Thanks, O Exemplar of Moderation, for splitting this topic off. And thanks Ed for the impetus to keep it going. This is going to be a windy post because there's a lot to say.
I've been playing jazz bass for about 30 years, DB for 25. Because I performed a ton as a kid, I learned as a kid to deal turn nervous energy into a constructive force onstage. But like anybody who makes most of their jazz playing cocktails, functions and bar gigs, I also learned that most people in cocktail, function or bar gig really didn't care lots about what I was doing. And (as Ed bears out) I was very wary of pandering to the audience to wake them up and get that Big Audience Kaching For Sam. The result was that, until I read Hal Galper's piece, when the band was playing, I focused my energy entirely on the bandstand. To open my ears, I would close my eyes, or focus on a bass-drum spur or sax-key or some thing. I rarely looked at players while playing, except for cues. I didn't avoid or engage the audience while playing. And that worked fine.
About three years ago I started seeking out concerts for my band, playing my tunes. At the same time, I started bringing people whose records I had dug as a kid to town, with my band as the backup trio. Lucky me -- these are some pretty heavy players, they put out some DAMN SERIOUS energy, and I was positively worked up to be with them, too. But I found that more and more, in those settings, my own nervous energy was impeding me from ultimate performance.
A few months ago I read Galper's piece about his time with Cannon, and things hit home. While I had seen great jazz musicians push energy off the stand -- while I had even worked with them when they did it -- I had always felt that "directing energy" was too touchy-feely for rational old me. But how could I argue with Hal? I decided to give it a try.
What, asks Ed, have I been doing? I simply do not let myself play with my eyes closed anymore. I don't use inanimate fixation-points anymore. Those are habits I needed to break. Instead, I try to be engaged with my eyes as well as with my ears. When I'm not engaging musicians on the stand, I engage people in the audience. I try to push that energy out off the stand while I'm doing it. It's interesting, because I see that the other guys I'm playing with usually are not engaging the audience. That's their choice, and who am I to tell them what to do?
Although I am at the very beginning of this effort, the results have been noticeable and positive for me. I feel more in control throughout the night. I am beginning to feel like I have more to offer in the last set of the night -- I've always felt that I was a better "first set" player, dissipating too much energy too early, as Hal notes. Simply, this feels like the next step I need to take in my development as a performer.
And, although this is my effort for my own reasons, audience members have really noticed. People think I'm playing better. I don't agree, but the point is that the audience is getting more out of my playing and the band as a whole even though that is not my primary goal.
Questions? Comments? Catcalls? Suggestions for worms to eat?
