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Thursday, 12 August 2004
Sitting in ::
Tonight (Wed.) I went to hear David Arnay and friends (Harry Aceto, Michael Wellen, Jorge Cuevas, Eric Aceto, Tom Gabuzda, Jim Campagnola) in Ithaca. They’d gotten a nice writeup in last week’s Ithaca Times (the article doesn’t seem to be online). It was a blast from my musical past as soon as I walked in the door, before the music started; there was my high school friend Dale, and Al Grunwell, whose studio I visited and recorded at with a number of bands throughout the 80's. And of course the musicians, all of whom I listened to and some of whom I had the pleasure of playing with from 1979-88. Everyone sounded great; David is a total pro, plays with impeccable time and taste, and directed the group through some fine arrangements. Jim C’s tone on the tenor was as beautiful as I remember, and he remains one of those too-rare players with excellent intonation on the soprano sax.
On the second tune in the second set, David gestured me up to the stage, showed me where we were in the tune, and let me loose on his keyboard. I comped a little hesitantly under Tom and Jim’s solos; I haven’t played much in about a week. David pointed to me and I began to sketch out some sparse blues-inflected themes. I got more comfortable, and began flirting with some outside modes and playing more densely. So far so good. I went for broke with both hands, playing fast runs in close intervals and arpeggios, finally arcing downward to the tonic. I thought it had been OK, I’d been playing some of my stereotypical chops in one of my favorite keys for that kind of playing (G myxolydian), and the solo had been confident and rhythmically together if nothing else. There was applause as I left the stage, and a few nice comments later. I may get to hear a tape and find out what the hell happened!
Afterward, an old acquaintance remarked that I must be playing with other people in California; I said no, not much, I mostly just play with myself (yes, I said it like that), though I will be jamming with Pat in Woodstock on Saturday and hopefully Tony in NYC on Sunday. There is definitely an energy that is very hard to create alone. Note to self: make inquiries about finding players in CA.
References:
Zobo Funn Band - Live at The Haunt (24 August 2004)
| << Airline luck | 2004 > August | The Buddha in the Jungle >> |