I’ll be playing some jazz guitar at the Madrigal Family Winery Sausalito Tasting Salon & Gallery (in, as you might have guessed, Sausalito) with my friend Jeffrey Kamil this coming Friday evening, February 3. We’ll be playing from 6-8pm. It’s an artist reception for Faith Rumm, whose gallery show runs there from February 1 through March 8. Come on out if you’re in the neighborhood!

For more info about the artist:
http://wineindustryadvisor.com/2017/01/24/walking-muir-light-celebrating-trail

It’s been a very long time I last posted an item here. It’s reflective of a couple of years of little real musical activity. As you can tell from the SNUG items earlier, we didn’t ever actually get many gigs. So around August of 2015 I started looking around and ended up in another cover band based out of Redwood City. We played more often, but for various reasons, it didn’t work out and I dropped out in mid-2016. In the meantime the folks from SNUG had moved south to San Jose and, when I told them I was working with another group, they found another guitar player. I wish them the best.

Not too long after I found Sharon Lea, a very good singer who was interested in doing standards and such with an accompanist, and we started working out repertoire. We had our first public appearance at an open mic at Angelica’s in Redwood City in mid-October, and hopefully, we’ll start finding gigs in earnest in the coming months. It’s nice to be doing the sole accompanist thing again, so much simpler to deal with in every way… well, except for how hard it is to be a good sole accompanist.

I still am struggling with trying to find enough time to practice and to work on my playing AND work on recording projects AND compose music AND get involved with looping (I bought a nice looper in 2016)… what happens is, I spend most of my available time practicing and neglect everything else. I did manage to crank out a couple of quick and dirty recordings playing over pre-recorded backup tracks from Bobby’s Backing Tracks, two Stevie Wonder covers; you can hear them on my SoundCloud page if you are so inclined:

• “My Cherie Amour”
• “Boogie On Reggae Woman”

I still go out to play on the odd Sunday evening at Stan Erhart’s long-running jam at the American Legion in Princeton-by-the-Sea, but not as often as I used to, and I have not been to either the Club Fox or the Pioneer to play even once throughout 2016 and so far yet this year.

It’s been a bit of an aimless year.  As SNUG continued not get gigs nearly often enough, I looked around and ended up in another cover band based out of Redwood City. We played more often but for various reasons it didn’t work out. In the meantime the folks from SNUG had moved south to San Jose and, when I told them I was working with another group, they found another guitar player. I wish them the best.

Not too long after I found Sharon Lea, a very good singer who was interested in doing standards and such with an accompanist, and we started working out repertoire. We had our first public appearance at an open mic at Angelica’s in Redwood City in mid-October, and hopefully we’ll start finding gigs in earnest in the coming months. It’s nice to be doing the sole accompanist thing again, so much simpler to deal with in every way… well, except for how hard it is to pull off creditably.

I still am struggling with trying to find enough time to practice and to work on my playing AND work on recording projects AND compose music AND get involved with looping… what happens is I spend most of the available time practicing and neglect everything else. I did manage to crank out a couple of quick and dirty recordings playing over prerecorded backup tracks from Bobby’s Backing Tracks, two Stevie Wonder covers; you can hear them on my SoundCloud page if you are so inclined:

“My Cherie Amour”
“Boogie On Reggae Woman”

I still go out to play on the odd Sunday evening at Stan Erhart’s long-running jam at the American Legion in Princeton-by-the-Sea, but not as often as I used to, and I have not been to either the Club Fox or the Pioneer to play even once this year.

