Often viewed as a “Jazz 101″ kind of tune, Autumn Leaves has to be one of the most commonly played and recorded standards of the idiom. In terms of playing an entire set, this meeting was the first time Steve Uccello and I had played together and that is the perfect time to cherry-pick from the Standards repertoire.
Based on the Cycle of 5th’s, this tune is a remarkable vehicle for improvisation.
Dig it!!
Though I typically play these shows solo, yesterday, I had the good fortune to have Monterey-based bassist, Steve Uccello come to the studio to join me during my first Ustream concert of the year. Steve and I met via Twitter last year and together organized a wonderful house concert.
It was super cool to play again. Look for more of these excerpts in the coming days.
You can get the audio download and “Pay What You Want (even nothing)” here.
For several days after the beautiful House Concert at Juan’s place last week, media has been streaming into my DropBox. Super cool, photos, videos and stereo recordings.
I’ve been putting some of it together and want to share some of it with you now. The shear volume of stuff far exceeded my expectation. I thought I was going to have to upgrade my DropBox account! It will take awhile just to post everything, but here is a start.
Nardis.
Don’t You Realize
Armando’s Rumba
All-Star Jam
Thanks so much to those that played, attended and participated in some way. More to come…
This past Friday, April 10th 2009, we had the good fortune to follow through with a House Concert that was orchestrated, end-to-end on Twitter. With our new Twitter friends Steve Uccello and Gustaf Fjelstrom, we set about establishing a venue, organizing talent, inviting guests and in doing so, a magical event occurred.
Steve found a gracious and enthusiastic host in Juan Candelaria who has a gorgeous home in Capitlola CA. He was a wonderful host who helped set the magical tone for the evening.
The dialog for the planning stage of the evening were all conducted in the public time line on Twitter where anyone interested could ‘listen-in’ and contribute to the project/ conversation. Several good people did just that: Zach Parkes, bass player, blogger and overall positive guy took photos. This was all surprisingly effortless and crystalized very rapidly. No mainstream media (radio or print) promotional avenues were used. All planning and correspondence was done via Twitter. Advice and well-wishes came from all over the world, including from our good friend Steve Lawson, who, is my personal House Concert Guru (Thanks Steve!).
The eclectic mix of music presented (Categorized “Neo-Chamber Music” by Zach) was a blend of rootsy singing by Aaron Ford, looping magic by solo bassist Steve Uccello and magical soundscapes by Gustaf’s electric cello, preceded the Atmos Trio set. The Concert concluded with us inviting all the performers back for an impromptu musical exchange. Made-to-order Magic!
Thinking it might be fun to continue the theme of community that emerged on twitter, we encouraged guests to take photos and make audio and video recording of the concert. We supplied a URL where they could share their content–and share they did. Over the course of the next couple of days, over 3 gigabytes of data arrived on my desktop. Sure, I saw some cameras and microphones strategically placed around the room, but the extent to which this event was documented really surprised me!
This is one of the things that make House Concerts special: Everyone can participate. Everyone is involved.
If you prefer to participate as a spectator, you certainly have that option. If you want to be more involved–that is welcome as well. In this setting, the audience members are not merely “asses to fill seats.” The audience is a significant component to the event. They have stepped up to fill the valued roll as a collective collaborator.
In the coming days, I will post video and audio content and, if there is interest, make it available for you to edit remix and share any way you like.
Want to host a House Concert of your own? You can learn more about it and have the Atmos Trio play in your home.
In the spirit of the DIY credo, artists have been busily starting accounts on various Social Media web services in effort to promote their wares. MySpace, FaceBook…the usual suspects; Fueled by the idea that now, at long last, the ‘playing field as been leveled,’ and everyone can now find all ‘my stuff.’
The flip-side–no one is interested in being marketed too. It’s spammy and impersonal–so, please, just knock it off.
These tools, if used effectively, can be used to engage. Not enrage!!
Case-in-point: I have been fascinated by solo bassist Steve Lawson’s amazingly effective use of Twitter to connect with his audience. He even managed to book an entire US Tour via Twitter!
He did this by conversing with people–not talking ‘at’ them.
Inspired by Steve’s success, I set about changing my own approach. Rather than thinking: Promote, promote, promote… I switched to, inform, invite and engage people. This little paradigm shift has had some interesting results.
One is that I’ve connected with some incredibly talented people. Several of whom I would likely never met otherwise. Many are within a 45 mile radius of where I live–but never met. I had the good fortune to meet Ariane Cap, an outrageously talented and versatile bass player. Shortly after meeting via Twitter, we played a gig and will likely continue to do so. For non-musos, you should know, great bass players are worth their weight in gold.
The amazing part is that Ariane and I have lived within 3 miles of one another for four years, and didn’t meet until we connected on Twitter.
Others include bassists Jeff Schmidt and Steve Uccello with whom a House Concert is being organized.
The point isn’t so much about which tools you use, it’s actually holding a conversation with people. To be ‘real’ and genuine is. Why should anyone care otherwise?I have been cultivating valuable relationships on FriendFeed as well. Whether learning about other tech driven services like Last.fm or finding interested/ interesting people who may be interested in hosting a House Concert, buying CDs or viewing your videos. It’s all there.
Just remember, it’s about the connection, the conversation. Be Social.
