Most of the dates are up for the summer now. When this campaign began (to somewhat "install" my two working bands at Canyon Creek for the summer) I was hoping to book more HBS than cc3, but it's worked out the opposite way. I'm not dissappointed by this at all now that it's a reality. As a musician I think this is a more adventurous schedule. With cc3, the repertoire is constantly changing from gig to gig, whereas HBS has a set repertoire, with little variation. So, with 22 cc3 shows and 13 HBS shows, I'm likely to play more different music, which is good.

As for cc3's lineup, I'm going to scale back the amount of variation in the "third man" position. I'm going to book people in for at least 4 gigs in a row. So, Eric Boucher will be with us on Tuesdays and Thursdays are still TBA. May's schedule (only Thursdays) is still a rotation, but once we're into June, I'm going to start slowing that down. Frankly, booking a different player every week is extra work, and I don't think my client, nor the audience, is really demanding it. Certain players have gone over bigger than others (not due to their ability by any means, but more because of the repertoire they bring with them), and I'll probably draw on that. Of course, Mike Pelletier remains on bass, with Nikku Nayar finally making a few sub-appearances in June and July.

NEW MUSIC:

I've received advance copies of the new John Scofield and the new (new to North America, it's been out in France for a while) Meshell Ndegeocello fusion album. Both records are quite good. The Scofield is a Ray Charles-tribute produce by Steve Jordan (who also plays drums on it), and the Meshell is an all-star fusion outing. I had a similar experience with both records: I forgot who's record it was. There are so many different players featured on these discs that the personalities of Scofield and Meshell are submerged to a great degree. I would argue that the Scofield record is really a Steve Jordan record, when it comes out in June, you'll hear what I mean. As for the Ndegeocello, it has some wonderful moments (there's a track that features Cassandra Wilson and Brandon Ross that reminds me of Kip Hanrahan's Thousands Nights records). There's a 3/4 ballad that I will probably chart out for cc3, called "Papillion".
I think both records are very satisfying, but they're not what I expected.

WHAT'S UP THIS WEEK:

I am playing my solo show and I am still trying to decide whether or not to just play drums alone or bring some soundscape tracks (to play off my iPod or iBook) to add some textures and atmospheres. I have to decide soon. Also this week is cc3 with Mike Bowell on guitar and a Saturday night show with the Kevin Cooke band (a huge 10pce blues/r&b band, all originals by Kevin). If you're on my email list you'll get a reminder early this week...

SIRCorp + me

So, SIRCorp is the company that owns the chain of Canyon Creek restaurants that I find myself fortunate to have steady gigs with. The gigs are split about 70/30 between my trio (cc3) and the r&b band I work with, Hot Buttered Soul. This summer, I'll do well over 30 gigs for them between June and Labour Day. That's a lot of work, and all essentially from one client. I'm very grateful to have this relationship, as with very few exceptions, they trust me to pick the repertoire and players for all of the gigs, and they treat the musicians kindly and generously when we're performing there. The per gig money isn't huge, but it's decent and steady, and commitments of this size from one client are rarer and rarer in this business. So, a public thanks to my folks at SIRCorp that still see value in live music of many different styles.

I got a great phone call today:

Peggy Baker (modern dancer extraordinaire) has asked me to do 2 weeks of dance classes with her during her Intensive at the National Ballet of Canada in August.

Of course I accepted. I told her I was very flattered to be asked, and she laughed and said she was the one that was excited!

This could shape up to be a decent summer creatively and financially, too good to be true!

I saw the John Scofield Trio last night (bill stewart + steve swallow), it was fantastic. They're playing at a very high level, and Steve Swallow is without question among the living legends of this or any music. I waas fortunate enough to be standing sidestage about 8 feet from Mr. Swallow and Mr. Stewart, so I had about as close a view as I could get without being in the band. The gig was at a rock/dance club, and while not the ideal venue (noisy air conditioners, lotsa people chatting, etc.) they quickly put that aside and made the venue work for them. I was very impressed.

My "aha!" moment of the evening was when John was engaging in a long spoken introduction to their rendition of the standard, "When Sunny Gets Blue". Now, this is a warhorse of a tune that's been abused by would-be jazz musicians mercilessly since the 40s. One wondered why this trio would do this tune? Well, John's introduction explained that this was a song from Swallow's youth, and he had fond memories of "falling in love" to it. While this may have been a dry comedic "bit", it resonated with me: play songs that MEAN something to you. It seems simple, but jazz musicians miss this so often, and that's why we have endless versions of "Autumn Leaves" by guys that never even realized this was a song from a musical, a "hit" of its day.

Play music that means something to you. Chances are it will mean alot more to the audience if you do.

What a concept! :):):)

I am swamped right now with Hot Buttered Soul's summer schedule. I am very happy about this. It looks like we'll be working alot this summer, enough to buy me a few days off here and there to enjoy the summer. Getting the gigs is the easy part, coordinating everyone's schedules is the work. The net result will probably be that HBS will get to work with 2 or 3 singers this summer, as Todd (our main man) has a day-job that conflicts with some of the dates. I'll post all of the dates when they are confirmed (probably next week). But suffice to say, we'll be working this summer. :)

I hope I can put all of these bookings to bed by the end of next week so that i can concentrate on my trio recording with Tim and Ed. Then I can concentrate on booking that band too. As my last post said, live gigs are probably where it's at for what i do, so I am sharpening my booking skills.

things on my mind:

.... While booking the session date with Tim Posgate, we briefly discussed his new record. He's getting the discs from the manufacturer this week or next, and I asked him about its release date. His response was that there wasn't really going to be a "release" per se. I am sure he'll send it out to all the press contacts he has, etc., but he said his best sales have always been off the stage at gigs. They're touring this summer for a few weeks, so I imagine he's got his mind set to do most of his sales then.
It's an interesting time; music retail is a non-issue (in terms of supporting new or small-time artists), and my contacts at the major labels say they can't get much happening with retail either. Are downloads the way to go? Well, in my heart I think so. In reality I have been waiting MONTHS for my stuff to get "added" to the big sites. The major labels obviously have a direct-line to getting added, so what's so different from the old retail model? I am not sure. Thankfully, the cost of getting in queue to be added is minimal (less than $200 for my whole album), but the great democracy of the internet is once again a joke.
There are benefits to trying to get onto iTunes and the like; people will find your music by accident while searching for something else, and they might just buy a track or two to check you out. Your "fans" will be able to easily and securely purchase your music and you have no IT costs of your own to maintain a paid download service.
The fact remains though that you still have to spend the time and money to publicize the existence of your music. This is costly and is not a guaranteed return of investment (no advertising or marketing is). So, musicians like myself and TimP are left to figure out where the best source of revenue is.
I am beginning to suspect that for the kind of music I want to and like to make, it's a live thing. Simply put, there are WAY TOO MANY records out there. Jazz magazines alone review hundreds of titles a month, how many really connect with a large group of consumers? (Tim's last record got a killer review in Downbeat and I think it translated into little or no sales....).
So, are records vanity projects? Is it a glorified business card? Most jazz artists on major labels do not see money from their record sales. The record company pays them to record an album, which they then promote, and the artist (if he or she is smart) coincides record company promo with their own promotion of their live concerts (where they actually make money). The alliance with a record company is not a partnership that will generate revenue for the artist (if they wrote the material they may see a bump from publishing royalties.... but), but rather an exchange of time and talent (from the artist) for promotion and marketing (from the label).
It occurs to me that maybe for jazz/improvising/whatever musicians, a pro-sports model might be more apt. Do people buy DVDs of football games? Not really (maybe highlight reels or historic games)... But the NFL generates huge amounts of money based on their live show (the games themselves). Obviously the scale is incredibly different, but what if an artist like myself promoted a "season" of gigs instead of a record?
What I am talking about already happens of course, but I think a shift in perception by artists is necessary. The CD you sell off the stage is merchandise, like a T-shirt. It may have much more artistic and sentimental value to you as its creator, but it is increasingly evident (in this over-populated CD world) that it can't be the reason why you're on stage. The new generation of entertainment consumers (I'm talking about teenagers) place very little value on CDs themselves. I treat my records and CDs like jewels, many kids I know will use the CD case as a notepad to write down someone's phone number. They place value on the music, but not the form it's presented to them in. For that matter, paying for it seems at times ridiculous to them. It's like TV, always on, free for the watching.
I am not suggesting changing people's attitudes, but I am changing mine. As a musician I have to assess where my revenue is most likely to come from. If it's live gigs, I have to focus on that. That may mean giving the music away for free off my website, or near-free through iTunes, in order to establish an audience for my live music. Many musicians are dissatisfied with the state of gigs, making $100-$200 per show is not enough for them. (I feel that way sometimes too) Fine, don't do it. But be prepared that a career in music may no longer be in the cards for you. The industry is changing. The "superstars" of today are those that are comfortable in the midst of the convergence of music/movies/etc., and that means that the music element is just one portion of your total presentation (J.LO......). For people like me, music is the whole package. So, I have to tailor my plans and my expectations to this new sub-industry. The new priorities may put live performances at the top, teaching workshops (interacting with your audience beyond the confines of a concert) below it, and the creation of permanent documents (CDs, DVDs, etc.) below that. I am prioritizing them based on their likelihood to return on investment. Know what you are selling, and then it becomes clear what can be given away for free. In the end, we're selling brands. The brand is represented through concerts, workshops and recordings. At any given time, one of these may need to be used as a "loss-leader" to support the others. Be flexible, and manage your risk (don't spend all of your money on your record, because you won't have any money to promote yourself after it's done, for example). And most of all, be realistic. That doesn't mean you can't be idealistic as well (don't compromise or sacrifice your musical vision), but don't forget that the joy is in the creation, not the renumeration. A music career is a business decision, not an artistic one.

Big Day!

I booked the studio session for my new band of myself, Tim Posgate on guitar and Ed Zankowski on tenor sax. We record May 25th at the North-Eastern Utility Muffin Research Outpost (manned by the stalwart Kevin Cooke), and then on May 27th, we have our first gig!!!!

We're opening for the very fine Kevin Breit and his band at Pepperjack's in Hamilton. Too cool.

I can't decided whether this band needs a name or not, or if I will resurrect my old Relax with Trudy band handle (the catch-all name for my trios from 1998-2002) and use it on these guys. What about the "new Trudy"? hmmm....

stay tuned for more details!

