JustWannaPlay

“It’s probably not what you expected, but believe me, what you asked for is here.  It’s up to you to find it.”

These are the words from world-renown bassist and musician Victor Wooten to his fellow performers searching for enlightenment, encouragement and a greater connection to Music. Wooten is a legend among bass players, having won multiple Grammy awards, traveling the globe, playing with artists like Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, Stanley Clarke, Keb Mo’, Marcus Miller, and his four amazing siblings. Many musicians line up to watch him play, or to hear him speak at clinics, usually with bass guitar in mind, but Victor’s message in those sessions, and in “The Music Lesson” goes far beyond any single instrument.

A fictional(?) account of an event that changed his life, Victor opens the novel at a troubled period in his life.  He’s living in Nashville, forcing himself to practice and hone his craft, despite the fact he has no pending gigs, an overdue rent, and a shortage of paying jobs and confidence. In this down-and-out moment, Victor is visited by a strange man with piercing eyes, dark hair and an almost superhuman sense of natural self-worth. This stranger, who appears in a NASA-style jumpsuit and motorcycle helmet, and carrying a skateboard, introduces himself as Michael.

Victor is confused, puzzled, overwhelmed, and angered. This is the reaction we all have when we come from an ignorant point of view. We are provided a voice of encouragement and education, and we immediately back off and put up the walls of defense.  Victor initially does the same. In the midst of their somewhat heated introductions, Michael explains his philosophy. “I teach nothing because there is nothing to be taught. You already know everything you need to know, but you asked me to come, so here I am.”

This philosophy, in a nutshell, is the mindset of “The Music Lesson.” The novel, described as “a spiritual search for growth through music”, is just that. Victor’s story tells of his awakening from instrumentalist to true Musician, and he leaves many bread crumbs along the way for readers to follow. His guidance isn’t for readers to follow his path, but to take from his work everything that applies to them.

Bruce Lee, in “The Tao of Jeet Kun Do” wrote “[t]here is no fixed teaching. All I can provide is an appropriate medicine for a particular ailment.” He also wrote the famous line, “be like water, my friend.” Lee’s philosophy was very much aligned with Wooten’s lessons. The reader (student) is shown a number of enlightening exercises through someone else’s experience. There is no set of instructions, only what the student chooses to engage in and adapt into her mindset and practice.

Victor and Michael continue through a series of experiences that assist Victor in his awakening. The pair discuss the fundamental elements of music, beginning with groove (thank you very much) and continuing through pieces like notes, technique, articulation, emotion, and listening. Each of these elements is presented to Victor through a learning experience that he, in turn, provides to the reader. Incorporating each of these into practice isn’t easy…or is it?  Isn’t that the point? Every reader’s experience will be different once they complete “The Music Lesson.”

Early in 2011, I had the opportunity to reconnect with a friend from my childhood, and to do so as peers (we both play bass in our respective bands.) Not long after that, we shared seats near the back of the room during one of Victor’s bass clinics. We shared dinner afterwards, and each of us were hard pressed to put what we had learned into words. We each had a different awakening. What we learned was not tailored to each of us as individuals; we were shown different things based on where we were as musicians.

Just as his music, Victor’s novel is composed well.  The pacing is a continuous build with plenty of laughs, head scratching, and (for this reviewer) more than a few “a-ha” moments. Players who find themselves in harmony with Victor’s philosophy will undoubtedly re-read the book several times, hoping to find more and more ways to grow as Musicians. “The Music Lesson” is available as a print book and also in audio book format at http://www.themusiclesson.com.

Some nights, a musician finishes a gig and just wants to sit up and recap the whole thing.  Something about the performance put a smile on her face.  Something about the way the crowd was in harmony with the group provided energy where there wasn’t any before. Something off the set list just got called out, and was an absolute home run.

Tonight was one of those nights.

Just Wanna Play hit the stage at M&S Grill to a new crowd, one which included the Facebook meetup group, “Rock Brigade.”  This group of musicians and music lovers were all about good, live music, and their energy really helped the band start things off on the right foot.  The fantastic playing by M&S manager Jim, on both alto and soprano sax, really kept things flowing, with a great blues touch. Jim jammed out in songs like Ben Harper’s “Steal my Kisses” and Sublime’s “What I Got”. Jim wasn’t the only one chipping in, though.

