Happy Birthday to ![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dlscanlon!
Aug. 5th, 2007 09:45 amMany happy returns of the day!
Aug. 5th, 2007
Happy Birthday to
Aug. 5th, 2007 09:45 amFesting Frenzy!
Aug. 5th, 2007 09:47 amQuick update, as I intend to come up with an in-depth review (wow, those two things usually aren't found together here! =) some time in the coming week (to six months... if the record stands!)
Ogans - they caught our attention early on and we watched a couple of soundcheck songs. Swung by later on to catch most of their first set, but, due to me misremembering what time PFA came on, we missed out on their second set.
Cast In Bronze caught one of his sets after Ogans soundcheck, and one tune - the Carol of the Bells - out of another set after the Ogans performance.
Philadelphia Funk Authority. Excellent. Sat off of stage right so Justin could clearly see the horn section (most of the time; passing traffic or pausing traffic in the aisle between us and the stage caused some difficulty). The guy sitting next to us was there to watch the keyboard player - he plays keys & trumpet in a Blues Brothers tribute band. Go see PFA if you can, or, alternately, pay them to come play for you!
Although the gathering yesterday wasn't music-centric in the original intentions, it certainly became so after we ate. Inside and throughout the day, the music of PFA, the Blues Brothers, the Muppets from Space soundtrack (i.e. James Brown, George Clinton, and so on), and Martha Redbone played. After the meal was done, though, it was quickly decided that some music would now happen. I borrowed Deb's bass, Justin grabbed his trumpet, and Chris had his alto sax and we debated upon the merits of performing indoors in air conditioning or out on the front porch in the heat.
After a little bit of prep time, we set out to actually Play Something, and it was Good. Funk University (that's Funk U, for short) was thus formed. We're going to get a singing group to work with us, and we'll name them And The Horse You Rode In On. =)
Okay, so it's just a working name right now, but the possibility of us playing out at little jazz gigs here and there under some more sensible, but less entertaining, alias does exist. We've got a whole 30 seconds of original music written!
Rachel joined us on the clarinet - and, for 3 weeks of training followed by 2 weeks of vacation, she kept up with the seasoned pros. Ummm, that would be us. Rachel and Chris still need nicknames. I'm Lefty, on account of being right-handed, playing a right-handed bass that is strung lefty. Justin is Valdez, on account of a sticking valve that used more oil than spilled into Prince William Sound.
Anyway, we've got a nice slinky bass line that I mostly play over and over so the horns can get their timing down, but it opens itself up to a lot of variations which I'll toss in as we go. We've got four and a half sets of horn parts that run back and forth over the bass line. The tune is written out as it stands so far, so we'll work on ideas and get together in part over the next few weeks, and then in full as soon as Justin gets back from vacation.
We need a percussionist.
Ogans - they caught our attention early on and we watched a couple of soundcheck songs. Swung by later on to catch most of their first set, but, due to me misremembering what time PFA came on, we missed out on their second set.
Cast In Bronze caught one of his sets after Ogans soundcheck, and one tune - the Carol of the Bells - out of another set after the Ogans performance.
Philadelphia Funk Authority. Excellent. Sat off of stage right so Justin could clearly see the horn section (most of the time; passing traffic or pausing traffic in the aisle between us and the stage caused some difficulty). The guy sitting next to us was there to watch the keyboard player - he plays keys & trumpet in a Blues Brothers tribute band. Go see PFA if you can, or, alternately, pay them to come play for you!
Although the gathering yesterday wasn't music-centric in the original intentions, it certainly became so after we ate. Inside and throughout the day, the music of PFA, the Blues Brothers, the Muppets from Space soundtrack (i.e. James Brown, George Clinton, and so on), and Martha Redbone played. After the meal was done, though, it was quickly decided that some music would now happen. I borrowed Deb's bass, Justin grabbed his trumpet, and Chris had his alto sax and we debated upon the merits of performing indoors in air conditioning or out on the front porch in the heat.
After a little bit of prep time, we set out to actually Play Something, and it was Good. Funk University (that's Funk U, for short) was thus formed. We're going to get a singing group to work with us, and we'll name them And The Horse You Rode In On. =)
Okay, so it's just a working name right now, but the possibility of us playing out at little jazz gigs here and there under some more sensible, but less entertaining, alias does exist. We've got a whole 30 seconds of original music written!
Rachel joined us on the clarinet - and, for 3 weeks of training followed by 2 weeks of vacation, she kept up with the seasoned pros. Ummm, that would be us. Rachel and Chris still need nicknames. I'm Lefty, on account of being right-handed, playing a right-handed bass that is strung lefty. Justin is Valdez, on account of a sticking valve that used more oil than spilled into Prince William Sound.
Anyway, we've got a nice slinky bass line that I mostly play over and over so the horns can get their timing down, but it opens itself up to a lot of variations which I'll toss in as we go. We've got four and a half sets of horn parts that run back and forth over the bass line. The tune is written out as it stands so far, so we'll work on ideas and get together in part over the next few weeks, and then in full as soon as Justin gets back from vacation.
We need a percussionist.
PercussionFest!
Aug. 5th, 2007 07:41 pmSo I ended that last post with a statement that we needed a percussionist, with no further information.
Well, today, we went down to MusikFest (we being:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
patrixa, Justin, Rachel, and me). After a lunch at Bowmanstown Diner (the only diner in the world that won't serve omelets or home fries at 11:30am on a Sunday, but is otherwise my favorite diner), we parked and began to wander around the fest.
