Gig Recap: Stroke of Bad Luck

"Always be careful"

That's what I should have been thinking when I was starting to pack up from my gig up at The Marlowe Restaurant & Wine Bar. To cut to the chase, Ken and I had just finished our third and final set of Jazz and Old School R&B. Before I begin, I should mention that since I started playing my bass in 5ths tuning, I also began playing sitting down on a stool. One of the accessories that I use is a Bass Anchor that attaches to my stool and keeps my Bass from sliding away from me while playing. Last night, I had put my double bass on the floor to begin putting everything away, but had accidentally placed the bass on top of my Bass Anchor. I turned away for a brief moment and heard an incredibly loud and hollow "Thunk". I turned around and there was my double bass lying on its front on top of the bridge. This, as you can imagine, was not a good thing. After a quick examination and slight bridge adjustment, everything looked relatively fine. No scrathes (which I don't care too much about), and no visible cracks. Granted, the lighting was poor and I was pretty tired after playing, so my examination may have been skewed. Anyway, here's hoping the power of positive thinking will bring about better luck.

"Always be careful"

Gig Recap: Melanie E

Phew. That was a relief.

I just had a gig Friday night with MelanieE. Melanie got my number through a "friend-of-a-friend" of mine and wanted a bass player that could sight read music. I agreed and this past Friday, I basically got up in front of an audience and performed music that I had only seen a half-hour before show time with a group of people I had never met before. I was a little tentative with some of the music but everything turned out really well. Style-wise, the music was straight-ahead Jazz which is right up my bass playing alley. On top of some of the Jazz "standards", were originals that were sung in French; Melanie's mother tongue. In addition, Melanie's husband, Keith, played tuba, taking many of the heads and solos. I've never head tuba in that way and I have to say that I was greatly impressed with Keith's skill in bringing tuba to the forefront. In fact, we were supposed to play Donna Lee (touch Charlie Parker tune) with the tuba playing the head, but Keith felt it would be a little much. I, on the other hand, would have loved to have seen "Donna Lee" played on tuba, just so I could have said that I saw "Donna Lee" played on the tuba.

I have to admit, I was very tentative early on in the gig, but started to warm up as the evening progressed. It's sometimes very hard to come out of your shell when your thrown into a different environment, but it was a great time nonetheless. I had a wonderful time playing with MelanieE and I hope to play with them all again.

Visit www.MelanieE.com to learn more.

Quote of the Week

When a man is wrapped up in himself, he makes a pretty small package.
- John Ruskin
The only people who find what they are looking for in life are the fault finders.
- Foster's Law
Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.
- Don Marquis
I'll begin working on the art of Procrastination later.
- BassBassDude

Quote of the Week

Society, my dear, is like salt water, good to swim in but hard to swallow.
- Arthur Stringer
It is better for civilization to be going down the drain than to be coming up it.
- Henry Allen
Late to bed and late to wake will keep you long on money and short on mistakes.
- Aaron McGruder
Early to bed and late to rise makes for the envy of an insomniac.
- BassBassDude