The Adrian Ash Group Considers the Fall of Autumn Leaves at Java Monkey

We were under a starry sky in downtown Decatur at the increasingly more fasionable Java Monkey.  They are about to do some renovations (inside), so the next time we play here it may look quite a bit different.  It's been a while for us, as we did not play 2 weeks ago due to Adrian's family being under the weather.  This time out, we were graced with a supreme jazz talent in guitarist Jacob Deaton.  Check him out here.  He had no use for charts, as he is gifted with big ears and an impressive array of standards under his hat.  Fast and fluid, I closed my eyes and imagined I was trying to keep up with George Benson on a night when his voice wasn't working.  Jason Passmore was killing it too.  He started playing Autumn Leaves at a tempo that felt like Seven Steps To Heaven.  As I didn't even hear it being called (my own little world, I suppose), I feel good that I at least knew right off the bat that it was in G minor and not the silly E minor (The Real Book strikes again).  I didn't get lost either, although I may have wandered out of bounds a few times trying to keep the steady pulse and tempo at a constant velocity.  Adrian always has that front-of-the-beat pulse, so he keeps up with no problem.  I went home after work and packed my upright after learning a bit about Jacob.  Maybe that was a mistake.  I try to do the right thing.  It's been an intense few weeks with work starting early and home life keeping the pace.  Not much time for shedding.  The upright could have used some thoughtful warm-ups.  Glad we didn't do too many of our typical fare.  The crowd was warm and considerate, although applause was minimal.  I hope I can hang with this band a bit longer.

These pics below are courtesy of Phil McKenna, an Atlanta-based tape-duplication/video-to-dvd transfer specialist who can do many works of wonder regarding your personal memorabilia.  He has info here to help you: 4 The Boids Mulit Media Services.  He also plays a mean guitar and bass.  Thanks for the pics Phil.

Across From the Bar at Capital City Club: Better Than Sitting Across From Honey Boo Boo

That's where we are, or at least the view as I see it.  I was hoping to be outside, even with the high humidity and not-so-ambient noises.  I feel that we play differently, perhaps better, when we are in the great environs. You know, sounds travels in a more omni-directional manner outside where the walls are minimized.  The traffic disturbances from the ambulances and such on Peachtree can greatly add to the "art" being presented. Well, we were inside, meaning low noise level, grand piano that I have determined to be several cents flat compared to the electronic tuners that Brian and I were using.  Oh, that's right, I haven't even even mentioned that I was with the quartet of doom known as The Billy Batts Ensemble.  I like that moniker since Batts is plural and not possessive, but it could and almost should be.  R.E.M. made it a point to never use apostrophes (Lifes Rich Pageant), sometimes purposely confusing the capitalizations (Reckoning).  At any rate, it was us again: Walt, Brian, Mark, and myself.  I feel honored to be among these guys.  I can call them true friends and not feel too self-conscious about my playing.  Walt has a great technique on the piano.  He also likes to sing and he does a superb job as the lead singer of this band, which is quite a bit of instrumental jazz when we play here at the club.  That's really the point, a jazz quartet (with guitar, not a horn) that can crossover into the jazz-folk, folk-rock, jazz-fusion, and even full on rock if we were pressed to do so.  I think we are going to try the Headhunters' version of Watermelon Man.  Yeah, big news, but I need to get those changes down, I guess.  I love the 10ths on the bass part.  It would be a good one for this band.

Meanwhile, we were all a bit sleepy tonight.  Well, at least Brian and I were.  I had a long night with Spencer and his coughing throughout the night.  As tired as I was from the last 3 nights, I still couldn't sleep that well.  I am generally wound up and if I have a job that absolutely needs to get down, I will make myself alert no matter what my night's sleep really was.  Hoping it is something I can overcome.  So, I played about as well as I envisioned.  It was all a bit understated and pitchy.  We need to see where the tuner falls with respect to the piano next time, that's for sure.  Some highlights: Chick Corea"s Windows (but wait, Walt and Brian were reading form the Real Book.  I'm fairly certain that the changes in that are intermittently wrong and a 1/2 step off.  But... that's the version that everybody learns - oh, boy!);  In Memory of Elisabeth Reed, done Latin a la Oy Coma Va;  Rocket Man;  Back at the Chicken Shack (incorporating The Honey Boo Boo Blues).  Rather funny and an indication of how on it Walt is, not knowing of this recently shared secret of Georgia treasures.  Ended the night with a tune written by Bill Lee, I believe he is the father of Spike Lee, the title track to the movie and soundtrack Mo' Better Blues.  Easy enough song that repeats the short form over and over;  I like the I chord going to the IV and then a II V as a opposed to a ii V.  I will try to determine the correct pitch of Windows and then report back on my findings and an appropriately accurate chart.  Till then, this is Johnny Cakes signing off from wherever he is.

