V. fun gig last night.
Well, winding back a few hours before the gig, the day was already marvellous as I got to spend a whole day with Todd Johnson, a fantastic bassist, amazing teacher and a lovelylovely person. I got one bass lesson for the year just watching him playing some chord melody standards. Sometimes I think I’m beginning to get this stuff together, then I listen to Todd…
then the gig – it was in a restaurant, not in a back room but in the main restaurant. The lineup for our set was me, Steuart Leibig, Jeff Kaiser and Andrew Pask – two basses, sax and trumpet and a shitload of electronics. The music got so far out – improv is always MUCH harder to guage with that many players, and it did get overly dense at times, but there were some magical moments, and the relaxed format afforded me the opportunity to step away from the stage and listen to how it was all working. Some lovely noises. Some lovely friends turned up, and the band after were good too, though it was very odd listening to a pretty straight fusion trio after an hour of improv chaos. Much fun. :o)
So today is a relaxing day, currently in a lil’ indie coffeeshop in Long Beach. It’s nice to relax, but time off is time to think about how much I miss TSP and the FAFs. One the one hand I’m chillin’ on the beach, but on the other hand I’m missing out on the fun back home with TSP and the friends that are staying while I’m away… bad planning!