it's good to be home

I did a club gig for the first time in many moons last night. (all of my gigging the last few years has been parties) I was reminded of how rude the audiences can be, of squeezing money out of club owners - this is a new one - he is trying to dock the band $100 because we did not use the stage that he had provided (the band was too big) Wow, huh? And then the ride home became scary when this cat spun out right next to me on 95. Was very glad to get home and I went right to bed!

Knucklehead band website launched

I'm Waiting For You To Show

I’m waiting for you to show
Me what the plan is
Or if you have any plan
Behind the show
That you have to keep so private
Because any public exposure
Is just too hurtful.

Says you.

For a few minutes while we argue.
Then you go back
To surfing the net
Reading some news
About an inconsequential event
You barely understand
And certainly can’t do anything
About

{

still It’s so much less painful
than thinking about yourself
than trying to make a plan
to get out
of your misery and your rut

}

I try to keep it clean
I try to say my words just right.
I don’t mind a cut or 2
But I still try to keep it positive
And simple
“You just gotta tell me what you are doing,
and some semblance of a plan.”
I know there’s nothing behind
The constructs she puts up
I let it stand
Flimsily
Because I’m not out to destroy her
I just want to wake her up
And have a real person to talk to.


I try to keep my shit straight
I ain’t so good at it myself
I am making my way
With the changes that a reporter would describe as
“reinventing myself”
It isn’t so easy when the world isn’t ready to embrace you
I wish I was Pamela Anderson as
They so easily see what she has to offer
And they will gladly pay for it.

I struggle to get my little statement out
About being around for so long
Took in the roots and now
I’m ready to sprout.
It’s a little late for that I see
All the ads for rockers say
“not older than 33”


I see that things have become so stagnant
that Tom Petty has risen to the top of the heap.
“What is that that allows you to listen to him?
Teach me, I want to know.”
Because whenever his music comes on
It’s like I’m in an elevator
Looking for the floor that ‘s mine
is all I seem to know.

{

I despised supermarket music through the years,
All thru the “Musak” years.
They double watered down “hits” that everybody knew;
sucked all of the life out of them.
Any song could be made inoffensive when
Musak gave it their treatment.
But now the supermarkets have done their market research
And found more than a few
Were silently puking over their work
While trying to find their Cheerios.
The marketers did a “study”
Like they hadn’t thought of that before
And now I hear songs I played at my last gig
In their original form.
While I shop.

I don’t resist;
I get my Cheerios more cheerfully now.
I don’t think about whether
They’ve found me
Or I’ve joined them.

}
So; Petty, and petty, and picayune-
A word I love but that has fallen out of favor
And a music.
And a woman.

taking the time

Christmas shopping providing a break from routine. Unusual because usually I have to squeeze it in. It’s kind of sublime to have all the time in the world to do things. I don’t know what a schedule is any more. When I do have to comply to a timetable of sorts, like when I went on the 2 day Long Island excursion, it is much more of a novelty than an annoyance. Still, I don’t really rush; I just make an effort to not get distracted; well, maybe a little, just not too much. I find that I am much better at “sitting” with people. I can sit still, react and interact without my subconscious somehow demanding efficiency. Efficiency and social interaction don’t really mix. Most people really need some time to “get it out”. (The things you hear more immediately are often the things that you would rather not hear: commands, demands, and insults.) When people take their time, you get the stuff that is parenthetical, that falls through the cracks, and that is often the most expressive.

bassdocta launches a bass oriented web site

I mostly finished a new web site oriented toward displaying my bassAbility, funkAliciously brought to you at http://www.freewebs.com/bassdocta/

Tower Of Power– their use of 16th notes vs the rest of funk and soul world

I returned to listening to Tower last night. Then I listened to soul singer Tyrone Davis (kinda like Motown) a little later. What struck me is the huge contrast in the way the 2 approaches to Soul they have.

First some background. All Soul and Funk has an underlying pulse based on 16th notes. This is generally much finer grained than most music. (This is also one the ingredients making it such fine dance music) . Most rock grooves are more casual with eighth or even quarter note feels. (In all fairness, all rock has 16th note stuff in them but usually it is limited to anticipating downbeats.) Funk and Soul make greater use of 16ths through syncopations, short rests, use of “off” notes on weak beats and as passing notes.


Now back to the body of the story. Unsophisticated use of 16ths can make the music sound “nervous”. This was what made what we used to call “fusion” so aggravating to listen to. Fusion was too busy, too many notes. It came off as overblown, egotistical, and busy. Good use of 16ths though, accents and rests used sparingly, and with melodic purpose makes for great Soul and Funk. Tyrone Davis is the example here. Everything serves the song but the use of 16ths makes the song so attractive and strong. The rhythym section doesn’t just support the vocal, it makes a statement with the main statement that is powerful, fun to hear and to play, and has a life of its own – but still serving the ultimate masters – the song, the melody, the vocal.


What makes Tower different is that the 16ths are again present but very upfront in the rhythm section. Rather that bury the presentation; the drums and bass joyfully bring them to the front. Their artistry is making the 16th notes subtle enough that they do not overwhelm the song. They do this through a lot of technical tricks like muting notes, implication of notes, and in the bass players case, use of a muted tone so that the pulses are more felt than heard. The effect is that the music doesn’t come off with fusion’s 16th note frenzy, but rather with a busy but smooth carpet of sound for their very full vocal and horn work.

jazz is

++++++ Jazz is ++++
Jazz is our profit
We learn from it all
Ignore the rest,
Bird stands tall.
And sonny he’s still with us
I saw Stanley just before he died. His solos played it all
He told his life story
In every solo he took.
He sweated so much
He must have known he didn’t have much time left.
But Miles played like that all the time he knew - he knew
Life for the moment
But I don’t know
What else he knew/