Concert time!!!

ByVanessa Tan

I like my band. Those of you who know me well, will know it isn’t easy to gain my respect, but these guys have done it. They’re talented and dedicated, and they’re the best band I’ve played in so far – certainly the better band I’ve led, as well. They show up during practice sessions, they do their homework, they keep to the structure but pull their weight when it comes to improvising.
And very importantly, we’ve built up rapport over the last few weeks, overcoming obstacles like missing/injured drummers and scheduling conflicts. Playing with these guys is something I look forward to each week.
Our school concert is on Saturday 23 June at ACS Barker Road auditorium, which I hear (pun) has good acoustics, which should suit our small fusion jazz band just fine… provided we are tight and don’t make any obvious mistakes!
Last week, we practised a few songs for the concert. This is Friends and Strangers by Dave Grusin, which smooth jazz fans may know. I am on keyboards, playing the electric piano/Rhodes. We had a problem with the keyboards not sounding loud enough, a problem with the studio settings that evening. Hopefully it will be sorted out before the concert.

This is our first attempt at jamming The Message, which is a funky track I picked from the Blu Bar (a collection selling at That CD Shop). We were figuring out how to play a common bassline while taking turns to improvise and vary the style. I am on keyboards, sometimes switching to organ or piano. If you hear a ‘hoot’, that’s from me.

Everything was recorded on my little Micromemo for iPod, and equalised using Logic Pro on my G5 PowerMac.
[To the web standards-obsessed person who reads this blog 😛 the Odeo code does not validate. I know that. You’re welcome to post a solution for this.]

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