What’s been up….

It’s been a while since my last blog update and there’s been a lot going on. So here’s a little overview of what’s happening in my world.

I’ve got another article with practice tips and a rant about the state of jam sessions in the works, so sign up as a follower at the bottom of the page if you like what you’re reading. I hope to have them posted this week. If you’re looking to catch me perform in the metro Detroit area click here.

New Johnnie Bassett CD coming out this summer!

I’m excited to announce that Johnnie Bassett’s newest album will be coming out this summer on Sly Dog Records. I don’t want to give away too many details and spoil the surprise but I’m looking forward to getting this music to the public. This is the second album we’ve done for the label and once again we used John Smerek at the board,  The Brothers Groove, The Motor City Horns, Thornetta Davis, Brett Lucas, Dwight Adams and Jim “Moose” Brown (with who I co-wrote the title track “I Can Make That Happen.”) We recorded it at Rustbelt Studios in Royal Oak August 2011-October 2011.

Ronnie Foster visits Detroit.

I got to meet and hang out with legendary keyboard player Ronnie Foster. He was in town performing on keys at the Fisher Theatre with the group Human Nature. He popped in Thursday March 22nd at our weekly gig at Northern Lights and then again on Saturday at Dylan’s Raw Bar in Grosse Pointe Park. Ronnie is a keyboard hero of mine. I was just listening to him on my iPhone a few day before playing Hammond Organ with Grant Green on a Blue Note album recorded in the 1970′s at Watt’s Mozambique club in Detroit. He’s also playing onGeorge Benson’s big breakthrough record ‘Breezin.’ He’s a monster player and a very nice guy. It was a real pleasure to meet him.

While looking over taxes (I usually wait until the bitter end) I realized that last August I played with Roy Ayers and Kenny G. in the same week. Whoa…

Recording, Relaxing, Reviewing.

I recorded a track for Amy Gore at with Jackson Smith and Al Stutton at the boards Rustbelt Studio in Royal Oak last month, you can find out more about the project here.  I’m supposed to be recording some keyboard tracks for Kenny Tudrick’s new project next week and I’m excited about that. John Smerek is again behind the boards for this one. I also provided keyboard tracks for a new song by my friend Jess Domain a singer songwriter from Detroit now living in NYC who’s music is being featured in the new Cinemax series Girls Guide.

I’ve been working hard on my recording/rehearsal space downtown and will be doing more recording and rehearsing there soon. I’ve spent a number of hours cleaning up and rearranging and I think it’s the best incarnation yet.  I recently recorded a few Hammond organ tracks there for both Colton P. Weatherston and Ben Keller and the 500 Club of which my friend David Dionese a member. I used my Shure SM81 on the top rotor and got a great tone. I’m using a Senheiser e602 for the bottom rotor.

I attended the birthday party of drummer vocalist Terry Thunder at his west side Detroit home and enjoyed one heck of a good time. That was a “real party” that was full of folks who knew how to have fun and respect one another at the same time. There ain’t no party like a Detroit party. I heard they went until 6am. I left before that. Terry Thunder is the man!

I’m really interested in checkin these out. It’s a problem I face as a keyboard player. I’ve also been taking a close look at the Korg Kronos. It’s the first new keyboard that’s raised my interest in awhile. I need to sit down and play it for awhile. I’m also looking forward to trying out the new dual manual Nord organ clone which now includes drawbars.

I’m glad it’s getting warmer out and I’m looking forward to a nice spring/summer collection of performances and projects. My weekend recommendation is that you check out Bill Heid this Saturday afternoon at the Scarab Club in Detroit. He’s one of my favorites. He’ll be at Cliff Bell’s playing Hammond Organ Friday April 20th. That’s all for now…

Chris

Recording with the greats

On Tuesday night I was in my recording/rehearsal studio (a mere mile from Motown Studio A) with two members of the organ jazz lineage of music that I am so fond of, namely Perry Hughes and Gene Dunlap. I’ve been working with both of these gentleman for quite sometime and I’m humbled and honored to be associated with them. Perry Hughes is “the embodiment of Wes Montgomery, Grant Green and George Benson” as described by my mentor and teacher Bill Heid. I first heard Perry on Bill’s “Blues on The Road” record which included a song I still perform entitled “Love Is Nothing  But The Blues” which featured a tasty solo from Mr. Hughes. Then I devoured Bill’s “Bop Rascal” CD which featured some great tunes including “Grantacious” and “Psy Ops” both of which are in my B3 repertoire.  I met Perry years later and I’ve been fortunate enough to play gigs with him since that time. Through Perry I met Harvey Mason and was able to play at the Jarkta Jazz Festival in Indonesia and at the Barbados Jazz Festival through his recommendation. Gene Dunlap has worked and recorded with Grant Green, Earl Klugh, and many others as well as recording under his own name for Columbia records. He’s a master of subtley and taste on the drums and I’ve really grown to appreciate his knowledge on the industry, music, and technology. The fact that I was sitting at the Hammond and recording with both of these gentleman made me very grateful.

