Bandz

I'm pretty sure I've put something up here about my own group, a gtr/bs/dr trio, and I just posted something about the very first jazz band I ever played with. Which leaves this one to cover.

Like any semi-working musician worth his or her salt, I've played with all the bands who'd have me--especially at first, when you're trying to get the experience. After awhile, at least if you're a local musician, you develop your circle of folks you work with regularly, or at least semi-regularly. You're comfortable with them, and they're comfortable with you. And maybe you even have fun playing music together.

And so it is with Dan and Wayne, pictured here. I've been a semi-regular sub for the Dan Rivero Trio since I can't remember when. Many gigs across the years. Getting a picture of us for one(or more)of my sites is something I'd long intended to do, so finally here we go. Dan on drums, Wayne Carter on keyboards and vocals, and on this occasion, myself on guitar. Here's to many more!

Beginnings

This is the first jazz group I ever played in.
The Bob Graham Quartet, from maybe 1968-71(I am the shy young man of 15-or-so holding the bass), with Bob on Tenor Saxophone and Clarinet; Ben Drake, piano; and Bill Waldmire, drums. (Robert "Hoppy" Johnson was the original drummer, and is featured in the Gallery on my "regular musician" site). Ben, who played guitar and bass as well as piano, was my teacher for some years at a local music store. I was originally a guitar student, but also played electric bass, and Ben encouraged me to take up string bass and play in his group.

It was a wonderful experience musically, and I learned a great deal in those three years. We had a running gig for some time at a local restaurant every Friday and Saturday evening, and afterwards I'd stay up all night listening to jazz on the radio(KSD in St Louis!). As a kid living at home, I had no overhead, so all the money I made was spent on jazz albums. Stacks and stacks of jazz albums,by all kinds of artists. Between that, and my Dad's albums, I did quite a bit of listening.

So. This is where it all started for me. Thanks again to Ben, and Hoppy, and Bobby and Bill, for giving me this opportunity.

Bass Restoration

Yep. Those strings go all the way up to Heaven. That's why I couldn't get 'em all in the picture. Well, that and my pisspoor photography.

This is a bass I've had since--the year escapes me but it'd have to be prior to 2006, probably '02 or '03. Ibanez 5-string. I inherited it from who was then the bassist in my quartet, as he'd moved on to a 6-string bass at that juncture.(Kinda half-figured I'd hear from him at some future point, when he would be ready to make that jump from 6 strings to 8. Or 10).

Okay. I'm kidding. Kevin, hope the 6-string is still serving you well. I used to do much bouncing back and forth between the 4-strings and 6(that is, guitar)--actually a preponderance of bass gigs. Though of some Irish extraction, I don't do much dublin as an instrumentalist these days, keeping it pretty much all on guitar. I have played a few gigs on this instrument, though, and it does play well.

I plan on using this bass for my home recording efforts, where applicable. The left-hand bass patches on my Ensoniq have their moments, but sometimes you need the real deal, Neil. So I got this instrument "restored" just today.

Being a dreadful handyman, I revel in every little bit of knowledge or expertise I have. So...took a look at the situation with the bass. No sound. Probably a battery problem, but I can't take the back off, as it requires a special screwdriver. Hmmm. I think they call those Phillips head screwdrivers. Sooo, headed to Wal-Mart for a Phillips head screwdriver(around $2.58)and 2 9-volt batteries(around $3.40). Got the back popped off, changed the battery and- voila!- the bass is once again jammin'.

So I'm looking forward to re-employing the bass on my home recordings. It'd been sitting there dormant for the longest damn time. Until today.


ps Sorry for the groaner awhile back...

Fun stuff

If you're a musician, particularly a musician who plays classical music--and there, especially a classical percussionist--you'll love this. Well even if you're not, it should bring a smile:

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7892849/

Well that's all the music news I have for right now. Dammit, sometimes music just has to take a back seat to the basic business of earning a living- that is, if you earn your living other than making or teaching music. But it's always there, just under the surface.

Hope you enjoy the link.

showbiz no biz

This is my calendar for December. Note the lack of markings on it. Very unusual to not have anything listed on there as far as gigs, but it's turned out that you could shoot a cannon through my December of this year.

