una mas

Well, it was an interesting evening.

Usually when the entertainment value is high the musical element takes a back seat – and visa versa.  Of course the sweet gigs are the ones when you excel in both …but sometimes beggars can’t be choosers.  So we choose entertainment tonight.   Of course when the club buys the band Corona’s and tequila shooters and you happen to have a little mexican piano player in your ranks who thinks that’s pretty swell then hey, when in Rome.  Or maybe Puerto Vallarta I suppose.  Doesn’t really matter, it was all good …at least until we hit Careless Whisper – then you just didn’t care anymore.

From left to right; El Rojo, Pollo Loco and El Hefe ...in that slightly inhibriated order. Can you spot the Mexican? (hint - he's the one smiling)

blogiversary

So it seems I missed my blogiversary.  Ooops.  Does that mean the romance has gone?  Has the relationship become stale and routine?  Are we now on the rocky road to wherever it is rocky roads lead to?

On a more positive note, the America Rosa’s did the Azucar thing tonight (and tomorrow as well) and it actually didn’t sound as bad as I expected.  I guess that can happen when you go in with low/modest expectations …so yeah, I was kinda happy.  Sure we screwed up and stuff, but what was nice was that my bass was bassy, right behind me, and playing it just felt nice tonight.  The drums were balanced because I wasn’t standing beside them with a cymbal in my head (as usual) and the sound I got from the rest of the group was pretty good.  I don’t know what they thought mind you …but from my perspective it was nice.

It was a dead Friday for the club as well …but still fun to play – and my headache/allergy/cold problems seemed to dissipate as the night went on.  Yea drugs!  Now here’s hoping I can get some sleep tonight.  I think that SSRI study I’m on may be leading to some degree of insomnia …of course I don’t know for sure, but if I have another week of sleep issues I may just walk away from it all.

Mario ...keeping it simple.

the world starts here

The world starts here…
in a nike crested track suit
on the way to a late slip
in early spring,
in a lazy amble – dog speed -
through a watery city street,
in the few eyeblinks between
the sounds of a shovel
struck hard to the earth or
in the still air of an
elevator between floors.
The world starts here…
in the quiet glances shared
among strangers scurrying
well-lit halls,
on the barren wall that
hangs a daily plan for a
day to plan,
in the dull murmur of a
cafeteria crowd somewhere
between five and six or
in a shadows blurred edge.
The world starts here…
in childsteps between
pews on a Saturday afternoon
that struggles for Spring or
in a wavering bag
wavering about a wind,
in harmonics that stray
cautiously between resolve,
in between sighs from an
over-worked hostess or in
the floor that wantonly serves
an edge to her foot.
The world starts here…
in a steady hum that blurs
its source seamlessly,
in a puff of smoke – skyward -
leaving behind its birth,
in a corner that shares itself
a yard sharing itself
a home prim and proper, or
in the flash of paint
stretching smooth over asphalt
over hills over and over.
The world starts here…
not in some big bang whose
echo has fallen,
or in beginnings that claim
heavens or cobras afloat
in seas of nothingness -
but in the eyes of a man
who trembles when he speaks -
searching unanswerables -
or in a dog who urges play,
in a friend who bids a
friend farewell and later thanks
the experience.
The worlds starts here…
in a blinking cursor,
a pencils’ etching,
in a flash of light, a glimpse
into darkness or in motion as
a wave might collapse on shores
beckoning its salty pitch -
returning, exhausted, backwater,
or in an ice that tonguemelts,
or in a moment – and in between
moments such as now and
perhaps then and in between
those still yet unaccounted.
The world starts here…
now… as soon as you finish
this sentence.

Or this one.

I stepped in the shower

I stepped in the shower.
As the water began to fall
against the curtain and the coolness
of its first drops reached my feet,
I suddenly thought that if I wasn’t
there, perhaps the world would
go on?  Perhaps the next day sun
would find the sky and the traffic
still rumble past my small house.
People would move along,
Spring would spring,
meetings meet,
bread would still rise – laying
itself flat for a $6.95 luncheon special.

I stepped out of the shower and
hoped that I might save a glimpse
of what it was that crossed
my mind.  My feet have dried
as I creep near the end of this
page and the traffic still rumbles on…
and how would you know?

mule intestines

Arrrgh.  I still need some sleep.