I just added a diagram of my two main drumkits that I use these days. It's really one kit (a red SONOR Phonic) broken up in two different configurations. Anyway, as most drummers will concur, these diagrams are, at best, an approximation of what I'm using at any given time. Different gigs require different cymbals (and I have lots of cymbals) or drums, but what I put in the diagram is basically what you'd see me with most often.

Here's the diagram (it can also be found on the PRESS KIT page on my site):

A relatively slow work weekend with gorgeous sunshine and warm weather..... and I get sick. Yeah, caught a cold. I did get to pick up 2 of my drums from Paul Fitterer today and he's done a fantastic job on them. It's like having new drums. Anyway, we're working on a weblog for his tech-biz. click hereto see it, very much under construction.

I got the new Charles Lloyd release on ECM yesterday, called "Jumping the Creek", a quartet with Geri Allen, Bob Hurst, and Eric Harland (who's playing was new to me). It's really great. I haven't finished it yet, but it's very powerful stuff. Lloyd assembles and deconstructs the band as needed, sometimes he is solo, or in duo, or trio in various combos. It's all so natural, swinging, and the improvisation is very personal. Rhythmically, Harland injects some "jungle" or "techno" style stuff without it sounding forced or fusiony. Nice work.

Now, a full work week, and a cold to conquer. :)

Today is a day off. So, with the exception of a few business-related phone calls, it's going to be a family day. (2 of the 3 of us are getting haircuts!) Plumbers came to our home yesterday and eradicated numerous dripping noises that polluted the sonic landscape of our home, and eliminated the wasting of water that those drips represent.

This service was not cheap. Plumbers (even after they pay for the parts they install) make alot more than I make per gig. These guys were good, (one guy got down on his knees and listened to our toilet flushing to diagnose it's problems.... I called him The Toilet Whisperer...) so I presume that's why they're expensive. The two of them worked very fast, and they were in and out of our lives in 3 hours (and $1100). It occured to me that one could renumerate themselves quite comfortably in a "trade", quite comfortably. The only sticking point is that to be successful in a "trade", most of the time you really do have to put in a hard day's work. There's not alot of boardroom conceptualizing (or, for that matter, blogging); you show up, diagnose the problem or need, and fix or supply.

I guess my career is straddled between these two worlds; alot of time I am plumbing: providing percussive services to others with skill and efficiency, or replaying music people know (playing covers) to comfort and entertain them. Repairing, Restoring, Recreating. Other times I am the CEO of my multi-national company; thinking up new music, searching for something no one has heard before, implementing long and short-term projects.

Anyway, I just got an email from Paul F., my snare drum is ready for pick-up. I'm encouraging Paul to start a blog for his tech work. It might be a fun site, posting pictures of projects, etc.

Have a great day!

I picked up the April 2005 Downbeat yesterday as it had a review of the three most recent Kip Hanrahan releases (available on my site www.musicformovement.com). All three got good a review, but the reviewer (to me) was attempting to show off his vocabulary a bit too much in his review. I'm very much undecided about music journalism. There's so much bad writing about music by people that have no business writing about music.

Then again, there is also alot of bad music made by people that have no business making music. Anyway, I tend to view music journalism as a marketing tool, and not much else. If a review or article gets one's name out there, great, mission accomplished. If a musician attempts or expects to be able to further express themselves through this medium, that's a lost cause. Of course there are always exceptions, but I'm quite confident that I am speaking about the majority of music press.

One thing that bothers me is when music journalists ask musicians about politics, world issues, etc. Actually, maybe what bothers me more is when musicians ANSWER these questions. It's just so foolish: rock journalist (Frank Zappa described them best; "People who can't write writing for people who can't read...") prepares his big question about nuclear proliferation for stoned and distracted 24 year old flavour-of-the-month, and he ANSWERS it, and the journalist prints it! It's embarassing for all involved.

If you have dedicated your life to creating music, that is a political act in and of itself; and that rarely gets discussed. Just because you have a window to shout out of, doesn't mean you have anything worth shouting about. If you're really making music, that's where your views are, and not just lyrics. If you use music as a vehicle to talk about other issues in magazines and on cable TV, you're abusing music.

The reality is most "journalists" have nothing to say about music. They can talk about lyrics (they treat them like a 4th grade book report), and they can talk about the pictures on the CD case, but either they don't have the language to express what they hear, or they simply can't hear the difference between one CD to the next. Read some of Brad Mehldau's liner notes that he writes himself and compare them to some of his press clippings. Vastly different uses of language and in the former, the music actually gains a literary voice, in the latter, it's just promo hyperbole.

Anyway, I can go on forever about this.

....Speaking of mis-representation by the press. I have a dilemma. In this latest Downbeat, Joshua Redman is quoted as slamming one of his records, saying the band wasn't ready to record when they did it, and he is unsatisfied with the recorded results. So, if i want to hear this record, do I pay for it? I mean, I can find some of it via P2P I am sure, but it's also over at iTunes. If the artist is distancing himself from it (and he may not be, he may have just been mis-quoted), why should I pay the artist for the pleasure of listening to something he doesn't stand behind?

Good Gig News!

Looks like my fruitful relationship with the Canyon Creek group of restaurants is growing: cc3 will reside on Tuesday nights on the patio at Canyon Creek/Square One in Mississauga this summer. Hopefully, the restaurant group is picking up Hot Buttered Soul for a bunch of summer dates too.

My earlier post this week with my to-do list has been stalled by trying to find a sub for this Thursday. Argh. What a pain in the ass. I try and book people weeks to at least a month in advance to avoid this crud. Oh well.

Other news:

My friend and fine drummer Paul Fitterer is branching out into drum-tech work. I've watched him use meticulous and conscientious care on his drums for years, and thankfully, he's now offering that service to other drummers. So, I've submitted my 13,16,22 Phonics and an ebony veneer Signature Lite snare drum for his cleaning, re-lube-ing and general inspection. Paul doesn't do any heavy work, like re-cutting edges or fixing cracked cymbals, but for tune-ups and other care/repairs, he's your guy. Email him at paulfitterer@sympatico.ca to inquire about his services.

" Did you mean CARES ANTHRAX? "

That's what I get when I typed "chris cawthray" into the iTunes search engine. This is getting ridiculous.

No ranting this morning, promise. :)

Eric Boucher (who was booked to play the next two weeks with cc3) called last night to bail on this week's gig, so I have to find a sub today, stay tuned...

Before Saturday, I also have to get some demos of 3 dance pieces done for the Pickering School of Ballet. I'm going to use my drumKat and probably GarageBand software to get these done. I'm in at Toronto Dance Theatre for one class this week too, in addition to my regular gigs at the Etobicoke School of the Arts.

Also in this week somewhere will be the finalizing of plans for a new trio recording with (hopefully) Tim Posgate and Ed Zankowski. Three busy musicians + small budget means scheduling gets tricky. I'm hopeful though it can work out so that we'll be recording before Tim goes on tour this summer.

Ok, have a great week!

Sunday morning, way too early, and even earlier than that since daylight savings time ("spring forward") happened overnight. After solving a furnace-related issue that I will never understand nor comprehend how I fixed it, our chilly home is once again being toasted lightly, and hopefully will be golden-brown before anyone else wakes up realize just how freezing it was in here last night.

Backtracking....

Friday's AKIM gig was a really intense mix of highs and lows. In the end, it was total chaos. As it turned out, Akim and I were the only one's familiar with his material (a sax player that was sitting in was simply being cued as to when to solo, not playing any parts, per se). I met a new bassist on the gig, Joe Mcleod, who was fantastic. Great player and a warm friendly guy. When we did two-beat grooves (country and swing stuff) he used a great technique to imitate an upright bass by sliding into each note. Wonderful, though likely it went mostly unnoticed by everyone else. Joe's relative unfamiliarity with Akim's material, and Akim's insistence on calling lots of tunes Joe clearly wouldn't know (despite the fact that Joe and Akim know many tunes in common, enough to fill the entire evening I am sure) made for a tense and uneven gig. I don't fault Akim for wanting to do his material, or obscure covers, it's his perogative and alot of those tunes Akim does great versions of many of them, but the vibe onstage was so crappy I wanted to go home after the first set.

After that the second set involved more of the same repertoire choices, and a guest appearance by a female singer that proceed to sing OVER Akim as opposed to with him, and more general confusion. We had our moments though, and I felt like we hit a good groove on one of Akim's originals ("Shadowchild", I think), and a broken guitar string precipitated a sax/bass/drums funk jam which was too long but fun.

The third set began with just Akim and me (I think Akim wanted to cut his losses on his originals and just do them as a duo instead of forcing Joe to learn them as they were happening), and then the band came back and we backed up Melissa Rebronja on two songs (she brought charts, so everyone was able to sight-read and do a nice job), then a local singer (I mean REALLY local, I think this guy was permanently installed at the bar) came up and did Stormy Monday (only Joe and I knew it, so Akim and the sax player, Luis, soloed on the G blues scale during it). The singer sounded good, he nailed all the blues cliches, and so did Joe and I (when in Rome...). Then the rest of the set was steady decay, finally hitting entropy while we did covers of Hotel California and Like A Rolling Stone with a sloppy drunk woman sitting in on backup vocals and her equally drunken friend shouting at us from the nearmost table. Apart from them (and a few friends, whose presence made the evening much more bearable, thank you), there wasn't really many more folks paying attention. These two drunken ladies had, I presume, won some sort of drinking contest in which the prize was a folk-rock fantasy camp singalong.

And, of course, the gig was supposed to end at 1am, and I was assured no later than 1:30. So what the hell was I doing on my drums at 2:05AM? Possibly playing my last $100 gig with Akim.

To sum up this rant, I must confess that I may have been alone in my feelings about how this gig went. I am sure many folks had a great time. I didn't. The current world that I live in doesn't accomodate these kinds of evenings so well. I usually play gigs during the day (thus, am not sleeping till noon, so I do care whether the gig ends at 1am or 2am, because I usually have to be up the next morning for another gig), and if you want me all-night, I should be paid for that.

