Bumpin' The Mango: 2nd Time's a Charm on Mr. Gill's B-Day

Paul asked me to return for an encore appearance.  Well, why not?  It was every bit as fun and thrilling as the first time around.  This time it was Geoff Gill's birthday, so we had a special lift about the proceedings.  Also, this time they had another sub: Daniel Baraszu, guitarist extraordinaire.  Daniel can play just about anything, from what I heard the other night.  I know he's a master of straight-ahead and any form of jazz or imrov-based music, but he virtually stole the show on this night of horn-driven funk.  The whole band was especially tight.  They all treated me well too: Paul, Kevin, Tom, John, Gary, Tony, Geoff, and vocalist Ian.  I felt much better than I did after my first time here with these funk lovers.  We grooved long a hard, and I was ready when the previously-dropped What Is Hip? was tacked on at the end of the night for a much-requested encore, all 12 minutes of it.  An encore at Cafe 290?  Sure, when the band is this good.  I really hope they have me back again, but I know how it is.  They have a long list of players, yes some even better than me (you know I'm being silly...), that they can draw from.  I kind of like thinking I could be a 2nd or 3rd call in the future.  Ah, wise man once said, "better to not change horses in the middle of the stream."

Benefit for Jason Carter

It was held in Smoke Rise, Georgia during a long stretch of summer storms.  Thankfully, the rain held off on this afternoon.  We were located in the Rece's back yard and they were successful in pulling off this mean feat.  It was inspirational to meet Jason, and as a (hopefully) future teacher, I support his agenda.  He would certainly help the cause concerning school teachers.  We were there to provide a bit of entertainment and make it the event that it was.

What was new?  We batted around a few ideas for songs to play.  We settled on The World Is A Ghetto by WAR.  We used it as a jazzy saxophone feature for Anton, with keys and guitar having a go as well.  No chart to post, but I'll try to come up with one in a bit.  We kept it to 2 chords, Dm7 & Ebmaj7, and that worked very well.  We had some good energy and stamina, playing for nearly the full 2 hours we were slotted for.  We all had a hand in setting up the sound system as well.  Good catered food with barbecue and Asian on the menu.  It was a success!

Benjamin's rig 1

Benjamin's rig 2

Anton's mic

A new look for Mr. Harris

Same ol' looks from me & Professor Melton

Dianna was very pretty in crisp black and white

Clean

A Sultry Evening at Primrose Cottage

Lately, I've been adding these blog postings whenever I get the chance.  usually I'm just so worn out that I don't have the motivation to report very much.  I hope that you hang in there with me, as I will try to up the ante with some better postings.  Unfortunately, this won't be one of them.  On this evening, the 2nd of August, we were a 6-piece with Dianna holding down the front line duties.  When that happens, Glen moves up to the front with his keyboard.  To balance it out and because of the tight space, we had Anton perform up front as well.  That left Ben, Gus and myself in the back.  I knew of the aforementioned space issues so I try to travel light.  You know me, and perhaps you are aware of the trouble I incur when I bring only 1 instrument to the party.  I gotta bring a backup.  This time out, I brought the Johnson acoustic/electric bass guitar.  Being fretless, it gives a nice upright vibe with plenty of mwah and a woody tone with a bright attack.  It's fairly flexible and almost too bright.  The 3-band eq helps.  I have to bring the volume down from 10 to say, 8, as it almost overdrives the input of an amp and distorts.  I installed a soundhole cover which helps greatly to reduce booming feedback.  Planet Waves makes them, as do a few other companies.  Indispensable and it was under $10.  Very rare that something relatively cheap can actually work so well and do what what it claims to do.  So I played that on the first set and my P-bass on the later sets.  My P-bass still had the foam insert from the Bumpin' The Mango gig where I had to play a bunch of Tower of Power and other challenging funk tunes.  That foam is like the classic felt mutes found on vintage Fender basses from the '60's.  It sure takes away sustain, but is effective at adding separation to a rapid series of 16th notes.  I really like it.

