Evening Muse

It's been a while since I've played a show. With all the time that has been eaten up by the live CD/DVD and with The Gossman Passion, I'm surprised that I even found time to book this show, let alone play it. On Friday, February 10th, I played the 8 pm slot at the Evening Muse in Charlotte, NC.

This show was particularly good for a number of reasons. I haven't played out in about a month, if you don't count the jazz open mics I play on Wednesdays at Speakeasy Jazz in Winston-Salem, NC. I felt refreshed for this show. I didn't even practice. The songs weren't stale at all.

Secondly, and arguably more apparently, I've been approaching music a little differently lately. I've developed an obsession for Miles Davis' records. I particularly have been enjoying the unlistenable electric stuff like On the Corner and The Tribute to Jack Johnson (the fighter not the singer). In spite of the dissonance, on thing that resonates clearly on these experimental recordings is vibrant energy. The performances on these records are living, breathing things.

With this set in particular, I tried to approach my songs (many of which I've been playing for over ten years) with this purpose: How do I make these things live and breathe? In some of the live versions of Miles' stuff, he would speed up the songs so they almost seemed completely different. At other times, he would back off and play less. That's the kind of thing I tried to apply to my solo show. I found the melodies and inflections shifting all over the place. I think that made the experience enjoyable for both me and the room full of listeners.

Now, let me be clear about something. I understand that Miles Davis had more talent in his pinky finger (the one that didn't touch the trumpet valves) than I will ever have. I'm not trying to equate anything that I'm doing to the ground breaking (and often breath taking) music that he made. All I'm doing is applying a lesson to what I do. He's inspired me, that's all.

I played two sets. Each one was about 50 minutes long. That seemed about right. The first set was semi-scripted, but I never really follow the set lists I make. I don't remember what I played. The second set was almost an all-request set. There were a few songs I couldn't remember when people requested them.

I had a hard time getting out of Charlotte. I got stuck behind two long trains. I had to go all the way downtown to catch the beltway to get back to 85N. There was a strange coincidence with this, as I was listening to the new Train record. Please note that this is NOT irony. There's nothing ironic about listening to Train and being stuck at a train crossing. I think we should all strive to use this word correctly. That Alanis song was a harsh blow to champions of correct diction. I guess we can begin the healing by making small steps. In order for something to be ironic, the result of an action has to be the opposite of what was intended. Irony has nothing to do with coincidence.

I really like the new Train record. I think fans of the band will love it. "Cab" and that Sugar cover are my favorite two songs on the album.

I'll be on hiatus from shows/touring until April. See you then. Until then, check out www.gossmanpassion.com for information on a new record I've produced which should be available sometime in March.