I say this because I am a bandleader myself and I seem to have very little difficulty organizing and performing gigs where the sidemen are paid $100 and we finish when I said we'd finish. If we play an extra or extra-long set, they get paid for that. I do this every week with cc3 and Hot Buttered Soul. Furthermore, if you want me to play way past the gig's Cinderella-time, at least make sure we're playing something worth playing, not f'ing Hotel California.

This is not a complaint about Akim's music, he's got some good originals and he could have great gigs playing them. But there's two things that make great gigs that were lacking on Friday night: preparation (and that doesn't always mean rehearsal, just bring charts that a pro can read onstage in dim lighting) and being able to sense the vibe of the band and the audience, and react accordingly.

I've just printed out the setlist AKIM emailed me yesterday for our gig in a few hours, and just realized there's second page of "maybe we'll play these too" songs. Oops! Actually, most of them are familiar to varying degrees, the others, well, that's why drummers invented laying out and making dramatic entrances at the chorus or second verse. (And you thought it was because it's musical, ah, grasshopper.....)

Anyway, I'm getting to take my big drums out tonight, which haven't seen any action in 2005. It's been all jazzy/folky for me so far this year, so I've been using the 18" bass drum. Tonight, I get to bring my 22" Phonic, with a 16" floor tom and I'll use my 13" 27-ply beech snare drum, which packs a nice punch for backbeats. Anyway, just two cymbals, 15" 2002 hihats and an 18" Innovations crash/ride, which is a total unsung hero of a cymbal. It's a great cymbal, and pretty cheap in comparison to many that I have....

I got a copy of Kurt Rosenwinkel's latest disc yesterday, on Verve, called Deep Song. It's got all the right people (Brad Mehldau and Larry Grenadier among them), but I had it on while cooking dinner (spinach linquine with a tomato reduction) and it wasn't really nailin' me. I really wanted it to, I'd heard such a buzz. Maybe it'd be better if the band on the record was a real working band (I highly doubt Mr. Mehldau has much time to be in anyone else's band these days), as opposed to a session band. I don't know, it just lacked that punch that you get from a "band" band. Like, the Wayne Shorter Quintet (to compare a similarly current acoustic jazz group), for example. Admittedly, Wayne is truly above everyone else, but his band are mere mortals (pattitucci, perez and blade). That band toured extensively, and the rapport that extended playing gives a group of musicians is tattooed on the sound of that band.

Then again, maybe it was the pasta..... :)

Great news!

Hot Buttered Soul is playing a benefit concert on May 14 at the Pepperjack Cafe in Hamilton. The benefit is for the NICU at the McMaster Childrens Hospital in Hamilton, ON. This place has recently become a very real part of my world due to recent events in my family, and it's the least I can do to give back what the staff at the NICU have already given to my family. Furthermore, Pepperjack Cafe is a great place run by two of my oldest friends (amazingly, none of us are from Hamilton, originally...).

It's all ages, 2-5pm and tickets are $10/adults, $5/kids available at the door. 100% of the ticket price will go to the NICU.

Stay tuned for more info, and see you there!

So, I'm getting quite anxious about the "add" of WINTER MUSIC on the download sites. What was supposed to be simple and quick is being dragged out quite painfully for me.

I don't if this sums it up, but when I search on iTunes for "Cawthray", it comes back:

"Did you mean DEATHRAY?"

A gorgeous spring day (though it's a bit early to believe it's going to stay this warm) had me riding my bike to my gig today, which was a treat (I keep a full kit at the Etobicoke School of the Arts, so I was relatively unencumbered). Later, back in the car, I found myself loading up on media: books, DVDs, CD, etc. Something about the nice weather makes me want to devour new stuff, even though it means staying inside to do much of it.

So, the video store purchases included a marked-down copy of the Wilco doc, "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart", which includes a bonus disc of performances; a used copy of "Masked and Anonymous", the off-kilter political adventure thriller musical featuring Bob Dylan, and his current band (which to my best recollection is the unfathomably fine assemblage of Larry Campbell, Charlie Sexton, George Recile and Tony Garnier, now that's a band!!!!!!), and a fantastic cameo by the fine
actor Val Kilmer (in my opinion the most under-rated actor of his generation) as an animal wrangler.

I'm going to check out the Wilco film now before I contemplate beginning my income tax return.

This week I have two gigs (in addition to my daytimes at the Etobicoke School of the Arts), cc3 hits with Bruno Ierullo on guitar on Thursday night and on Friday I am playing a gig with AKIM with a bass player I have yet to meet, I think his name is Joe McLeod. I'm a bit excited to play with this guy because apparently he is currently the bassist in Ronnie Hawkins' band. I'm a huge fan of The Band, and of Levon Helm in particular. Now I know that the Hawk has probably had hundreds of bass players in his performing lifetime, but it's cool in a six-degrees-of-separation kind of way.....

I'm posting from a free wireless connection at the Second Cup coffee in our local shopping mall. This is the way it should be, and it makes malls much more bearable. So far I've read restaurant reviews and made a reservation. Yes, these are all things I can go with old-tech newspaper and payphone (both which the mall already provides), but somehow I am still excited. :)

I've begun planning the next steps for the new trio, but various constraints of scheduling and general responsibilities are already changing my plans, but also showing the project to me from a different perspective, and revealing other opportunities, stay tuned....

Fallsview Casino, Grand Hall 6:06pm 3.26.05

I'm sitting side stage at day2 of the Melissa Rebronja gigs. It's an hour to showtime, I got here about 20 minutes ago to set up my gear, which is now done but I can't set up onstage because Akim is doing an impromptu set of solo covers to.... no one in particular. The PA is up full-blast with Akim's voice and guitar, and Kenny G plays over the house-sound system. Parallel worlds?

Anyway, it appears the turnout isn't much better today than yesterday. There's a few more folks milling about, but not much that appears to be forming itself into an audience for Melissa's set. I am hopeful we'll do another set as decent, if not better than, yesterday, if only for Melissa's peace of mind (music is its own reward; maybe that explains why Akim is giving 110% up there...), and to lay a foundation for any future gigs.

Now, it's 6:09pm and it turns out there's going to be a Bachelor Pageant onstage (really.), could this get any weirder? Well, Kenny G is still playing.... Ok, about 30 middle-aged dudes in various states of business casual dress have just lined up sidestage; there are maybe 10 people now in the seats in front of the stage. It nows occurs to me that given the age of most of these bachelors, unless they are posing, are divorcees. I should stop typing now, because there's just too much to say, and none of it charitable to the events at hand.

I guess these guys are our opening act. (oh my....)

... until this moment, I thought the oddest gig I'd done was playing conga and Native American flute for a jazz dance troupe at a fundraiser for a Sri Lankan convent.

i'm home from the first Melissa Rebronja show at the Fallsview Casino. in the last few days we discovered that some of the tenants in a loft building behind our house have wireless routers, so I've hijacked a connection from one of them and am posting this blog from the couch. :)

The "Everything Leisure Expo" that we played at today was, to be generous, sparsely attended. There were people milling about, but they were all booth-dwellers (various people hawking products and services from makeshift booths, like a service/retail shanty town) talking to each other. When we finally did play our set at 7pm, there were about 20 folks seated in the 100 or so chairs set up at the stage. They were a mix of adults and children, and stayed for varying lengths of the set. One darkly humourous moment was when a couple of teenage boys chose Melissa's set as a time to try the olde-fashioned test-of-strength (where you smack a sledge hammer against a block to drive a piece of metal up to a bell at the top), so the ballad we were in was punctuated by huge smacking sounds.

The set overall went pretty well. I was having a good time playing drums and keyboard bass at the same time, and got some positive comments from the other band (who were playing after us) about how it filled out the trio's sound. Melissa's voice was strong, and while I think she was a little underwhelmed by the turnout and thus was somewhat reserved in her performance, it was an OK first gig. We do it again tomorrow, I'm hopeful for a better gig, all the wrinkles smoothed out and the energy level up a bit.

As for the Fallsview, no thanks. I couldn't find a wireless connection anywhere, and the overall atmosphere was so plastic and overdone that I found myself in a freaking Starbucks enjoying it's relative naturalism.

backtracking:

Last night's cc3 gig was fun, Tim P. once again dazzled and charmed. I'm getting quite excited about the new trio with him and Ed Z., but after a great discussion in the car on the way down to the gig, I have a clearer idea of what I want to do with it. We were talking about how one thing that is often under-appreciated in jazz and improv recordings is the role of a producer. Having someone objectively drawing on the strengths of the players and the pieces from a group is essential to fashioning a record worth listening to. So, being in firm agreement with this concept, I think the plan will be to record a demo (4 or 5 songs) soon, gig a bit, and shop around for a producer (I have one in mind, you can probably already guess, I hope he's interested) to do a record later in the year. This trio could have some life to it, the sound is fresh to me, and I think I can have alot of fun with this configuration, and especially, these players.

so, as usual, stay tuned!

I'm trying to google (it's now a noun, y'know) old press clippings for the website, and I came across a website for a singer that stiffed me for a gig, and she's still putting my name on her site! I'm not going to name any names, I can't even remember what she owed me, it was so long ago, but wow, some people....

yesterday and today have been booked up with rehearsals... first, Tim Posgate and Ed Zankowski joined me in jamming on some new material for a recording project I am planning. It sounded great, and good fun was had by all. I think this is going to be a new band, and we'll be doing some sort of record in May (for release on iTunes, Puretracks and other sites). Describing it is not so easy, as it is still evolving, but right now it sounds like freejazz+LosLobos to me. Stay tuned...

Today I rehearsed with Akim and Melissa Rebronja for her shows tomorrow and saturday. The trio sounds pretty full, I am playing keyboard bass, piano on one tune, synth strings on another, and a hybrid drumkit (hihat, cymbal, 18" kick and a dumbek mounted on a snare stand). Akim's acoustic always has such a strong sound (he really lays into it) that the overall effect of the low-end from the keys and my drums and him makes it quite cool. Anyway, we do it Friday and Saturday, so I'll report back.

In a few hours cc3 is with Tim Posgate in Burlington, should be fun. Bruno Ierullo (who is with us next week) phoned me this morning asking about how to do a blog. I assumed it was relating to his and his wife's Pilates/fitness studio, but to my horror, Bruno said he wants to do one because he has so many thoughts on a variety of topics that he wants to share with the world. Ladies and gentlemen, I have know this man for almost 15 years, and been the audience for many of his thoughts, all I can say is be afraid. very afraid.