Actually that's just fine with me. Last December was just the opposite, with five gigs plus a couple of rehearsals. With the daygig, that's a lot. Or at least that's a lot to an aging curmudgeon like myself. A busy month, after which I seemed to have a Winter vacation from gigs, not to do another one until April.

So we'll see what the tide brings in for this season. One's calendar can change dramatically, from famine to feast--and unfortunately, I've seen it go from feast to famine as well, with a whole month's bookings all cancelling at once. Thusfar, though, you could shoot a cannon through my schedule and the only thing you'd hit would be a warning to myself, posted as a gig announcement, not to play downtown next year during the car show.

We'll see...

R.I.P. Bianca Butthole

Punk. It's not my favorite style of music as far as the sounds(though I've heard some in there that I didn't mind), but I do like the sense of humor behind it. So I do at least enjoy the bandnames, band member aliases, and song titles.

Somehow, as I'm frequently wont to do on the computer, I stumbled onto a band from the 90's, an LA-based girl punk band called "Betty Blowtorch". Pictured here is their bass player/vocalist Bianca Butthole. Other members are Blare N Bitch on lead guitar, rhythm guitarist Sharon Needles and drummer Judy Molish. All of them except for Bianca Butthole were former members of another LA-based group called Butt Trumpet. This group was known for their crass song lyrics, and featured another local musician who called himself Dan Druff.

Let's see.. There was another related group called L7(yes, 50's hipster slang for "square, daddy-o"), who had a couple recordings out, the third of which was called "Waiting for Stink". You can hear an assortment of Betty Blowtorch things online, one of my favorites being the colorful "Shut up and Fuck".

So that's all I know about Betty Blowtorch. Their frontlady Bianca Butthole(actually Halstead)was killed in a car crash back in the 90's, and the band came to an end from there. The others still play, and are in another band, whose name escapes me. I had a friend ask if Blare N Bitch was copyrighted, and I said probably. Love the sense of humor. And the tunes aren't too bad either.

Keep the Customer Happy

They're usually fairly ordinary themselves as musicians, not one of the better players, but they often get the better players to at least give their band an occasional shot- if only by virtue of the fact that they have more gigs to go around. After all, they are, more often than not, one of the busier players. Always seem to be working someplace- even if you have to drive 100 miles to get there.

One such bandleader boasts a 35-year career when he talks to the people on his gigs. Maybe there's no Carnegie Hall performance in there, but still, in terms of pure longevity, something to be said here. Still in there pitching, and still getting hired. Their basic philosophy: give the people what they want. Keep the customer happy.

As a musician, this has never been my basic philosophy. I like to share, to entertain folks, but more out of sharing what makes me happy than giving them what makes them happy.

Man, I sound like a real asshole, don't I? Sometimes when you explain your approach to a situation it illuminates what feels like a basic selfishness. But then, sharing what makes me happy is a more benevolent act, much kinder than sharing something I really think stinks but am pretending to like for your sake as the listener. And more honest. So I'm at least an asshole with a heart. Someplace.

Case in point: my setlist. I try and play for the people there, but there are things I stay away from unless asked to do so. Old warhorses like Satin Doll and The Girl from Ipanema, simply because they're old warhorses. And other tunes for different reasons: Take Five(cliche, not really much fun to play), Yackety Sax(insipid), New York New York(ditto).

I do get hired, for various functions, with the group and setlist I maintain. But I'm sure I'd get hired more often if we played some or all of those tunes I just mentioned. Why? Because that stuff is what the people want to hear!

It will probably never be my personal philosophy, but I gotta hand it to these guys. They keep going, for decade after decade, maybe not playing Carnegie Hall but always working- even if you have to drive 100 miles to get there. Still in there pitching, and getting paid for it. This may never be my approach as a bandleader, but as a sideman, so long as everyone's there to make the best music possible(however the material may challenge that effort), I'm cool with it.

This is all on the heels of a recent gig with such a band. Many different players to come and go, but always a semi-working unit, for at least 40 years. The job was 108 miles out of town, a long drive in clear weather but made damn near interminable having to drive through 3 severe rainstorms to get there. A moderate crowd showed up, undaunted by the rain, so we played the full 3 hours. It was a lot of material I probably wouldn't call on a gig(like Margaritaville), but it was stuff the crowd liked, and kept 'em dancing the whole time.

