Journal Entry

:: Showski ::

Last night I had my first (and only) show with Von outside the friendly confines of the Apartment Lounge. We played three sets at Andy’s downtown for a lot of loud, but apparently appreciative, people. For whatever reason, it went much more smoothly than the previous ones.

Here are some possibilities.

1. I had a new ride cymbal that I’m test driving. In all kinds of music, there are sounds that people look for, standards set by the great players. Jazz drummers spend a lot of time stomping on hi-hats and hitting the ride cymbal. I had a Zildjian K Constantinople ride cymbal, and some borrowed hi-hats. The combination of the two sounded really good to me, so I’m sure that helped.
2. The bass player coached me through some of the hits and arrangements, and I knew nearly all the tunes we played pretty well. Von has been playing with most of his co-conspirators for upwards of 8 or 10 years, so they know him really well, know his treatments of tunes, and the tunes he likes to play. I know a lot of the tunes, but not nearly as many as he does, and not all his arrangements of the ones I do know. So having some help made things a lot easier, as did knowing the tunes. You always have to know the tunes.
3. I had been away from drumset for the better part of two weeks, so it was fun to be playing it again, even if the drums weren’t mine. Made because the drums weren’t mine, who knows?
4. John Young is a monster on piano, totally fun to play with. So is Von, but I had a few weeks of that, and listen to him all the time, so that was pretty well ingrained. I’ve heard John a few times before, but had never really played with him. It was a joy.

Regardless of the reasons, it was fun, and I’m looking forward to keeping it up, and trying to make Von proud, the other people in the band comfortable, and everyone else tapping their feet. We’ll see how it goes.