Happy Labor Day Everybody

I am looking forward to returning to the work force once again.  My new job starts tomorrow morning at 7.  I am grateful that I have found an opportunity that conforms to our family's schedule and can allow me to possibly continue my musical meanderings.  I sincerely applaud the greatness of America's workforce in this depressed era we have been in.  If we can all gather the momentum to channel our energies and seek out gainful employment, however below us it may be at the present time, I think our country will successfully rise above the low vision the global critics have of our pitiful ways.  I have been depressed, but I'm ready to move on and not wallow in my silly self-deprecating state.  As we all know by now, it's easier to find a job when you already have a job.  Represent!

Labor Day Weekend Part II: A Sunday Wedding Reception with Platinum (Subtitle I: Part Two of the St. Regis Trilogy; Subtitle II: Lexxi's Last Stand)

Our second of three performances here at one of Buckhead's finest hotels, the St. Regis, took place over Labor Day weekend.  I was a bit worn from the night before with SWJ, but I pressed on.  I was home for maybe 2 hours before having to leave again.  In that time, I dealt with some family regrouping, changed out some crucial equipment, printed some charts that I had neglected to put into the newer small Platinum bass book, packed my garment bag with my Tuxedo and shoes, and ran out of the door in a petulant frenzy to avoid being late for the big soundcheck/rehearsal.  We were a 10-piece band that night and we had a lot to cover.  I tried to consolidate my rig, but you know how it goes.  I still bring a lot.  No Stick this time.  No Ashbory.  I brought along the NS WAV, my P-bass, my 6-string (the same 3 I had used the night before), and my acoustic guitar (the black one this time, so I could plug it in - hey, what a concept)!  We ended up having a very good rehearsal and then had our dinner at Seasons 52, as the client did a "buy-out" rather than feed us a the over-priced hotel.  It was terrific.  I enjoyed a small Greek salad and then Sea Scallops with tiny pasta and asparagus.  At dinner, Lexxi dropped the big bomb that this would be her final gig with the band.  Shut the front door!  We were all a bit taken back.  I'm sure it was a surprise to Virginia as well.  No real reason given.  She will be missed - another chapter closes on my gigging history.
Thanks to the audio engineering efforts of Jason Chapman at Big Rip Records, LLC, we have some excellent sounding audio tracks preserved for posterity.  He sent us many files for our consideration; I found our renditions of Ain't No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tanmmy Terrell), Stop, The Love You Save > I Want You Back (The Jackson 5ive), Crazy Love (Van Morrison), & Shining Star (EWF) to be definitive versions, if I do say so my-little-bass-playing-self.  Honorable mention should go to Kevin Harry's go-for-broke performance on Seal's Love's Divine, which unfortunately did not get recorded, being early in the first set before levels had been properly set.  Jason utilized his iMac and various plugins to capture us in pristine digital quality.  I have to say, without playing it for you folks, that my Precision has never sounded better.  So glad that I utilized it that evening.  My 6 sounded good too, being relatively fresh in the boiled-string department.  I've tried to ease off a bit on the compressor settings found on my Boss ME-50B, but I still favor a 12 o'clock setting for the most part; just a less intrusive compressor pre-amp if you will: limiter vs. dynacomp.  I do like the dynacomp for the Chapman Stick, as it is the MXR pedal that TLev used back in the early 80's on his Stick.  The Dynacomp setting adds some aggressive gain and grit to the signal, which suits the Stick just fine.  On a typical bass track, it becomes too colored and noticeable.  My GK Fusion 550 has so much gain and headroom; I'm still reeling in the output that my 410 can put out.  I may never need to bring 2 cabinets again!  I love this amp.  It is a heavy one, but not enough to deter me from hauling it around.