I recently listened to the tune “John and Mary” from Jaco Pastorius’ second solo album, Word of Mouth, and marveled again at how wonderful it is. I am also amazed that this album, and this piece in particular, are not better known. To me it has always seemed to be a work of utter genius. There seems to be very little on the Internet about it that I was able to find. So I’d thought I’d write a little about it. Maybe one or two people will stumble on this, seek it out, and discover just how beautiful and great this tune is. Then my work here will be finished 😉

It’s actually a rather elaborate piece, running a little over ten minutes long, with Jaco on bass, organ, and vocals, Othello Molineaux and/or Paul Horn-Muller on steel drums, Wayne Shorter on soprano sax, Herbie Hancock on piano, either Peter Erskine or Jack DeJohnette on drums, perhaps Don Alias and/or Bobby Thomas, Jr. on percussion, Jim Walker and/or Hubert Laws on flute ( as you might gather, the album’s liner notes are somewhat lacking, so other than the very recognizable Wayne and Herbie, it’s hard to piece together who else actually played on this track), augmented here and there by strings and a choir of voices, as well as some captured moments of Jaco and his children talking.

It actually starts with one of those snippets, with Jaco and his kids whispering and giggling. Then come some piano chords that lead us into the first part of the tune, a joyous melody with a Caribbean lilt from the pans throughout which dart soprano sax improvisations from Shorter. This goes on for a bit and then come to an end, leading into some more moments of Jaco’s children speaking.

From there the piece segues into a second theme stated with wordless vocals from Jaco and the children, punctuated with tympani, with Shorter’s improvisations again springing up around and through the theme.

The first theme returns with more improvising. Then the second theme repeats its first part, but leads to another section where a tuba plays an ostinato note and the rhythm changes and then drops out, and a moment of silence occurs. Then the piano introduces the next section, where strings and horns play a lovely segue. An achingly beautiful melody played by Jaco on the bass (and doubled freely by his voice) is stated once, then again as the strings and horns lay down a slightly more elaborate backdrop.

Next, a vocal segue by the choir leads to a repeat of the first theme, this time much fuller, with the voices harmonizing the simple melody and Jaco singing improvisationally

I don’t really know how to describe it, but this piece just makes me stop and quietly listen, and it evokes a lot of emotion. The feeling it projects is sweet and loving, but there is also an undercurrent of sadness and regret. There is depth and complexity to the emotions evoked. Maybe part of that is knowing Jaco’s story, his bipolar disorder and his sad death at age 36 (so much potential music-making that we’ll never get to hear). I also remember clearly when this album first came out, when I was living alone in a studio apartment in West Los Angeles, emotionally tattered, miles from friends and family. I remember lying on my futon at night and playing this record many times, letting it sweep me up in its spell.

To me these kind of experiences are what gives music its power, though “power” isn’t the best word.

“John and Mary” on YouTube
More about Word of Mouth
See the Jaco documentary film

My first trip out to Yoshi’s so far this year was to see one of my favorite musicians, Wayne Krantz. He played at Yoshi’s, the wonderful jazz club in Oakland’s Jack London Square. Rounding out the trio was James Genus on bass and Cliff Almond on drums.

Krantz’s music has for some years now (though a little less so on his last two releases, Krantz Carlock Lefebvre and Howie 61, both of which were more composed and included vocals by Krantz) been largely improvised. He takes some thematic elements – phrases, grooves, chord patterns – to give the proceedings something of a skeleton, and the trio uses these to navigate. To call them songs isn’t accurate; maybe musical snippets is a better term? Nothing remotely like the typical jazz trio playing the head, then taking solos, trading eights, and repeating the head.

Along the lines of his most recent recording, this year’s Good Piranha/Bad Piranha, some of the material was “cover material.” On that record, he recorded two versions each of Pendulum’s “Comprachicos,” M.C. Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This,” Ice Cube’s “My Skin is My Sin,” and Radiohead vocalist Thom Yorke’s “Black Swan” – one set with Nate Wood on bass and Keith Carlock on drums, the other set with Tim Lefebvre on bass and Nate Wood on drums. Gabriela Anders adds some momentary vocals to most of the tracks. Each touches briefly on the tunes but then gets Krantzified immediately. The two versions are almost totally different, as were the versions the trio performed at Yoshi’s. It’s recognizably Wayne Krantz – his distinctive qualities as a guitar player are sui generis – but you don’t listen to Krantz expecting to hear specific melodies or tunes. It’s all new each time.

