[Age Check for Those of Us Still Gigging and Hauling Gear]

42. For all my top 40 gigs it's a Yamaha CP4 and Montage 7 on a K&M Spider Pro as well as a Roc n soc throne. I don't need to bring a monitor. If I do, it's a EV-ZLX12P or two. Sometimes I have 2 or 3 setups for wedding and that means extra CP4s and PA speakers. Once in a blue moon I'll also bring the Hammond SK2 but adding a 3rd board adds headache and usually stage real estate I don't have.

[Tico Tico on Theatre Organ]

Hey I play that at Petco! It's been a couple years. I need to polish it up and play it again.

[Chord structure. Are you a purist or anarchist?]

Whatever serves the overall sound best.

[A good friend and bandmate called up from the minors]

So cool. He must be a bad dude!

[Tired of Playing Horn Parts?]

I'm surprised I haven't seen or chimed in on this thread until now.

 

A huge part of my life is playing horns parts on keys, sometimes with real horn players, sometimes without.

 

If you match the FEEL, and the actual NOTES the horns are playing, and it is the type of song with a punchy big horn sound, then a real horn section augmented by keys can sound great.

 

Some of you have probably seen this before; here is a video of my band playing September with me supplementing the horn section. It just makes it sound bigger.

 

 

 

[When was the last time you took a lesson ?]

Probably 8 years ago I got with one of the more well rounded pianists who plays for the SD Symphony. I wanted to work on my classical and get some help/motivation to get on top of difficult repertoire. I had a great few months tackling the 2nd and 3rd movement of Moonlight sonata. I never got it 100% down and my lessons with him had to go back burner and eventually stop indefinitely. Too busy with my own gig life. I also felt bummed because I was kind of plateauing working on that piece and wasn't ever able to relax and really get it under the fingers to the point where I was happy with it.

 

I would love to get back to that. So much repertoire, so little time.

[Wake up babe, new Kenny Kirkland bootleg just dropped...]

Kenny cooking on a DX7. Love listening to this, thanks for sharing!

[Some cool photos of Herbie and band at Disney Hall.]

He was in SD last week. I wanted to go but my FIL was in the hospital and I was stuck home with the kids. I am really bummed about it. Haunted by it being the idea that this was my last chance to see him. I had a dream where last night I got to hang with Herbie and he was saying some stuff about my playing and I got to ask him all kind of questions. I hope he comes around again soon.

[Lead sheets, where?]

17 hours ago, MathOfInsects said:

I really only care about exact form if it's going to be played that way. Otherwise I just want really clear A, B, C sections, etc, and a good sense of how it's LIKELY to go, even if it goes some other way. Most of my cover gigs are in a context that involves extending some section with solos and the like, so you really just need to know what you have to play when someone signals that we're going back to the bridge, etc. 

 

 

Good point. I know some cats who are so married to their own ink that they become a drag when the form gets more fluid.

[Lead sheets, where?]

I will see if I can find the PDF online through google search. I will then probably make my own real chart because most of those leadsheets don't have the right form.

[Porcaro and Paich on the Steinway]

Yes neither of them actually played the parts 100% like the record. But it's more than fine baby.

[Thinking about gigging with a Mac... Mini or Macbook Air? M1, Intel?]

13 hours ago, Stokely said:

honestly not having a rock solid place on some stages for a computer is one reason I don't use them.  My stages can be quite small to be sure. 
 

 

I'm still in this boat too.

[Porcaro and Paich on the Steinway]

They're playing the Africa marimba part on piano but it's a GS1 right? They didn't double it on piano.

[Porcaro and Paich on the Steinway]

Today I learned they didn't cut that album on a Yamaha C7 which I had always assumed they had. And I had assumed they cut it at Westlake. Wrong again. Now I realized I was conflating Toto's involvement on Thriller (cut at Westlake) with the recording of Toto IV. And here I am considering myself a true fan.

 

Thanks for sharing this.

[Stevie: superstition]

On 1/25/2022 at 3:23 PM, MathOfInsects said:

I do think Superstition is one of those songs you generally have to play wrong to play right, at least if you're sitting in with anyone new. If that drummer kicks off those four bars, and you're not in with the slimline two-groups-of-seven-notes, bare skeleton of a riff--basically, the Stevie Ray Vaughan extraction of that iconic part--most cats are going to wonder what in the world you're playing. 

 

Exactly this IMO. How you kick the tune off is essential. The rest is vibe and will depend on your rhythm section, particular clav sample and band mix. It IS important to play the right chords on the turnaround though.

[How do you handle one-off gigs]

I make detailed notated charts in finale and use my iPad. A ton of work up front but I'm fast at it and then I have the song ready to go for life.

[Billy Childs/Geoffrey Keezer concert video]

This was Chris Botti's keyboard section in the early 2010s. Imagine having GK on 'aux' keys.

[Montage M - Is it Me?]

10 hours ago, cphollis said:

But how many players have bonded with their Yamaha Montage?  Apparently, not many. 

 

 

I love mine but only because it works great for my particular cover band situation.

[Alicia's Keys]

That piano always seems to sit perfectly in a mix. It doesn't matter if it's 15 years old.

[Anybody following these guys? Brilliant stuff ...]

I've always loved this for the funky Tim Levebre bass line. I love the line and his overall style.
 

 

And I love this for the subject matter. The corn dog bullet sash kills me.
 

 

[My dad played a gig with Liberace. In 1960.]

Wow!!

[Chester Thompson with ToP showing how it's done...]

Didn't know one of the trumpets would switch to bone sometimes. I thought it was always 2 trumpets 2 tenors 1 bari and that was the TOP sound (except in the studio where they'd overdub). Shows what I really know about this great band.

[Chester Thompson with ToP showing how it's done...]

Damn the band sounds so good here. The pocket somehow seems depeer. I love how high the organ is in the mix. An essential part of the sound IMO. I've played TOP tunes when the keys aren't loud enough (and frankly I'm not funky enough) and it can fall flat. This groove is undeniable.

[Anybody following these guys? Brilliant stuff ...]

I know Genevieve from my time in LA in the late 00s. She was part of the CSUN crew we all had a regular Sunday night Jam at the Sunset House of Blues with. It has been fun to watch her double down on everything quirky and badass and link up with Louis and go on this uncompromosingly creative run. Louis is a ridiculous musician. One of the few drummers Nate Wood trusts to sub for him in Kneebody. It's very inspiring to me.

[Michael Omartian with Beato]

Can't wait to listen. His piano solo on 'Sailing' was my ticket into his genius long ago.