Sitting in with real pros
 

I got to sit in with my bass teacher's fusion jazz trio tonight while he took a smoke break. We played a somewhat leisurely version of The Chicken. I broke my on-stage fretless cherry. :eek:

The drummer and the guitarist are both absolute monster talents. What a treat to play with a pair of guys who know what they're doing! My (very) occasional outings are usually with folks at or below my skill level (which is NOT all that high to begin with). It's pretty amazing the way real pros can make the low guy on the totem pole look good despite his occasional goofs. :D

The only sour point was that my wife took some video. I know "the camera adds 10 pounds", but holy hell do I have to lose some weight. :(

Sounds great!

Now fork up that video. :)

Yeah! What the fluffer said!

Congratulations. Keep it up. Like anything else, its just practice.

There is no greater feeling when you're playing live and it clicks with both the band and the audience.

Sorry, guys, I forgot to get model releases signed by the band. ;) :p

NC: Playing is the only thing keeping me sane these days. Long hours at the office (we're understaffed by 30%) and 3 kids ranging from 3 months to 9 years would otherwise have me wound pretty tight. Groovin' on the bass is just what the doctor ordered. :D

I understand how you feel. keeps me sane as well. I've been playing guitar for 25 years and bass for 3 years now. Its been a challenge to learn bass technique. Fun though.

Congratulations on you performance.

Congratulation! I miss playing... difficult to find like minded musicians

Glad you enjoyed yourself. Would love to see the video.

If I ever move from a beginning guitar player, I'd love to perform.

What a great tune to get initiated with. The Chicken (soul chicken) is
so much fun to play. I play it with or without the frets.

We use it as a break tune. Usually the last song of the set.

+ a million. If you make it a priority, you can find the time, though I didn't really jump back in with both feet until Calvin was in his early teens. By "jumping in," I mean 500+ gigs in the past 5 years. Not that I'm obsessive or anything...

Playing is the only thing that keeps me (relatively) sane. I'm at peace when the bass is in my hands. Keep on keepin' on...

Difficult, but not impossible. There are a ton of players in this town of all different levels and looking for different situations. There is a match, you just have to hunt, sometimes a lot. For the original project I'm working on, we've been looking for the right multi-instrumentalist for months. We had one (guitar/banjo) but he moved to Palm Springs.

Tricky part is aligning goals and personalities/abilities.

Wow, huge envy here! We play every month, maybe twice a month. It's the most frequent I've ever gigged in my life, and I love every second of it, even the lousy shows. I'd love to play more often if we could.