Thursday's gig with Tim Posgate was a blast. He may be the most original guitarist I get to work with. Tim comes out of the same crowd of YORK University educated musicians as me (Tim was a few years ahead of me, so our paths didn't cross much or at all while we at YORK, but we studied with the same folks...), but of all of them that I've managed to stay in touch with (or subsequently connect with) through gigging or simply listening, Tim has really developed his own sound on his instrument. Many of us are versatile in our ability to play stylistically, technically etc. and possess a vast knowledge of repertoire (which allows one to stay employed as a musician in a variety of contexts), but I can't say that everyone has truly forged a sound for ourselves to the lengths that Tim has. I mean, Tim sounds like Tim. (and thankfully that sound itself is a great one)

This is in no way a negative criticism of other players (myself included), I just want to take a moment to celebrate TP's particular achievement. There are lots of musicians within my sphere that can play more stuff, get more gigs, whatever, we all have our strengths, but there's something going on when TP plays that is unique, with the state of the music business, I'm not going to wait for Downbeat magazine to notice before I say something. :)

At the cc33 gig we play all kinds of tunes, from Bjork and U2 to Ellington and Gershwin. Tim delivers all of the material through his voice, and I think that (along with the improvisation) is jazz. Straight or swing, slow or fast, whatever. Deliver the composition in your own voice and improvise on it, that's a good enough definition of jazz for me.

Other times the trio morphs and shifts itself to the tunes (some players like to be more chameleon-like in their interpretation of the songs), and I'm honestly caught between the two approaches. I think it takes a certain kind of confidence in your playing that goes beyond professionalism (which is often where much of my musical output gets hung up: I'm a pro, working, satisfying a client.), and Tim really inspires me to go for that.

This Wednesday's rehearsal with TP and Ed Zankowski should be fun.

In other news......

I had my first rehearsal with Melissa Rebronja (with Akim on guitar) on Friday. The gig's going to be good. I've decided (and the idea was approved by MR) to play keyboard bass while I am playing drums and percussion. It's not as complicated as it sounds (I play the keys with my left hand and the drums with my feet and right hand), and it's a version of what I do every day in dance classes. I'm using an old MIDI-able keyboard through my iBook with Reason and Garageband. This is perhaps the most hi-tech I've gotten since my days playing in Lee Kim when half of his music was sequenced on a DAT that I operated and monitored through one ear while I listened to the live band (myself on drums, Bruce Dies on guitar and Nikku Nayar or Jon Page or, sorry, guy-I-can't-remember-your-name-but-you-did-a-TV-appearance-with-us on bass). I have to thank uber-drummer Randy Cooke for letting me see his rig (Randy was the first drummer on that gig, when the budget was bigger and I was the percussionist) to set up my own.

Anyway, MR rehearses twice more this week, and then the gigs friday-saturday. I hope there will be more gigs (and less rehearsals), I'm liking the keyboard-bass idea. Hopefully it's something I can develop as a vibe I can offer other singer/songwriter solo acts.

wow, this might be the longest blog entry ever in the history of my blog!

i am in the midst of a really busy day (so why i am I typing into the blog? well, I have a few minutes, and typing clears my head a bit so I can continue with my day I guess), and so far it is musically vacant, even though I've been playing for 3 hours already! I am hoping (and pretty certain) things will improve later at the cc3 gig with Tim Posgate.

Anyway, the AKIM gigs on march 25/26 aren't AKIM gigs after all. Melissa Rebronja (her site is her name dot com) has hired AKIM and myself to back her up for two shows. Cool! New music, new people. She seems really focused and has all of her music-biz ducks in a row. So, as long as I don't impale myself on a drumstick or something, things should go well...

ok, back to my busy day

I can't remember the last time I was excited about a concert to see (maybe more so because with a baby at home you don't really get to go see gigs other than your own....), but John Scofield is coming to Hamilton (in a really crappy dance-club venue.. oh well) on April 20. His website says it will be his trio with Bill Stewart and the incomparable Steve Swallow, so if i get there having paid $32.50 + $4 "convenience" charge and it is his boring "uberjam" band, I'll be a sad drummer boy.

The next few weeks were looking kind of slow for me, but now looks pretty busy. This is nice, new work. Looks like I'll be doing 3 gigs with AKIM (3/25, 3/26 and 4/1), including some travelling stuff. Stay tuned for details. AKIM's gig can be a lot of fun, and he's said that he wants to do more originals, which is very much to my liking (my first gigs with him years ago were original-material gigs).
Those gigs, coupled with some new dates at YORK University (in the Dance Dept.), and Canyon Creek and rehearsing with Ed & Tim, will quite nicely fill out the vacant spots in my schedule (my residency gigs with the Toronto School Board and the Pickering School of Ballet are going on hiatus for Spring and Easter break....).

I've made the front page of the site a poster for my April 29 gig. I may keep this format for a while, and change the poster periodically. Then, the "home" page can be info-intensive...

good morning! (It's morning as I type this, and I guess it's safe to assume that it might be morning when you read this...) I got a call from Peggy Baker (dancer and teacher extraordinaire) to play a class with her today at the National Ballet of Canada. I haven't played for Peggy in a long time so I jumped at the chance and had my faithful sub Derek Thorne take my regular classes at the Pickering School of Ballet. I'm looking forward to it, Peggy's got a strong sense of time and flow in her work, so making music for her is an engaging experience (she's really listening and knows what she wants, so while it may not be easy, it's fun).

what else? hmmm, had a few emails exchanged with Kip Hanrahan this week and got some news tidbits on his new record, his thoughts on the Cream reunion, etc. My "other" business, musicformovement.com sells Kip's CDs, and while we don't sell tons (which isn't to suggest that it is isn't the reason the site keeps going, in many ways it is), it's steady and it's worthwhile, because for many of the titles M4M is the only place you can get them.

so, the next two weeks at Canyon Creek are with Tim Posgate, which will be great. We haven't played with Tim since the summer, so it'll be good to re-connect. I'm busy writing charts out for the first rehearsal of a new proposed project ("proposed" because if the rehearsal doesn't go well, or we simply don't dig it, I won't labour over it, I'll just move on) that will involve Tim, a guitar/sax/drums trio with a great tenor player, Ed Zankowski (whom I met while playing in Kevin Cooke's band). I'm hoping it will be "avant-garde roots" if that means anything. NOT JAZZ. Instrumental, improvisational, swinging, funky, gritty, loose, but not necessarily jazzy. I love jazz, but I don't want to go in a harmonically dense direction. One of the charts I am working on is am excerpt from a dance piece I wrote back in 2001-2002, called "Japan". It's essentially a static harmonic environment (just a G7 chord, really) based around a loping, mutating drum beat (it's in 4, but I'm free to drop or add beats), the harmonic movement (to a C chord, nothing tricky) is written in sparingly, and more to provide a release, rather than a cyclic shifting of landscape. I envision it somewhat like a blue sky (G7) with the odd cloud (C) floating by...

We get together @ Tim's in two weeks. Stay tuned....

chris

Changes:

Ken Aldcroft (of Leftover Daylight concerts) emailed me to see if I could change my performance date there to April 29, as he has a group coming in from Chicago that would like to do a set. No problem here, seeing as MO wasn't available and everyone else I tried to get to play with me were busy too. :)

Anyway, I'm set to do it April29 now, but unfortunately MO is booked then too (he's good, he works, it happens.), so I may be debuting my new project (TBA STAY TUNED!) there on that night.

New music has found its way into my home, car and iPod this week:

-Paul Motian trio - I Have the Room Above Her : yes yes yes. so good. it's actually what spurred my most recent (and likely most possible) project idea
-the Mars Volta - Frances the Mute: I just got a few minutes into this, but it's already as good as the first one. which was really good.
-Michael Bettine - Stars Show the Way: solo percussion, lots of gongs and other PAISTE treats. I got this disc in an exchange (he's a fellow PAISTE endorser) for "winter music". There's some fine playing on this disc; the solo drumming is musical, and not drum-istic, which is what usually shuts me down when I encounter solo drumming. By drum-istic I mean an exposition of various technicalities (in basketball don't they call them "technical fouls"?), that I can only imagine are of interest to other drummers or sports fans (for its athleticism).

...this is a great way to start a Saturday: worlds collide when I find a picture on the Internet of two of my favourite performers: Terry Adams of NRBQ and the hilarious actress Betty White (of the Golden Girls, of course.):



I've had a rush of creative ideas/plans but now I am not sure which one will advance. The organ trio idea with Dan Wall may have to back-burner simply because it is the most expensive idea and I have no real plan for how I would get a return on my investment. I have some other, equally exciting (to me) ideas that are less costly, so one of them may win out. Stay tuned...

In the midst of doing some re-organizing of music files yesterday I stumbled across a CD I'd almost forgotten: De-Loused in the Comatorium by the Mars Volta. It's wonderful, frantic, powerful, delicate, and very original. The drummer, Jon Theodore, is fantastic. Anyway, turns out they have a new album, so I'll be digging on that soon too... check them out.

Toronto got hit with tons of snow yesterday and it's still falling. Of course, our furnace/water heater decides to conk out in the middle of this. So I've got repair guys in the basement as I type. I'm off to Toronto Dance Theatre to play a class this evening, and in the meantime am doing some computer cleanup (moving files, etc.)....

I just discovered the iTunes has a huge world music section: this is exactly what makes the whole download model so great. Most world music albums are imports and thus priced quite high, so to take a chance on one is a serious financial risk. With iTunes, one can literally sample the globe at 99cents a pop. Don't like Indonesian music? well, it only cost you 99 cents to find out. :)

well, things change, sometimes quicker than you expect. I won't be getting a new teaching studio march 1, after all. Having said that, I am still going to be pushing ahead to offer more lessons. So, do call if you're interested!

Starting March 1st, I'm moving into new practice/teaching studio in downtown Toronto (Queen St. West&Bathurst). I am hoping to be able to expand my teaching practice with this new location, so if you're interested in a lesson, do call me 416-888-2544 to set something up. I teach drumset, hand drums (congas, frame drums, etc.) and rhythm skills in general. All necessary equipment will be provided at the lesson, and the studio is equipped to record the lessons to MD, cassette or any other piece of connectable equipment. We can videotape your lesson too!

