Re: Keller Williams / jam bands/ rc50

[Richard Sales <richard@glasswing.com>]

On 27-Nov-06, at 2:27 PM, David Gans wrote:

> At 3:03 PM -0700 11/27/06, Krispen Hartung wrote:
>
> > Now, if we're talking the really good Phish improvs, that is a different story....those guys know how to jam without it being a mind numbing, THC induced, drone-on-the-same-string/scale-for-a-fucking-hour fest.  You could take a nap, wake up and hear the same shit playing.
>
> Ain't that the truth.  Much of what I hear in the "jam band" world is pretty dismal stuff.

I don't know anything about jam bands other than the little bit of work I did for the Grateful Dead.  I'm an old timer, so my favorite jam band would be John Coltrane and friends, maybe Miles Davis.  But whenever there's a big audience like that, strikes me that if you have the skills, which most of you do, why not play for those folks?  
> > What is left after stripping every other possible unique factor away from his set is that he appears to be one of the only successful guys doing it for large crowds...
>
> That is worth something.
>
> I am a songwriter first an foremost.  I use my loop devices for both accompaniment and improvisation.  I don't think everyone who uses loops has to spend their life at the bleeding edge of looping technology - it's okay for it to be a tool in service of their own muse.
>
> It's likely that my music isn't weird enough for some of you.  I can live with that.  But I feel that I'm making good use of the tools.
> >

I'm losing the formatting so... Richard says:

> > What counts is the music, David!  I'm with you.  My criteria for music is, "How long does it hold my attention?"  I don't care if it's recorded on limestone and looped with WIll Rogers lasso.  If it keeps me there then hallelujah!  If not, it's on to the next.  It's only music and the rest is for the 'academics'.  So even though I've been doing music for a very long time, I still see myself as a listener who happens to play & record music.  For a living.  The tool thing can be a real trap - that equipment makers LOVE... and in the world of studios it can be a corn maze that you never get out of.    

> > Once you hear an audience go wild and have folks come up to you afterward and tell you how much meaning you've brought to their lives you know what it's all about.  The rest is for pundits, professors and Consumer's Reports.

peace :)

Richard






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>
> David Gans - david@trufun.com or david@gdhour.com
> Truth and Fun, Inc., 484 Lake Park Ave. #102, Oakland CA 94610-2730
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