Upcoming gigs.

I have several gigs coming up with various artists.

Saturday June 20, Bianca Pittoors (7:30 - 10:30 PM) at Cafe Paradiso (199 Bank St., Ottawa).

Sunday June 21, Alicia Borisonik (3:30 - 6:30 PM) at the Shenkman Arts Centre (245 Centrum Blvd., Ottawa - Orleans).

Thursday June 25, Kim Kaskiw (Noon - 1 PM) at the Wolrd Exchange Plaza as part of the Ottawa Jazz Festival.

Tuesday June 30, Marc Nelson (8 - Midnight) at the Aylmer Legion.

Wednesday July 1, Johnny Vegas (10 PM - 1 AM) at Maxwells Bistro (340 Elgin Street).

Throughout the summer Thusdays (5 - 8 PM) and Sundays (11 AM - 2 PM) at Metropolitain Brasserie (700 Sussex Dr.) weather permitting.

The Full Monty

Well it is pit time again. This show looks to be fun. The music is good, the band is clicking and the singers seem solid.

For the unenlightened the plot revolves around a group of unemployed workers and their revealing idea on how to raise some cash.

Not in the pit.

I have been playing bass for a production of "Nunsense the Mega-Musical" put on by Orpheus at the Centrepointe Theatre here in Ottawa.

The music is light and fun to play and the band is good. We are; musical director Brother Patrick (Gabriel Leury), pianist Sister Mary Melody (Cheryl Jarvis Woods), synthesist Sister May Ruth (Ruth Kwan), drummer Brother Peter (Pierre Huneault), woodwindist (yeah it's a real word) Brother Michael (Mike Mullin) and me, bassist Brother Thomas.

The band is on stage for the enire perfomance. This means that we are in costume (Nuns habits for the women and Friars robes for the men) and there is a bit of interaction with the actors. As many stages as I have performed on in my career the jury is out on how I feel about being onstage during a theatrical production of this nature. There is a certain comfort level of the anonymity of the pit but, it is cool to see more of the action on stage.

Bonus points to Orpheus for the sense of community that is on display backstage and the bonza nosh that appears in the green room.

I will be playing for their upcoming production of "The Full Monty" (June 5 - 14 at Centrepointe). We shall once again be in the pit and our garb shall consist of a sock. Black, of course.

Onward

Now that 'practice month' has drawn to a close I go about my usual gig preparations.

I have a unique gig this Thursday (Feb. 19) at the Chelsea Pub (http://www.chelseapub.ca/).
I will be in a duo setting with drummer Mark Rehder (http://www.drumbent.com/) and we shall be performing 'New Standards' as well as my own tunes.

Usually we have a sax player but there's no cash for a third so Mark and I will be on the spot to keep things interesting for 3 sets. I will be playing the Baliset with full gear and doo-dads, as well as singing. Mark will have some electronics to compliment his drum kit as well, so we anticipate a fun evening.

For those who are curious as to what qualifies as a 'New Standard' it is entirely subjective. I have mentioned before that I mine fake books for tunes but, I also listen to a wide range of music. When I hear something that strikes me I transcribe it, modify it and put it in my personal gig book. This has led to having songs such as "Don't Let It Bring You Down" (Neil Young), "Ordinary Miracle" (Sarah McLaughlan) and "Local Hero" (Mark Knopfler) in my repertoire.

Practice Month. A bit further on.

Onward

While I have not posted on this subject for a while I am still at it.

One of my occasional pursuits is "tune farming". This activity consists of me going through fake books and trying out new (to me) material. This latest harvest has yielded a good crop. "Little B's Poem" - Bobby Hutcherson, "Loose Change" - Hal Galper, "Luny Tune" - Larry Young, "Paris Eyes" - Larry Young, "Triple Play" - Hal Galper and "When Love Is New" - Cedar Walton.

These tunes are now subject to a good going over using ideas gleaned from several books including "Forward Motion" - Hal Galper and "Almanac of Guitar Voice-Leading" - Mick Goodrick.

Other practice pursuits have been working on legato bowing out of the Simandl book for upright bass as well as plugging away at John Patitucci's "60 Melodic Etudes".

Practice Month Continued

Day two.

Situation controlled and focused...........

Today was fretless (no worries) day.

The focus today was on sight-reading using the first Bach Cello Suite, "Standing In the Shadows of Motown" transcriptions of James Jamerson basslines and "Bass Bible" by Paul Westwood.

As I play a six string bass a conscious effort was made to play across the strings, as opposed to the more linear approach that is a hold-over from the upright bass.

Practice Month

Well I have been somewhat lax in my posting but, I endeavour to improve.

So with that in mind I will unveil what I am working on this January (aka practice month).

Throughout the year I gather interesting looking method books and make notes of ideas from previous practice periods. Much of my time is spent preparing for gigs and maintaining my chops so new ideas are recorded for later study. As I balance my time between basses and Baliset I look to and develop ideas that have applications on either axe. Some of these ideas are for soloing others are more compositional in nature.

Today I focused on bowing on the upright bass. The three books I worked from were: "New Method For the Double Bass (F Simandl)", "60 Melodic Etudes (John Patitucci) and Cello Excerpts from Bach's Overture in D.

My goal is to improve my intonation which had been slipping as of late. The results will be revealled after much sweat has been poured forth.

More soon.........no really I mean it this time.