July 24, 2006
Free "Free Spirit"
Last week Rachel posted a request on the GTC discussion forum for a cheap old bike she could use for commuting around Athens while she's living and going to school there. Ben D. responded with a generous offer for this free bike, which Rachel rescued from his garage and then spent most of a day restoring. Perfect.
Rachel owns a nice all-carbon road racing bike w/Shimano group, Mavic wheels, Speedplay pedals and so on, (a perk of having a Dad who races bikes) but that would make a lousy commuter and a real target for bike thiefs.
Bicycling is in many ways a superior form of transportation to automobiles. It doesn't funnel money into despotic regimes. It doesn't generate poisonous fumes. It works against this country's swelling obesity problem.But our culture is largely antagonistic toward bike commuters. City planners mostly ignore us. A good example is the virtually useless bike lanes that lasts for all of three blocks and the DOT does not clean up.
Bicyclists share the road with drivers who are at best indifferent and sometimes hostile. We deserve better, but because we don't have major industries (auto manufacturers, highway construction) to lobby for us, we probably won't get it.
-excerpt from "The Joys of Commuting by Bicycle" at washingtonpost.com
July 20, 2006
Comping
Below is an entry from Nick Longo's blog followed by my comments to his entry. I think it's worthy of the reprint and hopefully some musicians will read it too.
Friday, June 23, 2006
COMPING: Listen to what the soloist is saying.Comping is one of the finest art forms in music. If you are not good at it, you make the band sound bad and you aggravate the other musicians. Not many people can do it well. Some of the great compers that come to mind immediately are Bobby Enriquez, Jimmy Smith, Mike Stern, Jack Mcduff, Jimmy McGriff. They know how to work around a soloist... listening and complimenting their ideas. I remember being in college for Jazz Studies and not once did we have a master-class on comping. I feel this would do a musician a world of good.
Comping is like having a meeting and the president (soloist) of the company (band) is throwing out ideas. There are people in the meeting (band/compers) that only think about the next thing they will say. They don't listen to any of the ideas the president is throwing out on the table, so when they talk, they just say whatever idea is in their head at the moment and it really has nothing to do with the president's thoughts.
The job of the comper (associate) is to listen to the ideas of the soloist (president) and try to make a good impression on the president.... You want that president to come away from that meeting thinking, "wow, he really got what I meant;" The job of the associate (comper) is adding in ideas when you are confident in knowing what the soloist is talking about. If you are not sure what the soloist is saying, you shouldn't say anything. Stay quiet until you know for sure. Silence is way under-rated. There is nothing worse than talking out of turn and messing up a thought the president (soloist) has. There is only one president of a company at any given time. There is only one soloist soloing at any given time (well, Dixieland is a gray area, but).
The more time you spend listening to the soloist, the more you become in tune with their mannerisms and in time you'll know when you can throw in little comments without taking away from their ideas.
Comping really requires little work. Listen, pay attention to the ideas, only say something when you are confident of what is going on, and layout when you are even slightly unsure. Silence always works when you are comping. Always.
------ my posted comments ------
Yes, that's a decent analogy of the 'comp'-ing process ('comp' is jazz slang for accompany). A master class would be helpful or even a decent book. However developing the pedagogy would ultimately be limited because just like soloing, much of 'comping' is instinctive and personal. A good accompanist has to listen to and focus on the great recorded examples of comping, most people get absorbed by the soloist and never realize that a large part of what made that solo great was the accompaniment!
Common mistakes by the beginner accompanist include; mimicking the soloist - either by trying to play the same notes or "he played something weird so I'll play something weird". Many accompanist (drummers included) over-play on the turnarounds, or simply do not listen at all and plow through the song with a continuous pattern/groove eliminating any possibility for dynamics.
Sometimes the root of the problem is ego - as in compensating for some personal deficiency. Just like in normal everyday interactions among people, some never listen and simply wait (or not) to say what they want, often in an attempt to be the center of attention. Other times poor accompaniment is simply the result of the accompanist having not developed the ears and skills to spontaneously interact.
Unfortunately for the soloist the average listener has no idea what's really going on and will likely think something like, "Wow, that guitar player is really great, but the piano player is a bit weak." When in fact the piano player is providing inspirational accompaniment for the guitarist while the guitar player reeks havoc on the piano player's solos (or vise-versa).
Opps! that got a little long-winded. I'll shut up now.
July 17, 2006
H.L. Mencken Creed (excerpt)
I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind - that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking.
I believe that all government is evil, in that all government must necessarily make war upon liberty...
I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie.
I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave.
I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant.
Your preznit, ladies and gents
“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” - H.L. Mencken (1880-1956)
July 16, 2006
Another Guitar
Another *new* DQ-NYE I found on eBay for less than dealer's cost is on the way here. This one will be for sale as it comes with a good profit margin.
Being a fan of the late Jimmy D’Aquisto’s marvelous instruments but cannot afford the tens of thousands of dollars some of the originals now command (who can?), I'm happy that the D’Aquisto family has granted to Shiro Arai the production rights to all D’Aquisto’s classic designs.
These handcrafted instrument are lovingly made by Aria in Japan with incredible attention to quality, materials and workmanship and, I hate to say it, but far better than anything being made in America these days. These instruments are made and imported to the US in extremely limited numbers as they are not mass produced, but rather handmade by Aria craftsmen.
Here are the specs of this beautiful guitar:
17 inch acoustic with with Ivory Multiply Binding
Solid AAAA Sitka Spruce top, computer pressed, then hand carved and tap tuned.