I’ve made my first few forays into full band recording using Logic 9 on my Macbook Pro and I’m learning a lot each time. I’m using an Apogee Ensemble and Duet as my audio interfaces. I’m very happy with both of these devices in general and I’m considering getting a symphony system in the future. The Mastero 2 interface is very clear and the sound quality is really good. I had 10 channels to work with. I ended up using nine because the direct line of the organ was buzzing and I knew it was a ground issue but I didn’t have time to chase it down and decided to just go with the three mic set up I had on the Leslie. One of the problems that I face in the room that I record in is that it’s in a building that contains other rehearsal and recording studios. Sometimes this can be a problem. Especially when the death-metal-techno band rehearses and the SVT’s are on 10! But we didn’t seem to encounter much of a problem even though there was another band to rehearsing at the same time.

I just had my dumpster picked Hammond C2 worked on by the amazing B3 Doctor John Doyle. He switched out my vibrato/chorus transistor and made the organ sound like a million bucks. He also gave me the ability to run three tone cabinets! We started the session using only the 21H (with a 122 Amp) and my near mint 145. It sounded good but Gene mentioned that he couldn’t hear my comping so I decided to hook up the Hammond Tone Cabinet I recently acquired. I plugged it in and both Gene and Perry looked up and smiled. They could now hear me and the rest of the takes had a lot more communication between Gene and myself.

I’m lucky to have a fairly large space to record and rehearse with high ceilings and foam padded walls. It’s nice and open and kind of dead. I can get some good sounding tracks d in there. I’m also fortunate enough to be next door to percussion guru Larry Fratangelo who’s worked with Aretha Franklin, Kid Rock, and P-Funk to name a few. We plan on joining forces to record in 2012 so we’ll have three rooms to work with. I transferred the tracks to my desktop yesterday and made a rough mix or two. They’re not too bad. I think we got a few good takes. We recorded three tunes. I’m looking forward to doing lots more recording in the new year. I’d also like to thank Bill’s brother George Heid who talked me through the set up and approach I used for recording. It’s not pristine sound quality but we got a vibe and some good takes. The organ has the character of some of the early McDuff recordings I really like and Perry takes some amazing solos (as per usual.) I’m so glad we finally got in a studio. We’ve been talking about it for years and we finally made it happen. I’m looking forward to doing lots more recording and producing in 2012.

Practicing tip #1

“How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

(wait for it) Practice, Practice Practice!”

It’s an old joke but it’s true. There’s so much to practice. Where does one start? We all have a finite amount of time to practice, and it’s important to get the most out of the time you spend at the instrument. In an effort to help both efficiency and proficiency and in the spirit of Christmas, I’m going to share a few tips I’ve found helpful in honing my musical skills. I’ll share more in upcoming posts so if you like what you read here, sign up for more by pressing the follow button at the bottom of the page.

1. Always practice with a metronome. A lot of people resist this concept for whatever reason. Perhaps they feel it ‘limits their freedom” or that it’s “too restricting” or something of that ilk. Please, do yourself a favor and forget those statements. They are not true. Having ‘good time’ is an essential (and perhaps overlooked) element of being a good musician. The best way to develop and strengthen your internal pulse is to practice with a constant, steady and unchanging beat. I can almost hear some of  you say you can’t stand sound the ‘tick tick tick’ of your grandmother’s metronome, or the annoying chirp of an electric model. I hear you, and I feel your pain. If the sound of the metronome drives you nuts I’ve got some solutions. There are many metronomes and metronome applications for smart phones (I use Frozen Ape’s Tap Tempo for the iPhone) that allow you to change the sound of the pulse. Or try practicing along with a drum machine, software synth or a loop. It can be more inspiring than just a steady quarter note pulse. There are lots of cool loops in different styles  in programs like Garageband and there are plenty of free loops on the web. I’ve also found band-in-the-box to be a lot of fun for practicing. I like using a drum machine because it’s easy to change the tempo and you can’t often mute out a distracting or annoying sounds right from the controls. Or you can create your own patterns. Something to keep in mind when using electronic beat makers; make sure that the beats are simple enough that they don’t get in the way of the material that you’re practicing.