Dave Morgan joined JWP on percussion, playing everything from shaker to Djimbe.  He added his signature style to songs like Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes.” Dave manages the R&B band Arteless, and he is the founder of the Health-conscious music festival called Juanapalooza.  Dave will be playing host and MC during Juanapalooza 2011, on August 27^th.  Click the link for info.  Speaking of Arteless, bassist and founder Raymell “Manwich” Smith was in the house to show his love for JWP. Arteless will be on the stage at Juanapalooza at 7pm on August 27^th.  Check out their unique blend of rap and R&B, and show the band some love on behalf of the JWP crew!

Check out a few samples from Arteless’ new CD, “The Journal” HERE.

The night wasn’t finished then.  In addition to a few JWP Vegas buddies showin’ up to let their presence be seen and felt on the dance floor, guitarist/vocalist Navid Rashid from Iris Divine stepped up to belt out a few tunes with the band. Check out some tunes from Iris Divine HERE. “Broken (Arms of Heaven)” is a personal favorite.

Thanks to everyone who knows us and came out to represent. We appreciate the support from our fellow musicians, and music lovers.  We can’t do this without you.  Finally, thanks to everyone we hadn’t met before who showed up out of the love for music. Music is an amazing energy.  She will draw you where you need to be if you just ask her.  Tonight, we asked, and she answered.

I heard her loud and clear.  I hope all of you did, too.

One love,

nK
JWP

PS: Looks like we’ll be back at M&S Grill on October 14th.  See you there?

I’ve played a few thousand shows in my career. Some of them were original music. Some of them featured our band covering other artists’ material. Most were at an event where we were part of the entertainment, and there is usually something else going on.  Think about your typical bar gig or rock concert. Sure, the band may be the focal point, but there’s food, dancing, drinking, interacting, making new friends, catching up with old friends, and sure, maybe even a ceremonial cutting of the wedding cake.  I have rarely had to perform as an ongoing part of an event.  I had that opportunity in Las Vegas in July, 2011, and felt like sharing.

Many of my friends know I work for a (very) large software company.  Almost everyone I know (friend and casual acquaintance alike) know that I’m a musician.  I’ve performed as a solo act, or part of an ensemble, or part of a three-, four-, five-, or six- piece act too many times to count. So, it was no surprise to me in 2008 when I was approached by some co-workers who wanted to hear me perform.  Our annual sales conference is held in Las Vegas. For years, one of the highlights for many of us was the friendly soccer tournament with teams from the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and EMEA. We even had a pretty awesome trophy that went to the winner for the year; kinda like the Stanley Cup, only not as cool. Way back in 2008, I was asked if I could put together a band to play that event.  It was the 3rd or 4th night of the conference, and there would plenty of things going on, including 2200 or so people playing or watching the soccer games.

The answer was an obvious “why not?”

Like I said before, I could be part of a group, even a makeshift one, with almost no pressure, while other things were going on, including soccer, drinking, skee ball, carnival games, etc.  We played about an hour of music and had an absolute blast. Because it was later in the week, we threw together some set lists, song ideas, and even rehearsed a few times.  Flash forward to 2011, when I get a call asking if we would be willing to do it again.  This request, however, was slightly different…

Which leads me to the theme of this blog.

In 2011, we rounded up the musicians from our last performance, and added a few others.  We opted to keep the name Sales Machine, which was chosen after vocalist Chet Stockton changed some lyrics from a well-known James Brown song.  The 2011 version included NINE performers. Chet and I sang, and we were accompanied by two guitarists, a bassist, a horn section, a drummer, and a keyboardist. Why so many musicians?  Read on…

(btw….I’ll let the guys sound off in the comments section if they want to be mentioned by name.)

This gig was different.  Sure, we had to perform somewhere around 8-10 songs, but that wasn’t all.  We also had to work with the production staff. We were going to be the official house band during the kick off meeting.  We were the new Paul Schaefer, the corporate version of The Roots, Max Weinberg 2.0; however you want to put it – we were part of the show…the whole show, not just a jukebox in the corner.

