Subbing for Charley at Mt. Bethel UMC and a Steely Dan Tribute at The Velvet Room

Let's start with the evening, a seemingly one-off night of various musicians coerced into forming rotating lineups and replicating the dense patchwork of Steely Dan music.  I was into this, as it was my first invitation to play at The Velvet Note, a highly respected jazz venue tucked away in Alpharetta.  The gig came about with little more than a week's notice.  Here's a link that should be around a while, for posterity:

http://thevelvetnote.com/the-consummate-steely-dan-jam/

The Consummate Steely Dan Jam

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24TH

THE CONSUMMATE STEELY DAN JAM

STARRING THE BADASH ALL-STAR TEAM

Do you love Steely Dan as much as we do?  Katy Lied…Gaucho…Aja….Peg…the list goes on and on!  THIS is your chance to spend an exhilarating evening celebrating the music of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker as Steely Dan celebrates over 40 years in music.  This is a feast for the listening ear that grew up on this great music and appreciates live performance.  Scheduled musicians include Will Hollifield on Saxophone, Mac Isseks on Saxophone, John Hancock on bass, Adrian T. Ash on Drums and Tom Olsen on Keys and vocals galore!

Are you a musician who loves to play Steely Dan and would care to sit in?  Contact Bandleader Adrian T. Ash at ashadria@gmail.com

About Adrian T. Ash:  A graduate of the School of Music at Georgia State University, artistic director and bandleader Adrian Ash has been active as a bassist and percussionist in the metro-Atlanta area for over 25 years.  Adrian plays in several different bands in the Atlanta area, including a jazz band, a blues band, a bluegrass band, a few different variety/cover/party bands, A Dave Brubeck tribute band, and a Simon & Garfunkel/Solo Paul Simon tribute band.  His jazz group, Bad-Ash Allstar Team (BAAT), features many of Atlanta’s finest musicians in a multitude of genres.

Jam times:  7:30pm until 11:00 pm           Admission:  $10   Food and Drink Specials!!

**************  SOLD OUT!!  SOLD OUT!!  SOLD OUT!!************

Crazy.  So many folks involved: Adrian Ash (it wouldn't have happened without this fellow, and he learned a lot of tunes in a short amount of time), Lefty Williams (ace guitar, with an especially nice take on Kid Charlemagne), Trenton Sicola (lead vocals after Jeff left, and he was brilliant), George Price (he works as Santa Claus this time of year, but is an excellent guitarist), Mark Michaelson (vocals alongside Trenton, he is a mster of ceremonies and brings a feel good spirit to any event), Arthur Turner (wonderful technique on the piano, he played near the end when we did Black Cow), Reese Boyd (a young gun who slayed it on Bodhisatva and Show Biz Kids), Guy Fenocchi (charted Third World Man which I made an unfortunate blunder in - I woe ya Guy, 'cause that was a great chart for a real nice late-career tune of theirs), Steve Mays (perfect bass lines, and he memorized all of them), Tom Olsen (lots of heart and technique on the piano), William Hollifield (tenor madness, a very skilled player with a wealth of original tunes), Ganesh Giri Jaya (he plays everything and sings well, he ably drummed on some songs he learned just for this, most notably Sign In Stranger), Alan Dynan (Adrian's piano player for many projects, a deft bopper), Mac Isseks (strong sax man), Jeff Fritz (vocals & keys before he had to leave for another gig; also killed it on the drums on Aja), Jason Passmore (woodwinds are his forte, as you well know from reading this blog, Jason and I go back to my Wild Rice days), Frank Capek (great rhythm guitar on Kid Charlemagne, I believe - side note: is he Farrel's father?), um, there may be a few I left out...  It was a case of not really even knowing who I would be playing with from one song to another.