I've been meaning to make mention of my friend Sean O'Rourke's new solo CD, check it out at www.seanorourke.com

...just got in from cc3. nice night, a few folks even got up to dance, on a kraftwerk-meets-the meters version of duke ellington's "blue pepper"....

MO is going to the Junos in Winnipeg April 1, so I'll be bringing another duo partner to Leftover Daylight.. stay tuned.

cc3 is me, mp and MO tonight...

I just read my last post, the icipari radio is the cc+mo mascot, but then I went on to describe how crappy the icipari sounds (while looking so good). cc+mo is somewhat the opposite (sounds good, looks crappy). :):)

good things today:

Tim Posgate has agreed to do 2 weeks of cc3 march 17 + 24, fantastic.

I've put up a crappy little "poster" for the Leftover Daylight show on April 1. The poster is on the front page of the website. Anyway, all of the cc+mo posters have featured the same graphic: a picture of Philippe Starck's icipari radio (I own one, but have never photographed it, i just steal the images from Starck's website). here it is:



Anyway, it's kind of cc+mo's mascot.

As a radio, it's actually quite crappy sounding, but I love it's look and some of the design elements are very thoughtful and cool. I guess to make it sound good would make it very expensive. I don't know. We have a Kloss Model One radio in the bedroom, one tiny mono speaker, and it's the best sounding small system I've heard. I love it. When you're going micro, mono is way more potent and lush that wimpy stereo....

tim posgate's blog (guildwoodrecords.blogspot.com) turned me on to this great interview with Henry Threadgill:

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=16376

he makes a very prescient comment about releasing CDs, saying that it's useless since there are so many, it's unlikely that your CD will get noticed. He's planning on releasing his next album on vinyl, since his small fanbase probably wouldn't blink if they had to get it on vinyl, and it might get the release noticed by reviewers. interesting.

I'm committed to the download-release model, I think it brings the costs of making music available way down, and might make it possible for new listeners to "try" me out without committing to a whole CD... My actual entry into this market is moving slowly (I think "winter music" will finally be up at Puretracks.com within a week or so....), but I'm hopeful.

As for my next project, it's building steam slowly. I am in the midst of organizing my "work" playing for the summer, meaning Hot Buttered Soul and cc3 gigs, dance school teaching etc. That should be better formed within a few weeks, then I'll know if I'm going to have any time and money to do a project this year. Oddly, if I have few gigs, I'll have lots of time (but no money to pay people to work on my stuff); if I have lots of gigs, I'll have the money to get people together, but less time to do it.

...had a great gig last night at Canyon Creek. MP was away and I managed to get Mike Pellarin to fill in on bass. I had never met Mike, but had seen him play. Well, it turns out we're neighbours, and he was free this week so he was more than happy to play. The trio was me, Mike Pellarin and Mike Bowell on guitar, and it was fantastic. I can't speak highly enough of Pellarin's playing, attitude, and general vibe. A total pro; he didn't fumble on anything we threw at him, in any style, and often ended up leading the way. He lifted the energy on the bandstand in so many ways and played some great solos too. And on top of all that, a helluva nice guy. The total package. :) Anyway, I'll stop gushing. Suffice to say it was fun.

Looks like the Creek will be changing things up on Thursdays, but it's all good for me. When the warmer weather hits (whenever that may be, it is Canada after all, so maybe 2056) they want to do the music on the patio, and want things to get a little louder and funkier. So, cc3 will turn into Hot Buttered Soul for the summer (we'll add a singer, hopefully most of the time HBS's full-time singer, Todd Harris), and then when we head back inside into the bar in the fall go back to cc3. Cool with me, it's a little more work (I have to bring a PA system, etc.), but I know it will be a success. It's not confirmed yet, but I hope to within a week or so.

Ok:

Here's my new phone #, these are the digits to get a hold of me for gigs, lessons, any M4M-related business, etc.

416-888-2544

Everything should be up and running by tomorrow...

In the meantime I am happy to announce that cc+mo is booked for april 1 @ Leftover Daylight (see my website for a link). MO hasn't confirmed yet, but the organizer, Ken Aldcroft, has kindly offered that I may bring another duo partner should MO not be able to hit. Cool.

good news, bad news....

good: I got an email from Dan Wall yesterday, he's interested in doing some recording! this is fantastic; now i have to determine if it is possible on my end (budgets, etc.)... more good, but not nearly as significant: I've been battling my cell-phone provider for years, basically, they suck. finally another company has an offer that will maintain my current level of service (in terms of airtime, etc.), give me a new phone, free voicemail, and a year's free service. In the end I stand to save about $320 in the deal... The only downside is that I will have to change my #. Stay tuned for updated contact info...

bad: in the live music business, one is unfortunately often working in bars and clubs, which is a pretty unstable world. I got a call last night that Hot Buttered Soul will not be working this weekend as the bar we were booked at has shut down as of yesterday. So, we're out in the cold for gigs this weekend, with really no recourse. The bar may re-open under new management as soon as this weekend (which may mean we will work), or it may not. It makes me appreciate the stability of the Canyon Creek venue for cc3. Now, they could cancel us at any time too, but they don't appear to be going out of business anytime soon (they are owned by a parent corporation...).

For those reading this who are in the northeast US, NOJO (the Neufeld Occhipinti Jazz Orchestra) is on tour as I type this, here's the remaining dates:

5th – Blues Alley, Washington, DC
17th – Night Town, Cleveland, OH
18th – Charleston Jazz Series, Charleston, WV
19th – The Firefly, Ann Arbor, MI

Go on out and see them! The band is led by two frequent orbiters into the cc3 world, Paul Neufeld and Michael Occhipinti. They've won Junos (canadian grammys) and are up for more this year, and the band is killer. Also, there's 9 of them, in minivans and double-occupancy hotels rooms (I don't know if this makes me a dilletante, but the thought of sharing a hotel room with anyone other than my wife, at this point in my life, no thanks, I'd rather be paid less on the gig and have my own space than bunk-in......), so my hat's off to them for hitting the road in the first place. So, if you're nearby these venues, check em out!

In local news, Ken Aldcroft (fine guitarist and curator of the Leftover Daylight Concert Series) has offered cc+mo march 4 or april 1 as possible dates for us. I have a feeling it will be april 1, but stay tuned.... It's very gratifying to get an offer for a gig, as opposed to having to scavenge for them. So, Ken, if you're reading, many thanks.

I have to correct myself: bruno, mike pelletier and I have been playing together since 1991, not 1992. (Canadian) Thanksgiving 1991 was our first gig together @ the Silver Dollar in Toronto. At the time, the Silver Dollar had been turned into a strip joint by the then-current owners. The strip joint (which is now a club called The Comfort Zone, that both of my bands, HEARSAY and Relax with Trudy would play in the years between then and now) was called Johnny Vegas, and the upstairs lounge was known as the Silver Dollar Room. Anyway, it was Thanksgiving Sunday 1991 and we were on a "jazz" gig under the name "the Jazz Delegates", which is easily one of the worst names in the history of music. It speaks so much to the nature of where we were at intellectually at the time. All of us were in our first years of university or college studying in the "Jazz Program", and learning the textbook-correct way to play this music that was in a time-capsule from 1958. We were it's "delegates" that evening, I guess. Anyway, the band was a quintet or sextet and mp, bi, and myself were the rhythm section.

Thursday's gig was fun, Todd Harris (Hot Buttered Soul's singer) came by and sang a bunch of tunes with us. No mic, it was great, the audience had to LISTEN if they wanted to hear Todd. We even managed to play a tune that we'd never done before that will end up in HBS' full-time repertoire, so it was a fruitful evening. I played my new PAISTE ride and it's a wonderful instrument. On that gig, since I play with brushes and my hands almost exclusively, the full tonal capabilities of the cymbals are never really heard, but it was satisfying just to see it up there vibrating. :)

Also this week I was rummaging in a filing cabinet looking for something (now I don't remeber what) and I came across my copy of the first HEARSAY CD, "there and back again" (which only recently have I discovered that Bruno lifted the title from something out of Lord of the Rings! how embarassing..... :)). This record was from 1995/96 with myself and bruno ierullo and mike bowell on guitar and nikku nayar on bass. For years I've just assumed it was not worth listening to. I mean, I was 19 or 20 at the time of this record, and I think I just as much figured anything I played then should stay back there. Well, I was wrong. This record is great, and sounds really good (thank you to the recording engineer Fred Duvall). I was playing Sonor Hilite drums and mix of Sabian and Zildjian cymbals (actually, the cymbals leave something to be desired to my ears, hence the switch to PAISTE soon after that record). I wrote half the songs and Bruno wrote the other, plus one tune written by our friend Lisa Patterson. It's jam-band/fusion record of the most obvious degree, woefully out of step with my tastes now, but I think for what it set out to do, it more than acheived it. Plus, I have tremendous respect for Bruno on this CD, he sang lead, simply because I was too chicken to do it. So, I can't fault him at all from that point of view. I think he wouldn't argue that from a musical standpoint the vocal performances are not at the level of the instrumental work, but so what? My tunes on the record are weird, multi-part jamfests, with extremely surreal lyrics that I now can't figure out what I meant. (But I remember back then having very clear understanding of the lyrics I wrote). Things about snails, kiwi, jewels, driving under bridges, burning up in the atmosphere.... oh well. :)

I think I'm going to create webpages about the HEARSAY records, there were three of them (2 full-length and one EP). Only a few hundred people ever bought or were given these records, so this music is hardly "over-exposed".

Ok, so mr. bruno is in this week to fill in for David Patterson. The lineup for cc3 then this week has actually been playing together on an off since 1992, 13 years, almost half my life. I hope we've improved in those 13 years, Mike is actually playing some of the same gear that he had way back then.

