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September 25th, 2012

9/25/2012

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The last two …. For now anyway!

9. Romero Lubambo, Newport Jazz Festival, 2009.  I had been delving into Brazilian jazz in the form of bossa nova and samba for a couple years when I caught Romero at Newport that summer. I’m a bit ashamed to admit I didn’t know much about him at the time, other than the fact that he was generally recognized as a master of this type of music. I heard him twice that afternoon but it was my initial exposure that I’ll always remember. Newport Jazz Festival takes place on the grounds of an old fort that sticks out into Newport Harbor. There are three music venues there, a small stage under a tent with seating for perhaps 200, a bigger one under a bigger tent that seats three times that many, and of course the big main stage with lawn seating. Romero was playing with his regular bassist and drummer but they were there to back up an alto sax man whose name I’ve forgotten. I was fortunate to sit about twenty feet from Romero, which I did on purpose with the intention of studying his technique and hopefully pick up a few tidbits.

Well, at this point in time I was beginning to feel like I was at least beginning to get a handle on the basic bossa nova chords and rhythms. “Pride goeth before a fall,” as some wise person once said. From the first few bars it was obvious I was a babe in the woods when it came to this music. Romero’s playing was sweet, swinging, melodic and just…. right. And way beyond any of my knowledge. It was an absolutely enthralling hour, to say the least. It came to me at that moment that the reason I was (and still am) so drawn to that wonderful music is that it was mostly written on guitar, for guitarists. This was a revelation! Most of what are considered jazz standards were written on piano and while they can all certainly can and are played by virtuoso guitarists, those tunes from Brazil just “fit” in a guitarist’s hands. The changes are logical, for lack of better description. And they sound oh so good.

I went home and immediately began learning everything I could about Romero Lubambo and also bought a wonderful instructional DVD that he produced a few years ago. It taught me a few of his tricks but also focused on the groove and how to get into it. I continue to explore Brazilian jazz to this day and while I don’t think I’ll ever come close to Romero’s chops it is a journey that I love to be on.

10. My brother John’s senior recital at Oberlin Conservatory, 1979 (I think!).  I am very proud of my little brother. He is the REAL musician in the family. He has made a very nice career in a field of musical endeavor that few can claim to: classical music. He presently plays with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and lives in Kuala Lumpur. Previously he was with the Virginia Symphony, the Thunder Bay Philharmonic and other “bands” as he sometimes calls them!

That year when John was about to graduate with a Master’s Degree in Performance from Oberlin – one of the most difficult and prestigious music conservatories in this country, if not the world – my mom and dad, plus my uncle and aunt drove out to Ohio to witness this all-important event, the culmination of John’s intense schooling. Uncle Irv, a great musician, teacher and conductor in his own rite, had been John’s trumpet teacher from moment one right through high school and I don’t know what was more gratifying: watching my parent’s pride or Uncle Irv’s. Irv and my dad, grandfather and most likely my great grandfather too (clarinet player in the original P.T. Barnum Circus Band in the late 1800s) were wonderful people but stern taskmasters when it came to learning an instrument. They really didn’t know any other way! So when John absolutely nailed his most difficult and final piece in the program and his school friends, teachers and all of we in his family stood and cheered it was an extremely emotional moment for me, to say the least. That was my little brother up there! He had kicked some musical ass and I flashed on him struggling with the trumpet in the early years. Now, there was no doubt about it. He was a true master of his instrument, and soon would become a true professional musician. I regret that in spite of his being in the Malaysian for over ten years, I have not heard him with that world-class symphony. Perhaps I never will but its almost enough to know that he is out there doing it.

OK, enough with the sentimentality, already! I hope you’ve enjoyed my 10 most memorable musical experiences that I have witnessed. I welcome comment on yours!

Peace & good music,

Gene


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My Favorite Music Moments, Part 2

9/15/2012

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6.  Randy Burns & the Sky Dog Band, River Shack Coffee House, Mystic, Connecticut, summer of 1970. I can almost guarantee no one reading this will have heard of, or remember this band. However, they did produce one album on a major label (Mercury) and had a good following in the late 60s and early 70s in the Greater New York and southern New England area. So why do I include in my “most memorable” list? For reasons that beyond just music.

