quite nicely. Rich rang me up to tell me that we will probably be getting three to five gigs as a result of Saturday night. More to come as things firm up.
Today, we went over the five songs for the upcoming demo, just working on tightening them up. One of the more recent songs is getting most of the attention (naturally). Structure is a good and necessary thing, since it helps everyone know what's going to be happening and the plan accordingly. We as a group haven't been playing together long enough to be able to feel when each of us are going to do something; until that time, we need the structure to be able to keep things together.
Tonight, Jar Of Souls opened for Harlen Simple and Oddbox at Sharpshooters. This was the first time I had ever set foot in this particular establishment, and it was a pretty decent place. The crowd was good -- young, energetic and open to the music.
The show was a fundraiser for a friend of Harlan Simple's that passed away earlier this month. I think that enough money was raised to cover the bills and expenses. I do hope that is the case.
We played pretty well (excepting two songs for which we pretty much completely checked out). It seemed like we were getting a good reaction from the audience. Afterwards, I heard quite a few compliments as I was working the crowd.
I went through yet another set of strings on Thank You This is the third set in a rather short period of time; this one didn't last nine days. It's always the G string, too. I'm thinking that either I'm plucking way too hard or I have something physically wrong with the bridge on my Fodera. I suspect that it's probably the former in this case.
And, just to finish out the litany of woes, I tore off part of my finger nail. And I did it on our reggae version of Feel Like Makin' Love. Lately, I've been trying to play it more palm-mute style, to get a better reggae feel. That results in my hand being at a strange angle to the strings. Tonight, the end product was tearing off the outside half of my index finger nail. I got lucky, though; it didn't bleed during the show and I could tear off the ripped portion fairly easily.
I picked up another Sennheiser digital wireless unit a few days ago and it just got in today. It wasn't that I either really needed it or wanted it; it was just that it was on a deep discount for being "blemished". Since they don't make these things anymore, I thought it would be a good idea to maybe pick up some extras for parts (in case I have to cannabalize parts). I also went ahead and order the rackmount kits for both units from Sennheiser. I suppose that when they get in, I'll be rewiring my rig...
Tomorrow's show is actually a benefit for a friend of Harlen Simple's who died recently. The proceeds will go towards helping defray the funeral costs.
Tonight, we're taking the night off. We're going to try and get some rest and relaxation before tomorrow night's show.
All in all, this is probably a good thing. I starting to think that I've been overplaying these last few weeks. Burnout may be setting in. Playing with the variety of people that I do helps, but I'm starting to wonder if that's not part of the issue. One of the concerns that I have is that I don't feel like I have enough time to focus on my own playing and my own writing.
For those who haven't quite seen this website before, there's a hoax site about treating a kitten like a Bonsai tree. It's a joke, people. Not a particularly good one, but a joke none the less. For some reason, the British version of the ASPCA sees a need not only to respond to this issue but to also call for the regulation of speech on the web. Now that's something that's not at all funny.
The Royal Society is well within their rights to criticize the people who put up the Bonsai Kitty site; the best answer to bad speech is good speech. Calling for banning the site not only is an immoral thing to do, it actually will backfire on the Society's intention (I can promise you that I would neither have written about the site or even gone there without first having read about the Society's call for "cleaning" up the web).
Thanks to Eugene for the pointer.
Rich just rang me up to let me know that JoS was just on DC101 (in a commerical, not as a song). Not quite cause for a ticker tape parade, but it's still nice when it happens....
I finally got around to reworking the media page. Now, there's more than just a bunch of pictures. As soon as I can, I'll add some sound bites as well (I have to configure the software first). In the meantime, feel free to check out my list of "Essentials".
--Update--
I added two more CDs to the Essentials page. I neglected both Larry Graham and Flea; I'm going to chalk that up to being tired.
Also added is a textual nav bar at bottom of each page. Hopefully that will help make your experience here even more blissful than it already is.
Tonight, we just ran through a few doubters before the show on Saturday. One of the nicer things about playing with the same people for a long period of time is that not as much work is required to maintain the same level of performance. All in all, that's a good thing; it should free us up to be able to focus on newer and better things.
As a side note, Joe will not be joining us on Saturday. Which is too bad, I would have liked to have played with him.
Eric has put up an interesting post about the web, the music industry and live music. I think that this could be a good trend, and one I would like to encourage.
Just speaking personally, I tend to prefer live recordings over studio recordings. It's been my experience that someone can Pro Tool their way to perfection in the studio (Jennifer Lopez/Brittney Spears anyone?). But live, there's nowhere to hide. Not only is the performance more honest, there tends to be more energy to the music itself.
VH1 is running this series where they track down defunct bands from the 80s and try to get them to reform for a one night stand. Yesterday, VH1 "reunited" the 80s band A Flock Of Seagulls. It had probably been twenty years since the original members played with each other, and it showed. But the main thing was the singer. Apparently, he's still touring with a band called A Flock Of Seagulls (he's the only original member). If you get the chance to see them, don't. His voice (never all that strong to begin with) sounds completely ragged out and worthless. I was embarassed for him, listening to him mangle "I Ran" and "Space Age Love Song".
I found a new site that caught my interest today and added it to the links on the left of the page. Drop by, check it out, and say "Hi" to Kevin for me.