The metronome I've been using for years....

1a. Start playing the material you’re trying to learn a little slower than you want to play it at first. Yes, SLOWER. S-L-O-W-E-R. SLOW IT DOWN!!! Your ego will get in the way and say “I can play this fast right now, I don’t wanna play slow” and I admire your enthusiasm and your confidence! But all too often I hear rushed tempos, notes and passages that reveal that the performer has not spent the proper amount of time with the material. Learning a lick or pattern slowly and then gradually increasing the tempo by a few B.P.M (beats per minute) at a time after you’re able to play the material solidly, confidently and with assurance is the best way to get a difficult passage under your fingers. To the impatient mind this can be a maddeningly slow process but it truly is the best way I’ve found to improve one’s playing. I’m certainly not advocating robotic, metronomic playing on the stage but it’s a essential tool to work with during your practice time. As your sense and awareness of time as a constant becomes stronger you will be able to push or pull against the beat and that’s when the fun really begins. Why is it that you can play a transcription of a great solo and still not sound like the artist who played it? Part of what makes the greats great is there “time” and “feel” and the way that they played the notes made you feel something.

One compliment I’ve gotten from other players over my career is about my “time” or “feel.” I’ve made a point of practicing with a metronome when I first started to get into playing jazz. Before that I didn’t really like to use it. I thought it was a restriction. I was wrong. It’s been an essential part of developing my feel for walking bass lines with my left hand and being able to comp or solo with my right while playing Hammond organ. I think having “good time” is a truly important element that is often overlooked in the “I can play everything faster and better than you” mindset. (I also think that having a “good time” while playing is often undervalued as well…but that’s a topic for another post.) If you’re not using a metronome in your practice regime I suggest you give it a chance and watch what happens. (Yes, you can turn the metronome off during rubato passages you’re playing, but if you’re playing music with a pulse, use a metronome so you can be in the groove!)

I hope this helps your playing and I’d love to hear your comments or answer any questions you might have, so leave a comment if you like. (A note to young musicians with minimal time commitments. Practice as much as you can right now. I’m here to tell you it get’s harder to find the time to practice as much as you once could as life hands you more responsibilities.)

‘Concert of Colors’ performance by The Brothers Groove video now available on the web!

On Saturday July 17, 2011 James Simonson, Skeeto Valdez and myself (better known as The Brothers Groove) along with special guest Dino Lewis on percussion performed at Orchestra Hall in Detroit Michigan as part of the ‘Concert of Colors’ produced in part by Don Was.  I was pleased to be asked to participate in the event and it was a rare treat and an honor for me to perform on the stage of such a beautiful and historic venue. The feeling of walking out on stage to perform that night was really special. That room has some serious “vibe” and the crowd was definitely showing us some love. It took a few moments for us to settle into our groove because the onstage mix was not what we were expecting. We did not get a soundcheck so each us had to deal with a less than ideal monitoring situation. We quickly adjusted our attitudes and focused on ‘doin’ the thing.’

The video of our performance just became available today on Don’s channel and the audio and video are top notch. It’s definitely one of the best looking/sounding live performances of The Brothers Groove that has been captured and made available to the public at large. We’re doing a song wrote a few years ago entitled “unavoidable.” I’ve been a fan of the band ‘Was not Was’ since my teens especially their weirder stuff  like “Dad I’m in Jail” (plus there’s a lot of Detroit talent on those records.) I also love Don’s production work with the B-52′s, Dylan and the Rolling Stones. It was a great treat to be able to meet him and perform for him.  I also look forward to seeing what he’ll be doing at Blue Note records. I know a group or two that he should check out…

http://www.mydamnchannel.com/xml/mdc_embed_wide.swf?episode=7927

Part Quatre (my last two days in Paris)

Before leaving Paris I had to see the Eiffel tower in person and set out on Friday afternoon. After consulting my Timeout iphone app  I took a direct but slightly out of the way route. After passing up and downhill through narrow streets lined by five story classic hotels. I passed boutiques and furniture shops as well as a Lamborghini dealership and numerous scooter sales/repair shops that all take up residence on the first level of many of these buildings. I came down a hill and through a park and saw the Eiffel tower through the trees from across the river. It’s really quite impressive to see in person. It ‘towers’ above the landscape. I took shots as I crossed the bridge in the warm afternoon sun and saw hundreds of tourists all taking photos at marveling at this amazing structure. There were little booths selling gellato, sandwiches, and various trinkets as well as beret topped, assault rifle armed, young French men in camouflage making sure everybody was…cool.