As for me, I can't say that. :) I am a bit fickle with gear, and usually end up selling off everything from time to time (usually to friends, so that if i ever wanted to use it again, I can buy them dinner and borrow the drums!). I rarely sell cymbals, because you just never know when you'll need THAT SOUND again. Plus, drums are much easier to tweak sonically than cymbals, so you can often make a new set of drums sound like your old set (or close to) with the right heads. Usually, I change drums because of logistical conveniences (newer hardware designs, smaller or larger sizes, etc.) than their actual sound. The last time I purged a bunch of drums was when I realized I had 3 kits going and only one of them was actually going out on gigs. The SONOR Hilite set I was simply too gorgeous and expensive for me to drag it out to clubs, and risk it getting damaged in the process. So, I sold them to the fantastic drummer and friend, Christopher Stott (www.cstottrun.com). I also had a SONOR Jungle kit that I wasn't gigging with because I didn't like the way the mounting hardware worked (it always slipped loose on me), but they're very cool drums, and once again Stott snapped them up! Which left me with my trusty old Sonor Phonics, which I guess are now considered vintage drums (built over 20 years ago), which I bought out of the rental dept. at Long&McQuade music here in Toronto. These drums have the distinction of being used in a skit on Kids in the Hall, before i owned them. Anyway, they sound profoundly awesome, they were cheap, and they're indestructible. I think I'll always have them. Having said that, I am itching to buy a new set....

in the meantime, I'm picking up a new cymbal from PAISTE this week, a Dark Energy Mark I ride, one of the new hotties out of the PAISTE braintrust. I'm quite excited. Thanks to Rich Mangicaro @ Paiste, and Sean Browne @ yamaha (paiste's canadian distributor), the cymbal is available to me at my endorser price (which makes the cymbals affordable, but not cheap). The cymbal's list price is $795 CDN, and I think you can get it in a store for around $450. My price is less than that, but no where near free (FYI, very few endorsees get their gear for free). I don't mind, it's like endorsing a Ferrari, they're not gonna give them away. These instruments are made by highly paid artisans in factories in Western Europe, the price can't be anything but high with those factors involved.

anyway, I hope I'm getting it today, so that I can play it on Thursday....

I just got off the phone with David Patterson, who was supposed to be guitar-ing with cc3 this week. He's had to cancel, which is too bad because I was really looking forward to playing with him. However, I completely understand, and now I'll have to grab someone else for Thursday. Stay tuned to see who it is...

I am off to buy a new case for my hardware (cymbal stands, seat, etc.). This is a good sign. If your cases are wearing out, you must be gigging. :)

Playing tonight for a private event at Canyon Creek with Bruno Ierullo and the newly revitalised Kevin Cooke (I say that because he goes for long stretches of not playing bass while he's composing, recording/producing, etc.... He's just finished the rehearsals and performance for his CD release, so he's hot to trot). Should be fun.

Here's a small photo gallery of the Tony Williams Lifetime... some of these photos are actually from around the time of the 2nd record, Turn it Over, that add Jack Bruce on bass (so they weren't an organ trio anymore, but hey, if Jack Bruce wants to join your band, you'd be foolish not to let him!)....

Lifetime Gallery

Anyway, great band. More than great.

...I've recently discovered the OST (original soundtrack) to the Spongebob movie. What I have heard so far is really wonderful, Flaming Lips, Motorhead, Wilco, all doing commissioned works for the Sponger... I didn't see the movie but I am hoping to at some point.

Sunday... Slow day here at the house, and there is work to do but it likely won't get done. I found out that some folks are reading this blog, and noticing it doesn't get updated frequently enough. I usually only make an entry when there's news, and unfortunately not every day is newsworthy from a professional point of view. (I have made a concerted effort to not include alot of personal details with respect to family and friends, because I want cc.com to be about the music i'm making and the musicians it's made with. I'm not a big fan of "reality" TV or any other media, I think it's better that the public image I present is focused on my music and other professional activities, as opposed to clouding it with personal minutiae....)


Anyway, on the topic of work, I have recently found myself with a huge hole in my daytime schedule for the month of February. The last few days have been crisis-mode calls and emails to try and fill the gaps in my schedule. So far, it's OK. I've picked up enough stuff to replace a good portion of the work that was lost and also found a few nice days off to do family-stuff. Lemonade out of lemons...

As for 2005's creative project, I'm getting really close to my decision. I think I want to do an organ-trio project. FYI, "organ trio" is a term used to describe a band that where the basslines are provided by the keyboardist's left hand (or feet, on organ bass pedals), usually on a Hammond organ. Quite often it's drums,organ, guitar or drums, organ, saxophone. At any rate, it's a beautiful timbre. One of my favourite bands of all, Tony Williams' Lifetime, was an organ trio. The types of basslines organists usually play are quite sparse or very drone-like, which can open up a lot of space for the drums to use. I want to try my material (both instrumental "jazz" stuff and the more popsong stuff) in this format. I am not sure if I will sing or have other singers... Most likely the recording will be done as a trio instrumentally and then I'll deal with vocals as overdubs...

Who's gonna do it with me? I don't know yet. I've been listening to a bunch of John Abercrombie records on ECM that are his o-trio with Dan Wall and drummer Adam Nussbaum. They're absolutely awesome recordings of a great band that hasn't really worked in 5 or 6 years. On a whim I decided to contact Dan Wall via a letter to see if he would be interested in a recording project (why not start at the top right?). I don't know him at all, so this a true "cold call". The worst thing that happens is that he says no, ok. If he does, or if I can't afford him, there's some guys in Toronto that would be cool too (and if it took off, they'd probably be the live players in the band anyway). So, we'll see. If I don't get a response by the end of February, I'll move on. So, I'll spend February selecting and arranging material, .... and finding the money to do the project.

In recent gig news, we did a trio hit with Eric Boucher on Thursday and it was great. Eric's got a new keyboard which is a fantastic improvement from his old rig. He sounds really great, I hope we'll have another steady gig this summer... Friday night was Kevin Cooke's CD release and he got a respectable sized crowd and the band sounded good. All the things that didn't go so good are things a few more gigs would cure (not a few more rehearsals). At any rate, it was an honour to play in the band, it being comprised of so many stellar players at least 20 years my senior. Kevin is subbing for Mike Pelletier this Tuesday on a gig with Bruno and I and on 2.10 Kevin's guitarist David Patterson will hit with cc3.

This week our Thursday hit is with Paul Neufeld, who I just discovered is an big Kip Hanrahan fan... I never knew! So there ya go, that must be why we sound so good together.

Also, Ken Aldcroft (a Toronto guitarist and impresario of the Leftover Daylight free music concert series) contacted me about having cc+mo do one of his shows. I'd love to, the first date he offered we were both working, but he said he'll have a date in march or april for us. I hope Michael will be available...

let's try this again, with html:

Trio offers different twist each week

if it doesn't work, or take you directly to the article, click on ARTS and ENTERTAINMENT in the menu on the left side and scroll down...

I can't complain at all about the article, I think all of the quotes are generally accurate. The only thing that was somewhat misinterpreted is the comment about MO "leaving for another band...". Well, he's always been in other bands, we all are. :):):) In the interview I was saying how MO was the regular "3rd man" for the summer and fall and that we recently decided to start having different guests each week. Oh well, no harm done.

The gig last night, incidentally, went great. People are starting to come and listen, which is cool. The downside is they make requests, and you end up playing "Hotel California"... :) MO threw in a bunch of Stairway to Heaven quotes just to show that somebody "does remember laughter", as Robert Plant so often implored... :)

Last night also marked the 2nd gig in the last 6 months where Mike Pelletier's amp has caught fire. :) And each time it was a different amp! Perhaps Mike has become some sort of mystical shaman, and he forgot to tell us.

here's the link to the Burlington Post story... I haven't actually read it yet:

http://www.haltonsearch.com/hr/ae/column/story/2500872p-2898403c.html

Big day today:

9am - phone interview with the Burlington Post newspaper regarding the Thursday night house gig... we'll see how my ramblings are translated into text in Friday's issue...
10am - not a gig, but I did sing: "Baby Club" class with the family
12:30pm - haircut
3:00pm - sign digital distro agreement for my music (starting with "winter music") to be sold on download sites:



this is going to mean big changes to what's available for download on my site, but it is a good thing. the cost of putting up an album for download is about one tenth the cost to manufacture 300 CD copies. So, in theory, I should be able to make more music (i.e. "release" more albums). I'm quite excited about it. Apparently it's going to take a few weeks (and for some services, months) for my stuff to get uploaded and ready for sale, so if you don't find it at the first site you go to, please do shop around. If you can't find it anywhere, email me and let me know...

It's Sunday morning and I have a pile of new discs and a few DVDs to check out, including a bunch of ECM stuff, and the new Willie Nelson. a damn fine way to start the day...

cc3 picked up an extra gig feb1, but my usual bass suspects are not available, so I am hunting. this could be good; I could hire a player I've never hired before, the gig may go great, he/she may like my playing, and other gigs may result. it never hurts to widen one's sphere of musicians... stay tuned.

I'm just now starting to get past my unfamiliarity with the drumKAT (midi percussion controller). I'm now using it to interface with both REASON (a software sampler program) and Apple's GarageBand (a multi-track recording program). I've got a couple of projects that can be KATified in the spring (three dance pieces for the Pickering School of Ballet, and hopefully a larger project for the Martha Hicks School of Ballet in June), so that's good. Since I got the KAT in the summer, I've been worried I'd never actually use it, and should have spent the money on cymbals or something else acoustic...

the gig with Mike went great. It was fun to catch up too, as we don't see much of each other anymore (kids, gigs, etc.). Mike is a very fluid and masterful sight-reader so he nailed all of my charts (bjork's "isobel", beck's "paper tiger", etc.). Admittedly they're fairly simple songs, but sight-reading in the trio format (especially when the melody instrument is the one sight reading) and still making the tunes sound decent is a steep hill to climb. anyway, bravo! to mike. he'll be back in february...

bruno ierullo is up this week with cc3, and other than cc3 my month is quite quiet. At the end of the month I'm booked to play Kevin Cooke's showcase at the Winchester in Toronto. it's a big blues/r&b horn band (kevin plays bass and sings) and i nam supposed to play percussion, reprising my role on the CD. I'm only on a couple of cuts on the disc, so i am not sure how much playing I'll actually be doing. I think there's a rehearsal this week....

listening these days: bjork: I just bought her "live box"m a 4cd 1dvd set after downloading a few tracks of it illegally. I couldn't really hear it any other way before dropping the $60 it costs. HMV (the big recordstore chain here) will not accept returns unless the product is unopened, so downloading is still the only real viable way to get a taste of a record before buying.... I'm also (via downloading) re-educating myself about medeski, martin and wood. I was into them more than ten years ago (and even got a chance to meet them a few times through mutual acquaintances) but my focus on them strayed as they got int more dj-stuff and less three-way improv. Now I'm thinking that may have been a mutual phase, because I'm really liking what I am hearing, the two ends (dj-vibe and improv) are balanced nicely. I've always like Billy Martin's drumming too...