This night we had a fairly lame dinner consisting of chicken sliders and some kind of salad.  Not much at all.  Some of the fellas went out for a bite but they were gone almost too long.  I'm glad I didn't go.  I was broke anyways.  I don't need that kind of stress, and plus, I'm getting slow when it comes to changing into my suit.  I think about the recent Louis C.K. standup show on HBO when he talks about tying his shoes and how much effort it takes him.  Or when he's sitting and has to get up for something - too funny!  So everything went well once we got started.  This was one of those parties where the Mother of the Bride tried to show up her own daughter with some kind of feather boa accessory.  I was seriously tempted to lift a slice of peppered roast beef off of the platter while we were standing around watching the couple cut the cake.  I weighed the savory benefits against the shame and certainty of getting caught and kept my grubby fingers to myself.

Earlier in the day, I saw Charles Mishalany post about his gig in Roswell.  Found out he was just a block or 2 up the street from us, playing in tent at the Gardens At Great Oaks.  I sauntered by to a place we have played at before to catch them in the act of a super low-volume rehearsal/soundcheck.  They were playing I Wanna Dance With Somebody.  His bass sounded super sweet.  I am missing something in the tone department when I hear a bass and rig like his.  Dude!  Took some quick pics and got lost - I was clearly not invited to this party!  Charley thanked me for coming by - I had to after our exchanges earlier.

A Night at the Fox: White Wedding and a Celebration

Don't be scared!  We didn't play those songs.  The Egyptian Ballroom was decked out on white drape.  All around.  The ceremony was held in the middle of the room, with the stage draped off to be revealed.  They went all out to make this truly special.  We didn't have to prepare any first dances.  They requested New York, New York as the last dance.  Since Dianna was to sing it, we play it in the Liza key of B so that she can sing it an octave higher (is that right, I think so, we did move it up at the end for the modulation).  It was a great crowd that seemed to want to go all night long.  They even brought out Chick-fil-A biscuits and cute lil' cans of coke with a fancy straw during the final hour.  Also had hundreds of glow sticks and a bunch of big balloons bouncing around the crowd.  My rig performed well and so did I.  They took good care of us, with a real hot meal this time - not the boxed lunch of cold chicken from ATR that we always get here.  Nice.

We were given parking passes for access to the Georgian Terrace deck.  As I walked over to fetch my van, I sauntered past Churchill Grounds.  I peeked in and then recalled that Russell Gunn's Blackhawk Quintet was playing this weekend.  Russell gathers the finest players he can to perform music that Miles laid down on the In Person Friday & Saturday Night at the Blackhawk albums.  The Blackhawk was a famous jazz club in San Francisco, and actually there are quite a few jazz recordings from that venue.  Miles' band at the time had Hank Mobley on tenor saxophone, so I wonder if that has any weight to Russell's preference.  Anyways, I caught 2 tunes, or 1 & 1/2, with the last being Straight No Chaser.  Saw Craig Shaw laying it down as only he can.  Kevin Bales was on piano, but another cat was sitting in on these tunes and I don't know his name.  He had an incredible attack and wicked ideas.  Hung out with Mac Isseks in the back, where I took this long distance shot.  Even though it's grainy and unclear, I think it captures a vibe.  Cool.

Ash Wednesday: Adrian Ash's Birthday Calls For a Steely Jam to Do It Again

And so we did.  Mark it in your calendar app for next year: July 23 is the date.  This year it was held at the ever-hipster-friendly Moon Shadow Tavern in Tucker.  I was surprised at the fine turnout.  I don't like to drop names, but we had some big stars out for this one.  I mean Sam Skelton, Jez Graham, Jeni Michelson, George Price, Jeff Fritz, Steve Mays, Arthur Turner, Ethan Levitt, Markham White, Scott Ritshie, Kathie DeVane Holmes, Todd Ague, Jim Sadler, Philip Buonpastore, Reese Boyd, Robert Henson, Frank Valdez, Tom Gibson, Will Groth, Adam Goodhue, Mark Michelson, Trenton Sicola, Mac Isseks, Bo Emerson, Tom Gibson, ..., and of course, Adrian Ash himself.  I know I left out many great names - apologies.  I don't even know all of these people that well to be listing them like this.  And I believe it's not a lie to say that I was as tired an worn out as I looked in these pictures.  Ah, but the music and the muse called out!  It was a kick to see Sam over there playing his heart out, and in this hippie-fied joint.  We commiserated together.  Good times.