Huh. Maybe I'll dust of The Girl from Ipanema.

Well, probably not. But I still respect those guys for hanging in there.

Song Lyrics- Who gives a shit?

99.9% of the population, that's who.Particularly if they don't play, and have never played a musical instrument. When they listen to music(for the sake of argument, a group with a vocalist), the lead singer is who they focus on, and what comes out of his or her mouth is what they focus on in the music. Most folks think that the lyrics are the most important element of a song, the real "message". Delivered by the most important individual in the band- the lead singer.

One musician friend has encouraged me to put lyrics to my songs so they'll be remembered. People(well, at least 99 percent of them)tend to remember words rather than melodies, so that gives them something to hang onto. Seems tragic to me that a beautiful melody is all but lost on them. So very sad.

Me, I perceive music in just the opposite way. Not saying my perceptions are in any way "better"- if anything, I guess I have the opposite kind of impairment. I hear the "tune" first, the melody and harmony and rhythmic component. If there are vocals, I listen to the sound of their voice rather than lyric "content". Lyrics are usually all but lost on me, unless they're by Frank Zappa:

You're phony on top,
You're phony underneath
You lie in bed and grit your teeth.

TV Dinners by the pool,
I'm so glad I finished school.

Life's a ball, TV tonight,
Do you love it, do you hate it,
There it is the way you made it.

Great stuff. For some reason, Zappa's lyrics stick in my mind where others just slide right off. His music is pretty memorable too.

Music is the most abstract of the arts, and that's the very thing I love about it. However it makes you feel is its message to you. I like my music just like I like my Quarter Pounder from McDonald's: nice and plain. Unfettered by all those extraneous condiments. Just the pure burger. The pure listening experience. I don't usually like Program Music that's telling you a story you're supposed to follow(gee, what's the puppet doing now?), and loathe most Operas. And I don't generally care for musical comedy or musical theater --again, unless it's by Zappa(Gregory Peccary is one of my favorites!).

To me, there's plenty of beauty, all the beauty I need, in a graceful melody or an infectious rhythmic pattern or a driving bass line. Among other things instrumental. I even like listening to certain voices, their timbre and expressive nuances. But again, it's the sound, not what's being said.

I remember in the mid-80's, being on the road, and hearing our drummer talk about a certain song we were playing. "This song is about the war in Vietnam", he said. Again, I have a sort of aural color-blindness as far as that goes, and had never paid any attention to the lyrics. "What difference does that make to us?" I asked. "It tells us how to interpret the song", was his reply.

As the guitarist in the band, what possible difference does that make in how I play the chords, or how I solo over the chord progression? Am I supposed to be thinking about the Vietnam war while I'm playing? And is that supposed to somehow seep into my approach to the music- which is, again, abstract? Really folks, I'm stumped on that one.

I probably had an expression on my face at that point which read, "what color is the sky in your world?"

Reading this, you're probably thinking, 'what color is the sky in my world' as well. Why blue of course. At least my interpretation of blue.

Lyrics and librettos are just fine in their own right. And so are some vocalists(okay, I probably have a musician's professional prejudice against singers as a group, but do like them individually). It just seems tragic to me that most people miss the great beauty and trenchant expression that's already there in the music without the almighty lyrics. And the almighty vocalists. Try a Quarter Pounder without all that stuff on it and you'll discover it's just fine as is.

Well maybe with a bit of cheese.

The Big Box of Love

It gives me great pleasure to announce the birth of a new CD. The Big Box of Love is now available. You can go here to listen, and maybe even pick yourself up a copy. Several options are available: you can purchase individual tracks, or download all of them as an mp3, or(recommended)buy yourself a hard-copy CD.

Why recommended? Well, two reasons. One, I'm just old-school like that. Two, you can enjoy the cover art, an option not available for you downloaders or pizza-by-the-slice individual track buyers.

Okay then. Here's the address: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/SamCrain

Friday is always a good thing, being the end of the workweek and the beginning of the weekend. But even more so having a new CD to share with the world--or, okay, my little corner of it.