Friday night I had a gig at the Hollywood Bowl. I wasn’t playing on the main stage or anything (although I did perform there with Buble a couple of years ago), I played with a small jazz combo for a VIP party before the concert began. Not only did the gig pay pretty well but I also got two free tickets to the show. How convenient since my anniversary was Friday as well.

So Carrie went with me to the gig then we attended the concert. We had a picnic of sandwiches, cheese, wine, grapes, and chocolate. The show featured a tribute to Frank Sinatra with Quincy Jones and Frank Jr. Violin virtuoso Joshua Bell also performed. It was a nice concert and we had a good time (Trisha Yearwood played as well but we didn’t really care to see her and bolted to beat the enormous crowd). The Bowl is a fun place, great venue to hear “classical” music but not for jazz. It’s not intimate enough.

Last night I had a gig with a really great vocalist I love playing with. She had some really creative musicians on the gig, it was a lot of fun even though the crowd was practically non-existent.

Wish me luck folks, the final recording session for my record is scheduled for Thursday. I still have to finish the chart for the new song I wrote and I need to work out some arrangements on top of having a really busy week work-wise. But it will be good and I’ll be very relieved to have all of the tracks down.

Peace and chicken grease …

Five years ago today I married a woman who still has the spirit of this little girl. My life will never be the same and I am a better man for it. Happy Anniversary my Love. 

Things have been relatively relaxed for a few days which is good. A few months ago I was worried about this summer because Tyrell is taking so much time off to finish Rod Stewart’s next record (Rod Rapes The Standards Vol. 4). But I tell you, July is getting really busy. I’m teaching a summer improvisation class to a bunch of high school kids with the guys from the Mancini Institute, I have a few things around town with Tyrell and others, then I have two trips planned. One is my annual trip to the San Diego Comic Book Convention, which is nirvana to a geek such as myself. Then it’s back to Indiana for another wedding. Lots of stuff going on, but it should be fun.

I have really been getting in to Mike Doughty lately. Remember him? He’s the guy I tried to go see in Hollywood before driving all the way down there and finding out the show was sold out. Well I really love his latest record:


Haughty Melodic 

It’s just really good singer/songwriter stuff that has great production, great hooks, and great lyrics. One of the best things I’ve heard all year.

Now when I discover an artist like this I have to get more of their stuff. This lead me to buy:

Skittish/Rockity Roll 

This is a two-disc set of a couple of records he did independently, one while he was still with his old band (and all-time favorite of Lyman’s) Soul Coughing. And it is GREAT as well. It’s very stripped down, his vocals are more rough around the edges and the instrumentation is sparse (most of the time it’s just him and a guitar). It is Doughty’s songwriting at it’s very essence: clever lyrics and relentless melodies.

I also have a live disc of Soul Coughing’s coming. Maybe after that I’ll snap out of my Mike Doughty phase. Listening to his stuff so much combined with Rachael Yamagata’s disc is really eating up my listening time. You know these records have to be good if they’re bumping all of my jazz and funk from heavy rotation.

Well, the week-long run at Catalina’s is finally over. And I’m pretty happy it is. Not that I didn’t have a good time or anything, but we played 11 sets in 7 days. That’s a lot. A helluva lot. Add that to the fact that I was either working or flying every single day from 6/4-6/19 and you can see where I’m coming from. But I did have fun playing. Some interesting celebs came out including Burt Bacharach, Debbie Reynolds, Sally Kellerman, Gavin McCloud (Capt. Steubing from the Love Boat), and Andy Griffith. And the band sounded really good, we didn’t really have one weak set.

So I have some a couple of relaxing weeks ahead of me with a few gigs around town. So that means it’s time to finish up recording my record. I’ve contacted all of the musicians I’m going to use and everyone is down. Myself, Quinn (the pianist), and Chris (the drummer, making him #3 for the entire record … it’s like Spinal Tap) all have a gig tomorrow night so we’re going to nail down a day and time then.

And I FINALLY have written a song with lyrics that I’m proud of. I have a few more lines to churn out and I have to get an arrangement down but I’m pretty happy with what I have so far. Writer’s block be damned!

