Have you ever played a soft ballad and given it all you had...only to hear "dead silence" when your done? ....
Moving people thru your soul via music is what it's all about.

Been there, too, Donny! Then, they woke up(LOL)

(Just kidding! Really good point-been there, too!).


Russ

(PS) Guy came by and bought the Hohner for $375.00. Would never have thought to sell it if you hadn't brought it up. Now, what new toy can I buy for that money?

Be well,

Russ

Russ great news...I'm sure you will find a few new toys to try out for sure....I'm looking at a few things myself
Good luck!!

Many things that I sing, I struggle to get a sort of Cajun, Ray Charles sound. I do this on "Somewhere Over The Rainbow."

Friday the audience was very quite while I performed this as best that I could. When I finished to my surprise a young lady maybe in her middle thirties said "Bravo." I almost fell off the bench. I've never had a "Bravo" before.

I guess that's why I play. Also even though I don't make much money in this part of the country I must admit I can't turn the gigs down. I need the "change."

It's nice that we have a place to share experiences, isn't it?

Folks, this goes down as one of the most pleasant and personally revealing exchanges since I've been around. Fantastic!

Thanks, all!


Russ

Seems like, on an arranger forum, the only things we can discuss civilly are non-arranger related things...

Perhaps Nigel should start a non-arranger forum, where we COULD discuss arrangers civilly there!

Diki, you were the first one to bring up an "issue" on this heretofore beatific post.
Is that a compulsion?

That's what playing is to me, btw. I just am compelled to do it. I barely did it between the ages of 19 and 35, and in spite of the fact I got married and raised children and did interesting things, I look back on that period of my life as if i was an alien being. Was that really me?

But guys, all the other stuff that's cool about playing music..the lifestyle freedom, the partying and chicks, the applause, the connecting to the audience, the compliments, the camaraderie with other musicians..to me none of it compares with the "groove"..those times of heightened swing and creativity that just transport you to a higher level of consciousness and ecstasy. If you've never achieved those, really felt them, by achieving a level of inspiration far beyond any technical facility, then you're missing the highest level of your calling.

That's why I keep playing, though I have no
pressing financial need to(the extra bread is a comfort, tho) To get to those places as often as i can get there. Lately they happen sometime almost every night i play, so i must be getting better at it. And hey, all that other stuff I mentioned, they are all way cool, and i would miss them like crazy if it was gone.


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Miami Mo

Yeah Mo, we use to call it 'in the pocket', but that term has become so overused (and abused) that it no longer captures the feeling you've described. As I've gotten older, those nights of being in the 'groove' (usually only happens on ONE tune during a set) seem to happen less frequently. This could be partly due to the booze/weed-free sets we now play . But when it's cookin', baby, it's cookin'. BTW, I've often wondered if that 'feeling' we're talking about, ever happens in anything other than jazz and R@B. Not a put-down, but I just can't picture it happening playing polka's all night. But I could be wrong.

chas

Chas, i stopped using pocket when it came to my attention how few understood the term. In 1998 I played sax/sang w/Brian Murphy on keys at the bookstore here for Tony Bennett's booksigning of his autobiograpy "The Good Life" (wonderful reading btw)

TB was sitting outside the front door on one side, signing for a long line of admirers, and we were right on the other side. He was grooving on us for 2 hours, and when gig was
over he asked me to come back in the store and he gave me a copy with "Mo, you are wonderful, right in the pocket" written on the face page.

Well, as you can imagine, I started using that in my promo. But then so many people asked me what it meant (some even thought it meant I was on the take) that i dropped it and now just use "..wonderful."

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Miami Mo

So you wouldn't say that Russ, bringing up the point that this thread compared very favorably with all the others, wasn't at least obliquely referring to the same 'issue'?!

As someone that is often the victim of personal slander and attack, merely for bringing up arranger related points (you'll notice I don't make my comments personal ones, unlike many of my detractors), you might understand that I am quite concerned about the civility (or lack of it) that often mars our community. To see the exact people that can't keep personal slur out of other threads behave civilly here simply shows that they ARE capable of doing it, if they give a toss.

And perhaps mentioning the fact MIGHT encourage them to look at the degree of beatitude they could inject into arranger related threads also If that's a compulsion, it's one with a good idea at its' heart.