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Gig Journal - July 17, 2002
(01 Aug 02)
Lessons learned
Looking back, there are three things I would do differently.
First, I would remember to bring my stool. Rick provided me with a chair, but that's not the same. The stool has several advantages. It's more comfortable, allowing me to shift my weight sometimes to my legs. It's higher, so it gives me more visibility -- an important consideration when I'm at the back of the room. It also gets my ears up above the amp, closer to where the listeners' ears are, since, in a bookstore, many customers are standing.
Second, I would move a little further away from the wall and the amp. It's tempting to bathe in the sound coming from the amp, but it's important to listen to the sound that the audience is hearing.
Third, for the sound check, I would use the 25-foot patch cord and walk around the room a bit, listening as I played, making sure to include single notes, small chords and large chords, and to cover the whole range of the instrument. Probably not necessary in that great-sounding room, but a good exercise anyway.
Sets
I started the first set, as always, with "Here's That Rainy Day", but I took longer to improvise lines, arpeggios, and chords as an intro, just basking in the sound, before settling into time and playing the head. By this time there were a few people in the store and some sat in the row of chairs Rick had set up near my "stage".
After a few tunes I got applause, which surprised me. Usually that doesn't happen in bookstores because the music is just background and people are self-conscious about disturbing the readers with applause. But as it turned out, there were a couple of guitar players there and they let me know they were listening and enjoying.
On my first break, one guy who had been sitting and listening -- and applauding -- came up to me and explained that he was a guitarist. We chatted about pick-and-finger technique and what-not. He bought a copy of Act One; it gives me pleasure to know that he will listen to it appreciatively. Can't ask for more than that!
In the second set I did more single-line improvisation than usual, knowing that I had a good audience and a good room. Rick especially liked "Softly As In a Morning Sunrise" and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", two tunes where stretch out a bit.
I played several short sets. Often on solo gigs I need to play long sets to keep the music flowing as a more or less constant background, and that's very hard on the left hand. So short sets and short breaks are ideal.
Moving lines
In the last set I played something pretty up-tempo -- I don't remember what -- and it came out well. I segued into "My Funny Valentine" for contrast. I always play the head mostly as a single line mixed with double-stops, and a few chords. For the middle chorus, I play a set of voicings, arpeggiated, over a bass line. Given the warmth of the room, the chords sounded luscious; it felt unusually good. As I was packing up, Rick said, "That was great. Tracey was back there weeping at 'My Funny Valentine'."
Good night
On the way out, Tracey held the door for me. She said, "I can't tell you how much I enjoyed that. Sometimes I think that musicians don't understand how emotionally draining it is for the audience."
It was a good night. I learned a lot.
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Steve has been performing throughout New England for more than thirty years. He has worked as a sideman with artists ranging from Chicago blues singer Little Walter to song stylists Al Martino and Anna-Maria Alberghetti. During his twenty-five years of teaching guitar at Berklee College of Music, Steve developed his pick-and-finger style playing, borrowing from both jazz and classical music. Visit Steve's website at www.frogstoryrecords.com
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