Steve Mays and myself were the bass players, and we traded off more or less every other song.  He helpoed me One neat nugget here is that I played some guitar on 4 of the tunes, I believe.  In fact, I played my Gibson Es-335 guitar on the 1st 2 songs we opened with: Any Major Dude Will Tell You and Bad Sneakers.  Very cool to try to get those parts.  That riff in Any Major Dude is harder than it sounds, especially in terms of getting it to sound smooth.  It's a classic.  I was ready for most of the stuff we tried.  Had to work on several, most notably The Fez.  Too bad we didn't sound that great on  Babylon Sisters, another of my guitar features; I was really looking forward to that one.

There was a lot of comradarie and it was perhaps one of the most organized jam sessions I've ever been a part of.  The Velvet Note is a fantastic club, resembling a comfy long living room.  The manager treated us like stars; she is a true fan of music and made us feel very welcome.  It didn't hurt that we brought some folks in, hey we actually "sold out" the club!  There wasa table near the back that really wanted to hear Razor Boy.  I made a chart for it and was really hoping we could do it.  Love that song, and recently learned that it is indeed upright bass on the track, performed by none other than Ray Brown.  Here's a fun blog to ruminate over regarding Razor Boy.  As I played on perhaps half, maybe 60% of the tunes, I got to hang out for a bit.  One of the best moments was simply quaffing a couple of cold chocolate stouts given to Guy and myself as we found some empty seats near the bar area.  Good to chill with an old friend in the midst of a fun music scene.

Much earlier that day:

I'm tall and my feet are big - size 14, on the narrow side but when they are that hard to find, I'll wear regular (but not wide).  What I'm getting at is Charles has this regular church gig but I get the feeling he is sorely missed when he cannot make it.  Hard to make every single gig when it occurs every week, rain or shine.  Sometimes ya gotta take the vacation.  More often than not, as a musician, ya gotta take that gig that sends your well-meaning self down to the Florida gulf coast, or somewhere else that won't see to it that you sleep a few dozen winks on your steady mattress.  Every so often, but not that often, I get the call from a good friend who needs my services to cover his service duty.  He subs for me in similar fashion, so the feeling is mutual.  That's a very long roundabout way of saying that he has big shoes to fill, even for my 14's.

Crazy 7 page charts with triple staves and hen-scratched notes and me confounding the time signature make for a less-than-ideal rehearsal.  I gave it the ol' college try (thanks Gus, I am in debt to you for bringing that back to the forefront of my conscious).  I tried hard and rehearsed on my own, but it still made me sweat a bit.  These tunes are not cookie cutter songs like I see in other venues, and the leader has big ears (and quite a confident technique, I must say).  Everybody is gracious, especailly my old sparring partner David B. Freeman.  The drummer Phil was very much on my side, going to the trouble of getting in touch with the regular guitarist Dustin Cottrell (out of town with Charley on a gig) to write down the changes for the closing tune.  It gave me a bit of strength.

 We found a good common ground and made the hard stuff coalise into a mellow moment.  My earbuds were empty, as I could not coax any level from the headphone mixer/amp.  Nobody else was using it, so I guess it just wasn't getting any signal.  Next time I should bring a small amp - the DI isn't enough. Still, I gave it my best and I know they were glad to have their regular guy the following week - who wouldn't?

Photo courtesy of David Freeman

The Georgian Terrace Part II: The Middle Child Syndrome

It's like this: the middle show of the three was a bit non-descript, but there are a few interesting items of note.  For the announcement of the wedding party, we played The Who's Who Are You, which is one of those tunes that doesn't get called too often.  The groom was very specific about what he wanted to hear, with an emphasis on the intro, verses, choruses, and especially the quiet part where the drums lay out leading into the triumphant power chords.  It was instrumental except for the chorus parts.  Sounded decent, with Anton covering the intro synth part.  We actually had a rehearsal to work out the arrangement.  Another tune we ran through was the vintage Prince funk of I Want 2 B Your Lover (I don't think he wrote his words like that back then, but it felt right to do in 2013).  I had to review the vamp at the end - it's always something.  Also played The Fugees version of Killing Me Softly, which I learned is played a half-step down from the Roberta Flack original.  I also learned that it is easy to mess up my place in the tune.  Just remember that the chorus begins on Em and that the verse begins on Am!  It begins and ends with the chorus, although the bass doesn't come in until the first verse and it just hits the roots... "One time..."

