mango video

For some reason I can’t get the YouTube thing to embed here on the page so here’s a link to a new CPZ video clip.

Jimmy Webb precipitation…..

I’ve woken up and it’s raining, and weather.ca predicts rain for the next few days. I have 4 outdoor gigs in the next 3 days (on Thursday I am double-booked, so I’m only playing one gig but am the leader on two, so while I’m not there, it’s still my responsibility). This means that I may have to deal with clients wanting to cancel or postpone, which means major headaches for me. If the client wants to re-schedule, and the players I have booked are not available for the new date, then I run the risk of either stiffing that player (if he/she can’t do the new date, then they don’t get paid) or paying them out of my pocket and thus working for free (or at a loss) myself on the rescheduled date.

What about contracts, security, etc.? Haha. The reality is that while most of my clients are very reasonable and generally positive people; if for whatever reason they don’t want to pay, there’s very little recourse. I do most of my bookings with verbal contracts, because I know that even with a solid written agreement between parties, if I really had to pursue compensation, it would cost me more time, money, and energy than I’d ever hope to recover from the client.

The Musicians Union, maybe 35 years ago, might have offered protection against this sort of thing, but they’re useless now (I would say that 95% or more of the live music gigs happening on any given day in Toronto are outside the reach of the Union — that’s just how effective their efforts have been to secure the marketplace for the average musician…).

These are rainy-day thoughts for sure. Generally, I’m very fortunate to have the gigs I do and most of the time they go pretty smoothly. This week is when my job feels more like a farmer or sailor or fisherman: at the mercy of the elements. Or maybe I’m more like the Wichita Lineman, a classic song character bitching about the weather and his job.

INTERFACE/cymbal diary…

I had the good fortune to have a night off last night, so I caught the final night of Wilbert DeJoode’s INTERFACE (presented by the AIMT. It was a great night of improvisation, and I truly dig the Arraymusic space. Joe & Ken and the rest of the AIMT dudes have managed to make the Array loft a great clubhouse hang. It’s too hot, but the beer is cheap and the vibe is great, not to mention the music. Mr. Joe Sorbara played a wonderful set with Wilbert, pulling out all his “toys” (old-timey shaving brush & balloon included). Joe is really killing at playing flow. He never settles into beats or patterns, but evokes rhythmic cycles (resulting in deep grooves) with waves of texture. Later, Brandon Valdivia played in a more muscular, free-jazz style, also very good. (Check these guys out at MySpace too…).

One thing that occured to me last night is that I’m really becoming a cynic when it comes to “classic” cymbal sounds. The notion that one must default to the “old-K” ride cymbal sound when playing jazz or improvised or acoustic music is really wearing thin for me. I know it’s a sweeping generalization, but it is a prevalent sound, and lots of young drummers coming up in these musical genres somehow believe that they can only find “their sound” through this type of cymbal.

Personally, I’m trying to avoid that sound, if only because it’s so prevalent that my ears almost tune it out now. I do have lots of thin hand-hammered cymbals (Paiste Traditionals…), but I’m inclined to use them as crashes and suspended cymbals more than for riding and rhythm patterns. These days I’m alternating between a 20″ Dark Energy Mark I ride with the CPZ trio, and a very bright 18″ Innovations crash ride for cc3 and all my commercial work. The Dark Energy cymbal is dry, but not particularly crisp, nor does it really build up any “trash” (forgive me, readers who are not familiar with the cymbal sound description lexicon). The crash sound is gong-y and it’s generally a grumpy dry pie. (in the best possible way). The Innovations is bright with a generous wash and very piercing bell. Fast jazz patterns (with a stick) are obnoxious, but with a brush, they cut throught perfectly (which allows me to play at low volumes yet still be heard clearly). As a rock/r&b cymbal the bell is perfect for punctuating chorus sections and it has a ready crash on its edge (I tend to only use a ride and a crash and hihats, so having crash-ready ride cymbal is very handy on pop and rock stuff).

Don’t get me wrong, the “old-K” (Turkish, hand-hammered, thin 18-22″ cymbal) sound is a beautiful instrument (go to drumLAB and check out the Spizzichino movie), but I think creative music is ready for a few new voices in the ride cymbal category (I’m not suggesting that they’re aren’t already, Jon Christensen’s ride has been bucking this tradition for many years, and Manu Katche’s recent disc on ECM is a great example of non-traditional cymbal sounds, though his cymbal sounds are somewhat ubiquitous in rock/pop).