This is an interesting article about linking in general and blogs in specific. Worth a gander. (Tip o' the hat to Glenn for the pointer)
Tonight, Matt rejoined us for a rehearsal and a new guitarist sat in as well. It's been almost a month since we last played with Matt, so there were definitely some cobwebs to knock off. Joe (the new guitarist) sat in and pretty much picked everything off the cuff (either he already knew it or faked his way through it). We closed with an Alice In Chains song (No Excuses, I think) that he knew and Matt and I just faked our way through. A fun time, though. Hopefully, we'll all get tighter before the show on Saturday.
Richard Bona's latest release Munia: The Tale has been on almost constant play in my CD player for about the last two weeks. I'm only now getting around to writing about because I've just been enjoying it too much to try and put things into words.
Much like his last work, the album opens with an acapella invocation and then leads into a joyous Kalabancoro (which also has Salif Keita sitting in on vocals). Actually, the whole CD brims with joie de vivre. Engingilaye is another tune that resonates with sheer exuberance, and Balemba Na Bwemba drives home a strong groove. Bona has been a good (if underrated) bass player for years, and on this album, he finally opens up in the closing track (Playground) to let some of his ability shine through.
Sung almost entirely in his native language of Douala, Bona sings, arranges, composes and plays his way through a melange of world styles (rumba, bossa nova, even a little rock). Not jazz for the hardcode be-bop folk, but high quality jazz nonetheless.
In today's Washington Post, there was an article about the legal online music file trading sites. It seems that lots of people aren't all that happy with the legal alternatives, since one site won't have the same selection as the other site, site A will only sell the entire album, site B has Public Enemy, but only the B sides.
"It is fairly easy to buy a song, but it can be much harder to find a song worth buying. That is why unauthorized services, such as Kazaa and LimeWire, still have millions of users, despite the music industry's lawsuits designed to stop unauthorized sharing."
Throw this in with the normal business wrangling (royalities, advances against sales, etc.) and it's small wonder that this is not going anywhere and the less than legal places are flourishing.
-- Update --
And just in time to help muddy the waters, the RIAA files another smattering of lawsuits today.
Something that I learned from Anthony yesterday; Victor's shows at the 9:30 and the Funk Box both sold out. Congratulations, guys.
We had one of our rare weeknight rehearsals tonight. We mostly went over the songs for the demo, as well as fleshed out one of the newer songs. Working on the structure of the tunes is always a fun time.
This is probably just me being a bit behind the times, but Opus is back in print! One of my favorite cartoon strips from my younger days was Berkeley Breathed's Bloom County. This Sunday, I was picking up some Chinese food and decided to skip the Sunday comics. On the front section of the Washington Post's comic pages was Opus, in all his penguin glory. Now, if only I could find where the strip would be online, I'd be all sorts of happy.
Tonight was the first time in something like a month that I rehearsed with Douglass and Christine. Tonight, we had another guitarist sitting in. He added an interesting dimension to the music. We had to stop a few times and deconstruct the songs to find the best way to fit in his approach to the tune, but I think it was largely worthwhile.
After we played for a bit, we talked about business for a while. I suggested that they start to look around and see if they can't get an opening slot or two, just to try and play out, get a bit more known.
Thanks to a suggestion from Rob, I've redone the gear page. Check it out and tell me if you like it better or worse.
There's an interesting article/prediction on the future of classical music recordings out today. The author's thoughts dovetail with some of the business details I read in Pressman's book on the music business. Personally, I'd hate to see this kind of music disappear from the stores, but that's just me.
(Thanks to Eric for the pointer).
Dennis Chambers has finally released his own solo CD. I was completely blown away by his playing when I saw him at Blues Alley last year. I have been looking to get a recording of his playing since then, so when I saw his solo CD Outbreak, I jumped at the chance to pick it up. I have not been disappointed. Chambers is a master of his kit and it shines through on every cut of the disc.
I've gone through the disk about three or four times now, and it's got a good funk/jazz groove going on. The tunes have a very strong late 70's funk feel to them. Some stellar people sit in on the disk (Gary Willis, Will Lee, John Scofield and others).
The stand out song on the disc has to be Groovus Interruptus. Within two measures of the start, the urge to nod your head to the beat cannot be denied. Other standout tunes are Roll Call (which has a nice drum break by Chambers towards the end), Paris On Mine (great groove and laid back feel) and Baltimore, DC (nice go-go like groove to it). In Time is a good walk through time signatures (4/4, 9/8, 17/8 are there, maybe one or two more).
Outbreak is a well titled album. Chambers has been famous for years with jazz musicians; maybe this CD will help his popularity grow to a wider audience.
Things just didn't work out. Instead
, I spent a good bit of time looking for some good locations for photographs that I'll probably be taking tomorrow. Here's an image of the Potomac River that I took while I was out. The river froze up in an interesting fashion.
The Indigo Girls (one of my favorite groups) are about to release a new cd. Their last one was one of the best they have put out in years, so expectations for this next album are running pretty high.
Norah Jones' cd completely blew me away when it came out; while it was sort of a throwback to halycon torch song jazz days, it was an extremely well down throwback. She also has a new album in February, and I'll looking forwards to picking it up as well.