Saturday 090328

Our first performance together went well. Jon was happy and declared the band 80% perfect. After being disappointed by the sound on stage during soundcheck – the guitars sounded extremely tinny (((thin, bright))) – filling the theater with bodies for the performance provided the solution, and it sounded very nice. There were a few missed cues, but it was evident that the band-members were listening, and we had some genuinely beautiful moments.

After the concert a meet & greet in the green room.

Woke up in Torrence. Left the bus at 08:00 looking for a cafe. Ended up walking five miles. Met only one other pedestrian, a man carrying a pink umbrella against the sun. We smiled and nodded heads. So many unused sidewalks in Southern California! I wondered whether it would be smart to transform those sidewalks into mixed use for pedestrians and bicyclists. It seems to me that bikes generally play better with pedestrians that cars play with bikes. Since hardly anybody walks on these sidewalks anyway, one might as well make cycling safer. Google led me to a Starbucks inside a Target, then to a cafe that turned out to be a Mexican restaurant and was closed, and at last to another Starbucks. Returned to the bus a little before 11:00, just as it was getting rather warm outside.

By the way, make sure you download the music you want – check the Music Category for all downloads – in the next few days, because the links for downloading the March offerings will expire during the first week of April. There will be new download-offerings for April, of course, and you can still listen to the embedded tracks (((the embedded tracks are of lower quality than the downloads))), but the links to the downloads will no longer work.

Wednesday Rehearsal

Rehearsal 10:00-13:30 and then packing up and transporting gear. Band sounded good, but what’s really exciting is the potential of this group. These two drummers work very well together. It’s always a gamble, putting two drummers together – some make a great team, some don’t. (((not unlike setting up somebody for a blind date)))

Jon recorded every piece we have worked up for this tour, so we can each listen to the arrangements and memorize them on the two-day bus ride to California. Stevo and Jon kept commenting that much of it sounded like an album and I have to agree. Maybe we should record the band for our subscribers after the Summer tour – live in his studio.

In the meantime we should have a few pieces we can release as free Ottmar-Friends downloads… probably with a few warts (mistakes), but with a pretty nice feel.

Overall a great second day. The second day of rehearsals is often a let-down from the first, but not so this time. Now I have to pack…

This is cool!!

Fantastic gift from a friend arrived today. Beautiful book. Unfortunately too big to bring along on this tour.

Oh, and it looks like we’ll be adding Rome and Vienna to my October Solo shows. Six shows in Germany, one (maybe two, but the routing might not work) in Austria and two in Italy. All in a row, one day off in Berlin.

Wednesday Rehearsal

Rehearsal 10:00-13:30 and then packing up and transporting gear. Band sounded good, but what’s really exciting is the potential of this group. These two drummers work very well together. It’s always a gamble, putting two drummers together – some make a great team, some don’t. (((not unlike setting up somebody for a blind date)))

Jon recorded every piece we have worked up for this tour, so we can each listen to the arrangements and memorize them on the two-day bus ride to California. Stevo and Jon kept commenting that much of it sounded like an album and I have to agree. Maybe we should record the band for our subscribers after the Summer tour – live in his studio.

In the meantime we should have a few pieces we can release as free Ottmar-Friends downloads… probably with a few warts (mistakes), but with a pretty nice feel.

Overall a great second day. The second day of rehearsals is often a let-down from the first, but not so this time. Now I have to pack…

Tuesday Rehearsal

Exhausted.
Picked up Stevo at 09:45 and headed to Jon’s studio. Rehearsed from 10:00 until 16:00.
Brain is trying to retain all of the new parts…
The groove is already deep and I am digging that.


and this photo taken by Stevo: