I was summoned by Adrian for the opportunity to get there on the stage at Bella's for the 2nd-to-last "Lefty Hosted" Jam session. He's been hosting for 3 long years and some change now - is that right? It turned out to be another of his great theme nights, this one being the music of Steely Dan. Yes, how could I refuse? We had just played some of these songs recently, so the plan was to go with the same three choices: Do It Again, Peg, & Josie. Robert played on Peg, letting me have the other two. I honestly haven't played Do It Again very much. Randy Chapman sings it in the key of Em, but very few attempt to sing it in the original key of Gm, with that high G to the A in the melody. Walter Becker was the bassist on that album, Can't Buy A Thrill. His playing is perfect (why wouldn't it be), and I especially like to note how he alternates playing the low G for 2 bars, then an octave up for 2 bars, then back down again in Do It Again. It didn't make sense to me when I first listened to the bass track, but it's perfect for the part. It was great to see so many other musicians and to reconnect somewhat with the scene.
I will try to update this posting with some names and other good stuff. It's a big ordeal... check back in a few weeks, perhaps for that.
I played Robert Henson's cool new pawn shop prize: a Steve Harris Precision bass. The seller had it labeled as a Steve Martin bass, so he got it for a steal of a deal. It is a great bass with a "mirrored" pickguard and a nice, fat neck. It feels a lot different than mine, that's for sure. Nice sound and a very cool blue finish. Here are some really nice pics taken by some real photographers from the night.
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