I walked under the tower and peered up into the immense iron work and was truly impressed. There were people traveling up and down it’s four legs in elevators, carts, and stairs like ants climbing up and down an immense iron ant-hill. The lines were too long for me so I milled around underneath and around the tower. I listened to some young musicians who were drawing a crowd then walked through the gardens enjoying the afternoon sun and taking the pictures of at least three people who wanted to be captured in front of the tower. I decided to head back to the hotel via the metro and grabbed some dinner before getting ready for the show.

On a side note I highly recommend the timeout guide (even though they slightly poo-pooed the club we played at because they tended to hire too many American musicians…) I sent it to all of the guys in the band who use iOS devices (which is most of them) and they all seemed to find it useful. It contains a great city map that works with your GPS and saves you on roaming and data fees big time. I used it to navigate around the city on the cheap. I could brandish my tech/navigational wand at will which gave me the confidence to navigate the streets assuredly as well as use the metro system effectively. And I speak/read/understand a bit of French so that helps a lot as well. Not like walking around in Russia and trying to decipher the Cyrillic alphabet, but that’s for another blog entry. Here’s a link it’s free in the app store http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/paris-travel-guide-time-out/id403959017?mt=8

Friday’s show was decent but I don’t think we really achieved full lift off until Saturday night. The management had opened up the back wall of the club to allow for the additional seating needed to accommodate the full house that was seated before the stage. Johnnie was feeling a little under the weather and he let me know before we hit the stage. I told him the equivalent of “man let’s just have a good time and play some music” and we did. The crowd was giving us love and we were giving it back to them. The staff told us they enjoyed us and we were all talking about coming back soon. We hit the cafeteria to grab a few last items off of our meal cards before turning them in at the bar. I tried to lay down to get some sleep and was very tired. I flipped through the channels and found some swinging Ella Fitzgerald live in the 60′s. I relaxed and was ready to fall asleep so I turned off the TV because as tired as I was I couldn’t sleep when hearing such good music. I couldn’t fall out and turned the TV on. James Brown was on and the band was cooking. I think it was the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1981? I couldn’t sleep to that so I just made sure I had packed everything and got ready to come back home. We gathered in the lobby and loaded into the two vans which took us through the crowded freeways (On early Sunday morning!) to the airport. Shout out to John Rutherford for stepping in with Johnnie Bassett and the ticket agent with the AFM letter/agreement with the TSA granting musicians the ability to bring an instrument with them as carry on luggage. Be sure to keep your baggage under 40 lbs. to avoid gouging overweight fees. A Sony Playstation 3 was available in the waiting area and I was watching a guy play what appeared to be the latest version of the ‘Burnout’ car racing game series. I got to play a few games and was impressed by the graphics. It helped pass of the time I’d have to wait before I returned home.

The flight was long. It’s always longer coming back home for some reason. For one thing there’s daylight forever. And your less likely to fall asleep or doze off, especially when there are screaming babies on board. There were a few moments during the trans Atlantic flight that I thought I might go stir-crazy and had to remind myself it would be over soon. Being 6’5” and +/- 215lbs I’m not exactly comfortable in a coach seat. Bill Heid was really on to something when he coined it “the flying jail cell.” I did watch the latests installment of the Pirates of The Caribean franchise with Johnny Depp. I really enjoy these films, I think Depp does a great job. Simonon says Depp based his character on Keith Richards. (Which reminds me I want to check out his autobiography soon.)

We arrived in North Carolina and cleared customs without incident. It was clear at this point my ear was blocked. It was painful and I had a slight cold coming on. We got back to DTW, off the plane, picked up our luggage and went off in separate directions to return home. It became apparent that Detroit was a lot colder than Paris had been. When I walked in the door I noticed how cold the house felt and also how happy Freida was to see me. I unpacked slightly and decompressed by watching The Simpsons. I fell asleep about 9pm and woke up around 6am not being able to fall back asleep. I headed to the 9am Bikram Yoga Class to help stretch myself out after sitting for 14 plus hours. It felt good to stretch and sweat. It’s good and strange to be home. It always is.

