Show 1 Thursday

Last night went well. It felt good and the performers had good energy. Most importantly, everyone enjoyed the show. There are still some tickets left so if you're interested, come out and support Spotlight Productions. Once again, tonight and tomorrow at 8pm, Spotlight Productions presents "Broadway Our Way" at Fairview Library Theater. Tickets are $18 and there are just a few seats left.

Just on a side note, the band is on stage the whole time so I'm finding it tricky to find a point in the show to take a sip of water. That and trying not to cough.

Spotlight Productions: Broadway our way

I haven't been able to post in the past little while because I've been so busy with, well, a number of things. Anyway, I should fill you in on the fact that I've been working with a theatre production company for the past couple of days and they will be performing this week.

Spotlight Productions will be presenting "Broadway Our Way" at Fairview Library Theater in North York on April 28th, 29th and 30th. Show starts at 8:00pm and tickets at the door are $18. As I stated earlier, I have been working with them for the past little while and I will be in the "pit" as their bass player. The show is fun and enjoyable and I encourage anyone that is free on any of those nights to come out. I'm honoured to be a part of this company and am very glad to have been a part of their performances for the past three years.

Golf Season Begins

This past weekend I played my first round of the year at Parkview Golf Everything was going well until I reached green. I can best describe my putting in one word. Bad. I was striking the ball pretty well with a couple of mis-drives here and there. I'm actually happy with my 7-iron right down to the wedges. I made good decisions when inside 130 yards. Even around the green, I had the touch that I needed to get my ball in tight. Not that it mattered because I couldn't hit a 3-footer if my life depended on it. Through 18 I had 3-putted 8 times. Regardless of my "ever-impressive" 103, I still had a great time. I was really lucky being the first group out because while my four-some was finishing up the 18th, I found out that the group behind us were still on the 15th. I guess it pays to check in every day to find out when the course would open. On top of that, the course was completely booked right up to 4pm.

That morning, I learned something about greens and taking care of them. Due to my excitement with playing that day, I had arrived at the course one hour prior to my tee time. To my dismay, the clubhouse wasn't open yet so I couldn't go and have a coffee. So, I decieded to work on my short game on the pitching green. Shortly after, a man yelled out from the clubhouse "Sir! There's frost on the greens, could you please get off." I yelled back, "Sorry!" and shuffled off back to the clubhouse. I went in and asked why it was bad to be on the greens when there was frost. He explained to me that when you walk on the greens while there is frost, you risk leaving black marks with every step, thus, ruining the turf for the season. Go figure, all that work on the greens could be ruined in a heart beat. Maybe that's why my putting was so terrible; the greens were not happy that I had made the mistake of stepping on them when they were not ready. You can bet that I won't make that mistake again.

All in all, a great day for golf with good company, but maybe it is time to look for a new putter.

Another week...

Another practice.

We flew through about four to five new songs and I think it might have been a bit of an overload for a couple of them. That's okay. The main idea was that they got a taste of what the songs sounded like. We've still got a lot of work to do and I'm very optomistic about how we'll sound once the concert comes around.

A good friend of mine just got into the whole blogging thing after stumbling into mine.

www.parkdalelife.blogspot.com

She may not ever mention it, but she's a creative person with a great ear for music.

Practice = Progression

Monday night was yet, another practice for this upcoming concert. I must say that I am pleased with the way things are going. Everyone wants to learn and perfect their part (at least, that's how it seems). On a night where I had very little energy, I came out of it feeling re-energized; a second wind. On top of that, I have to hurry up with this new arrangement and get it done for everyone to learn. Lots to do in a short amount of time; move quick and make minimal mistakes. If mistakes are made; fix them quickly and move on. This is how I like it although some people are not used to it. The pressure is present to learn and be creative in a short amount of time, yet this kind of pressure can be the mother of invention.

Quote of the Week

"There are two freedoms: The false, where a man is free to do what he likes; the true, where a man is free to do what he ought."
- Charles Kingsley

"There are two things that I can think of right now. One, I have a bad memory, the other... I forget..."
- BassBassDude

Quote of the Week

"Life is like pizza. Even when it's bad it's good."
- Paula Devico

"Life is like pizza. Even when it's bad it's good... unless it is street pizza."
- BassBassDude

"Mmm pizza."
- Homer Simpson

Practice again

Wow, it's been 10 days since my last post. Well, when you get busy with a few things, it can be hard keeping your blog in check. Anyway, I just came back from another choir practice where we got to take a look at the chart that I had transcribed. It when very well although it was tough to have a good feel of the song without all the members at the practice. Go figure, a complete alto section was MIA. Anyway, I jumped on that part to help the others find theirs. All in all; not too bad. I'm really impressed with the progress that most of us are making on this part. I better start working more on my part than enjoying the fun parts that the others get to do.

Quote of the Week

"Open your arms as wide as you can to receive all the miracles with your name on them"
-Sarah Ban Breathnach

"Open your parachute when jumping from a plane lest you become street pizza"
-BassBassDude

Practice Time

About a month ago, I had transcribed a choral piece for the folk group/choir. Last night, a bunch of us got together to give it a go. Overall, it went well. We got through a good chunk of it and with a bit of work, it should be ready for the concert in May. Hopefully we keep ploughing through it.

Gig?

Just to let you know, I might have something in the coming spring (when things thaw out) where I'll be playing a public gig for a friend of mine who's fundraising for something. I don't have much details, but I still have to iron those wrinkles out with the other guys I play with. Anyway, just to let you know how things are going. More on that later...