I grew up in Mystic and after attending four of the original Newport Folk Festivals and passionately playing the guitar for a few years I was very psyched when the River Shack opened that summer. It was a funky old fishermen’s shack right on Mystic River, just off Main Street. The place was not large but seated perhaps a hundred people on salvaged folding chairs around the classic wooden telephone wire spools that were used as tables. I can’t remember who or how it was run; certainly it was some sort of private enterprise, not one of the church-run “coffee houses” that were common in those days. But the people who did run it were from New Haven, real hippies by our standards and they brought in quite a few marginal performers from the New Haven and New York area. From the very first time I heard Randy and his band (Randy on guitar, a man who just sang high harmony, an electric bass player and sometimes a lead guitarist, plus a guy who played various types of hand percussion instruments) I was blown away – he had both the classic look of a hippie musician and he wrote some great tunes. But it was his voice and stage presence that were most impressive, a high baritone voice with that achy rasp that conveyed (at least in my view) a world-weary existence based on life on the road and experiences that I only dreamed of. You could tell that, given the right breaks, he could easily be as famous as any of the singer/songwriters that were becoming all the rage.

But over the course of that summer and the next, he changed. His performances grew erratic and short. Sometimes he slurred or forgot words to his own songs. We just chalked it up to perhaps a stronger than usual joint before a performance but that wasn’t it. Even his band members could be seen scowling and shaking their heads, and the bass player and lead guitar left. Finally I saw him in a concert in a larger venue in Mystic and he staggered out on stage, mumbled incoherently into the mic, and could not even tune his guitar. His singing partner helped him off stage and the show was over.

I later learned that he had crawled into a bottle and couldn’t find his way out. Word was a couple years later that he had lost everything and was living on the street in New York. Decades passed and I learned not long ago that he has pulled himself together and is again performing, mostly in the New Haven area. And he has regained a small but loyal following.

So I learned a great lesson. I’d heard of musicians who lost everything to booze but I’d never seen it close up and it made a huge impression. Randy could have had just about anything, I think, in the acoustic music world. But forces beyond his control took over. I never knew him personally but what I learned was that in spite of great talent and being in the right place at the right time, we must take control of our own destiny. Or pay a huge price.

7. Mary Chapin Carpenter, Cape Cod Melody Tent, summer 1991.  I’d heard a few cuts from her just-released “Come On, Come On” album that went on to win virtually every award in country music the next year and a student has turned me on to one of her previous albums. So I really wanted to hear her when she came to the Melody Tent, which is a great “in the round” venue that operates here on the Cape in the summer. The concert was one of those magic moments you get to experience in music once in a while when you sense a performer has finally reached what he or she has been striving for but still exhibits a joy and love of the music that set them upon the quest in the first place. Her band, anchored by the great John Jennings on guitar (he now plays bass with her) was superb, the pacing of the show was perfect, and Chapin’s performance was just about perfect. They played just about every cut on “Come on, Come On” and the spirit and energy were electric. Although I feel she is still great, her songs in recent years have turned so introspective that sometimes they border on narcissism in my opinion. But I still look back on that night in Hyannis and smile. Just GREAT music.

8.  Tony Bennett, Cape Cod Melody Tent, 2008. What can I say that hasn’t been said about this legendary singer? Even at 80 years old that year, Tony still has almost all his chops and his performance was a study in how a classic singer of the Great American Songbook should perform. Backed by his long-time piano player and guitarist Gray Sargent, plus a bass player and drummer, Tony delivered a spectacular performance, at one point putting down the mic to demonstrate how lounge singers learned to project "back in the day." And every one of the 2000 people could hear him just fine. What struck me the most was his genuine love of and respect the songs of the Great American Songbook that he sings so well. I regret never having heard Sinatra or Ella live, but at least I can say I heard Tony, who definitely belongs in the company of those greats.



In the next installment I'll talk about my final two musical experiences that shaped how I perform and hear music.


Peace & good music,
Gene  

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    Gene Bourque

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