Friday, January 07, 2005
ALL TOGETHER NOW
I brought a song I wrote into the band to learn last week. I had changed the format from the bluesy, jazzy, feel it had to a reggae rhythm about a year ago when I was playing solo gigs at the Banana Factory in Bethlehem. I liked the new groove and when I saw people dancin/groovin to it in the art gallery, it was encouraging.
Well, I have a blues band (Phat Back Groove) and I wasn't sure what sort of reaction I'd get bringing in the only reggae tune we'd be doing. I had tried to get them to do White Christmas reggae style at Christmas and they all balked - such traditionalists! So I wasn't sure if they'd embrace the concept 'cause they're (and very much me too) a tough crowd to please.
Well after Steve's regular resistance to ANYTHING new, I found that not only did they get into the song, but the ideas they all brought to it in deciding how best to set up the arrangement were smart, insightful, and as their enthusiasm grew, really began to affect the song in a very positive direction. It's really a very interesting process to see a song born long after its actually been written. It's almost as if the song is merely conceived when it's written and not until you bring it out in public, that its birth truly comes to bear. And when the guys say they "love" the song, they aint bein polite - I know! 'Cause it really shows in the hours that have been devoted to it. And we aren't even finished with the arrangement yet.
Well, I have a blues band (Phat Back Groove) and I wasn't sure what sort of reaction I'd get bringing in the only reggae tune we'd be doing. I had tried to get them to do White Christmas reggae style at Christmas and they all balked - such traditionalists! So I wasn't sure if they'd embrace the concept 'cause they're (and very much me too) a tough crowd to please.
Well after Steve's regular resistance to ANYTHING new, I found that not only did they get into the song, but the ideas they all brought to it in deciding how best to set up the arrangement were smart, insightful, and as their enthusiasm grew, really began to affect the song in a very positive direction. It's really a very interesting process to see a song born long after its actually been written. It's almost as if the song is merely conceived when it's written and not until you bring it out in public, that its birth truly comes to bear. And when the guys say they "love" the song, they aint bein polite - I know! 'Cause it really shows in the hours that have been devoted to it. And we aren't even finished with the arrangement yet.