I think my main point is that the notion that a young drummer will only find his/her voice on a 20″ thin b20 Turkish style hand-hammered cymbal (and hopefully they won’t fall into the trap of spending $1500 on an authentic “old-k”…) is akin to that cliche of people wearing all black to show how much of an “individual” they are.

summer developments

Looks like CPZ (that’s me, Rob Price and Ed “Compost” Zankowski) might get some touring in before the summer is through. The forces of scheduling are aligning to put us in Cambridge, MA on August 3 and perhaps elsewhere in New England after that. Stay tuned!

Also, check in over at drumLAB, where I’m working on bringing Michael Bettine up for a solo set on July 23. I’m hopeful I’ll get to sit in for an improv duo during this set too… It’ll be PAISTEriffic.

What else? I’m truly lucky that many of my drumming friends from afar are coming through the Toronto area on various tours; now it’s just about finding the time between our schedules to actually get together face to face. In years past, I have had more nights off so I can hang at their gigs, but I’m having a good summer work-wise, which means my ability to socialize is diminished.

Anyway, it’s hot and sunny out, and there’s only a 10% p.o.p. tonight, so why not head down to Burlington and catch cc3 from 7pm-10pm? Canyon Creek Burlington is located on Fairview Rd., just west of Guelph Line.

pencil to paper

Composition has begun. I’ve got a sketch and a riff of a piece for the CPZ trio that is actually based on a particularly favourite episode of Dora the Explorer that is on an almost endless loop at my house.

The working title of the piece is “Ocean, Grass, Polar Bear Mountain”.

It’s variety week at the Canyon Creek gigs, with Tuesday’s hit consisting of MP, myself and Martin Aucoin on piano; tonight was ol’ faithful cc+MP+Eric Boucher and tomorrow night I’m in Burlington with MP as the rhythm section of Hot Buttered Soul whilst cc3 actually plays again in Vaughan Mills, but without cc (me). It’ll be Eric, David Patterson and the fine drumming of David Monis.

One of this evening’s highlights was when we broke into a version of “Freebird”, we got a round of approval from various audience members, including a mid-song request for us to play “Bed of Roses”. Unfortunately we don’t know that tune. We played “Days of Wine and Roses” instead, and then Madonna’s Material Girl. I think those two songs together might add up to one Bon Jovi power-ballad.

checking in…

I’m in transition mode these days. My “day gigs” (mostly playing dance classes) are winding down for the summer, which will leave me with more free time during the day (with the exception of 4 days in July, I am working nights exclusively this summer). Being a Dad, there will be no sleeping in, but I am going to attempt to claim some “me-time” to do some composing of music.

I honestly can’t remember the last time I sat down and wrote a piece of music. I’ve done a bunch of lifts for gigs, and stuff like that, but composition has eluded me for at least a few years. The bulk of my original-band work has been tunes written in 2002 and earlier, and new arrangements of covers; both of these paths are entirely valid, but I am shamed when I see how much great music my colleagues and friends are writing. It doesn’t have to be symphonies, it can be a 7-bar atonal polka, that’s fine with me!

Anyway, I’ve just realized I should be composing right now instead of writing this blog entry.

no more lazy susan….

It’s a quiet weekend for me on the gig-front but Steve Gadd is in clinic here in Toronto on Saturday, so this is a weekend when unemployment is a blessing in disguise for me!

We had a good night last night with cc3; I spent over $200 yesterday on a new drum throne, and it’s probably the smartest money I’ve spent in a long while. Months back, my old overpriced SONOR drum throne broke on a gig (the mechanism that locks the height in place snapped…. the mechanism that secures seat to the post had snapped almost immediately after I bought it years ago, but I’d grown to enjoy the “lazy susan” feeling of sitting on it), so I’d been making do with a $50 “NETWORK Percussion” throne that I picked up as a spare for this very event.

Well, it’s been an unpleasant few months sitting on that thing. I’m not the smallest guy out there, nor the lightest, so I really do require more support.

Anyway, I bought this. A Pearl Roadster throne with backrest. It’s awesome and has actually improved my playing. It wasn’t until midway through the first set last night that I realized how much circulation to my legs was being cut off by the other throne. I turned to Eric and said “I feel like a jungle cat!”, ready to pounce.

The backrest forces me to stay upright in good posture, too. All of these things will contribute to the longevity of my physical playing career. This is a good thing for me and those that like my drumming; for those that don’t, sorry!