I've worked as a working class musician most of my life starting at age 15 in Minneapolis area and getting paid. Of course we sucked but then again I entered my teens right at Beatles day one, Beach Boys, MoTown (i.e., the era of the 45 rpm's) and I swear every other garage had a garage band. I was fortunate to grow up in an affluent neighborhood and all the kid's parents would spend on what are now vintage Fenders, Gibsons, Vox and such. Most media was local and there were tons of local live Polka music shows featuring the groups that traveled around the area, the mid-west and some all over the country. Everything was local for we growing up. My first interest in bass was from guys who played these great Fender basses, stock and flashy like country stars of the day, on the TV. Those polka musicians could play and had excellent musicianship. There was no question about musicianship, no consideration about it. It was part of the package on one could or couldn't. If one could, one could right then and there get hired for school dances, private parties, corporate events, local TV spors -- whatever. At 15 I was being paid to play electric bass every weekend as I recall. Of course we were awful but good enough I suppose. My family moved to south Miami in 1968 and I was immediately inducted into a local high school rock band. There were some good players, one in particular whom, later on, after I calmed the Hell down (crazy flurry of notes to show off chops but stepping on every all over the place but no one cared because everyone did that except these guys who had a terrific Cream, Hendrix/psychedlic but Blues thing happening. Very mature. I'm still in touch with that bass player who is multi talented, a multi instrumentalist and a great singer). I digress -- alot. I went union after being inducted outta my h.s. rock band and straight away into the jazz world on a well charted, well arranged BS&T group that worked for several years as house band at one of the big mob run joints on Miami Beach where headliners were acts like Smokey, Fanki Valli and the Four Seasons, Louis Prima, Lionel Hampton, Wayne Cochran and the CC Riders (that exact band went on to become Jaco's at Joe Nameth's club in Ft. Laud. and their headliners were jazz singers from Ella to Torme, Joe Williams. Class and 5 star cuisine. While at the other, I got booked to play in bands for Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee, Chuck Berry, Roy Head and the horn section would back Lou Rawls, OC Smith and off down to concert halls to perform with James Brown. Everyone was busy 5-6 nights, 1-1/2-2 to 4 shows a night for we the house band where there were three acts -- headliner, a second act and us to mop up afterwords. I got to work with and for folks like Bruce Hornsby, singers Maxine Nightgale, Phyllis Hyman and musicians Hyram Bullock, Narada Michael Walden and those U of M jazz students and was friends with Will Lee, Jaco, Mark Egan, Pat Metheny, etc.
What I learned and focused on and must have been the reason I got steady work is because I wanted to be a soul musician like Stax guys. I got known for my feel and how I could simplify virtually anything some producer or songwriter would throw at me. Granted, this was microcosm of what was happening for 30 years in LA with Carol Kaye and the Wrecking Crew and MoTown and Nashville. Miami was, however, in the south with international talent flying in and out so I got to work with jazz legend Ira Sullivan and Paquito de Rivera and in some of these flashy Havana acts complete with beautiful women decked out in giant feathers and such. It was tuxes for the musicians. We had to enter through the back door. Heard but not seen.
Here I am 65 years old, younger than most of my peers, and I've been reaching out to those I find have musical talent and want to take what I got which, according to others, is extensive in terms of the spirit of music, the soul and how spiritual beings communicate through emotions of music, an abstract language of such exquisite beauty or as raw as a bulldozer.
What I've found and what troubles me is what I've determined is power, the music business, the global corporations, have stripped out the humanity and replaced it with insipid videos. There's 10's of thousands of kids to be found at any Guitar Center (that's all there is in Central Florida as they've run all the smaller shops out) all into their own thing, paying no attention to anyone, especially guys like me who walk in and start playing time. I'm so completely hungry to find just that one cat who listens enough to jump right on in, right or wrong because the academics might be inferior to the spirit of the person and how to communicate with someone else in the abstract. It's such a beautiful thing. To me, anyway. There's all sorts of teachers huddling in rehearsal cubicles and not a one teaches by example. It's sterile and overly academic and complicated IMHO.
What happened to humanity? To search within oneself that fire that burns in people like Prince to be emulated and bring it to anyone's table? At 65 I'm convince I can go toe to toe with most anyone. It would never be identical to, say, Wooten. But he has that understanding to grant the other their own space to do their thing. I've jammed with him, Wooten, Lee and my strong point is playing underneath. Few can do what I do. But that's not correct because there's tons of cats, especially on upright, who shame me in the down home soul thing. Then again those guys can't approximate Jamerson. Well, some can and they're monsters with steadfast careers in areas of music I was never privy to.