Part Trois…

PART TROIS

I had all of Monday off to relax and get acquainted with my surroundings. I took a walk to the “Arc de Triomphe” and shot some photos. It’s an amazing structure to see in person after seeing it so many photos and videos over the years. The stone work and carving are massive but I was also struck by how this is really just a monument to war, oppression and death. It’s fascinating as a structure and for historical relevance but I couldn’t stop thinking about all of the violence it celebrated.

I was able to pick up free wi-fi at a nearby McDonald’s and check my email, facebook etc. Our hotel charges a decent amount for access and I’ve been trying to save my money, although today (Thursday) I broke down and got the three day package so I can be connected until the end of the trip. I was still feeling a little tired from the jet lag so I returned to the room to read, rest and recuperate. It feels like I’ve been going non-stop for the last few months and having some down time in a quiet room was just what the doctor ordered. My father had given me a few Cormac McCarthy books for Christmas and I started reading ‘Outer Dark’ to take my mind off of things.

Monday was James Anderson’s birthday and I received a message on a slip of paper under my door that I was invited to go out and celebrate with the gang if I was down. The note said meet in the lobby at 10pm. At 10:55 pm Thornetta, James, Simo, Skeeto, Keith and myself headed out to the Latin Quarter in search of a few clubs that had been recommended to us by our good friend and fellow world traveler Brett Lucas (who plays guitar with Bettye LaVette among other artists.) We initially planned to take the Metro/subway over but were faced with a very long line to buy tickets after climbing down the stairs. One question for the French metro system repeated itself in my mind: Why is there only one ticket machine? Seriously. There was plenty of room for more machines and they had ONE machine with a ‘que’ of about 40 people behind it and things were moving SLOWLY. After waiting 10 minutes with little advancement in our position we decided to take a cab. We found a mini-van cab that could accommodate the whole group and headed out into the night.

We checked out one of the clubs that Brett had recommended but there was no music playing when we arrived. We were told there was a boogie woogie piano player and his group who would be on later. Cover was 12 Euros per person so we decided to keep on moving. We walked through the narrow crowded streets full of souvenir shops, sidewalk cafe’s, piano bars and Gyros vendors.

We stopped at a little pizza place, order two pies and beverages and toasted James on his birthday. After this refueling we set off in search of more music, however the places we went to didn’t have anything going on (this was a Monday night.) Not sure what we were going to do we walked by another bar called “Aux Trois Mailletz” and heard a young woman singing along with a piano player. They sounded good so we decided to listen. We were told there was live music in the basement so we headed downstairs. We descended into what looked like catacombs with arched ceilings made of many small stones. There was no cell phone reception down here. This place had been here for awhile, and Keith later found out that John Coltrane and other jazz greats had played here back in the day. The house band sounded good but there was a 20 Euro cover charge per person. While we wanted to stay and listen we all felt it was a little bit too extravagant a cost. Luckily ‘Detroit Hustles Harder’ and after some negotiation and explanation of who we were and what we were doing the club waived it’s cover charge and let us in as long as we order some drinks (done and done son…) We entered the small, warm room and sat at the front of the stage with three of us on each side of a long table which went down the center of the room. There were also tables along the side walls full of couples enjoying the music and libations. There was a young girl in a black dress vigorously  dancing on the long table and a great band laying down serious afro-pop grooves as well as a number of different singers giving it their all. It looks like we finally found a spot we could hang!

We ordered our drinks and enjoyed the show. The band consisted of bass, guitar, keyboard, sax/violin, percussion and a drummer playing (slight gasp of horror) V-drums!

These guys were good and it was a pleasure to listen to them. It appeared some of them were from Senegal and they had a warm welcoming spirit about them that reminded me of bass player/singer Pathe Jassi. The material they played ranged from really great grooves to some very passionate and slow ballads. Many of the songs were in French (surprise!) and it reminded me of how strong the cabaret culture is here. The singers performed in a round robin style (there must have been at least 10 of them) often joining in with each other to either duet or take the next verse and they encouraged the audience to sing, clap and dance along with each number. Eventually James Anderson got up and sat in on the congas and soon after James Simonson sat in on the 5-string Music Man bass. Our homeboys represented fiercely and Simo eventually ripped an amazing solo over a three chord ‘Fela’ type of groove that had the audience and the band howling for more.