On top of that, we were playing the KICK OFF meeting; not an event on day three or four.  That meant a lot more music to play and a lot less time to rehearse. Fortunately, these guys were insanely organized, and very experienced. We put together weekly calls to determine what songs and “stingers” (the 20-30 seconds of a song played while someone walks on stage) we would play.  We personalized some of them for the presenters we knew, and chose classics for everyone else on the roster.  Then, we sent around custom snippets of just those sections.  The guitarists chose who would play the solos.  Chet and I picked which songs we were going to sing.  The horn players selected arrangements and instruments.  Basically, everyone went off to their own separate corners of the world and did their homework.

Thanks to issues with my flight, I wound up getting more time in production meetings with the audio/video crew than I had in rehearsals with the band.  If these guys weren’t the amazing performers they were, we would have stunk up the joint.  As it was, we wound up with ten full songs and more than a dozen stingers.  What was the feedback?  Well, we heard every thing from “the band was alright” to “Oh Man, the band was the only thing that kept me awake through that session!”  Not bad considering attendees flew in from all over the world that day, and most of them were beaten down by the airport experience. Besides, we had all of a day to put things together, and we didn’t completely botch the gig.

Here are a few tunes we played:

“Jenny (867-5309)” by Tommy Tutone
“Money (That’s What I Want)” by The Beatles
“I Want You to Want Me” by Cheap Trick
“Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” by James Brown
“Takin’ Care of Business” by Bachman-Turner Overdrive
“Soul Man” by Sam & Dave/ The Blues Brothers

Interested in some more from the event, including the full list?  Let me know.  I’m happy to share.

See you at the next gig…maybe Sales Machine 2012? Just sayin’…

nK

When I was in high school, I listened to almost every type of music out there. My brother and I shared a love of old school rap, like Kurtis Blow, Kool Mo Dee, and Run DMC. I banged my head to Queensryche, Metallica and Savatage. And I had my quiet thoughtful side, which has somehow developed into “classic alternative.”

I liked some Depeche Mode, Siousxie, and my favorite, Tears for Fears. Before TFF got superstar status with “Shout” and “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”, they released this delightfully painful album called “The Hurting.” I loved the introspection of that first disc as much as I loved the radio-friendly hits of “Songs from the Big Chair.” (Though as a kid, I couldn’t hit the bottom notes in “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.”)

So, some 25 years later, low and behold, founders Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith are touring, and they’re at the 9:30 club in DC, on a Monday night in August. I didn’t want to miss this show. I figured two decades of waiting was plenty…and this show was worth the wait.

What You Expected. TFF did a great job of mixing up the songs in the set. They played a great balance of songs from the first two albums, plus the big follow-up, “The Seeds of Love.” They played about half of their most recent CD, 2004′s “Everybody Loves a Happy Ending.” They played all the big hits, and the crowd sang every word. The only song they played off of a non-Curt disc was the one you’d expect, “Break it Down Again” (from the CD “Elemental”).

What You Hoped For. The best from the band’s founders. Curt is intense on stage and his crystal clear vocals match his stage presence. He’s very in the moment, delivering the sensitivity of “Seven of Sundays”, or the anti-industrial venom of “Mad World” with equal precision. Roland is very aloof and whimsical on stage, working the crowd very well. He crushed on songs like “Sowing the Seeds of Love” and “Head Over Heels.” The pair performed great, in two different, complimentary styles. The backup band was solid, mixing blues guitar, jazz drums, and synth EVERYTHING (like the sax line in “Memories Fade”) to fill out the band’s wildly complicated composition.

What Blindsided You. Two words: Michael Wainwright. Not only did this cat open for Tears for Fears with just his voice and a guitar, but he hopped on stage and sang half the set with TFF. One of the night’s highlights was watching Wainwright belt out Oleta Adams’ soulful lines in “Woman in Chains.” I kid you not. This guy is a vocal cannon. Roland has the broadest range. Curt has the most signature vocal delivery, and Wainwright tops it off perfectly.

I had the great privilege of chatting with Curt’s wife, Frances, since we were stage left right by the monitor guy. Curt’s family was along for the trip (he is an American citizen), and apparently learned a lot about American history while they were here. I made her a promise that my cover band would play some TFF in the near future. The other great generational thing is that I had two tickets, and my DAD came with me! What a fantastic way to start the week.

If there’s a band coming to town you want to see, and your friends want to bail, Don’t! Find someone willing to go. Who knows? If you don’t, it might cost you 25 years.

All the best,

nK

(repost from www.NickKelly.com)