Ok, the 2004 Year-In-Review is finished! Go check it out at the homepage, there's some video that is brand-new included in it. So, with that, I've closed the book on 2004 and am now figuring out 2005. cc3 is playing tonight with Mike Bowell on guitar, which I am really looking forward to. Mike and have played together since we were teenagers, and he's quite simply one of the finest players around. Mike and I toured with my bands HEARSAY and Relax with Trudy, and also spent our fair-share of time on the road catching Aquarium Rescue Unit shows, which were all mind-blowing.

Anyway, it's gonna be fun. I've written a chart for the Flaming Lips' "Do You Realize??", I think we'll play it as a bossa nova...

here's me and Mike in the old days: HEARSAY (a great band, I miss it)
(l to r): cc, jeff simard, mike bowell, darryl huggins, attila baraczka

ok, i've been lagging on my posting to the blog.. the holidays are still going in my world, with just a few gigs and lots of free time to spend around the house. it's great. there's time to think and plan for 2005 too. the boring side of things is that I have to do a bunch of year-end accounting and junk like that, but otherwise i am pretty much on vacation...

As part of of my year-end, I authored a DVD of the entire "aware" dance project; I compiled the performances and the rehearsal footage from this past year and organized it in iMovie to make a great DVD archive of the work. I'm going to do this for the cc+mo work too... if anyone is really interested, I can probably make a few extra copies (email me), otherwise, just stay tuned to the website for more downloads.

one cool thing from this holiday season has been the re-acquaintance with an old music-friend, Ashley Newall. We ran into each other at a holiday party, and we hadn't played together since 1999. he's a singer/songwriter in the truest sense of the word, and has been diligently writing and recording for at least 15 years. I started doing gigs and sessions for him back in my teens. Anyway, he's emailed me an mp3 of a studio track we did in 1999, and it sounds pretty good. I even played "sheryl crow" style bongos (I remember that was the "producer" comment during the tracking). I'll try and get it up on the website. While checking out his website I stumbled upon this mp3 that is available at CBC, it is really old, and Ashley has presented it as a "comedy" song (I honestly don't remember it being approached as a comic thing when we did it, but perhaps in hindsight it was, or should be viewed as), anyway it's here: http://zed.cbc.ca/go?~tabbedContent~tab=Groups%20Tab&user=JeanLenin&CONTENT_ID=94776&type=acquisitionCMS&set=contentPage&c=contentPage&page=content Ashley has called himself "Jean Lenin" on this recording...

anyway, stay tuned, hopefully lots to come in 2005. music music music!

wow, bad grammar (that's what you get for typing with one finger).... I meant to type: " I surf around some drum forums..."

sorry about that.

In surf around some drum-forums on the net. One of the more interesting ones is located at the website of session drummer and teacher Billy Ward, www.billyward.com It's probably the most interesting because it's host is an active participant in the discussions, and he presents himself as a very humble, intelligent, and humour-filled guy. Anyway, I usually just lurk there, but I posted these two posts (there were replies, but I won't include them) because I've been wrestling with some career issues and was curious if other drummers could relate (turns out they could)



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
the $100 gig.... an economics discussion :)

hi everyone,

i'm out of lurk-mode to pose a query to the group:

for those that are doing this for a living (myself included), or even part-time; what would you say the average gig pays?

for me, living in Toronto, the magic number is $100. These gigs are usually club/restaurant gigs playing covers (i play primarily jazz and r&b), and last about 3 sets over 4 hours or less... playing showcases with original artists can also hover in around that number, but not as often...

wedding gigs are another story, but those can vary widely, and are very much seasonal.. what I am talking about is the stuff a working drummer has to rely on 52weeks out of the year to keep the bills paid...

with the exception of orchestra pit for the big-budget musicals (lion king, etc.) and the toronto symphony the musician's union is a non-entity up here.. i would say at least 70% of most working players' gugs are non-union, and 100% of mine are.

so, essentially, by the time the average gig is done, after basic travel expenses (gas, maybe a quick bite to eat), you're left with $100 or less. Now, between all the of gigs, a bit of teaching, and some other stuff (i am guest artist with the school board, which is $27/hour, and I usually do about 3 or 4 hours in a day... after taxes and expenses, again I'm around $100/day), the magic number is still $100 for most gigs I do.

Here's the issue: from the anecdotal evidence I've casually collected from older players (I'm only 30, and have been semi-pro since I was 15, pro since I was 20) is that that $100 figure has been in place for at least 15 years, or more, and the average gig pays LESS than what it did 20 years ago.

so, how is it that the price of beer in the bars we play in can triple over 20 years and the price of music stays the same or drops?

I'm not really looking for why this has happened, more why we let it happen?

It's a bad business model, and a recipe for disaster. When I've had a good year financially, it's because I worked more hours, not because the gigs paid better than the previous year.

So, are we just so committed to playing for a living that we'll play for less and less each year? I'm excluding the realm of major tours or sessions because frankly, those are issues that may only be relevant or possible for those willing to re-locate to NY, LA or Nashville and play the lottery of the major-label music business. I'm talking about selling your skills in an average market to average clients. I am sure most of us are in that situation.

Ultimately, I feel lucky to do what I do: I play the drums and make my living from it. But the economic model as represented by the $100 gig suggests that the older I get the harder the work will be for less money (that's the vibe I get from the older players I work with)....

any thoughts?

chris

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"the $100 gig" - a path to creative burnout?
thanks for the replies to my little post,

I'm not looking for personal advice, but I thought I'd shed a little more light on what drove my original post.

Billy mentioned that "we don't run this as a business" (meaning our careers), and it's so true. Many of us direct our music careers from our creative hearts, and in the process direct ourselves straight into business with people who's careers are directed from an entirely other place ("greed" would be too harsh a word, but when placed in contrast with the simplicity and purity of self-expression, "business-minded" actions can seem so callous). Furthermore, as another post mentioned, often the best paying gigs are playing music that is creatively negative or at best, neutral.

I'm not complaining. The marketplace (people buying live music) will always move towards the average, and that means we'll often play music that is less than satisfying to us. That's a fact of doing business, right?

So, most of us (save for the lucky few who's creative vision turns them a profit) do the gigs to our professional best, get paid, go home and pay the bills, and then whatever money may be left, we invest into our creative efforts (studio time, gear, money-losing tours of our original work, etc.).

I have currently reached a decision-point in my career. I don't have the best gigs by any stretch, but I certainly don't have the worst (I am aware that other musicians would be happy to get to my level of busy-ness and finance). But, it seems apparent (and other posts concur) that I will be working harder for less money (relatively) into the future as long as the "$100 gig" persists.

My concern is that this negative cycle will drill its way down to my creative work; as costs-of-living rise and drive me to do more and more $100 gigs there will be both less time and funds available to finance the creative work I am driven to do. The gradual reduction in true creative output will no doubt take it's toll on my skills as a drummer.

So, another poster's joke about how he must be a worse player now than when he started (because he's making less money per gig) can actually become a truth.

Where I'm at is that I am looking at plans to pre-empt this creative burnout. Ideally it would be pre-empted by moving up to a higher gig-bracket (but as we know that can always be at best, temporary); but more likely it will be a re-evaluation of what I personally require to fuel my creativity. Do I have to exclusively sell my drumming for a living to still consider drumming my main activity? The notion of slogging through less-than-ideal gigs for progressively less money is a helluva creative burden to justify this notion of being a "pro".

My feeling right now is that the creative heart is fueled by time (no pun intended, drummers ). We need to buy ourselves time to reflect, be inspired, and then mold these inspirations into music. That time can be found in a variety of ways: Arts-endowment or government grants, record company advances, prolonged state or federal incarceration (just kidding), or "outside financing" (be it from your own non-musical activities, or the generosity of others). So, I am trying to settle upon the ideal (and possible) way of maximizing this creative time. This way may include getting out of the world of the "$100 gig", and that's how this thread started.

thanks again for replying and contributing!

chris

...been more than a week since the gig, and I've yet to mention it significantly. well, I haven't really looked at the DV of it (with the exception of the opening piece, "aware" with Arwyn), so I'll go on my experiences that evening...

the week leading up to the gig was stressful. I wasn't convinced that the material I had selected to play with michael and darryl was at 100% readiness. That could have been helped by more rehearsals, but that costs money and time; I didn't have the former, and they didn't have the latter. Nonetheless, it sounded good, and would be fine, but it didn't sound sparkling enough that the anxiety about it wouldn't dwell in my brain before and during the gig itself.

All in all, the gig felt good to play, and from some reports in the audience, sounded pretty decent too. "mathematics" (a tune of mine) was the only true train wreck; things got started without a count-off from me (due to poor staging whereupon I had placed Darryl directly in my sightline to MO). Anyway, it was too fast, and I tried to slow it down, now too slow, then Darryl couldn't come in properly, YIKES!!!!! it finally worked its way around to where it was supposed to be but that was just before the end... (sigh). a few folks still commented on how it was nice to hear that song (maybe the song itself is strong enough melodically to withstand such abuse, I hope so).

Basically, this gig was my last "creative" effort of 2004. The rest of the year will be spent doing cc3 and Hot Buttered Soul gigs, finishing up my residency work for the school board, and doing some teaching. With any luck, I'll get into Kevin Cooke's studio and finish move2 as well...

The current creative calendar for 2005 is TBA. I am keen to go in another direction. The cc+mo duo made a great record and played two interesting concerts in its 1st year of life. I am not sure where to take it next; perhaps, like so many other projects, it will hibernate until there is demand (either personal or external) to revive it. (i.e. if a promoter was willing to put on the concert and offer me a fee for our performance--the year's creative activities ended up well into the "red" for me).

we'll see...

video from the 11.26 gig is up on the front page of the site.... and the working copy of the YEAR IN REVIEW is up at http://www.chriscawthray.com/2004YIR.html

gig post-mortem report coming soon....

so NOW magazine and Eye Weekly both failed to print my concert listings. Thanks very much. then again, if you're reading this blog you already know about the gig....

it's gonna be a great show, hope to see you there. We're rehearsing this afternoon, then I head down to the cc3 gig, then in between other things I'm being logistical about tomorrow's show (packing drums, organizing merchandise, getting the dv camera ready...).

see you at the show!

hello hello

a few more gigs have snuck in before the end of the year, which is most welcome ($$$$$)... :) Hot Buttered Soul is doing a one-off at the Oakville Athletic Club on Saturday December11 (we usually do two-nighters there), and with any luck CC3 will do new year's at Canyon Creek (still working that out...).