Thorn and I later got up to join the band and when we returned to our table we learned that our 92 Euro tab (…seriously ??!!!) had been taken care of by the club owner! BONUS! We eventually performed “Use Me” and “Please Send me Someone to Love” around 2:30 am as an entire group along with the house guitar player. Keith Kaminski unfortunately did not have his saxophone with him so he listened from the audience. This turned out to be important because he was able to inform us that the house engineer  turned us down once we started and didn’t give us the same mix treatment as the house band (are we noticing a trend here?) Skeeto was not happy to have to play the V-drums and I don’t blame him. From where I was sitting at the keyboard it sounded like bad Roland Sound Canvas drum samples and it really took some of the fire and energy out of the sound we’re used to hearing. (I guess they must get complaints from the neighbors about volume) Still, we put it over and the crowd seemed to enjoy what we did (though to be honest it was totally different from anything they had heard all night.) The night wound down and we left to catch a cab back to the hotel. We were unable to find another mini-van capable of transporting us all together so we had to take two cabs. Upon returning to the hotel once again I couldn’t sleep so I ended up grabbing breakfast at 6:30am and then I finally was ready to fall hit the pillow and crashed out around 8:00 am.

I slept most of Tuesday. We were to be in the club to set up at 6:30pm. They had a new portable Hammond B3 with a Leslie 122 for me as well as my preferred keyboard the Nord Stage 88 which was plugged into a Peavey Keyboard amp which rested upon the Leslie. It’s like the keyboard equivalent of a Marshall stack! I’ve played the new Hammond once before when I was at the Jakarta Jazz Festival with Harvey Mason and Perry Hughes in 2009. It’s a nice piece of gear and it sounds very close to the original especially when put through a Leslie speaker. I don’t think they’ve nailed the exact sound of the Chorus/Vibrato (it’s subtle but I can hear it) and again I think the keyboard is too stiff but it was a lot better than the last organ I played. Once again the volume pedal had a Leslie switch on but at least there was an additonal switch mounted on the left hand side of the organ. The drums were behind one of those plastic/acrylic drum barrier things which I guess is necessary when you have a really loud drummer but isn’t so necessary with a master of subtle dynamics such as Skeeto Valdez. It seemed to be the house policy to have it up there though so we made do. We weren’t allowed to make any ‘noise’ during set up so we went to grab dinner in the employee cafeteria and returned to sound check at 9:00 pm. We got a decent mix and hit the stage at 10:15pm. Our show went well and the audience and staff seemed to dig it. One minor complaint. Our breaks are SUPER short as in 15 minutes. We play three sets. The first is an hour, the second is 75 minutes and the third is 45 minutes. 15 minutes goes by SUPER quick and it’s been quite an adjustment for us all to get used to. You’ve got barely enough time to hit the WC, grab a drink and relax a moment. But it does make the night go by quicker. I took a hot bath to relax after the show and hit the pillow.

I awoke early again and grabbed another delicious breakfast while reading the newspaper. I decided to set out on a walk after finishing the McCarthy book and headed off down the Champs Elysees. It was a beautiful day that got very warm and I took in the sights and sounds of the afternoon.  I have to say I’m really in awe of the amazing stone work and detail that exists on so many of the building in Paris. I walked passed the Grand Palais and through beautiful gardens until I eventually ended up at the Louvre. The Louver is stunning in it’s size and full of intricate carving and stone work on just about every square inch of this massive, sprawling structure. I got my ticket for 10 Euros and headed off into the galleries. I saw many great works of art and got within 20 feet of the Mona Lisa. I proceeded to check out a little over half of the museum. I really enjoyed the more ‘primitive pieces’ of art as opposed to thousands of paintings and sculpture of war and religious imagery which seems to be the main focus of most European art. (Not that I don’t respect the technique and skill required to create them, but it’s really not my cup of tea.) The museum is massive and I don’t think that you could really even check out the whole place in the course of one day. I walked around in a state of amazement thinking ‘this is unreal, I can barely believe how much art and history is here.’ I had been walking around for the last five hours and my legs and feet we’re starting to let me know it was time to get some rest. After studying a map and noting the similarities to the New York subway I ended up hopping on the metro and got off at the stop nearby our hotel saving myself another 4 mile walk back. I met up with Simo, Skeeto, Thorn, Keith and James in the employee cafeteria and then took a short nap after dinner.

