Good morning! It's Friday. 9:15, 34 degrees. Nursing that first cup of coffee, and easing into the day. Almost eight years now since I left the world of work, so there have been a lot of leisurely mornings to replace the old hectic ones. Almost becoming a hazy memory. But I still remember it in my bones, being jarred into awareness by an alarm clock and then scrambling to get myself together for another big day. The things we do to survive...
Music news. YES! Not the band, just an exclamation. As in yes, for once I have some. News, that is. A good day in the Music Lab, working away in my makeshift home studio. Yesterday's efforts yielded a nice 12-bar blues. I'm getting a little slicker on that 5-string bass, able to access more of those subsonic notes on the B string. Even gave myself a solo on this one. Also a few keyboard solos, to add more variety.
There are a few folks out there whose second instrument is piano, but who can sail just as well in improv as they do on their main axe. Chip McNeill is one. Just as scary on piano as he is on tenor saxophone. Unfortunately, I can't add my name to this list. I have some keyboard dexterity, but my fingers don't always know where to go. But like the low B string on the bass, practice at least makes better. Maybe not Chip McNeill better, but at least Sam Crain better.
So this is looking like another creative day at the office. Still got a few morning rituals to go through: another couple cups of coffee(I limit myself to one pot), Lumosity- but should be good later on in the day. With the tune I recorded yesterday, I now have five newbies, and all straight-ahead jazz(as opposed to some of the weirdo electronic things I do). So I'll be remixing all this very soon, and sharing with you guys!
And that's pretty much it for now. Getting my second shot on or around the 30th. What I'm most looking forward to is resuming some kind of social life. Then we'll see about anything else. But I'll always have music to share, one way or another. So thanks for stopping in and wading through all this. Happy Friday to you! For now, I'm outa here. More later. PS Today's pic was taken in Calgary Alberta CANADA. July 1985. I was in a band that played both Calgary and Edmonton in that month. The caption on this picture was Sam turning on that Illinois charm. PPS Today's tune is called Mesquite. It's from my album Tele-ology. Operators-yadda yadda yadda. 