I am still on that 'Gift' jag, sorry. Actually not really, I just think this is pretty cool.
Last night we were all at the Harmony for the weekly Thursday Night gig. It was the annual Bill Keith Birthday party gig which occurs every year on the Thursday closest to Bill's Birthday (December 20th). Some years we have a raft of local and semi-local performers to stop by and some years it is light because everybody is out working their own gigs. This year was the later, but the music was great, the assembled mass were all local folks in good cheer and anxious to wish Bill well. We had the usual guest players come up for a tune or two in the second set and we all had a lot of fun. There was also a lovely and tasty cake provided by The Harmony folks.
As is my custom, I planned to stay for the entire gig. Usually I head out after the first set so I can get up for work in the morning, but on Bill's Birthday night, I stay. You never know who might walk in or what tune might come out in the mix and I don't want to hear about it from someone else later. It is very much worth suffering through a long day at work on Friday just to 'be there'.
So when the formal music stops, a few folks do a bit of jamming and I always love listening to this stuff. The guest players still have some energy and start sharing tunes and some really good music can pop out. It's a lot of fun and I enjoy being a fly on the wall.
Last night, my friend Matt handed me his mando so I could show him a little of what I have been working on, which I sort of did, but there was other noise and music going on and it was hard to hear. Matt picked up his guitar and said 'what do you want to play?'. I tried a couple of different tunes, but he couldn't hear my weak playing to pick up on it well enough and then I finally settled on "Ashokan Farewell". Well the backup melody that came out of his guitar kind of blew me away. It was gorgeous! Just like Molly Mason plays it and I fell right into the meter with his steady timing and we played it through twice with no mistakes. All I kept thinking to myself was 'Damn! this sounds REALLY nice!'
When the tune ended I was a tiny bit numb, something of a cross between 'Wow I got though it' and 'geez, now what?' A few other players moved over to us and started whacking out a much faster tune that I could add nothing to. I put Matt's mando in the case and listened for a while. Then I realized it was getting near midnight, said my goodbyes all around, wished Bill a Happy Birthday one more time and headed home.
On the drive home I realized that this was the first time I had ever sat down with another person and played a tune through clean. (I have tried to work through some stuff with Evan, but just couldn't get through without screwing up something or other and breaking up the melody. The boy deserves a medal for trying to hold me to a steady pace and compensating for my ineptitude while still making it sound good. I fear I may have worn him out at this point.) On top of that, it sounded like music, REAL Music! Something that anybody could listen to and enjoy. At the same instant, it dawned on me that I may actually be capable of making some music, even if it remains at the back porch level with nobody listening but the birds. Up to this point I really believed I was just beating unmercifully on an instrument to provide myself with some satisfaction or relief or whatever personal enjoyment I might derive. Now I think it is conceivable that somebody might actually be able to listen to me play and not come away from the encounter emotionally scarred.
This whole concept strikes me as pretty nifty and I know that Matt was trying to draw something out by sticking his beautiful mando in my hands and saying "what do you want to play?". A very nice little gift that I never expected and didn't even become aware of until much later. Thanks Matt, and Merry Christmas to you too!
Keep The Beat,
Tom
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