D'Aquisto Floating Humbucker
Controls: 1 Volume, 1 Tone on Pickguard
Schaller M6 Vintage Gold Plated Tuners
Back and Sides of select AAA flamed maple.
Solid one piece Maple neck with adjustable truss rods
Bridge, Tailpiece and pickguard in solid African Ebony
Fretboard – select African Ebony
22 Frets #213
25 1/2” scale length
Nut width 1 3/4”
TKL Original Hardshell case
July 14, 2006
Priorities?
The other night I was wearing my Chuck Taylor's. Some guy came up to the bandstand to leave a tip and said, "...Million dollar guitar, twenty dollar shoes!"
July 13, 2006
Stubbed Toe
The damage and the perpetrator. It's not so bad until I have to put shoes on.
July 12, 2006
Archtop Guitars
The new D'Aquisto arrived this afternoon. Now they look like brothers...
July 08, 2006
For What it's Worth
---A new law in Florida says that the driver of a vehicle overtaking a cyclist must maintain "a safe distance of not less than 3 feet between the vehicle and the bicycle . . . ." According to the League of American Bicyclists, Arizona, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Utah and Wisconsin have similar laws.
A night on the GA AT
Home alone, unemployed for the weekend, and not feeling much like bike racing, I grabbed my always-ready backpack, loaded the dogs in the car and headed to the mountains. The weather was perfect so we parked at Unicoi Gap and started climbing up and over Blue Mountain. The trail starts off right up the mountain gaining about 1000 feet elevation in less than a mile. After a couple of miles of hiking we pitched our tent at the site of the former Rocky Knob shelter.
This morning we packed up the tent and hiked a couple of miles West to Chattahoochee Gap (the spring on the side trail is headwaters of Chattahoochee River) and made a short visit up to Jacks Gap, then turned around and headed back about 6 miles to the parked car.
There is a section on this part of the trail that is very steep and rocky and looks almost "prehistoric" to me. There are huge rocks, large fallen cypress trees and ferns as far as you can see.
As we reached the top of Blue Mountain on the return hike we came face to face with the biggest Black Bear I've ever seen. Apparently we have gotten better at our stealthy "Indian walk" and we stopped about 20 feet away from where the bear was standing on the trail. A couple seconds passed before it realized we were there and then it disappeared into the trees. I was amazed at how fast and agile a creature that big can be.
Sorry, the digital camera went on a trip this weekend with Bev to visit family in KY, and I didn't bring along my sketch book so there no images to document this spontaneous adventure.
July 06, 2006
DQ-NYE (take two)
D' Aquisto New Yorker Electric Guitar
Last month I special-ordered a new Almond color model (here's the blog entry), but it turns out this model is currently not in production, so that order was terminated. I searched high and low for another good deal and found a Natural color model from birdlandmusic.net in Leeds, NY. Not quite as sweet of a deal but hopefully it will arrive soon and pass inspection.
Aria USA carries on the tradition of late master guitar builder James D'Aquisto with there new D'Aquisto series of jazz guitars. Each guitar features a seventeen inch wide, full acoustic body, binding and a solid sitka spruce arched top. These are truly some of the the finest arch-top hollowbody jazz guitars in the world. D'Aquisto guitars are now made exclusively by Aria.
D'Aquisto guitars feature modern classic styling, unassailable workmanship and deep, rich tones that rival any jazzer made today. DQ-NYE has a classic jazz look and sound with a 1 piece Maple neck, adjustable bridge, 22 fret Ebony fingerboard with ivory binding, an original floating humbucking pickup with a volume and tone control on the pickguard, pearl inlays and Schaller, M6 22K Gold plated tuning machineheads. Includes free D'Aquisto hardshell case.
July 03, 2006
Road Hogs Go To Hell
Monday July 3rd re-visited the "back 3-gaps" again. Jack-Jack Attack, Eric Hollifield, Theron "the Badger", and 4 or 5 others joined me in Helen for a 9 AM start. After a slight delay we cycled out of town through the paths in Unicoi Hill park.
About an hour later the temperature was rising and six of us had traversed the infamous Hogpen Gap via the Richard B. Russell Scenic Highway. Another thirty minutes later, after back-tracking and searching and waiting on two riders who started with us, we decided they must have bailed out and turned around - it's a brut of a climb.
As we started up and over Jacks Gap, I drifted off the back of the group by myself and settled into an easier tempo. By now the roads were getting a little busier with tourists and sport drivers.
Nearing the top of the final climb at Unicoi Gap and I was buzzed pretty close by two speeding dualies (six-tired pick-up trucks) towing large travel trailers. On the way down the other side I came upon Theron, who was clearly injured and bleeding. I found out that one of the dualies had hit him and just kept going. In fact at least 50 cars had passed this obviously wounded man on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere and didn't even slow down. Let me just say right here; it's a fucked-up society we live in!
Appearently the assholes in the dualies had tried to run the other cyclist off the road as well but were not quite as successful. I searched the town of Helen for the homicidal maniacs in thier road-hogging vehicles, hoping to ID them and call the police, but they were not to be found.
July 01, 2006
Jittery Joes Ride
Went on a group ride with Nathan O'Neill, Nelson Vails, Philip Wong, Marc Anderson and about 75 other cyclist.
photo gallery
Group video pre-ride 5.8MB Windows Media Video
photo and story at www.thebeanteam.com