None of the acts really hit me - they were mostly bluegrass, country that sounded kind of like bluegrass, and celtic that sounded almost like bluegrass. Even the trombone quartet - which was mostly playing classical - did a ragtime swing piece that probably would have sounded natural with a banjo playing along.
Rachel picked up an ocarina, flute, and a percussion shaker (for Mr. B) from the Native North/South American folks.patrixa also picked up an album of the flute music being played at the moment. They bought Deb a bead bracelet as well.
Met up withnoone234 at the Volksplatz and after a bit we headed over to the drums at Spirit in the Wood. They had some dununbas that sounded great, and a beautiful conga (the picture at the link is nowhere as near as nice looking as the one they had there - the hardware looked like cast iron, and it the wood itself had a beautiful, but simple appearance). We picked up a kalimba, a carved, hollowed out frog with a sawtooth pattern that makes a frog-like sound when the stick is slid over it, and a djembe.
We stopped at another tent with drums - one was in the process of being carved. They were from Ghana, and the kpanlogos they had were exquisite - very intricate carvings, and, to top it off, a beautiful sound (this link goes to a vendor who imports them; I will correct if I can swing by during the week and find out if these guys have a site of their own - I'd much rather show off their art, although the linked one looks pretty good too! =)patrixa bought a unity sculpture from them; the man had carved the three intertwined figures out of a single piece of wood. You can see the approximate shape of the original piece when you slide them together, however the sculpture is best viewed folded open, as if the three figures were twirling in a dance.
We wandered some more, were nearly lulled to sleep by one of the celtic band's tunes, and headed back to the Main Street stage to hear the trombone quartet. On the way back, I noticed a few guys sitting out playing drums behind the stage; one guy had a kpanlogo, the other a conga (think he works next door to me; I recognized but couldn't place him at the time), and the third - well, I didn't see his drum. After the trombone quintet finished up, we headed back down to the drummers, and between one of the drummer's daughters (either the kpanlogo guy or the third guy) andpatrixa, I was volunteered to jam with the three, plus an 18 year old playing electric blues guitar.
We played a couple of tunes - having owned the drum for a total of a couple of hours, I wasn't overly confident at first, nor, to be honest, at the end. I did, however, have fun.
Now, it's all well and good that we now have a bunch of percussion instruments to use while we play, or during recording. Of course, that doesn't change the fact that we need some one to play congas and/or a drum kit to play along with us when we're doing trumpet, sax, clarinet, and bass. So, yeah.
We need a percussionist.
Well, today, we went down to MusikFest (we being:
patrixa, Justin, Rachel, and me). After a lunch at Bowmanstown Diner (the only diner in the world that won't serve omelets or home fries at 11:30am on a Sunday, but is otherwise my favorite diner), we parked and began to wander around the fest. None of the acts really hit me - they were mostly bluegrass, country that sounded kind of like bluegrass, and celtic that sounded almost like bluegrass. Even the trombone quartet - which was mostly playing classical - did a ragtime swing piece that probably would have sounded natural with a banjo playing along.
Rachel picked up an ocarina, flute, and a percussion shaker (for Mr. B) from the Native North/South American folks.
patrixa also picked up an album of the flute music being played at the moment. They bought Deb a bead bracelet as well.Met up with
noone234 at the Volksplatz and after a bit we headed over to the drums at Spirit in the Wood. They had some dununbas that sounded great, and a beautiful conga (the picture at the link is nowhere as near as nice looking as the one they had there - the hardware looked like cast iron, and it the wood itself had a beautiful, but simple appearance). We picked up a kalimba, a carved, hollowed out frog with a sawtooth pattern that makes a frog-like sound when the stick is slid over it, and a djembe.We stopped at another tent with drums - one was in the process of being carved. They were from Ghana, and the kpanlogos they had were exquisite - very intricate carvings, and, to top it off, a beautiful sound (this link goes to a vendor who imports them; I will correct if I can swing by during the week and find out if these guys have a site of their own - I'd much rather show off their art, although the linked one looks pretty good too! =)
patrixa bought a unity sculpture from them; the man had carved the three intertwined figures out of a single piece of wood. You can see the approximate shape of the original piece when you slide them together, however the sculpture is best viewed folded open, as if the three figures were twirling in a dance. We wandered some more, were nearly lulled to sleep by one of the celtic band's tunes, and headed back to the Main Street stage to hear the trombone quartet. On the way back, I noticed a few guys sitting out playing drums behind the stage; one guy had a kpanlogo, the other a conga (think he works next door to me; I recognized but couldn't place him at the time), and the third - well, I didn't see his drum. After the trombone quintet finished up, we headed back down to the drummers, and between one of the drummer's daughters (either the kpanlogo guy or the third guy) and
patrixa, I was volunteered to jam with the three, plus an 18 year old playing electric blues guitar.We played a couple of tunes - having owned the drum for a total of a couple of hours, I wasn't overly confident at first, nor, to be honest, at the end. I did, however, have fun.
Now, it's all well and good that we now have a bunch of percussion instruments to use while we play, or during recording. Of course, that doesn't change the fact that we need some one to play congas and/or a drum kit to play along with us when we're doing trumpet, sax, clarinet, and bass. So, yeah.
We need a percussionist.