Jammin' and Lovin' It

Well, I took the first steps into the next phase of my quest for musical domination. Last week, I went to two jams and have fallen in love with performing all over again.

Thursday was my debut at back room of The Grisly Pear on MacDougal Street in the Village, and there were about 30 folks there, mostly guitars, a harmonica player, a mandolin and a violin, and the format is a kind of sing-a-long/karaoke type jam (all acoustic). This group is led by Rich Fosella, a nice guy with a great voice who runs the NY Musicians Group along with Phil Robinson. A few of us were first-timers, and we were able to jump right into the fun. Rich has prepared songbooks for our use, and the charts are very easy to follow. This group has meets in Washington Square Park, which was of course very pleasing to my ears.

On Saturday, I went to The Studio on W.30th Street in Manhattan, and jammed with an electric group for four hours. It was fun hearing my bass on a 'real amp' and hearing my voice projected in this room. This group is led by Rob Watson, a bass player. I got to play bass for two hours, and guitar for two hours. Knowing that I will be playing in a room with another bass player, I will also bring along my electric guitar to the next jam. This was a fun jam, we were loud and rocking out. We closed with Led Zep's Black Dog, and it sounded absolutely wonderful.

No matter the circumstances that befall me, I always come out happier and healthier when music is involved. Seems music always helps me find my way.

Oh, another thing...last night I went to see the new Circque du Soleil winter show, Wintuk, at the WaMu Theater at MSG, and it was fantastic. The costumes, characters and music were breathtaking, but the real star of the show was the acrobatic abilities of the players. These people are amazingly limber and quite deft in their craft. If you ever have a chance to get to a CdS show, by all means do so. You haven't really seen them until you've seen them live!

Nothing much happening on the musical scene this week, being a holiday weekend, and I'm going away for the weekend. Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and try to stay out of the malls on Black Friday. If you do have to go shopping, please do wear safety gear!

Ciao Baby!