We started our Wednesday night show to an even bigger crowd than the night before and proceeded to give the audience a great show even getting some of them on to their feet and dancing. After the show I returned to my room to rest and got a few hours of sleep but it seems that my body clock is now set to wake up at 7:30 am so I was up and started to get ready for the day. I was able to pop on a free wi-fi network that popped up for a little while and discovered I had an overdraft in my bank account that was caused by a bounced check from a gig I did a few weeks ago. I’ve sent the offending check writer a message about it and we’ll see what happens, the ball is in his court.

Trip to France Part Deux…

PART Deux….

The next afternoon we headed over to the Palais Littoral for our soundcheck. There were some problems with the electrical in the building which caused some bizarre buzzing and forced James Simonson to use the Mark Bass amplifier through the SVT instead of the preferred Ampeg amp. The Hammond they had for me upon closer inspection was a handyman special in a home made case. The key action was very stiff and uneven and the organ made a loud buzzing noise when I changed the volume from normal to soft. The Leslie fast/slow switch was attached to a moveable volume pedal (which we had to tape down) instead of mounted on the left where it normally is. I’m not a fan of this configuration. I’ve played organs a few times that were set up this way and it’s useable if I’m playing bass lines with my left hand or foot but I really prefer to ave the option to change speeds with my left hand. It’s too easy to “foul tip” and change speeds accidentally plus. Later on during a solo one of the notes on the top manual got stuck somehow even though the keys looked normal and I had to play the rest of the show on the bottom manual. Getting a decent back-line Hammond is really a crap shoot. The Nord Stage EX they had for me was the compact model with 76 unweighted keys. This was also a drag because I use this for my piano/Wurlitzer parts and it’s difficult to play blues/boogie piano licks on non-weighted keys because there’s no resistance to work against plus it lacked the full 88 note range. I made it work because that’s what you do as a professional but it looks like I need to make a few updates to the rider. That being said, I’ve definitely been in situations where the back-line has been worse.

Once we finally got all of the technical details out of the way we were able to get a good mix on stage. We had dinner upstairs again and I admit I was disappointed by this meal. It consisted of rice and chicken with a cream sauce and it was marginal at best. I was craving vegetables or a salad because I was quickly approaching  “starch overload”.

We hit the stage at 8:30 pm and were greeted with polite applause. We had a large attentive crowd but it’s certainly a different vibe than playing to an American audience. They were much quieter and reserved than we are used to. I jokingly wondered if they had put glue on the chairs because despite Thornetta’s attempts to get them up and to “dance away their blues” they remained firmly in their seats. We did receive a large round of applause afterward and we were called back for an encore so all in all I think we had a good performance. After we finished there was a band who put on a musical tribute to the late blues rocker Gary Moore.

Most of us (except Bassett and Mark) decided to go to the jam session after the concert. This was held in a small club a few minutes from the venue. There was a band setting up inside when we arrived. It took a long time for the music to get started. Skeeto and I hung outside for awhile because the club was getting packed, hot, and loud. Keith got up and sat in with the band first. Later Thornetta and Simo got up and killed it. I eventually sat in on the keys and it was here I realized that the guitar player had a serious “it’s all about me” attitude, was not gracious, and had no intention of being shown up by any Americans. (He told Keith that one tune they were going to play was in ‘B’ but it was actually in ‘F’…nice.)  It might not be visible to an audience member but there are many subtle (and not so subtle) vibes and cues given off by musicians to each other on stage and this guy was clearly giving off an “ass clown” vibe. We played a shuffle in G and he kept telling us to turn down while he took chorus after chorus of marginal guitar gymnastics. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some major league guitar talent (Hiram Bullock and Perry Hughes to name two) so it takes more than playing guitar behind your head to impress me. After we finished Rutherford suggested to the guitarist that I sing a tune (We really wanted to play something that wasn’t a ‘I IV V lumpy de lump’) but my microphone was off and he ignored our request and brought up two other guitar players who did (surprise!) a slow blues in A. Once again the spirit of selfishness reared it’s ugly head as they made sure they were the only soloists on the tune.  I had enough at this point and walked off the stage after the tune ended. The experience was disappointing from my point of view and I was glad when we all finally got in the van and headed back to the hotel. I’m not sure whether it was the jet lag, the distasteful behavior of the musicians or the couple of cokes I had late at night but unfortunately I couldn’t fall asleep. I tossed and turned in the small bed (which my feet hung off of) until the sun rose.