However, the KM show last night was pretty good.  Mr. John Newton joined us on drums after taking a bit of a holiday and things went better than I imagined.  Other neat things …Raychel gave us some little KM buttons, I got paid for 3 gigs in one night, I could hear myself in my monitor and the tempo for Right With You worked out great.  It seemed a little slow over the verses but when the chorus came around it was bang on.  I orchestrated a few vocal breakdowns that surprised me too …so yeah, it was almost fun

The Once on this Island musical I’m working on had their ’sitz probe’ tonight.  What’s a sitz probe you ask?  Good question …and if I really cared to find out I’d go googling for the thing, but instead I’ll let it remain as one of those weird pieces of jargon that you don’t really find out about.  For a while at least.  It looks like it’ll be a fun show too …and it’s def. easier music wise for me when compared to that Seussical I did a while ago.  That was tough.  Although, it could be the case that my bass reading chops have improved.

Naw.

I still don’t have a lot of time these next few weeks, but I should be able to get together some stuff to keep my blog happy.  I’ve got a bunch of half baked opinions that have been sitting on the back burner that I should probably post before I give up on them.  A whack (you don’t hear that word too much anymore?) of tunes that I have to somehow get motivated to record too.   And it’s been nice out lately …that’s nice!

Finally, here’s a picture of McBeal for you.  She plays the sax-a-mo-phone and likes it when I post funny pictures of her.  Really.  In this one she’s smelling her fingers and trying to decide what they smell like.  She’s prob. thinking “Cheese …or maybe dill with a hint of lime.”  I’m thinking mule intestines or the new ‘mac wrap‘ …although you could easily get the two confused.

The McBeal

placebo domingo

So, it seems this last week or so of ‘H. E. double hockey sticks’ has almost officially come to an end.  The Marco crap was done (as previously posted), the trombone quartet gig is over (it was a stunning success on many levels …really!), the DTB gig is done (a Rock for the Walk cancer awareness show), the first of many rehearsals for the ‘Once on this Island‘ musical is complete, which leaves nothing but a finishing reh. tomorrow morning and finally a KM gig later that night …and those dittys are pretty painless.

The Easter weekend threw me off I think.  I should of saw it coming …but by the time I did it was a bit too late.  So yeah …now I feel like this big pressure has been taken off.  That’s all good.  Maybe I’ll do something fun for myself tomorrow sometime?  Maybe.

Did I mention that I signed up for another one of those U of A neurobiology research experiments again?  I did.  I might have mentioned earlier that I wouldn’t do that again …but I did.  No reason though.  Just the neatness of being a guinea pig I guess.  This study (I’m in the healthy control group of course) is titled…. “Investigation of the Effects of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) on Cholesterol and Nitric Oxide (NO) Levels in Patients Suffering from Major Depression (MD) and Coronary Heart Disease (CHD).”  Ooooh.  Sounds complex.  Sounds like Science …of sorts.  I’ve been taking my ‘meds’ for a week or so now and I think I’m on the actual drug as opposed to the placebo.  Maybe.  It’s hard to say …but I won’t rule out my crazy last week of busyness as having some effect on my attitude toward things.  Possibly.  I guess time will tell.

And I also guess that’s it.  Ahhh, the beauty of controlling your own content!  And speaking of which, here’s a picture of the inside of my fridge

*note to self ...buy food tomorrow*

Susan Boyle

Maybe it’s the air but…

What’s up with everyone’s fascination with the ‘Susan Boyle’ Britain’s Got Talent contestant?  She sings and she’s plain …as opposed to being a ‘good-looking celebrity wanna-be’.  So what.

Is it such a shocker that someone normal looking can sing?  If it is (and judging from all the coverage/hulla-ballo around her it definitely is!) then isn’t this just a pitiful and sad reflection on our perceptions and priorities as a culture?  Doesn’t this speak volumes about society’s shallowness, misguided praise and wayward values?

Yes …I get the whole underdog story.  It’s touching.  But I think there’s more to it than that.  And I think it begins with you …and how you both see yourself and judge other people.  Personally, I think we all should give our heads a shake.

But then maybe it is just the air.

MCP

I’ve been a little tired lately.  It seems I’ve saved up all the stuff I needed to do and placed it all into a four day weekend.  Tonight I scratched one of those off my list …but I’ve still 3 days to go.

The Marco Claveria Project was at OTR tonight as part of the clubs ‘Salsa Thursdays’.  It was fine.  I kinda sucked cause I didn’t learn my tunes well enough …I had the charts for a while but kept procrastinating, and when the ‘few days remaining’ came along I had no choice but to cram – which is not a good thing for the chops from a guy who doesn’t play all too often.  But that’s just an excuse.  Anyway, it’s done.  I did an earlier gig with Marco a few weeks ago, on bass …and I would have preferred that to the trombone that I had to dust off.

Luckily I dusted it though …I’ll be needing it again tomorrow.

Marco. Aka 'Luli number two'

tisdale

Happy Easter kids.

