thanks to k-dub for the fotos! - http://www.funknotes.com/

Solo bass and smoke machines!

Here's a few pix I snapped while Vic was taping a Tapping Video lesson at Steve Bailey's pad for "The Bass Vault".

Posted by Jeff Schmidt at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Perk of the day job is often having artists come in to perform - and occasionally - outstanding artists.

Today was one of the outstanding artist days with a visit from acoustic duo Rodrigo Y Gabriela

Check them out here http://www.rodgab.com/

The blend latin harmonic and rhythmic elements with neo-classical and metal style melodies. Think Al Dimeola on nylon string guitars with more soul - at 120DB.   ,-)

Gabriela in particular has developed a fascinating rhythmic/harmonic approach that really drives their sound.  She's the engine that pushes the tunes forward.

They played a sold out show at a 500+ person venue last night in San Fran- and open for Gomez tonight.    They're on Dave Matthews' ATO label and have a lot of buzz right now.  

I heard the album a few months ago -and was immediately taken in by it.   And then, as quickly as I obsessed on it -  it wore me out.  

As amazing as they are - and they are - they are true musical artists that have made greatly complex material accessible to a "rock crowd" -(I'm told the crowd at the show last night were rocking the house - for 2 acoustic guitars!!!)   the tunes all sit in the same musical spectrum and I find I fatigue with it.

The songs all sound very similar texturally, rhythmically, melodically and tempo wise as well.    

Now - some call this focus.  Drilling down into a sound; exploring and exploiting every bit there is.  They have found a "thing" that works - and they're doing it - quite successfully.   It is consistant - track to track.

It makes me wonder if I'm wasting my time attempting to explore so many different sounds in my own work.  I wonder if I'd be better off focusing on a single "thing" and going with that for a while instead of trying to discover a new thing with every tune I write.   

Right now - once I do a tune - that's pretty much it for that "vibe".   If something I end up playing sounds even a little like something else I've written I often chuck it.  Maybe that's a mistake.

Then again - the one fear I have - particularly with solo bass - is having a body of work that one could say "all sounds the same".  I don't know why I fear that -but I do and it has certainly impacted my writing. Maybe not for the better.

But developing a consistent sound is one of the most essential aspects of building a "brand" - or in music jive - a "rep".  

Thing is - I'm not even sure my tunes are really all that different sounding  - or if it's just me knowing the inner workings of them that lets me get away with the idea that they're "different".  

Anyway - watching Rod & Gab and the reaction they receive has certainly opened up some questions in my own mind about the power and necessity of focus.  The fact is - if they tried to cover as many styles and sounds the guitar is capable of making as I think I'm doing with the bass - they may be good at all of them - but exceptional at none.  

And as it stands now - the 1 thing they do - the thing they focused on - is exceptional.  Seriously.

I'm just wondering if there's a lesson for me in this observation. 

Like - do 1 thing great instead of 10 things average.

I don't know. But give them a listen - you won't be dissapointed.

Posted by Jeff Schmidt at 04:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

UPDATE: 10/27/06

Thanks for coming out guys! Great to see some familiar bass faces at the performance last night. Edo played a wonderful set of ECM styled world flavored New Age Solo Bass Jazz with lots of looping, vocal sampling and some pretty hip soloing.

I intro'd a few new never before performed live pieces I've been working on and the night seemed to go well. I'm looking forward to Larkspur Theater Solo Bass Night with Edo, Dave Grossman & Jean Baudin. I'll probably be playing a totally new set from what I played at last solo bass night. I hope to work something on the new 6 string bass into the set as well. Thanks again!

To all Bay Area folk - I'm playing a FREE Solo Bass set this Thursday night October 26th at Cafe Trieste In Berkeley on the corner of San Pablo and Dwight with Edo Castro.

7pm-9pm

Show starts with a set from 7 string Bassist Edo Castro -www.edocastro.com

Edo is a wonderfully sensitive and nuanced bassist with great taste and tone - he'll be playing new solo material, a few tunes from his 2 CDs "Phoenix" & "Edo" as well as covers from Miles and Charlie Haden!

Solo Bass is a fresh ambition for Edo, and with a pedal-board that would shame Doug Wimbish I can't wait to hear what he's got cooking!

As for me - I'll be giving the first public performance of a bunch of new tunes I'm working on for my solo CD. Since nothing gets tunes up to snuff faster than playing them live I'll give them all the run through after Edo's performance.