It’s a risky thing to do, and accordingly, he’s not a household word, and his music isn’t something the less-than-adventurous listener would be attracted to. The music is constantly in danger of veering off the tracks (the dreaded “bad night”); but to balance that out, there is always the chance of something transcendent happening.

Last night’s show was decidedly not a bad night. You could see it in the faces of the musicians as they played. Krantz lit up like a child having the most fun ever, totally in control of his awesome facility with the instrument and the array of sound-modifying pedals he uses (wah, delay, a new device called a freeze pedal, and a ring modulator that turns him into a percussionist from outer space). He was clearly enthralled, and it was enthralling to the audience, who clearly got it, grooving and smiling and applauding and whooping out loud. There was a nice feedback loop formed between the performers and the audience.

Most people probably wouldn’t call this jazz, but to me it’s jazz at its finest, thrilling music arising out of the simpatico improvisation of gifted musicians, music that swings and grooves and rocks.

Read my earlier post about Wayne Krantz if you are so inclined.

The rock & soul band I play guitar for, SNUG, provided live music at an Avon 39 Breast Cancer Fundraising Event held on Saturday, June 13 at the Longboard Margarita Bar in Pacifica. We played four sets from 9pm to about 1:15am. The audience loved us and we had fun.

It’s a couple of weeks now after Christmas 2014, and I’m looking over the last year musically (and otherwise) and trying to see it in a glass-half-full rather that glass-half-empty mode. Not easy. SNUG had just three gigs all year. The collab with Adrian McMahon imploded. Another playing collaboration with some friends never got off the ground much due to the scarcity of time to get together. I had one jazz gig in November. Otherwise I’ve been spinning my wheels, floating between working through some instructional materials, working on solo jazz arrangements, occasionally going to some blues jams, working on some of my various recording projects, looking at Craig’s List every couple of weeks or so in hopes of finding some playing situations…

That all sounds pretty half-empty. What’s the half-full part? Well, I keep managing to get a little better still. I dread the day when old age starts to take its toll on my hands but so far I continue to improve.

In 2015 I really hope to figure out some sort of path forward that sees me either writing and recording some of my own music, finishing some of my other recording projects, and playing live more often in one or more contexts.

I’ve know about Mike Keneally for a while but somehow was never moved to check him out until I read a Guitar Player magazine interview with him on the occasion of his new album,  You Must Be This Tall,  and learned that he had previously released a collaboration between himself and one of my all-time favorite musicians, Andy Partridge of XTC fame – Wing Beat Fantastic. So I downloaded it from Amazon, loved it, and then went out and got the new one. Loved that one, too.

Some thoughts while listening to You Must Be This Tall: Keneally’s guitar parts by turns roll, ramble, snake, dart, flit, bark, snarl, roar, chuckle as they make their way across a colorful, vivid musical landscape.

After a fairly long hiatus, SNUG appeared live at the San Francisco Cherry Blossom Festival Saturday, April 12, 3:30pm, on the Webster Street stage. It was a blast, a mostly sunny afternoon, a large and enthusiastic crowd, a nice big stage and a great sound system.

Well, sorry to say, the second half of 2013 and the first three months of this year have been a bit of a dud on the musical side of things. SNUG had a mere two gigs all year, the least since I joined in 2009 or so. (So far we have one appearance at the Cherry Blossom Festival in San Francisco on the books for April 12.) The jazz trio  project I was trying to put together never materialized, I could never get the bass player and drummer scheduled together and finally gave up. The project I have going on with Adrian McMahon lost a lot of steam when the drummer we had been rehearsing with moved to Wisconsin in September. But we have recently found a guy that seems to be working out, so hopefully that project will emerge sometime soon.