Chuck made an interesting "confession" yesterday.
We were talking about how an individual's greatest strength is often bound to his or her greatest weakness and Chuck said "My strength is that I can improvise endlessly and well. My weakness is that I can never remember any of my improvisations."
He went on to say that for him just "playing the chart" or "playing the notes" is actually painful since it reminds him that he could be improvising but -- for whatever reason -- must "toe the line."
I can't remember his exact metaphor but it was something like "opening the door on a dining room where the table has been set with a delectable multi-course dinner... and not being able to dive in."
I, on the other hand, pine for repetitive "3-5 chord" tablatures that torment Chuck, only serving as reminder of how great it would be to "make love with the music" when all he can do is "blow kisses."
"Jack Sprat could eat no fat, his wife could eat no lean. And so between the two of them they picked the platter clearn." (We never learn if Jack and his missus made any music.)
In the following tracks you'll find lots of splendid piano work, a pretty good vocal on "Blackbird" and intermittently painful vocals on "Nowhere Man," with enough "timing mis-matches" and "clunk-notes" to remind you it "could have been good." (Be thankful for Chuck's piano.)
Oh well... We do what we can, and get better as we go.
At the beginning of our session, when Chuck launched into "I've Got A Feeling," he thought he was getting into "the other Beatles' song" --- "1 After 909" --- which, a couple years ago, we had a single bash at. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly I settled into the spirit of "909" -- a song I had never liked and barely knew -- but now look forward to resurrecting. Stay tuned!
I think Chuck and I can make something out of both tunes, partly because they lend themselves to the "barrel-house pianist in Chuck," so much so that he feels compelled join the singing and whenever he does lend his voice I think it contributes to the overall "orchestration" as well as making me want "pull out my own stops."
"Blackbird"
With Chuck on Grand Piano
"Nowhere Man"
Take 1
"Nowhere Man"
Take 2
I've Got A Feeling
(Messing around)
Love you tons!
Daddy man
No comments:
Post a Comment