JohnT Posted March 12, 2005 Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 Sounds like your on your way. To be told that "you swing" is a great compliment!!! In the Big Band I play with down here in Florida there are a couple of 80 and 90 year old players that still "swing" -- they're a real inspiration to me!!! I hope I'm still doing it at their age!! Several of them played with the many well known Big Bands of the 40's. The arranger of the Big Band I play with, for example, played with and arranged for Charlie Spivaks Big Band -- a well known Band of the 40's. Every time I play with these guys I learn something!!!!! I've been listening to a lot of Mingus and Gene Wright lately myself. Have you picked up a copy of the new Percy Heath CD -- it's great!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz Kat Posted March 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 Really?? Haven't heard. A solo cd? That must be his first ever album udner his own name. There was an article about him in the paper once. He lives over here on Long Island. Yeah some 80 year olds still swing, but some just grow deaf. I'm so sorry for saying this, but my friend, played with these really old cats and he recorded it, I think it was night train. I was like it must be the tape, it sounds like its not in tune, and he replied "its not!" laughing. But I love those old-timers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted March 12, 2005 Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 Yeah -- Percy Heath's first solo CD after all these years!! Hope he does another one soon although I must tell you he does play some jazz "cello" on the new CD accompanied by Peter Washington on bass (whom I consider to be the new "Paul Chambers" -- he seems to be on everybody's recordings like Paul was during the 50s and 60s!!!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz Kat Posted March 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2005 yeah seems he was the only bassist, at the time! He must be the bassist on at least 85 % of the cds i own. Yeah I know Percy plays cello alot, the picture on the front page of the newspaper had him in his kitchen with a cello. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upright Bill Posted April 6, 2005 Report Share Posted April 6, 2005 Me: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron S Posted April 6, 2005 Report Share Posted April 6, 2005 Me: Cool! Looks like you're playing a solo gig. B-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upright Bill Posted April 6, 2005 Report Share Posted April 6, 2005 Not quite solo, that's Uncle Skid on the far right playing guitar! Guitarist extraordinaire Rick Hicks in the middle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted April 6, 2005 Report Share Posted April 6, 2005 I just played with Rick this past weekend in Lansing. He was filling in the guitar chair in my r&b band, Root Doctor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe G Posted April 6, 2005 Report Share Posted April 6, 2005 At least they let you turn off the big screen tv. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upright Bill Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 At least they let you turn off the big screen tv. No they didn't, I blacked it out in Photoshop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz Kat Posted April 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 I dig my new avatar. Bass, bassists rule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 I really like your Avatar Jazz Kat. Have you picked up the Paul Chambers Mosaic Select which has all of P.C.'s Blue Note Material -- essential listening for all bass players!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 Upright Bill Great pictures!! That's a really nice looking bass your playing -- reminds me of the German Bass I have. I also have "Mutt" bass -- an Englehart that I bought when I was in High school around 1971 (not too many years after Kay basses sold out to Englehardt). It's had extensive re-working (new fingerboard, etc.) done by Dan Seboldt -- a luthier up in Big Rapids, MI when I lived up there. The Englehardt has become my main bass - really great sound and action!! Are you using a Fishman pick-up? What kind of amplification are you using? I use an Underwood with an acoustic image amp -- really love my acoustic image amp for small group stuff but it's not loud enough for the Big Band I play with unless I run it through the P.A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 At least they let you turn off the big screen tv. No they didn't, I blacked it out in Photoshop! I don't know whether to laugh or cry. What is it with bars, and nowadays even restaurants, with TVs on constantly? I was playing at The Green Door with my r&b band this weekend and while I was setting up, one of the TVs had some plastic surgery show on where they were actually showing the surgery (it was a tummy tuck) and then showed the big pieces of fat they took out. Totally disgusting. Do we really need to watch that at the bar? I walked over and turned off the TV. Within five minutes, the waitress had turned it back on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest akanalog Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 i am in a band with two guitarists and no bass. this lets me do a lot of the basswork on my keyboard. i have a crappy microkorg, but it can almost emulate the nice thick sound of the minimoog for some jan hammer-esque basslines. the two guitarists use extra thick strings to add to the bassiness of their sounds, but i get to hold it down. playing basslines is fun. i imagine playing them on an actual bass would be just as fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 Two weeks ago I was playing a jazz gig at a local restaurant and a family with 3 little kids came in and sat right in front of the band. The kids had one of those portable DVD players which the parents used as a babysitter while they ate. The kids had the sound on the DVD player so loud we couldn't even hear ourselves play. When we made some comments about it the parents completely ignored us!! Well, I guess I got to see AND HEAR some disney classic movies while I played but sometimes people can be so rude!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 As opposed to my above comments, about a month ago a family on "holiday" from Switzerland came in and sat in front of the band. They had 5 kids aging in range from 4 yrs to 12yrs. The kids sat and listened very intently to everthing we played -- they even knew many of the jazz tunes we did -- and clapped for solos and were incredibly well mannered and well behaved. Now I know why many jazz players moved to Europe!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upright Bill Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 Upright Bill Great pictures!! That's a really nice looking bass your playing -- reminds me of the German Bass I have. I also have "Mutt" bass -- an Englehart that I bought when I was in High school around 1971 (not too many years after Kay basses sold out to Englehardt). It's had extensive re-working (new fingerboard, etc.) done by Dan Seboldt -- a luthier up in Big Rapids, MI when I lived up there. The Englehardt has become my main bass - really great sound and action!! Are you using a Fishman pick-up? What kind of amplification are you using? I use an Underwood with an acoustic image amp -- really love my acoustic image amp for small group stuff but it's not loud enough for the Big Band I play with unless I run it through the P.A. The bass is from Steven Reiley in Grand Rapids, MI. Its a Christopher that Steven modifies. The top is regradulated and the ribs are thinned. I like it very much. I'm using a Fishman Full Circle pickup to an AI Coda. I also have an Eminence, which travels well and sounds pretty good amplified. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upright Bill Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 At least they let you turn off the big screen tv. No they didn't, I blacked it out in Photoshop! I don't know whether to laugh or cry. What is it with bars, and nowadays even restaurants, with TVs on constantly? I was playing at The Green Door with my r&b band this weekend and while I was setting up, one of the TVs had some plastic surgery show on where they were actually showing the surgery (it was a tummy tuck) and then showed the big pieces of fat they took out. Totally disgusting. Do we really need to watch that at the bar? I walked over and turned off the TV. Within five minutes, the waitress had turned it back on. Oh yeah! Rhythm, Blues and tummy fat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upright Bill Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 i am in a band with two guitarists and no bass. this lets me do a lot of the basswork on my keyboard. i have a crappy microkorg, but it can almost emulate the nice thick sound of the minimoog for some jan hammer-esque basslines. the two guitarists use extra thick strings to add to the bassiness of their sounds, but i get to hold it down. playing basslines is fun. i imagine playing them on an actual bass would be just as fun. Playing walking bass lines on a Double Bass my favorite thing to do standing up! Playing chord melodies on my bass guitar is awesome when there are people listening that appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnT Posted April 7, 2005 Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 Bill, I thought it looked like a Fishman pick-up from the picture. I've heard a lot of good things about the Fishman Full Circle -- I've never heard how it sounds -- how does it compare to other pick-ups you might have used? I've tried a couple of others but I keep going back to the underwood. I should look into the Full Circle. I should have mentioned that I have an AI Contra Combo amp. I also have a polytone amp, a vintage Ampeg B15 and a Fender Bassman (from 1972 with 2 15s in it). I gave the Fender Amp to my son who plays bass in a punk rock/ska band -- that thing really sounds great for him (too big and heavy for me)!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz Kat Posted April 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2005 At least they let you turn off the big screen tv. No they didn't, I blacked it out in Photoshop! I don't know whether to laugh or cry. What is it with bars, and nowadays even restaurants, with TVs on constantly? I was playing at The Green Door with my r&b band this weekend and while I was setting up, one of the TVs had some plastic surgery show on where they were actually showing the surgery (it was a tummy tuck) and then showed the big pieces of fat they took out. Totally disgusting. Do we really need to watch that at the bar? I walked over and turned off the TV. Within five minutes, the waitress had turned it back on. Reminds me of when I was doing a gig recently. It was the night of the World Series, the last game where Boston won. It was on the tv at this club. They didn't let us do a gig because nobody noticed us. Till this day I still don't know why. Hmm, maybe I need a new bass player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upright Bill Posted April 8, 2005 Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 Bill, I thought it looked like a Fishman pick-up from the picture. I've heard a lot of good things about the Fishman Full Circle -- I've never heard how it sounds -- how does it compare to other pick-ups you might have used? I've tried a couple of others but I keep going back to the underwood. I should look into the Full Circle. I should have mentioned that I have an AI Contra Combo amp. I also have a polytone amp, a vintage Ampeg B15 and a Fender Bassman (from 1972 with 2 15s in it). I gave the Fender Amp to my son who plays bass in a punk rock/ska band -- that thing really sounds great for him (too big and heavy for me)!!! I really like the Full Circle, after I finished adjustint it. You can change the tone by rotating it. Now that I have it set, through my AI it sounds like my bass. I was using a Bass Max, a piezo in the bridge and microphone pointed at an f-hole. I liked that alot but really suffered from feedback. I have the Contra, an Eden Metro, a Nemesis, and a little Peavey Microbass. For instruments I have the Reiley and an Eminence for Uprights, a Marcus Miller Jazz bass, one of Gary Willis' own Willis Ibanez, a Keith Roscoe six string bass, a hand-made (by me) copy of a 1972 fender jazz bass, and at least a dozen guitars. The Roscoe is sweet! The picture doesn't do it justice. Here's the Eminence: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upright Bill Posted April 8, 2005 Report Share Posted April 8, 2005 At least they let you turn off the big screen tv. No they didn't, I blacked it out in Photoshop! I don't know whether to laugh or cry. What is it with bars, and nowadays even restaurants, with TVs on constantly? I was playing at The Green Door with my r&b band this weekend and while I was setting up, one of the TVs had some plastic surgery show on where they were actually showing the surgery (it was a tummy tuck) and then showed the big pieces of fat they took out. Totally disgusting. Do we really need to watch that at the bar? I walked over and turned off the TV. Within five minutes, the waitress had turned it back on. Reminds me of when I was doing a gig recently. It was the night of the World Series, the last game where Boston won. It was on the tv at this club. They didn't let us do a gig because nobody noticed us. Till this day I still don't know why. Hmm, maybe I need a new bass player. I'm available! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregN Posted April 11, 2005 Report Share Posted April 11, 2005 A few years back I am doing a blues gig, as front man, at a sports bar outside of Detroit. I've got the bass player from Rare Earth with me, and a sax player (an Motown session player from way back) out to hear me. There is talk of some other recording project, etc., so I am fired up. At one point during the night I bust into what I believe to be a fairly smokin' solo, not thinking a bit, feeling every bit of it, getting right to the climax of the solo, and bam! the room erupts with applause!!!!!!! An otherwise quiet and indifferent setting becomes my dream gig. I am at one with the Universe. All my hard work was finally paying off... oh.. wait... the 18 million freakin' screens in the joint are also echoing some applause... yeah, o.k... the Detroit Red Wings just scored a goal. I HATE sports bars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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