The Southeastern Touring Nexus (Part 2)
I got turned on to Jazz as an indirect result of doing a lot of running. During long runs, one has two choices. First, there's the option of escape, or, going to a different place and forgetting that you are running in the first place. Second, there's the option of existence, or, savoring just about every moment that your feet are hitting ground. I'm a fan of existence.
Wynton Marsalis was quoted in Ken Burns's Jazz as saying, "Jazz is existence music." By that he meant that when you listen to a Jazz recording, you are hearing a true negotiation among players, a democracy if you will. In the case of many great players, like say Charlie Parker, it is very possible that either directly before or after a solo that moved you, that player was passed out in the alley behind the club or recording studio.
In an effort to embrace the touring I've been doing over the past month, a heavy playlist of Jazz has been in rotation in my car. In fact, on my way to Charleston, SC, to play at Cumberlands on February 2, I listened to A Love Supreme, John Coltrane's avant garde masterpiece, on repeat. That, and Milestones by Miles Davis. I like a little hard bop every now and then.
When I got to Charleston, I headed straight for the Starbuck's on King Street. I like that one for some reason. I've passed many an hour in that place. I got some great press this week in Charleston from the city paper, too. It was nice to read that over a cup of coffee.
I got to Cumberland's at 6 p.m. I didn't need to be there until 9 p.m., but I was there. I took the time to do some writing in my journal. I needed three hours of uninterrupted time. Happy hour at Cumberland's was a little disruptive, but generally harmless.
The show was great. Stellar Door, a local acoustic trio, opened the show. They reminded me a lot of A Perfect Circle. They even did a Tool medley of "Crawl Away" and "Sober." Great job, guys! My set was solid. I enjoyed hearing my voice fly around that room.
Thank you to Luke Cunningham who let me stay at his brother's condo. Man, what a sweet pad!
The next day, I opted to head home to Greensboro. I could have stayed in Charleston for an extra day, but I saw a storm coming and didn't see a lot of benefit to staying there. I would just end up inside all day anyway and there were things to do at home. Just when I arrived home, it began to snow. My dog, Smitty, enjoyed romping in the snow immensely.
Jammin' Java in Columbia, SC is one of my favorite places to play. It's a restaurant and coffee shop. It's refreshing to not be a beer salesman for a night. By that I mean that most of the time, a touring musician's worth is based on a club's bar sales. This is unfortunate. And, not the case at Jammin' Java. Also, it's the only club I know of where you CAN'T play cover songs. How cool is that?
Brian Wiltsey opened this show. He was great! I enjoyed his falsetto; it's much better than mine. I was surprised at the number of people at the show. It was a Friday night and I imagine it's the only place in Columbia that kids under 21 can hang out with much success. Granted, a lot of the folks at the show were not there to see me. They did tip well, though. Thanks for covering my expenses.
I got a great write up in the Free Times, too. I was surprised that, for some in attendance, the only stuff people were familiar with was my free downloads. That made for a different set list, completely. Still, it was a very fun evening.
I managed to make it home at 4 a.m. I've resolved to limit my after show drives to 100 miles from now on. The 200 mile trek was just too dangerous to do at night for me. I was getting really, really tired. I had to stop every 20 miles to avoid falling asleep at the wheel and possibly dying. My death is going to happen someday, I know. I'll be damned if it's going to be because of a car crash, though.
Wynton Marsalis was quoted in Ken Burns's Jazz as saying, "Jazz is existence music." By that he meant that when you listen to a Jazz recording, you are hearing a true negotiation among players, a democracy if you will. In the case of many great players, like say Charlie Parker, it is very possible that either directly before or after a solo that moved you, that player was passed out in the alley behind the club or recording studio.
In an effort to embrace the touring I've been doing over the past month, a heavy playlist of Jazz has been in rotation in my car. In fact, on my way to Charleston, SC, to play at Cumberlands on February 2, I listened to A Love Supreme, John Coltrane's avant garde masterpiece, on repeat. That, and Milestones by Miles Davis. I like a little hard bop every now and then.