I'm slated to play from 8pm-9pm.

Hope to see you there!

Posted by Jeff Schmidt at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I've been fortunate in that I've experienced proximity to really high end musicians - people who have spent decades working with their music.

And one of the things that I've realized is that while ALL these players and musicians have much to share and teach others - ultimately it's up to each of us to listen to the voice inside us and give it as much respect as we give to the masters.  

This is a fairly new realization for me.  

Getting back into music a few years ago, I naturally deferred to any and all experts.  Even then I was aware of the contradictions nearly everyone makes when they TALK about music - but I didn't have the inner foundation of self-trust to question them.  

The fact is - once people - even the masters - start talking about music - they're bound to say things that directly contradict not only OTHER masters-  but THEMSELVES.  And contradict not just things they say - but the things they play.  

I can't tell you how many times I've listened to really high end players talk about music - and then when they play they contradict their own guidance.   As a beginner I found this frustrating.  I was looking for absolutes - the ANSWERS.  These observations simply created more confusion for me.  

I don't need to give examples or names - it's something I first noticed when I was searching for an instructor a few years ago and continues in every masterclass I attend to this day.  Becoming aware of this has led me to begin to trust my own sense of things more and to watch the kinds of things I say about music in general.

Don't get me wrong - this is not a negative thing.  The phrase "talking about music is like dancing about architecture" is absurdly apt.  When we talk about music - we often talk about it in idealistic terms.  When we play - most of us are forced to play grounded much closer to reality.  

The fact is - being able to articulate what elements great music contains is 1 thing - (music critics that play NO instrument at all do that endlessly)  being able to bring those elements into existence is quite another.  There is no inherently causal relationship between "knowing" and "doing".  

This isn't a rant against talking about music - but trying to articulate things that are often intangible.  We reduce infinite mystery to words - concepts - labels - rules.  Some of this stuff is very helpful in learning - some of it takes our attention way far away from where music actually comes from.  An important skill to develop is the awareness of the difference.  

One thing I'm becoming aware of is that my own voice has grown and developed to the point where I no longer ignore it.  It's not that I exalt my own opinion above others - but I've stopped telling it to shut up.  I give it equal time.  That's new.  The key is to avoid taking it TOO seriously.  Or any other single voice for that matter.  

Balance - trusting our own sense of our art - and yet still remaining open to the ideas and observations of others - particularly those who have already walked the path we're on.

And while all our paths have much in common - they are also all fundamentally different - because they are personal. Pay attention to the masters - yet don't ignore the personal.

That's what I'm feeling these days.

Posted by Jeff Schmidt at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Random thoughts from a killer weekend.

There's so much that happened at the Bass Extremes Solo Bass Workshop Weekend - and I didn't get nearly anything on video or photo.

But seriously - think about it - you're hanging with these guys (Vic, Steve, John, Billy, Greg) - do you really want to be the one running around with a camera or DV cam? Or the one listening and talking with them?

Me . . . I ended up forgetting about the cameras and engaged with these guys as much as possible.

I do have a little bit on video of the first evening - mostly sound check for the private concert. I have no photos or video of me though - but I did drop my card with the on-site video pro and hopefully he can send some clips.

A bud from Gerald Veasley's Bass Bootcamp - Keith White told me he got some pics - so maybe he'll pass those along. Keith?

Also - if you were there and have a photo or video to share - please - e-mail me.

Concert Highlights?

Billy Sheehan & Greg Bissonette busting out a nasty version of "Shy Boy"

Vic's solo version of Norweigen Wood

Steve Bailey & John Patitucci upright & and electric upright bass duet - super sweet!

John's burning on "Giant Steps"

Of course- my personal highlight all weekend was performing a few tunes at the concert Sat night.

The sound was pretty weird - I had no amp and the only monitor was stage left ( I stayed pretty centered on stage) so the monitor was about as loud as the house from my spot on stage. Funny thing though - those things don't seem to bother me much. I almost expect on stage sound to be . . . uhh . . .bad. I don't know why - but I do. I just kinda roll with it. Maybe as I gain more performance experience I'll demand more from my stage sound.

What's next?

I'm fleshing out an hour long solo set which I'll play next Thursday night in Berekeley.

Posted by Jeff Schmidt at 05:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Got to hang at with Steve Bailey, Vic Wooten (and eventually John Patittuci, Billy Sheehan & Greg Bissonette) at Steve's place for a few hours today.

