Been spending alot of time on music these days. Just as well, it’s been raining cats and dogs here the whole weekend and yesterday, and it’s getting darker earlier too, so it’s harder to spend time outside these days.
I went to a jazz jam over the weekend up in Armonk, put together by a friend of mine. Mostly real book stuff, but definitely a step up in the level of musicianship form my Wednesday rehearsal group. The guitar player in particular, who was also our host, was really good. Really into the whole Joe Pass bag. It’s good to meet new musicians, and everyone wants to get together again.
Then last night a sat in on a rehearsal for my friend’s horn section funk and R&B band, because they’ve asked me to sub on sax for a couple of gigs later this fall. This was a ton of fun. I didn’t know what to expect, but was pleased that the group is really tight and at a high level of musicianship. Even the singers were great, and they often tend to be the weak link in the local bar band scene. They seem like a really nice bunch of people too, friendly and professional, no egos. I guess when you have a band with eight people you need to have subs or you’ll have to turn down alot of gigs.
The regular sax player emailed me a bunch of charts the week before, so I had a chance to look them over, and I also made a playlist to listen to. Most of the songs I’m familiar with, and many I’ve done in other bands (but not as part of a horn section). All great tunes, fun uptempo horn section music. I was able to keep up with the group on the stand, although the charts weren’t always accurate and there was alot to pay attention to. The big thing in this situation is to blend with the rest of horn section to sound as one, which was not a problem. One big highlight for me was doing My Old School, possibly my favorite Steely Dan song. They were are really impressed I nailed the “California tumbles into the sea” riff. So I’m looking forward to the gigs, and I’m gonna try to see them at their next show in October.
Meanwhile, in my home studio, my epic The Sailor’s Saga is drawing ever closer to completion. I’ve been focusing on the lead guitar part, which is ten minutes long, and starts with some languid noodling and builds to an epic climax over the course of several rising and falling waves. I was afraid my guitar playing might not be up to the task and I’d have to bring in a ringer, but it’s shaping up most excellently.
The first thing was to find a sound that’s in the zone, with lots of sustain and a bit overdrive and can go from smooth to biting depending on what dynamics I play with. I’ll add more effects in the DAW once I’m done tracking. Then I just started at the front and kinda jammed the whole way thru, stopping whenever I ran out of ideas or played something I didn’t like. I ended up building the whole thing in two- to four-bar sections, kinda like how I used to write out sax solos when I was in high school and first learning to improvise. When I got to the end I listened back and started again on a second take. I learned the riffs I liked from the first take, about half of it, and played new ideas for the rest. Today I finished the third take, which kept eighty percent or so of the ideas from the second take, and keeps getting better in terms of phrasing and proficiency. Also each pass goes alot faster than the one before. I figure another one or two passes and I’ll be set. Then it’s on to the mixing.