more soon - I promise

Labor Day Weekend Part I: Asheville's Biltmore Estate Hosts Sweetwater Junction

Much has been going on as the summer has faded into a hazy, humid memory.  I have been continuing on my personal quest for a mid-life crisis "makeover."  After my sleep study, involving a night spent in a lab being observed during a night's slumber, electrodes attached, I was referred to an ENT specialist.  He presented me with some feasible solutions to counter my rather mild (apparently - home life seems to indicate a more dire verdict) case of sleep apnea and snoring tendencies.  I went with option B (2 out of 3), which was Somnoplasty.  It also involved a uvulectomy.  I was able to have it done 2 weeks ago, the day after the last TAAG show at Java Monkey.  It was the first time I had general anesteasia.  It meant I had to miss out playing with Martay at Padriacs this month - a sad but logical concession.  I am still healing.  It was a painful recovery; I'm still healing back there.  The pain was constant, but not completely unbearable.  Tylenol helped, and ice water became a close friend.  I quickly learned to eat through the pain after 4 days; old habits are hard to lose.  My post-op check-up went well and I am hopeful that this might work out in the long run.  Doc says it can be up to 4 months before any true improvement can be discerned.
Other things going on: Jack and Spencer returning to school.  Jack is now in 6th grade in Middle School and he's playing football.  That's a major commitment for him and us - practice M-F from 6:30-8:30 and then games on Saturdays.  I've been busy with him in the evenings.  Spencer has started Pre-K.  Growing up so fast!  I cleaned and rearranged the basement music room.  Quite a feat considering it was nothing short of a dumping ground for gear, charts, toys, and other stuff.  I mounted bike hooks to store the bikes - finally!  I had a breakthough in my obsessing over where to store those bikes.  Much like I've read about how song ideas come to writers, I saw the new layout of furniture and everything in one clear instant.  It took a while to do, but I'm very happy with the results.
That gets us up to this weekend, my first gigs in a few weeks.  The TAAG show this past Thursday was called off by Adrian for  family illness, so I haven't played in a good bit.  I headed up to beautiful Asheville, NC for a wedding reception at the Bilmore Esates' Vanderbilt facility.  We were inside, which certainly makes a difference when compared to the last time I was there in June.  This time out, I was with Brian Molin, Mark Letalien, guitarist/vocalist Andrew Black, and keyboard wiz and studio engineer svenja Eric Frampton.

more soon............................

Wines of Portugal

The Adrian Ash Group, with special guest Will Hollifield in lieu of saxophonist Jason Passmore, avoided any rain this past Thursday to play some neo-straight-ahead jazz and fonkalicious-fusion on the dry patio at Java Monkey.  The weather was good for us, unlike what erupted 2 weeks ago.  That said, my commute was a bit ugly.  The big news story unfolded right in my neck of the woods, or just as soon as I get clear from the woods.  It was fatal car crash involving 7 vehicles on 285 close to the Chattahoochee River.  This is close enough to 75 that it affected Binnie's commute home, which in turn delayed my start.  Stressful!  The soup had thinned out by the time I got on my way.

Will sounded great, as he always does.  He's fresh off some successful quartet gigs of his own, one being at a new venue in Alpharetta, The Velvet Note: Acoustic Living Room.  It appears to be a top notch jazz establishment in the 'burbs, and he sold it out!  Way to go Will!  By the way, back in my days of GSU I would try to hang with this cat Dave Worley.  He was, and certainly must still be, an incredible bassist, of the fire-breathing variety - i.e. he could nail Teen Town while scowling at you, as if to say "you got anything for me Hancotte?"  We were chasing Amy, as I recall, all in good fun as I was with someone else, and subsequently went our own ways.  Those were the days, weren't they?  Good to be able to look up an old crony and say "hey man, we're still at it and we haven't gone off the deep end just yet!"

Where was I?  Thursday we played through Beatrice, the Sam Rivers tune that I had been extolling the virtues of for this past week.  What a great song!  And yes, it's Binnie's birth name.  She had it until we got married, then took Sabina (her middle) as her first and her maiden Freeman as her middle.  Now, her sister Celia (formerly Becca) has daughter named Beatrice.  Funny and complicated, like any good family should be.  I hope he can play it again one day.  There really weren't too many other surprises: Back Track; Listen Now incorporating Freedom Jazz Dance;  Recorda Me...  Got to try to inject some new tunes into the tired playlist.  Can't risk getting stale, even if we're only doing this every other week.

