Lots and lots of music this time of year. The LEFT HOOK played at Fisherman’s Net last Saturday nite. We even learned a bunch of Christmas songs, including a nice jazzy duet of Chestnuts by Gary and me, but we ended up not playing them. It was our third gig there, and the place is starting to feel like a home base. It was a good crowd, including a bunch of familiar faces, including a few from Bryn Mawr. Looks like we’re starting to get a following. But despite everyone having a good time and mostly being cool, seem like there’s always one crazy and/or obnoxious drunk guy (or gal) at every show, who wants to get in your face, and act like he’s with the band. Usually mostly harmless, but I guess you never know.
My UPS guy was there again too, and I ran into him twice this week taking a morning walk. Makes it fun and cozy walking around the neighborhood.
Even though it was a really good show, the gig wasn’t even the music highlight of the day. We had jazz that morning. The Saturday jazz group is a quintet, and has Gary from LEFT HOOK On guitar. We’re trying to get some gigs with that group, so Gary brought in an audio recorder. We rehearsed six or so song, among them John Coltrane’s Giant Steps. For those of you who don’t know jazz, this song is considered like Mount Everest. It’s extremely hard to play, being very fast and having wicked chord changes, being the maximal expression of Coltrane’s sheets-of-sound phase. And it’s not enough to be able to negotiate it technically, you have to have something to say.
I’ve been studying Giant Steps for years, and was psyched when the piano player called the tune a few rehearsals back. We do our own arrangement, which is a bit slower and with a piano and bowed bass intro and outro, really laying on those harmonies. That means you can’t just slalom over the changes, you have to get in there. For the past few weeks I’ve been working toward an approach to the solo that’s less an imitation of Coltrane and more hard bop, more my own. But I was still in the zone of being focused on not loosing my place. Well over the course of the week I took out my horn a couple times and woodshedded the piece, which is something that I rarely do. So when the time came on Saturday I was much more free and relaxed, and more able to find and string together and develop ideas. We did two takes, each better than the last. Everyone in the band said I nailed the solo. I can hardly wait to hear the tapes.
Lizzy’s had a couple concerts as well. One night last week was her school’s Christmas concert. The new school has a much bigger music and arts program than her old one, so the lineup included a brass choir, a dance group, the chorus (in which Lizzy sings) a string ensemble and a concert band. Heavy emphasis on classical music including alot of Germans: Mozart, Handel, Bach, Hayden and those guys. A pretty high level of musicianship overall. The concert band did Leroy Anderson’s Fesitval of Carols, which I really enjoyed since I played that in my high school band.
Then last night was a vocal performance by the advanced singers in Lizzy singing and theatre group. Again a heavy emphasis on the classical, including some operetta and some legit heavy opera. The performance was in the church with the amazing reverb. I’d never heard Lizzy do a recital piece before, but she’s gotten really good. A high, strong soprano. A-level on a grade 6 NYSMA piece. Two of her friends in the group are senior and both are starting as music majors in college next fall. They did three songs each, very excellent. One more show to go, which is the Pageant at Michelle’s school.
LEFT HOOK is now on break for the holidays. We have a list of seven or so new tunes to get together for January. I’m amazed at how much audiences like Blue Oyster Cult, so I want to get another hard rock, proggish 80’s tune on the list. Look for us to start gigging out again in the New Year!