We had an 8:15am Lobby call to catch a 9:45 am train to Paris. Mark, Keith, Simo, Bassett and I were in one train car while the rest of the group was with Didier in another. We tried to get some sleep on the way to Paris but it’s hard to rest in an upright seat with little leg room. We finally arrived, exited the train and made our way towards the street. We crowded into two vans set off for the hotel hotel. On the way we passed the Moulin Rouge and a street full of small music stores (one was called “bass maniac”.) We came around the ‘Arc de Triomphe’ and were soon at Le Meridien (our hotel.) The rooms were not ready for us and we had to wait a few hours in the lobby. I had been up for way over 24 hours at and many of the group had only gotten a few hours sleep. We tried to make the best of it but it was not an ideal situation. I finally got into my room about 3:30 pm and laid down. I was much happier with this room because it had a king sized bed and I was able to fully stretch out without hanging off the end. I was exhausted and slept until 10:30 pm. Eventually I got up and met up with Keith, Rutherford and Skeeto and we took a small stroll around the surprisingly quiet streets of Paris. I returned to the room after grabbing a small salad (yes!) in the employee cafeteria, and fell asleep again. I awoke around 7:30 am and headed down to the hotel’s amazing breakfast spread. I had fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee, and a delicious ‘made while you wait’ omelet. I’m going to be enjoying a week of great breakfasts for certain.

Trip to France: Day 1

I’m on tour right now with not only a great group of musicians but some of my closest friends. It’s a veritable “super group” of Detroit based musicians including Johnnie Bassett , Thornetta Davis-Anderson and her husband James Anderson, Keith Kaminski, Mark Byerly, John Rutherford, Skeeto Valdez and James Simonson. I’ve been making music with these folks for many years and it’s a rare treat to be on the road with what I consider to be my musical family.

We left Detroit on Thursday September 22nd via US Airways and flew to North Carolina where we had a few hour layover. Our flight to Paris left around 4:50 pm. I passed the time by watching “Thor” and playing Bejeweled on the in-flight entertainment center. The six hour flight actually passed by pretty quickly. I’ve found that if I can keep myself distracted and not looking at the clock constantly I’m less anxious to get out of “the flying jail cell.” I also enjoyed a nice glass of Cognac after dinner which put me in a nice mellow mood.

The plane touched down in the darkness and I breathed a sigh of relief. We got through customs and picked up all of our luggage without incident. We had a brief moment of anxiety when we did not see anyone holding up a sign with our names on it after walking out of the baggage claim. It turns out our drivers had gone to the wrong terminal. After a quick phone call we were assured they were on there way and they found us shortly thereafter and loaded us and our luggage into two mini vans and station wagon. We drove about three hours to the town of Grand-Synthe near Dunkirk where we are to stay two nights and play at the Bay-Carr Blues Festival.

We arrived at our hotel tired and ready to get some rest. I checked into my very small but comfortable room and after spending a few minutes trying to figure out how to get the storm shutter to close to facilitate darkness I got some much needed sleep. I awoke around 6:30pm and got ready to go the venue where we to play the next night to get some dinner and hear some music.

We were served a delicious meal including a baked potato and chili con carne with some excellent French bread with some delicious beer and wine (in a box!) I sat with Johnnie, Thornetta and her husband James and our contact Didier and enjoyed Johnnie’s stories about playing in Detroit in the old days. After dinner we went to check out the venue. It’s a very large building with many rooms and it host many different events and activities. There was a belly-dancing class going on next door to the dining room area. The main room with the stage was very large and sounded surprisingly good, I’m sure in part due to the extremely large curtain that covered one of the sides of the room. It really cut down on the sound reflections. The first band we saw was the James Hunter band and they sound really good. I was glad to see they had a chopped Hammond C3 with Leslie and a Nord StageEX on stage. After they finished we watched Preston Shannon do his thing with the guitar backed by a group of French musicians. They opened up their show with the classic “Sissy Strut.” It’s good to know that some things never change….

We were considering going to a late night jam session but decided to head back to the hotel and get some rest. But you know the saying “There ain’t no party like a Detroit party…” and after we learned that the hotel bar was closed we decided to hang out in John Rutherford’s room (he got the suite) which had a window which opened out to a small terrace. We climbed out the window and enjoyed the cool night air while James Simonson played us groovy tunes from his iPhone through a small pair of speakers. Life is good.