I've decided to compile a year-in-review webpage that will include audio and video clips from my main "creative" projects (projects that are very much original and/or creative work, like cc+mo and the "aware" dance project). It'll be a nice way to archive the work and clear up the site for new projects (and maybe help me spur these new projects on...). So, stay tuned to the site, it should be ready before year's end...

it's my first friday not working in some way in a while... it's nice to get to chill out, but I have that paranoia that the phone will never ring again with a call for a gig. I think most musicians get this; I remember reading an interview with super-tour drummer Ricky Lawson (Michael Jackson, Phil Collins, Steely Dan, etc.) where he said the even he was worried about the phone not ringing!

anyway, last night's cc3 gig was great; I may have been lulled into a false sense of accomplishment, but for the first time it really felt like people were there to listen (we have a few regulars that are always out to listen, so forgive me if you're reading this and you're one of those wonderful folks). coincidentally, last night was the loudest (and mosty dynamic) we've ever been able to play at Canyon Creek. Did that compel people to pay attention, or did we simply finally get a listening audience? Who knows? it was nice while it lasted. :)

MO is off next Thursday, so Bruno Ierullo (who just bought himself a new Telecaster) will be filling in. Next week's big event is the cc+mo+guests show at Dancemakers on Friday night.. I got together with Darryl Huggins yesterday afternoon to run down his tunes, man, he sounds great. I'm really looking forward to performing with him again. I think the last time was in 2000...

..it occured to me that I didn't conclude a previosu post regarding venue issues for the 11/26 show.

Everything is Ok, and the show is going ahead at Dancemakers, much to the collective delight of those involved, and hopefully you the audience too...

here's an old pic of cc+m in action:

the photo worked, now I'm dangerous!


my boys, they're coming to Toronto Dec. 5, it'll be very exciting (for those that don't know, that's Keith Jarrett Gary Peacock and Jack Dejohnette...

back from Montreal. great trip. great gig. lots of fun. The Studio 303 show was sold-out, and over 50 people were turned away. THIS NEVER HAPPENS IN TORONTO. modern dance just doesn't get a chance down here; Arwyn and I were talking about it (she is actually investigating this issue in a formal academic way too...) on the drive up--that modern dance audiences are chronically small--and then we come to MTL and there's people actually ANGRY they can't get into the show.

the only bummer was that 100% of the people we knew coming to the show (about 10 folks) didn't get it. Luckily they stuck around and we got to see them at the show anyway. A group of my old students from ESA who know are at university in Montreal showed up, so that was a real treat.

As for the performance, we were happy. We went first and it felt great to perform. There were technical issues for me in terms of the drums themselves: I use this old parade bass drum and it was sliding around on the very slick floor of this performance space; the temperature in the space tightened the calfskin heads on the drum too tight too; the lighting tech removed the marker on the stage to show me where to set up the drumkit, so the placement for the show was off.. Anyway, all nuisance details.... I think for the 11.26 show I'll use my regular drums for the piece because I know they'll stay in place, then I can concentrate on playing the piece. Also, with the cold weather upon us, everywhere will have their heat on, so the calfskin drum will be difficult to keep at a low tuning...

I'm determined to add photos to my blog, let's see if I can:



if this worked, this is a photo of the Habitat housing complex that I took on Sunday while taking a chilly walk with my family.

yikes!

there's some complications brewing with the nov26 gig... turns out the venue may not have any technical and/or admin staff (administrating my rental of the space) for the rest of the month.... hopefully it should be resolved tomorrow. maybe with the resolution being a new venue. bummer.

luckily it's not too late to re-promo with regards to a venue change...

but, you know, at this point, it'd be nice to focus on the music (not likely to happen, though)

in the meantime, Hot Buttered Soul plays friday night at the Oakville Athletic Club, and we may be filming this one for a promo video... then I'm off to MTL (family in tow, we're making a vacation out of it too). Arwyn's sick right now, but sometimes the best gigs come out under less-than-great conditions...

let's hope that holds true for nov26!

great news!

my old friend and former bandmate Darryl Huggins (he was the singer in HEARSAY) is available on nov26, so he's going to do 2 or 3 tunes with CC+MO at the Dancemakers gig...

Darryl's voice is wonderful, very unique timbre and my years of writing songs for him to sing in HEARSAY (1996-1999, roughly) were very prolific for me, due in no small part to the inspiring players I had to write for. I was already looking forward to this show, but now even more so.

Coincidentally, with the exception of Arwyn, the other three performers on this show are recent proud papas of baby girls....

MO called me tuesday night (while we watching US election returns at my Grandma's, of all places; none of us could really figure out the Electoral College system, and I have my doubts about whether anyone else can either), and told me he'd forgotten that he wasn't available this Thursday for the cc3 hit. So, I spent Tuesday and Wednesday electing a sub for the gig. After many calls, Paul Neufeld (pianist extraordinaire) was available. This will be the first time I've played with Paul since a jazz giga t an Ethiopian restaurant when I was a teenager. I was woefully under-prepared for that gig (I thought bringing an 18" bass drum was all you had to do to be "jazzy"), but then again, that feeling never goes away, right? That's the beauty of the creative career: you climb mountains, and at the top, the bottom of the next (higher) mountain awaits...

I'm listening to a (paid) download of a Wayne Krantz set at 55 bar in NYC. He's selling 1-hour sets for $4.95 each at his website www.waynekrantz.com. I think his price might be a bit too high (the mp3 download itself is just one long file, so you can't listen to selected songs from the set) to encourage regular purchases (he plays weekly at 55) from myself. However, I did want to show support for both his music, and the paid download concept in general.

I plan on doing this at my site, but will offer everything for free at first (and track the interest in it from visitors). Stay tuned.

Since my last post, I've begun rehearsals with Arwyn Carpenter for our upcoming shows (nov13 in montreal and nov26 in toronto). Our first rehearsal was really just a hang, checking out what videos we have of the piece to make some notes; wonderfully, we came to the conclusion that, hey, we like this piece. This is not as simple as it sounds. The piece works. It's fun to do. AND we can see room for it to get better. So, instead of re-tooling and re-writing, we're committed to refining the work, and disciplining our performances within it.

So, we got into a dance studio up at YORK University last night and did just that. We plan to get back in the studio once more before the gig in Montreal.

Otherwise, this week I'm just playing dance classes and doing the regular cc3 hit in Burlington, actually. So, that should allow me to get some work done on promoting the nov26 show, and finish getting the music prepared for that show. The following week is a bit crazy, with classes, cc3, a drum lesson to teach, a rehearsal with Arwyn, planning/packing for Montreal (my family is coming with me), and then doing a Hot Buttered Soul gig the night before we leave for Montreal.

wow, I finally fixed the mp3 links... nothing new, but the links are all back and working, so listen/stream/download as you wish!

I'm updating and fixing the webpage in basic html source code these days, which is quite, um, physical. It feels like 1995 all over again....

I was watching a surfing documentary last night, "Step into Liquid". It occured to me that the wipe-outs are often just as satisfying to watch as a "perfect" ride. It's the combination of all of it: the wave, the camera, the ride itself. The actual outcome is a minor part of the experience of watching it. Furthermore, the wipe-outs themselves are just alternate conclusions to the ride; and can be powerful and interesting in their own way.

It made me think of improvising, and how if audiences could embrace it in this way, I think it would definitely transmit its energy to them, as opposed to confounding or alienating them.

yeah, the site is still broken.

I've been gigging too much to sit down and really fix anything. So, that's a good excuse, right? :)

I picked up a set of SONOR Designer Series drums from CollAudio on rental for the next week or so, nice drums. I'm just taking a vacation from my SONOR Phonics, that's all.

So, the next orders of business are starting promo for the CC+MO gig and rehearsing with Arwyn. Then, in November I hope to finish the long-delayed MOVE vol.2 CD. I'm not committing to much more than that for now, as I am starting to get a handle on just how much free time I have in my new life; which juggles my family, my "work" gigs, and my creative gigs.

Hot Buttered Soul is doing its last couple of dates next weekend, and then there is nothing else on the horizon for a while, as yet. The Trio resumes in its intended lineup (me, Mike Pelletiter, and MO), and hopefully we'll be free of any subbing for a while. Not that having subs isn't fun, but part of the appeal of the steady gig is that the group itself can really develop a "sound", in the absence of rehearsals, which there simply is no time or money for.

take care

wow, I'm having a bit of trouble keeping up with the day-to-day right now, lots going on (I guess, it's sometimes hard to tell from inside it all).

the website is still in disarray, as I am still waiting for an upgrade/replacement for my webpage software. so, things are developing offline, as it were.

...MARK YOUR CALENDAR: nov26 cc+mo will perform at the Dancemakers Studio in the Distillery District, Toronto. Arwyn Carpenter will be our guest, and we'll perform (at least) our current dance "aware", and maybe something else if preparation time permits.

the Trio is still working, doing the Thursdays (MO has been absent a couple of times recently, and Bruno Ierullo has subbed. This week I am not sure who is with us, yet. MO is performing with Arraymusic (a new music orchestra), and MP and I are still looking for someone), and we're doing a gig tonight at, of all places, an Acure dealership. There's a car launch, and we provide the background music. It's a good gig (straightforward, reasonably well-paying, and the client is very upfront and easy to deal with), but it's really hitting home these days that the best-paying jazz gigs I can get for my Trio are the ones that require us to be seen and not heard (the presence of a band is more important than the sound of a band at these gigs). Basically, play as quietly as possible, with NO DYNAMICS. :)

alot of my time has been consumed by ugly administrative work (chasing down cheques from gigs that are almost distant memories), which rapidly erodes any financial gain from the gigs (by the time I add in the admin hours to a gig, I'm working for minimum wage). I have to develop some more efficiency in this regard, or simply raise my price. ;)

ok, stay tuned, there's a few more gigs on the horizon, but nothing concrete to speak of as yet...