Being the blogger that I am, I shot a few pics at the beginning of the night.  After that, I just got lost in the proceedings.  I think my phone battery was dying anyways.  Just added these up here, for faithful readers who know me well and know I tweak after I post.  Some different views and colors, along with the obligatory selfie.

Adrian allowed me to play some bass and some guitar on this night.  So fun to get back on guitar when I can.  It makes me realize that I am indeed much more comfortable on bass at this point.  Steve brought his fine Genz-Benz rig for us bassists to use.  His P-bass has the punchiest tone.  Then again, so does Rob's.  Hmmm.  Well, I brought my J-bass just to be different.  For guitar, I used my ES-335.   I wish I had brought my guitar rig, so that I knew how to work it.  You'd think it wouldn't be that hard, but I had trouble switching back and forth on George and Reese's setups.  I worked on Rikki's guitar solo perhaps more than any other part, but the amp wasn't turned up enough.  It sure was on other tunes.  I wasn't very keen on the technical aspects that night.  It's too bad.  What a great solo that is - Jeff Baxter made magic on that track.  I enjoyed hearing everybody else's contributions.  Another solo I transcribed years ago was Larry Carlton's solo on Kid Charlemagne.  Apparently, so has many other guitarists!  It's a great one, certainly.  We closed with Deacon Blues, which is one I know really well from years of playing it.  Good to end on a high note.  Well, Adrian did a great job announcing us and being a personable emcee.  I can't think of a better way to spend one's birthday evening.  I was honored to be part of this gathering.

Look at all of these terrific pictures!  All were taken by Sherri White and used with her kind permission.  Thank you Sherri!

Asheville Wedding: The Crest Pavilion Offers a Sweet View (Near the Junction of Water)

Wow, it's been reported that readership is down.  Fools want more out of state trips with some real action and mishaps reported.  If you want action and mishaps, I'm yer guy!  I gotta say.  So here's one fer ya.  Went out of state to Asheville, NC for a wedding function.  The band shall remain nameless.  It is greater than the sum of its parts, we can leave it at that.  This band travels in style and stays over in deluxe accommodations, befitting artists of their stature.  I had to meet the drummer/driver/coordinator/all-around-swell-champion-friend and detail-oriented-to-the-max person at the U-Haul place on Hwy 41 near the North Loop.  From there we ventured East to the singer-guy's place of employment for auto drop-off.  Every band needs a good auto drop-off location for overnight gigs.  I've determined another good place is at Chick-fil-A on JCB just north of where we met.  So we fetched the keys/vocalist awesome-sauce rock star as well and jetted northbound through the rain and other stuff.  Nice Expedition and fine new trailer the lads have at their disposal.  It's always better to ride together, and in style to boot.  One of the gents went up early with kid(s) in tow.

It's like that scene in Wayne's World...

Rainy Day Dreaming

Lunched at Zaxby's and checked into the motor lodge (somewhere near Dillard, GA), then made our way Northeast towards Asheville.  It took a minute but not too long.  Played here at the Crest before.  Load in is fairly easy, although not right at the stage.  A bit of a push.  Easy enough.  Good sounding room.  They opened the windows for an open-aire vibe.  The ceremony was supposed to be outside but it was moved indoors due to some light rain.  It was still very nice weather.  A harpist opened for us; she was perfect in her role with a great songbook and technique.

Yeah, I know, why didn't I get a picture of the lady playing the harp...

Ultra rare rehearsal pics of Chris and ML

Big Time giving me What For!

We rocked out on the standard fare.  House at Pooh Corner was not meant to be in our repertoire.  Everything else was deluxe.  We played a long jazz set with some fine solos all around.  I kept thinking about how well the bride and groom enjoyed themselves.  It was splendid!  We had a good mix onstage and it made for good communication.  These brothers are spot on!  I played a decent amount of fretless and then my Stingray.  Good rig, good system, good room, all over this party!  Lots of good words on the way out.  Apparently, we missed the cue from some well-intentioned fans.  We always do the right thing, and that's think with our heads...

It was a late night and an early morning, as could be expected.  Hardee's both times around!  Why not?  ML took good care of us, getting us home safely.  Thanks Braugh!

Dan takes us to church