Started off with Vic doing a few tapping lessons for video. Then they set me up - I played a few tunes on video and chatted with Vic about the tunes and what I've been up to. Then we jammed a bit on a riff from another one of my tunes - Vic came up with this great bassline - damn that guy is good. ,-)

Anyway - that's their video -for their website - the bass vault. I'm not sure how much of it will actually end up online - but if they aren't going to use it- I'll certainly try to get my hand on it so I can release some of it.

I've been shooting some of my own video at the "private concert" tonight - but obviously not of my performance. Kinda hard to shoot video of yourself with no tripod. I'm finding it tough to stay engaged in the event AND try to capture it on video.

Dinner tonight was insane. Road stories, road stories road stories. Hilarious stuff. Billy Sheehan is a f'n riot. Super fun guy. Classes start at 9am tomorrow - gotta get some sleep. More later.

Posted by Jeff Schmidt at 01:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Arrived last night around 7pm

Sandy from Coastal Carolina University picked me up at the airport and told me that Steve Bailey, Victor Wooten, Billy Sheehan and a few others were having dinner and asked if I was into joing them. Uhhh YEAH!

It was cool - very casual - but great food. They're all such good, long-time friends I couldn't help but feel like I was intruding every once in awhile- but there were some facinating group conversations about (this may sound familiar) artists who keep doing the same thing - and the need to mix it up. Very similar conversation to the one I was having with Kaki King a few weeks back. I wonder if there's some kind of cosmic boredom thing going on where artists are all craving something new. Anyway.

Billy is a super nice guy - I didn't know what to expect. When people say "that player is a monster" one can clearly attribute that to Billy's playing - scary scary stuff he does - but - like is so often the case - off stage, at dinner - super nice guy. Steve, Vic & Billy started trading Bangkok stories (one of those fly on the wall moments no doubt) appearantly Bangkok is the kind of thing you do just once - and then say - I'm going to do it once more etc... I wish I could say more but this is a family blog ,-)

So the offical worksop type stuff starts later on this afternoon. I was invited to go over to Steve's house with Vic, Billy and Gregg Bissonette - they were going do some filming for their internet bass thing. Not sure what time that's going to happen.

I wanted to post a few pics - but I forgot to bring the correct cable to connect the camera to my laptop. All the crap I brought and THATS the thing I forgot.

The hotel is nice - Marriott - lots of drunk golfers roaming around. Hey - it's Myrtle Beach!

More later.

Posted by Jeff Schmidt at 07:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Got out and saw Bill Frisell with Jack De Johnette and bassists Jerome Harris last night at San Francisco's famous "Bimbos 365 Club"

Sorry - no pics from the actual show.

The show was a mix of material from "The Elephant Sleeps But Still Remembers..." - mostly sample heavy avant garde free-form improv and then more jam-bandy, modal, loop n groove type stuff.

Over all I prefered the avant material - it was different and really had you guessing as to what was going on and what would come next. It was free-jazz with sample pads!

The more straight ahead groove, loopy pieces got a little repetitive for me particularly since there was no riviting solo voice.

I kept hoping a dangerously creative trumpet player would come out and blow heavily processed solos over the grooves. But no.

They also had a range of backing tracks that would fly in out of nowehere. It wasn't until the end of the night the band gave props to an un-seen 4th member who was responsible for all of that. For the amount of sound the guy added to the night they should have put him up on stage.

Highlight of the night - Jack De Johnette's drum feature. I won't call it a "solo" cuz it was so far removed from the "hey look at me" drum solos you see at most shows (even jazz . . . actually - especially jazz)

Jack's drum piece was a song. I literally heard the tones of the drums as notes - and his playing as melody - it was beautifully musical.

Jerome Harris was solid on bass - played a Steinberger into Ampeg rig - neck pick-up tone - kept it pretty straight forward. He wore a porta mic he used to speak into and then process his vocal sounds.

All of them had controllers of varying types to fire samples and sound modules. Half the show was them each playing their sample pads with occasional guitar noises tossed in by Frisell.

I'm glad I saw it - pretty challenging stuff. I do like how they broke up the night by alternating the traditional sounding jam stuff and the avant electronic stuff. Made me want to go out and buy a sampler!

I still might.

,-)

Posted by Jeff Schmidt at 01:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Some Kaki King & Jeff Schmidt video from the recent private concert.

Kaki - "Doing The Wrong Thing" w/band

Jeff - new solo piece "Numb"

word.

Posted by Jeff Schmidt at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)