Here in Central Florida -- perhaps across the state -- no fires burn. There's no thirst. Most scenes across the country have been decimated. Here I am fully available to be an example, teach as it were -- give of myself as much as I can to anyone who really wants to get to his own voice. I have no big secret about how I came to play as I do. I love listening more than I do playing. Listening to music is the joy of my life and I am grateful I was given then gift of ears and trained to listen as a child. What does it take now to get some kid to want to listen learn and play it as one hears it? Guitar Center has been a terrible influence. It isn't an influence. It's there to make money and has nothing to do with music. Neither do the teachers ....
Where do we with experience go to pass on, say, 50 years of knowledge learned the hard way? Grit. Sweat but sweet, nurturing, inviting or POW like a morter shell.
I must close and will with this -- the bass, the sound of Jamerson, King Curtis, MoTown was killed off because I fully believe it empowered blacks intellectually, culturally. I believe they were seen as a threat because of the sheer power and love for everyone. Power can't have it so it had to be destroyed over many decades into what we see and hear now as culture -- glorified boobies and ass shows, lip syncing and auto tune. Sure, there's Indy markets but little of it really plays what I know and seem more like quirky fashion plates. Bassists have gone into hiding and I ain't one and will never become one.
I really would like a discussion on this. I don't like where corporate power has taken this country especially culturally. Remember -- they killed off all their and our leaders.
What I learned and focused on and must have been the reason I got steady work is because I wanted to be a soul musician like Stax guys. I got known for my feel and how I could simplify virtually anything some producer or songwriter would throw at me. Granted, this was microcosm of what was happening for 30 years in LA with Carol Kaye and the Wrecking Crew and MoTown and Nashville. Miami was, however, in the south with international talent flying in and out so I got to work with jazz legend Ira Sullivan and Paquito de Rivera and in some of these flashy Havana acts complete with beautiful women decked out in giant feathers and such. It was tuxes for the musicians. We had to enter through the back door. Heard but not seen.
Here I am 65 years old, younger than most of my peers, and I've been reaching out to those I find have musical talent and want to take what I got which, according to others, is extensive in terms of the spirit of music, the soul and how spiritual beings communicate through emotions of music, an abstract language of such exquisite beauty or as raw as a bulldozer.
What I've found and what troubles me is what I've determined is power, the music business, the global corporations, have stripped out the humanity and replaced it with insipid videos. There's 10's of thousands of kids to be found at any Guitar Center (that's all there is in Central Florida as they've run all the smaller shops out) all into their own thing, paying no attention to anyone, especially guys like me who walk in and start playing time. I'm so completely hungry to find just that one cat who listens enough to jump right on in, right or wrong because the academics might be inferior to the spirit of the person and how to communicate with someone else in the abstract. It's such a beautiful thing. To me, anyway. There's all sorts of teachers huddling in rehearsal cubicles and not a one teaches by example. It's sterile and overly academic and complicated IMHO.
What happened to humanity? To search within oneself that fire that burns in people like Prince to be emulated and bring it to anyone's table? At 65 I'm convince I can go toe to toe with most anyone. It would never be identical to, say, Wooten. But he has that understanding to grant the other their own space to do their thing. I've jammed with him, Wooten, Lee and my strong point is playing underneath. Few can do what I do. But that's not correct because there's tons of cats, especially on upright, who shame me in the down home soul thing. Then again those guys can't approximate Jamerson. Well, some can and they're monsters with steadfast careers in areas of music I was never privy to.
Here in Central Florida -- perhaps across the state -- no fires burn. There's no thirst. Most scenes across the country have been decimated. Here I am fully available to be an example, teach as it were -- give of myself as much as I can to anyone who really wants to get to his own voice. I have no big secret about how I came to play as I do. I love listening more than I do playing. Listening to music is the joy of my life and I am grateful I was given then gift of ears and trained to listen as a child. What does it take now to get some kid to want to listen learn and play it as one hears it? Guitar Center has been a terrible influence. It isn't an influence. It's there to make money and has nothing to do with music. Neither do the teachers ....
Where do we with experience go to pass on, say, 50 years of knowledge learned the hard way? Grit. Sweat but sweet, nurturing, inviting or POW like a morter shell.
I must close and will with this -- the bass, the sound of Jamerson, King Curtis, MoTown was killed off because I fully believe it empowered blacks intellectually, culturally. I believe they were seen as a threat because of the sheer power and love for everyone. Power can't have it so it had to be destroyed over many decades into what we see and hear now as culture -- glorified boobies and ass shows, lip syncing and auto tune. Sure, there's Indy markets but little of it really plays what I know and seem more like quirky fashion plates. Bassists have gone into hiding and I ain't one and will never become one.
I really would like a discussion on this. I don't like where corporate power has taken this country especially culturally. Remember -- they killed off all their and our leaders.
R