Keep Holding On: Last Call at Coldbrews

This was a great event on one of our favorite stages, at Coldbrews in Roswell.  The stage is actually an enhanced stage by the other-worldly talented Ira Kramer, vocalist/drummer with the Alt-Rock Jangle Heartthrobs who go by the moniker Last Call.  The band encourages you to like them on facebook, so why not give it a go?  The event was a celebration of life for a young man who left us way to soon: Jesse Morgan Fryer.  His family was present to honor his legacy and to accept donations for French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts, a summer camp program located in the Catskill Mountains of New York that Jesse truly enjoyed attending.  His mother Rhonda gave a lovely speech and was so gracious to everybody.  I found her to be one of the strongest women I've every encountered.  My heart goes out to this family.

We performed with the intent on bringing in new tunes, some very appropriate for this occasion and some just recently reworked because we love the music.  It was a blast to feature several Beatles tunes in the show.  Farrel lent her considerable vocal chops to Hey Jude, Let It Be (both featuring David's previously secretive piano skills), Getting Better (much better with Farrel singing with us and I feel better with that rather odd McCartney bass line that skirts around the chords like no other line), and Nowhere Man (cool backup vocals and ringing, trebly guitar breaks).  We also offered up I've Got a Feeling (with yours truly and David swapping the leads that Paul and John did on the rooftop of Apple Records so many years ago) and a freshly honed Junior's Farm (nailed that dramatic coda).  Did I leave any out?  We know a bunch of 'em!  Also fired through some alternative nuggets: (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding featuring Karl on his vocal debut (awesome performance Karl!);  Keep Holding On with Farrel keeping it together in this emotional tribute to the Fryer family;  There She Goes, which is our take on Sixpence None The Richer's take on The La's classic ode to the Lou Reed/Velvet Underground golden oldie;  Because The Night, rightfully belted out by Farrel in another reconstructed number we've been kicking around for a while now - sometimes these classic tunes just need to gestate a bit until they're ripe and ready.

I probably practiced for this gig more than any other time for this band, other than perhaps the first time I got together with them.  I worked on several tunes, the Beatles stuff taking a bit of time, of course.  I was happy with my part on If It Makes You Happy, in which I utilized my pedalboard's pitch shift capability to mimic a Telecaster-equipped Parsons-style B-bender for those country-fried licks in the 2nd and final verses.  I really worked on the cool, delicate picking motif for There She Goes, but in the heat of the moment I couldn't muster up the strength to get it out.  Too bad, because that is such a neat hook.  I need to employ a capo to cop a g note (on the C string of the NS/Stick).  Perhaps next time?  I was glad to finally have my solo in No Matter What audible, although I may have greased up the tone a bit too much.  I need some gain to generate the slide tone, but perhaps I could come off the distortion a bit.  I also had volume issues and it got to be a problem.  I think it's a tough balance when we are all monitoring ourselves and need to keep a proper mix just for the sake of hearing everything.  We'll keep at it and I do believe it improves each time.  We attempted a lot of new music this evening and we succeeded on delivering it in a promising fashion.  Everybody worked very hard on this, up until we bid adieu from the gates of Falkenstein Studios.  So you in 2014!

Sunday Subbing at Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

Through a friend of a friend, I am blessed to play bass at morning services here every once in a while.  The Lutheran Church of the Resurrection on Paper Mill Road in Marietta welcomes people from all backgrounds to worship.  The Sunday band is led by Helen Weiss Phelps.  Helen is brilliant on the organ and all keyboards.  She always greets me with a big smile and makes me feel like I haven't missed a week.  She is very detail oriented and provides the sheet music so that I can simply come in and read it down.  The charts are very clear, as opposed to some that I have had trouble with in the past.  A close comrade on the drums is Ron Russell, who plays regularly with Atlanta's own Men In Blues.  Ron is very solid and supportive of me.  Great to have an allie when I'm the odd man out.  He was up early after a late night gigging in Birmingham, AL - he knows I know the feeling!