Quote of the Week

"Love is how we feel toward those who show us that which is lovable about ourselves."
-Gerry Spence

"If looks could kill, then I should be handed a mirror"
-BassBassDude

How did that go again?

How did that go again?
Originally uploaded by BassBassDude.

One night in Toronto, I was catching up with some friends in a near-by pub and one of them sent me a couple of pics from that night. I know this is annoying to a lot of people, but when a song comes on, whether it be in a pub, a restaurant or even a public washroom, I can't help but try to mentally figure out all the parts. Whether it be the drum track, the bass line, or at the very least, figuring out which key the song is in, I've got this need to learn the "W5Hs" of a song. Just one of those wierd quirks that I have.

Thanks for taking the pic. I look kind of silly.

To Gig or not to Gig

Well, I've got a potential gig coming up durning the last week of April. I'll be the pit bass player for a stage company called Spotlight Productions and I should be getting the music sometime next month. This will be my third season with Spotlight and I'm looking forward to it. It's always good to get a chance to sight read stuff at a quick pace and being a part of team. That, and it's great to be working with a good group of people. Here's hoping things work out especially with the date of the shows.

My Textbooks...

I had mentioned to a friend in passing that I referred to my CD's as my textbooks; stuff that I had to go through and learn from. For the past little while I have been calling my music collection as my textbook library. I'm not sure if many musicians do the same, but it is a good habit to get into if you're serious about music. In addition, it's important to listen to music that you would like to aspire, to surpass, or to build upon.

My old Jazz shop leader, Al Henderson said "What goes in is what comes out. This also applies with music and what you play as a musician."

I've always felt this to be true. If you listen to jazz, you'll better yourself as a jazz musician. Likewise, if you listen to classical, you'll better yourself as a classical musician. My old professor went to the extreme of throwing out his Soul LP's and kept only Jazz LP's in order to devote himself completely to Jazz.

The only way that the learning can occur is if you actually enjoy what you're listening to. Otherwise, that's a pretty tough barrier to overcome.

Quote of the Week

"Only solitary men know the full joys of friendship. Others have their family-but to a solitary and an exile his friends are everything."
-Willa Cather

"A full deck of cards is necessary to play a good game of Solitaire"
-BassBassDude

Bop Heads

Now, as a double bass player, I find this task to being difficult. If you were a virtuoso player, this may be laughable, but for me, it's quite frustrating and yet humbling at the same time. I would like to take this opprotunity to state that playing Charlie Parker's Bebop Jazz Heads is difficult. Now, I'm not talking about walking the changes, but the actually melody. This to me is hard. Listening to various other jazz players get through it as if they were just breathing makes me feel like my playing can be closest described as "death". Anyway, even listening to a double bass player get through Bach's Prelude flawlessly provides me with this wonderful feeling of "you suck." Anyway, I'm still ploughing through these little pieces/heads in the hopes of at least achieveing some level of mastery. Although sometimes disheartening to hear these jedi-like bass players, knowing that the potential of a double bass of doing what they do is pleasing.

Right now I'm enjoying (every blue moon so as not to dig a bigger self-depressing hole) Christian McBride/Roy Hargrove/Stephen Scott Trio's Parker's Mood. There's this one track where all three of them play the head together. To me, I really like their sound (no offence to any drummers out there). Anyway, when I got serious about playing double bass, I took it upon myself to learn "Scrapple of the Apple". Anyway, I tried playing it last night, and found to my delight that I can get through it pretty well. Like a lot of things that need some work, I have to watch my tone and pitch, as well as speed and dexterity.

Well, I'd love to learn more Parker heads, it'll just take some time and dedication.

Wibi/Cadence Concert

Last night I drove up to York U to watch both Wibijazzn' (my a capella alma mater) and Cadence (a Wibi spin-off group) perform in my old stomping grounds of Winters College. Both groups performed in an effort to help raise money for the college and to display a little taste of what they could do. Wibi and Candence put together a stellar show with great music, a solid sound and great entertainment value. In fact, a friend of mine actually drove in from Waterloo(approx 1 hour west of Toronto) and back just to catch the concert.

Since my departure from Wibi, I'm always amazed at how the sound of the choir always evolves and creates something unique from years passed. This year, the focus seems to be on a tight, conisistent sound with extremely strong soloists; above all, they're having fun.

Cadence was brilliant once again displaying what only 4 men with mics can do. Huge sound, great arrangements, amazing vocalisms and enormous energy are what Cadence brings to the table each time they perform. It turns out they just returned from a tour in British Columbia and will be finishing their second CD in the next couple of months. I'm just glad that some of the Wibi-ites were able to get a taste of how being in Wibi is a great stepping stone into many other great musical opprotunities.

It's always a treat to see either of them perform, so to have them perform together was fantastic. I was so inspired to hear them that when I came back home, I stayed up an extra hour to finish cleaning up the arrangement I was working on.

If you get a chance, check out www.cadence-unplugged.com and www.wibijazzn.com.

email me at:mfpenafiel@hotmail.com

Quote of the Week

"It is a wise father that knows his own child"
-William Shakespeare

"It is a wise decision to remember what you were going to...um"
-BassBassDude

Clean Up

Well, with all the chicken scratchings that I made, I decided last night to put the choral arrangement onto our mac and make it look a little nicer. Usually, my buddy just takes the chart and does it himself. With me doing it myself, I can at least make sure that all that I've transcribed souds right. The possibility of me making a couple of mistakes is possible, especially if you had to transcribe the piece without any keyboard. It was pretty much me and a pitch-pipe. Anyway, I got a program last night from a buddy and started putting it together...