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ellyssianI suppose "Plays Again" might be more accurate. Then again, three out four of the band did go for a ride in the truck...
We played Hard Rock Blues (encore) a quarter million times. At first we played unison, or as unison as a C, Bb, and Eb instrument can get1. Then I went and came up with a Variation to the bass part, taking advantage of the fretless nature of the, erm, fretless bass, and playing the first two beats with them, then sliding a chord along as the wind instruments did their thing. And while Squeaky2 played the tune while everyone else was not playing it, I started channelling Billy Sheehan's opening line from Stand Up (less synthified, of course). Turns out it worked.
So I played that bit, or a similar variation thereof, while the band played the tune. And then, it was time to turn the tune around. Because we couldn't really decide on anything decent to do with it except play it - as is, in other octaves, or otherwise transposed - we called out solos. The arrangement thus became: everyone - Squeaky - everyone - Valdez3 - everyone - Flubber4 - everyone while Lefty5 churned along on the same two notes and the same rhythm6. I had the two non-soloing wind players call out the name of the soloist just before they started, which made it more fun, especially the time Flubber flubbed Squeaky's intro and called her Squeaker.
We also worked a bit on The Signature Tune, which mostly included trying to remember all that which was forgotten7 since last we played. We also intro'd Squeaky on the bass8 for The Kraken. We didn't bring Flubber's bass up, so he sat out on that little bit. Squeaky'd only played bass for maybe two entire hours, so it was best to focus on getting her up to speed. A little practice on her own, and we should be able to pull off the tune9.
As a reminder, on a wholly related note10, don't forget to pencil in Musical Day, Saturday May 31st, on your calendars - bring an (acoustic) instrument and come and play with the Lefty Valdez Band!
~ ~ ~
1: i.e. same note, different names.
2: That'd be Rachel, on clarinet, for those who haven't been reading along since the dawn of Lefty Valdez Time, way back long, long ago, mid last year.
3:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
aequitaslevitas, trumpet, keys, natural horn, bass
4:noone234, alto sax, bass
5: That'd be me, fretless bass, guitar, flute (not so much), and punji (even less)
6: Hey, after centuries of lead guitar and being the only - or maybe, at best, one of two - soloist, I think my ego can cope with skipping out on a solo for one tune.
7: To various levels of success.
8: She plays a short scale bass with the E tuned down to D.
9: Arranged for grand piano, organ, electric guitar, and two bass guitars - got to get down low for all the cephalopodic goodness there.
10: Pun quite intentional, thank you very much.
We played Hard Rock Blues (encore) a quarter million times. At first we played unison, or as unison as a C, Bb, and Eb instrument can get1. Then I went and came up with a Variation to the bass part, taking advantage of the fretless nature of the, erm, fretless bass, and playing the first two beats with them, then sliding a chord along as the wind instruments did their thing. And while Squeaky2 played the tune while everyone else was not playing it, I started channelling Billy Sheehan's opening line from Stand Up (less synthified, of course). Turns out it worked.
So I played that bit, or a similar variation thereof, while the band played the tune. And then, it was time to turn the tune around. Because we couldn't really decide on anything decent to do with it except play it - as is, in other octaves, or otherwise transposed - we called out solos. The arrangement thus became: everyone - Squeaky - everyone - Valdez3 - everyone - Flubber4 - everyone while Lefty5 churned along on the same two notes and the same rhythm6. I had the two non-soloing wind players call out the name of the soloist just before they started, which made it more fun, especially the time Flubber flubbed Squeaky's intro and called her Squeaker.
We also worked a bit on The Signature Tune, which mostly included trying to remember all that which was forgotten7 since last we played. We also intro'd Squeaky on the bass8 for The Kraken. We didn't bring Flubber's bass up, so he sat out on that little bit. Squeaky'd only played bass for maybe two entire hours, so it was best to focus on getting her up to speed. A little practice on her own, and we should be able to pull off the tune9.
As a reminder, on a wholly related note10, don't forget to pencil in Musical Day, Saturday May 31st, on your calendars - bring an (acoustic) instrument and come and play with the Lefty Valdez Band!
~ ~ ~
1: i.e. same note, different names.
2: That'd be Rachel, on clarinet, for those who haven't been reading along since the dawn of Lefty Valdez Time, way back long, long ago, mid last year.
3:
aequitaslevitas, trumpet, keys, natural horn, bass4:
noone234, alto sax, bass5: That'd be me, fretless bass, guitar, flute (not so much), and punji (even less)
6: Hey, after centuries of lead guitar and being the only - or maybe, at best, one of two - soloist, I think my ego can cope with skipping out on a solo for one tune.
7: To various levels of success.
8: She plays a short scale bass with the E tuned down to D.
9: Arranged for grand piano, organ, electric guitar, and two bass guitars - got to get down low for all the cephalopodic goodness there.
10: Pun quite intentional, thank you very much.