There's always one tune that needs a bit more attention than the others.  I spend a few minutes going through the road map of 1st and 2nd endings, crossed-out measures, D.S. al coda, and the obligatory key change.  When a chart is over 5 pages, that's when I need to know which pages are read only once and which do I need to see again.  We play 2 services with rehearsals prior to the first one.  The band and choir are great.  I encourage you to check them out during the Praise Services, Sunday mornings at 9:45 and 11:15.

The Georgian Terrace Trilogy: A Platinum Recurrence

As fates would have it, our next three gigs would be in the very same venue in the very same room.  To this day, I still envision our orientation to be what I refer to as width-wise (ie not at the end of the long room, rather on one of the long sides).  That was how we had set up the first couple of times we performed there.  Well, this worked out.  We are the kind of band that has a lot to offer, but we don't necessarily do it quietly.

We had rehearsed the previous Wednesday at Crossover and went over Satellite by Dave Matthews Band.  I'm playing acoustic guitar along with Derek on it.  We've raised it up a whole step to accomodate Virginia's range.  I think the point was to do it as an acoustic number, but the whole band played.  Glen played my bass, as he does on I'll Be.  I'm starting to think we should rethink our stategy and make it a song without the standard rhythm section.  Still, it has that terrific 3 over 4 feel that Gus can do so well, so it really did sound good.  I enjoy my brief moments on guitar and hope we can keep a few of them on the list.

I took the bold step of hauling out the upright for this gig.  I like playing the first set on it I the tunes are mellow enough.  I actually even like playing non-upright tunes on it.  The problem was I had forgotten about feedback issues.  Without a notching eq in line, I was fighting a good bit of boomy howl.  It certainly doesn't help that my amp is virtually right behind the bass.  A lot of no-no's compounded to prevent me from having a relaxed time with it.  I set out to make a makeshift upright mini-pedalboard for the next time I bring it out.  I'm not the only one bringing extra stuff; Anton has a hip new Moog keyboard that gets unreal fat tones.  He also has a new 2-tier stand for his rig.  He set it up facing backwards (a la Miles!) since we were dealing with these massive pillars in front of the stage.  Cool keys Anton!

The first dance was L-O-V-E, Nat King Cole version with Johnny on vocals.  What else is new?  We still do Lovesong, Whatever It Is, Just My Imagination --> My Girl (cool transistion with the bass but we do leave out the very cool bridge of Imagination - need to put that back in there, then a chorus and then jump to the next one), Wake Me Up, Suit & Tie --> California Love, and Marry You by Bruno Mars.  I found a great bass transcription from the SNL performance of Suit & Tie.  It's really well done.  Perhaps with the author's blessings, I could repost it.  I've been trying to get it under my fingers and in my head for a while now.  It's a tough little chart, with a fleet fingered 2-cotave run before the 2nd chorus and has me gasping and marveling at the same time.

Friday Night in the Heart of Downtown

It's just about in the center of the city, this private club where we get to play some blues, some jazz, some rock, really anything we want.  It seems that we always take it a bit safe, but then it is a country club and we have been known to play Radiohead.  How safe is that?  This night we were joined by Pete Orenstein on piano.  As his website www.peteyo.com proclaims, he did indeed throw sparks like a great wizard.  Inside, as we have been all year long, the grand piano is there for his use.  Nice and easy.  We didn't sing this week, since Walt wasn't here.  Setup was brisk and the level was nice.  We stuck to standards, with a few rock numbers for eager crowd.  It was notable that we had some dancers at the very end of the night.  The hot number: that ol' greasy blues from organist Jimmy Smith Back At The Chicken Shack.  I gotta say, when that shuffle is feeling just right, it's the most perfect tune in the world!  Mark nailed it with utter conviction.  Folks know that simple motif and respond to the groove.  Great to end on a high note with the staff and guests proclaiming our keen sense of pacing!  Who knew?