Hawaiian Party with Crazy Marty at Heritage

We were ready to celebrate The King, Elvis, on what I believe was the 35th anniversary of his passing.  Heritage of Sandy Plains, a Royal Senior Care facility, played host to Marty in a duo setting with myself.  Thanks to Marty for considering me, as always.  It was a good celebration, complete with Hawaiian Punch, Pineapple Chicken, all the trimmings, and a fun bunch of young-at-hearts and fun-lovin' managers eager to cut a rug make some more memories.  We were happy oblige with a tasteful set list: Blue Hawaii;  Can't Help Falling In Love;  All Shook Up;  Margaritaville;  A Pirate Looks At Forty (Jimmy Buffett was another heavily requested artist);  Rock Around the Clock; Yes Sir, That's My Baby; and of course, that set closer we always say goodbye with: Show Me the Way to Go Home.  Interesting to play in a duo setting.  We've done it many times.  With no drummer, I'm more conscious of the meter.  Also more aware of exactly what I play, be it walking bass, pedaling on the roots, staying low to keep out of Marty's way, grooving and smiling...  Eye contact on jobs like these is rather critical.  These folks are enjoying themselves and it's certainly doubtful that somebody comes in to entertain them very often.  They want to see us having a good time and we want them to dance, if they feel up to it.  The staff helped and there were a few that were ready to hold onto us for dear life - um, too bad we were kind of busy at the moment!

Platinum at the St. Regis in Buckhead

It felt good to get back together again.  I even think the rehearsal paid off.  We played the new tunes we had worked on.  We played some old tunes we hadn't worked on: Jump Jive 'n Wail?  I shoulda looked at that one a bit.  I remembered it was in Bb but wasn't certain about the key change.  I went up a half-step and that sounded right.  The part with the syncopated kicks was a bit rough.  Where Have You Been --> We Found Love was great - I played Stick on it and in time, I might have that synth part down even better.  My sound was weird; better with a pure Stick tone (isn't it always better that way - The Stick has such a delicious harmonic-infused sound of its own).  I played Stick on several tunes in the last set.  I switched the compressor setting on the Boss to "Limiter", which is a much more heavy setting.  It does give it some drive and squashes it quite a bit, but I need to have loud bass on every tap.  That's my current solution.  Should mention that earlier in the week I finally got around to adjusting the string height on the bass strings.  Emmett set it up for optimum action, but I needed the strings higher at the nut in order to sound out notes at the 1st and 2nd frets.  Unfortunately, that extra half-turn of the screws at the nut allows for sympathetic vibrations to occur, even with the "fuzzy mute" in place.  I did lower the bridge screws by a half-turn as well, which kept the action somewhat in check.  Very little buzzing or fretting out, so all is well.  Now, the lowest notes at least are almost as strong as the the mighty 5th and 7th positions.  Glad I did that.  I used the NS WAV with my bow on the Call Me Maybe --> Firework medley, although my sawing back and forth lacked finesse and I sorta lost the groove until I sheathed the bow and started pumping out the eighth-notes.  Gotta comment on the Gallien-Krueger Fusion 550.  Lots of players opting for the "light as an iPhone" Class-D amps that are hot right now.  I'm very happy with what is most likely my 30-lb. 4-space rack (housing a Furman RackRider, which is rather old - don't think they make that model anymore).  The sound and the power were so nice; I noticed it right away.  The headroom was something I was really after.  It was absolutely delicious!  I brought the old Goliath II, so the 410 cabinet was helping out, in all honesty.  Still, I can't imagine it sounding too much better.  Very glad I was able to make that exchange - much thanks to Jim at Atlanta Bass Gallery for working with me!

Forgot to check inside the acoustic guitar case.  Ended up bringing my old Yamaha, which does not have a pickup.  Perhaps I should look into getting an external pickup like Derek did with his.  Something to look into, I guess.  We did I'll Be with me on bass (the EUB, in case you were curious) and Glen playing keys.  It actually sounded good like that.  I think Virginia wants it to be like the unplugged version with Warren Haynes playing that slide and whatnot.  I like the full band version, but we probably need to stick to her vision.  Great versions of My Funny Valentine and L-O-V-E, as sung by our resident star diva Lexxi.  Other wonderful news - my phone would not cooperate with the sd card and camera, so not many pics to choose from.  All in all, it felt good to get in there and get this done.  I had introduced many new variables: the new amp head, the new pedalboard configuration, the bow, the Stick (okay, not that new there but I hadn't played it in a while).  Luckily, it all worked out and I left feeling good about myself.  Can't say that that is always the case.

My rig with the new GK Fusion 550 atop my very old SWR Goliath II,
flanked by the Chapman Stick and Stingray 5.

Busted taking a pic.

Tony Staffiero played alto sax and keyboard.