When I got to Charleston, I headed straight for the Starbuck's on King Street. I like that one for some reason. I've passed many an hour in that place. I got some great press this week in Charleston from the city paper, too. It was nice to read that over a cup of coffee.
I got to Cumberland's at 6 p.m. I didn't need to be there until 9 p.m., but I was there. I took the time to do some writing in my journal. I needed three hours of uninterrupted time. Happy hour at Cumberland's was a little disruptive, but generally harmless.
The show was great. Stellar Door, a local acoustic trio, opened the show. They reminded me a lot of A Perfect Circle. They even did a Tool medley of "Crawl Away" and "Sober." Great job, guys! My set was solid. I enjoyed hearing my voice fly around that room.
Thank you to Luke Cunningham who let me stay at his brother's condo. Man, what a sweet pad!
The next day, I opted to head home to Greensboro. I could have stayed in Charleston for an extra day, but I saw a storm coming and didn't see a lot of benefit to staying there. I would just end up inside all day anyway and there were things to do at home. Just when I arrived home, it began to snow. My dog, Smitty, enjoyed romping in the snow immensely.
Jammin' Java in Columbia, SC is one of my favorite places to play. It's a restaurant and coffee shop. It's refreshing to not be a beer salesman for a night. By that I mean that most of the time, a touring musician's worth is based on a club's bar sales. This is unfortunate. And, not the case at Jammin' Java. Also, it's the only club I know of where you CAN'T play cover songs. How cool is that?
Brian Wiltsey opened this show. He was great! I enjoyed his falsetto; it's much better than mine. I was surprised at the number of people at the show. It was a Friday night and I imagine it's the only place in Columbia that kids under 21 can hang out with much success. Granted, a lot of the folks at the show were not there to see me. They did tip well, though. Thanks for covering my expenses.
I got a great write up in the Free Times, too. I was surprised that, for some in attendance, the only stuff people were familiar with was my free downloads. That made for a different set list, completely. Still, it was a very fun evening.
I managed to make it home at 4 a.m. I've resolved to limit my after show drives to 100 miles from now on. The 200 mile trek was just too dangerous to do at night for me. I was getting really, really tired. I had to stop every 20 miles to avoid falling asleep at the wheel and possibly dying. My death is going to happen someday, I know. I'll be damned if it's going to be because of a car crash, though.
5 Comments:
Its all that Jazz!!! You need something to sing along to for late night treks... when i drove back from NC on New Years Eve i listened to every Meat Loaf album in its entirety, belting it all out (even to the drivers of the other cars in traffic at the toll booth). didnt get tired once.
Is the freetimes article online??
i'm sure you already have, but you should check out coltrane's stellar regions, and miles' bitches brew. i understand there are more jazz musicians out there, but there's a reason these two guys are so prominent. have you ever listened to much charlie hunter? he plays an 8 string novax guitar, crazy.
it's great that you support jazz on your site. if you watch some old yadbird footage, it's like he and dizzy and those guys were just having an extremely excited, and exhausting conversation. some of those runs are out of this world. i can follow a scale or two, maybe even do a short modest solo on guitar, but doing that? on those instruments?! no wonder they were all doped on smack. i just wish i had a chance to live back then a see that in person.
i'm sure you already have but you should check out coltrane's stellar regions, and davis' bitches brew. there are defintely other jazz musicians out there, but there's a reason these guys are so prominent.
have you heard much charlie hunter? he plays an 8-string novax guitar, crazy. it's great that you support jazz on your site.
if you watch some ole footage of yardbird, it's like him and dizzy and those guys are just having this extremely exhausting conversation. some of those runs are out of this world. i can play a scale or two, maybe even a short modest solo on guitar. but those runs? on those instruments?!
it takes a while for comments to show up, but i didn't realize that until after i resent my message, sorry, i was so excited about all that jazz! : )
Thank you for playing Jammin Java again.. oh, and playing my requests. I can get greedy sometimes. :o)
Oh, and did I hear correctly about something on going in the middle of April in Columbia? Exciting.
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