“When I filmed the “Johnny B. Goode” scene, I was lucky enough to have a great teacher who taught me how to play the guitar. I told Bob (Zemeckis, the director), “When I do this scene, I’ll actually play the guitar so you can sync the visuals with the finger movements. Feel free to cut to the hands whenever you want.” Having said that, I immediately felt the pressure to make it incredibly good. So, I turned to Paul Hanson, my guitar teacher.
I worked on that piece for about a month, and in the meantime, I worked with a coach who was Madonna’s choreographer. I told him, “I dance like a duck. I can’t dance. But what I’d like to do is bring together all the traits, mannerisms, and quirks of my favorite guitarists — Pete Townshend’s windmill, Jimi Hendrix’s guitar behind the back, and Chuck Berry’s duck walk.” We worked on all of that and put it together. Those are the moments when you can’t think, “I’m tired” or “I feel the pressure to get it right.” You just do it and have fun!”
Sittin’ here in my home office, listening to holiday music and sippin’ a nice cuppa joe. It’s a brisk 39 degrees here in the Pacific Northwest and, of course, overcast. Most of my music ensembles groups are on holiday hiatus, giving us more time to spend with family and friends. I haven’t done a New Year gig in years, and that’s on purpose. For me, performing is more about the fraternity, and less about making money. I am fortunate enough to be able to make that work.
So much happening out there in the big, bad world. I am trying to watch less news and instead plan for the new year of making music. I’ll be 70 next year, how the heck did that happen? Be strong, be safe, be well.
Last concert of the year for the Lynnwood Community band. Truth be known, I am in that fine organization because my wife wanted to find a community band closer to our house and one that didn’t practice past 8:30 at night. She plays clarinet.
I play tenor sax in this band because they have way too many alto and bari sax players. I also sub in the jazz band when they are down a player. And, the band directors (concert and jazz) often accept my chart recommendations. I miss all the alto sax solos I used to get the Woodinville Community Band, but there you have it.
As is my custom, I put my bands and ensembles on hiatus for the end-of-year holiday season. I do this because none of my bands make any serious money, they are labors of love and so that I and my musician friends can spend more time with family and friends. The StageOne group is the most popular of the four groups I perform in.
I hope to see family and friends in attendance. So far three family members will be there from my admittedly small circle of peeps. If you attend, please make sure I get to talk with you at the break!
Kudos to the band leader Gary for this marvelous poster.
Our first gig of the year was a dance that was cancelled last year due to covid. So many dancers, so much joy. It’s good to be back. We featured our jazz clarinetist, Lauren and she never fails to impress… especially when she hit that high B!
I really enjoyed this year of music. So many good songs, so many great musicians, I often wonder how long I can ride this train.
Of the four ensembles I run or participate in, the big band is my favorite, even if we don’t get paid for the performance.
We try to play lyrical, interesting, and unique arrangements of music. But there are also songs that we play because our followers demand it. We have one more concert in October and then we go on hiatus until next year.
We started growing things using raised gardens a couple of years ago and oh my goodness is that good on our bones. First we had two, and now we have six! I put my first one in this year. I’ve planted Cabbage and Zucchini next to the Rhubards.
Suzy put in some tomatoes on the sunny side of the apple trees.
And of course my birdhouses are looking good this year too:
We have two bridges over the water retention stream that the county put in.
Oh, and this birdhouse has residents in it this year.
Abby loves to take us walking, insists upon it actually. I suspect she wants to keep us active and happy, This collie is such a joy, never met a kid she didn’t instinctively love. We walk her 4 to 6 times a day and 3 or 4 times a week take her to the big open field down the street from us to run.
Sometimes we babysit Mitzy from down the street and the two are bestest of friends. Abby also sleeps with us at night, keeping us company at all times. What a sweet affirmation of life.
After a 25 year break in music performance, I returned to my roots. I purchased an alto saxophone, joined a band, and started taking lessons. First thing I noticed is that I was a horrible sight reader, something that is a requirement for musicians who get paid. All those years in school bands, and I never had lessons, never learned to sight read. Hey, I did save my paper route money for summer band camp. And now, I have had my own big band for the last 20 some years. So let’s talk about that.
When I was in high school, I thought I might tilt my lance at music education in college. My band teacher picked me to lead the varsity band sax section because I was new to the school and as a senior, I still would have been low man on the totem pole in the top band. So they asked me if I wanted to teach the freshmen and sophomore players to play. I jumped at the chance. Bonus, I had three solos in the last concert, including an alto-sax solo feature song called Mr. Lucky by Mancini.
One day my dad pulled me to the side and asked me some hard questions. I mean, he wasn’t pushy or demanding but he asked me, “What if your hobby became your job that you had to do every day? Would you still love music?” And then he said you can always do music as a hobby. For example, see that guy across the street from our home? He hates his job, it’s in something called computers (no idea what that was at the time.) But they pay him so much money that he only work six months a year and spends the rest of the time golfing. That conversation was key to me not going into music as a profession, assuming I could have succeeded in getting a degree with my shortcomings.
I stopped playing sax as I entered the job market and raised a family. I even traded my Buescher Aristocrat alto sax in on a new sax for my son. Spring ahead 30 years and I had a hankering to play again. So I purchased a Couf Superba I alto sax that in high school was my dream instrument to own. I searched the Internet for community bands and selected one that was close, performed a lot, and had a jazz band. Then I discovered my weakness, sight reading.
So I started taking lessons, usually an hour or so a week where the first half hour would be sight reading exercises and duets with the instructors. I had so many fine instructors who to a man gave me confidence in my playing abilities. So yeah, I’d never be a world class soloist, but I could have some solos and be a decent sax section leader. I took lessons for about ten years, sometimes with three instructors a week.
I started getting gigs and quickly became discouraged with the same old music in so many big bands. So I started building my library, which now has around 5000 charts. Then I created my own group at work. The Microsoft Jumpin’ Jive Orchestra (now called the Seattle Solid GOLD Big Band. I had a basement in my house I turned into a music studio with drums, bass, and piano available for musicians who sat in. I was so fortunate to live in the Seattle area because there were sooo many really good musicians to pick from. I also had a professor who gave lessons every week to my friends in my music studio.
I am now in three music ensembles; big band, rock band, community band, and sax quartet. I run two of those. Retired, I have time to spend on getting gigs, and I get to play soprano, alto, tenor, bari, and bass sax on a regular basis. I did challenge my clarinet-playing wife (yes, I met her in high school, but that is another story) to learn to play sax. I told her I’d learn to play clarinet if she learned to play sax. Within a month she was sitting in on sax in a number of groups, including some theater pit gigs. I, on the other hand, am still pitiful on clarinet although I have been known to play bass clarinet for a song or two in my big band.
I often tell parents and kids to consider this. Pick a hobby that you can enjoy your whole life. And guess what, it’s not going to be football, etc. Golf, music, tennis, etc can be done well into your retirement. If you get good experience as a child, you will learn what you need to know to succeed. If you try to learn when you are a senior, you may never get the fluency you desire.
At our last dance performance my wife Suzy put down her tenor sax, picked up a clarinet, and joined Lauren on the stage for this lovely duet. So many happy dancers, such a nice arrangement. I heard another band doing it and noticed it was a unique arrangement. So I pinged the director of that band and we did a trade. It isn’t often that you get arrangements that are not available to the public. Enjoy.
The Bis Key Chronicles 