The religious/bunny holiday took me out to Tisdale for the past few days.  Lots of driving, lots of visiting, lots of eating and lots of not getting the stuff done that I was hoping to.  The weather was nice though, so that’s a good thing.  Tisdale is the same.  Grandpa just turned 90 last month and is still living on his own, driving (around town) and generally getting along.  He didn’t expect to live too long into his 80’s and considers every day he’s alive as a bonus.  Still on his stationary bike every morning.  Lunch at 12.  Supper at 5:30.  He’s got a routine that work for him …change is fine, just not too much.

I took a niece and nephew on a bike ride around town and we meandered down to a park by the river that I used to play at when I was a kid.  A lot of it has changed, but there were still some pieces of equipment that were the same.  Different paint, but still the same.  What’s that …30 years ago I guess?  Too funny.  Another niece had an unexpected surprise when she found out the horse that she’s had for the last 10+ months was pregnant.  She was running the horse through some barrels a few weeks ago …not knowing that she was pregnant.  It gave birth the next day!  My sister said she fed her quite a bit over the winter and figured she was just gaining weight to stay warm.  But everything turned out fine.  The filly, named ‘Shocker’ is already eating hay, jumping over small snow banks and following her mom around everywhere.  She’s pretty used to other people as well, as far as I can tell …but I’m not sure that’s a good thing.  I’m no horse whisperer though.  I moved mom out of her shop as well.  She’s now officially retired as a hair-dresser.  Of course she still plans to do the odd job out of her house for a few select clients …but technically she’s done, and she’s happy with that.

So yeah, the trip was fine.  The drive still sucks (8 hours one way), but aside from a bit of fog it was uneventful.  Now I gotta get all that crap done that I should of been busy with over the weekend.  Ugh.

The 11 day old 'Shocker'

Britney …lip syncing!!!

I found this quote from a Britney Spears fan who went to see her show in Edmonton this last Monday (I got the ‘rodie’ call but couldn’t make it …boooo) – it’s from the Edmonton Journal…

“…I would rather see a great performance and hear the songs that I love, even if they are pre-recorded, than see a performance totally sung live and they just stand there and sound bad…“

I love this.  I’m not being funny or ’smart-assy’ either …but I really like this admission.  In no way is this fan at all interested in the fact that Britney can or can’t sing.  She (it is a female fan) is only a fan because she’s entertained.  It’s not the musical ’sklllz’ that interest this person as much as it’s the Britney ’show’.  That is, not just Britney, but the entire presentation that the artistic directors put together.  It was the complete ‘Circus‘ that appealed …not Britney’s vocal prowess.

At this junction we can now easily subtract any musical skill from the selling feature of the artist.  Britney is an image ….not a voice anymore.  Yes, you may argue if she ever was I suppose.  Interestingly though, even though her vocal skills are removed, you still require other musical talents to pull everything off …starting with some songs.  And they have to be good.  They have to be catchy.  Mesmerizing.  Lasting.  They have to come before the skills of the performer …and not the other way around.  Perhaps?

I wonder if Ella could have had a successful career if she didn’t sing anything good when she first started out?  Or maybe it’s the case that certain songs wouldn’t have been very popular if certain entertainers hadn’t presented them?  Is it kinda like the ‘chicken and the egg’ idea – The song or the singer?  Maybe it’s a combination?

My bias is with the song of course.  If you can find me any examples of crappy songs that have been successful because a certain artist performed them (and by successful I mean made good and subsequently performed and admired by both fans and musicians) then let me know.  I can’t think of any, and for that reason I’m throwing my hat into the song ring.  Singers need songs …song don’t need singers.  I think.  I mean, I love certain singers because of their voices …but I know that if they sang something completely stupid – I just couldn’t listen.  But I suppose you can say the same for a bad singer singing a good song.  Maybe that’s worse!

It all reminds me of my late 80’s.  I loved Milli Vanilli when they were around …yes, honestly.  When they had their lip-syncing fiasco, everyone jumped ship and left them on their own.  Rob and Fab were abandoned.  I still liked them though …and I realized why many years later.  It seems Rob and Fab reached stardom on the songwriting coattails of one Frank Farian, who happened to be the man behind Boney M!  He not only created Boney M, but wrote all the tunes and sang the lead male vocal.  He also opened one of the first digital recording studios …going on to record Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’ as well as songs for Terance Trent d’Arby and Meat Loaf.  So yeah, Milli Vanilli wasn’t something lucky or pulled out of thin air …it was a musical project with a LOT of credentials behind it …and I felt these credentials were still warranted even though the vocal credits were not.

But times change.  It’s now a common thing for the artist, as in Britney, to not have to be about the ability as much as the marketability …and fans have come to accept this as the norm.  Britney’s voice is incidental.  Music production can ‘adjust’ things.  Performances can be ‘tweaked’.  Britney can be fixed …we have the technology. But in the end though, I don’t think you can fix a bad song.

Or can you?