Saw Batman Begins yesterday. It was good. Not as good as it could've been, but I enjoyed it.

Peace and Chicken Grease ...

Tom Cruise has proposed to Katie Holmes. This relationship has creeped me out since I first saw it on the television. Tom, I know you're a huge weirdo but just try dating someone at least only ten years younger than you.

The gig at Catalina's is still going strong. I'm still having a lot of fun playing which is good. Usually at this point of a week-long run I'm bored to tears during the set, but that hasn't been the case lately.

More good news, I actually got a rush of inspiration and wrote some lyrics to a new song that I really dig. I'm going to make phone calls today and hopefully I'll have the next session for my record scheduled by next week.

The gig at Catalina’s has been going pretty well. As predicted, the new drummer is working out fine. After the show last night I had a drink with Steve’s daughter Lauren who is a really cool chick. I was hanging out with her and some of her friends, even though I was the old man (they were all 22) I still had a lot of fun.

I’m putting myself under a lot of pressure to finish this song quickly so I can schedule the final recording session for my record. That pressure isn’t producing results.

Two days of the gig down, five more to go.

So I’ve been listening to some different stuff lately. But oddly enough most of my CD purchases over the past couple of months fall into two genres; experimental jazz and singer/songwriter.

Funny thing is this is totally subconscious. I’ve really felt inspired listening to experimental stuff lately. Jazz is alive and well folks; don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I’m guessing since I’m in the midst of recording my own record that these new artists and new sounds give me encouragement subconsciously.



yo 

Recent CD purchases include:
The Nels Cline Singers The Giant Pin
Vijay Iyer Reimagining
Happy Apple The Peace Between Our Companies

I really love melody. Simple, songlike melodies. That’s probably why I’ve been listening to these singer/songwriter types of late. I can really bog myself down with analysis when I’m listening to jazz. Sometimes it’s nice to hear a band bang out a simple but beautiful song on their instruments.


yo 

Recent singer/songwriter acquisitions include:
Rachael Yamagata Happenstance
Red House Painters Retrospective
Mike Doughty Haughty Melodic
Beck Guero (I know, kind of a stretch to call him a singer/songwriter)

I am beat.

Yesterday the band drove up to Carmel, CA for a performance with Tyrell. Carrie decided to come along and I’m very glad she did. The theater was really nice and we had a good show. I had a lot of fun during the set and was really energetic, probably because the sound was so good. Later that night we partied it up like we usually do but this time Carrie was around which made it even more fun.

So it was up early this morning to head back to LA. But we got stuck in atrocious traffic and didn’t get back home until 8:00 or so. Tomorrow it starts all over again with a soundcheck and our first show of a week long stint at Catalina’s.

The summer is really booking up for me. I have to finish recording the album and soon. Damn writers block … if I could just get some lyrics down for a song or two I’d be ready to head in and finish the music. I might have to go ahead anyway, maybe I wasn’t meant to finish these songs.

I picked up a CD by a great singer/songwriter named Rachael Yamagata. Great stuff, good songs, unique voice, beautiful woman … more later on my odd listening trends lately.

I’m back home in Los Angeles after my trip to the Midwest. The gig at the convention went really well. I arrived in Chicago on Monday then drove to Kalamazoo with Rob (the keyboardist for the Butterfat Trio … dig if you haven’t: http://www.butterfattrio.com/ ). We were both staying with B-fat drummer extraordinaire Jeffy. Monday night we watched the unbelievably lucky Detroit Pistons beat another injured team while sucking down beers then rehearsing our stuff. I went to the convention the next day and picked up the bass I was going to use that night (the fine folks at Lemur Music in OC let me borrow an instrument so I didn’t have to fly with mine). I also walked around the convention and talked to folks I hadn’t seen for a long time. Then I started to get the butterflies. This convention is a pretty big deal and I wanted everything to go off smoothly. Well, it did. That night the guys in the trio played their asses off and everyone I talked to, old teachers and big-time bass professionals alike were really complimentary of the show. And it was good to see some of the old homies in Kalamazoo as well.

What a load off of my back. I was so relieved when the performance was over I had two double Sapphire & Tonics and a beer within the span of 30 minutes. HA! Another night of very little drunken sleep.

The next day I checked out the convention in the morning then Rob and I headed back to Chicago so he could make his Wednesday night gig. I got to have dinner with my sister-in-law and her husband. We had some KILLIN’ BBQ. Good to know that Chi-town can cook up some BBQ propah!

Then yesterday I headed home. And here I am.

I should mention that the gig at UCLA where we were on the same bill as Diana Krall was a lot of fun as well. There were a lot of heavy musicians there; Kenny Burrell, John Clayton, Mike Melvoin, etc. Everyone was really cool and the show went well. And Ms. Krall is simply stunning in person. Wowsers.

I have another busy week ahead of me. I’m working today in OC, tomorrow in Carmel with Tyrell, then on Monday we start a week-long run at Catalina’s in Hollywood.

I'm in the Windy City right now and it's not too windy. In fact it's hot as hell. I forgot how bad the humidity in the Midwest can be.

The shows went really well. I'll give a full report when I get back home.

Peace and chicken grease ...

I’m leaving early tomorrow to perform with The Butterfat Trio at The International Society of Bassists Convention. I’m really looking forward to it while being nervous at the same time. A lot of heavy bassists are going to be there including old teachers of mine, many professors, symphony bassists, etc. Hopefully they dig our brand of experimental funk. The convention is back in good ol’ Kalamazoo, MI at Western Michigan University my alma mater. It will be a fun trip.

Before I leave I have a really interesting gig with Tyrell today. We are playing a big scholarship fundraiser at UCLA along with a host of other big time musicians including Diana Krall and John Clayton.

Two high pressure gigs within a few days of each other. No problemo.

You have to understand, The Bad Plus to me is like Metallica or Green Day to your average pop band, the biggest group of the moment at the top of their game.
I was really psyched when I heard they were coming here, Carrie and I saw them a couple of years ago at the Village Vanguard in NYC and we both really dug the show. So we were happy to see them again.

It was an incredible show, incredible. Last time I saw them they played a lot of stuff from their first record “These Are Vistas.” Since then they’ve had another record released (“Give”) and I figured I’d be hearing a lot of stuff from that. Not the case, they played unrecorded compositions almost entirely. They started off with a tune called “Physical Cities” I believe. The arrangement was really cool, there was a part near the end of the song that sounded like heavy-metal Phillip Glass, one riff rhythmically re-imagined over and over and over and over. The rest of the new originals were great as well, they also performed “1972 Semi-Finalist” from their first record. And they included their trademark interpretations of pop songs. The first was Bjork’s “Human Nature” which wasn’t nearly as clever as their other covers, this was proven later when they closed the set with a terrific rendition of “We Are the Champions” where the melody was fragmented and played inside and out before culminated in an anthemic ending.

For the encore they played fan-favorite “Big Eater” the opening track on “These Are Vistas.” And the final song of the evening was an incredible funk version of “Chariots of Fire.” While the arrangement was very similar to their arrangement of Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” it was still the perfect way to close the night.

Let me add that I officially do NOT like the Knitting Factory. The set-up for the main stage is really bad and good spots to watch the show are hard to come by. Maybe they’ll play someplace else next time.

Good show though. And a good time was had by all.

Ron Blake is the truth y'all.



I finally got around to thourhoughly chekcing out this record and let me tell you, it's some bad shit. Like I said before I was really anxious for this record to come out because Mechelle Ndegeocello produced it. Then when I went to pick it up at Ameoba they told me it was filed in the pop section as opposed to the jazz section. Then I was really curious. I was expecting a crossover-type of record with a lot of R&B influence, maybe vocals, etc. ...

But this is definately more of a jazz record than the marketing would have you believe. But you know what? That's cool. It's really cool actually. This is the type of record I want to make, just good funky music that's accessible to anyone who listens to it but is not dumbed down to suit popular taste. The compositions are great, the musicians give outstanding performances. It also came with a bonus CD featuring remixes by Carlos Mena, Dj Spinna, Jahi Sundance and others.

Dig and you will not be sorry.