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Respect the Stage… Respect the Audience by Igor Saavedra
I’ve addressed this issue briefly in couple old articles. But I think it deserves going a little further with the analysis.
If I would have to choose one of the biggest mistakes that we the instrumentalist’s have the tendency to commit while we play, I would go for the topic of “playing for ourselves”.
I’m not a rock or a pop player myself. In fact quite the contrary. I’m not interested in showbiz at all. I’m that typical idealistic nerd musician that loves instrumental music, fusion and jazz, because we like it, and that’s the way the general audience perceive us. By “general audience” I mean the 90% of the people who turn on the radio and attend to concerts all over the world. We can state that these are not the people we are interested in reaching with our music, so that lives us with just the 10% of the spectrum, or maybe less. So the big question now it would be, are we doing what’s necessary to communicate effectively and be able to at least get the desired attention of this small, specific and “initiated” musical audience?
In my humble opinion the answer is, No!
What I’m saying here comes from a profound self analysis, and from numerous questions I’ve done with musicians and students through the years. In other words my opinion is not just my opinion, it is also what I’ve been hearing from people.
One of the few things I like from the musicians that choose to dedicate their lives to playing commercial music is the huge importance they always assign to the audience and the stage itself. That’s why that audience is usually so unconditional even when many times the musical outcome is quite deficient.
What is music about? Why do we play music? What is our main intention when we go on stage standing in front of an audience instead of having fun at home with our music? There are many questions, and the answers tend to be elusive at best.
In my opinion, the main word here is “Communication”. So we have to choose what we want to communicate, because like it or not, while we are on stage, we’ll be always communicating something even if we communicate that we don’t really care about communicating with the audience, at all. Understand?
We can also communicate that we just care about ourselves and that we love “self-gratification” with our instrument (there’s a better word that starts with an “M”)
We can communicate that we’re good, and expert musicians. We know a lot about music, and we’ve done all our homework in relation to harmony, scales, rhythm, and technique, etc.
We can communicate that we are extremely professional, and we have the best amplifying systems and the best instruments money can buy (or endorse).
We can communicate that we hate the system and that we go against it. We can help ourselves by wearing black leather jackets and pants and singing or screaming with rough voices.
We can communicate that we look well dressed, hot and handsome, and at the same time we are communicating we are available for all the chicks.
Everything I’ve mentioned above is being done right now over thousands of stages and in front of millions of people every day and every night all over the world.
Please note that I mentioned we’re talking about different types of behaviors, some adopted by musicians who play more commercial music like Hip Hop, Rock, or Pop, and other behaviors usually adopted by musicians who play fusion, jazz, and instrumental music in general.
So what’s my point?
First of all, on stage, Be Yourself!! But this common phrase is not as simple as it looks. Let’s say I’m an angry person, and I aspire to “be myself on stage”. Needles to say, this is exactly what I’ll be communicating and “sharing” with the audience. So before we look at the phrase “be yourself” or “express yourself”, which these days is even more “En Vogue” than the other, I think it’s a moral duty to precede that phrase with the following sentence: “Improve yourself as a person, be honest, be a better human being, be generous, be kind, express love through your actions, and after that, PLEASE “Be yourself wherever you are and especially on stage”.
Always remember people pay to see YOU. If you don’t care about them, if you give them something different than what was said they were going to receive, you’ll be literally swindling them. Please don’t confuse what I’m saying here with the fact that the audience can like or dislike your concert.., that’s a completely different matter related with more subjective aspects. But there are certain aspects that are really objective (if objectivism exists), like don’t turn your back to the audience, speak clear and loud enough so they can hear you, don’t be drunk or stoned on stage so you’re barely able to play properly, at least rehearse a little bit and don’t think that because you are a jazz player you are so good or so cool that you and your group can make mistakes and “It’ll always sound cool”, etc.
When you play music on a stage, you don’t need to think about the music, in fact, don’t think, just FEEL and look inside yourself for the best and the most positive aspects of your feelings and pass them on to the audience naturally and unfiltered through your playing. If you are communicating honest and luminous feelings through your music, that’s exactly what you’ll get back from the audience, AMPLIFIED!!
In a concert situation, the audience is the best amplification system ever created!
The Virtuous Cycle begins (or not), and you’ll be responsible for that!
Respect the Stage…Respect the Audience!!
Bass Videos
Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes…
It is always great to meet a super busy bassist who simply exudes a love for music and his instrument. Erick “Jesus” Coomes fits this description exactly. Hailing from Southern California, “Jesus” co-founded and plays bass for Lettuce and has found his groove playing with numerous other musicians.
Join us as we hear of his musical journey, how he gets his sound, his ongoing projects, and his plans for the future.
Photo, Bob Forte
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Visit Online
www.lettucefunk.com
IG @jesuscsuperstar
FB@jesuscoomes
FB @lettucefunk
Bass Videos
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
“These stories from the front are with real-life, day-to-day musicians who deal with work life and gigging and how they make it work out. Each month, topics may include… the kind of gigs you get, the money, dealing with less-than-ideal rooms, as well as the gear you need to get the job done… and the list goes on from there.” – Steve the Bass Guy and Shawn Cav
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This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Check out our top 10 favorite basses on Instagram this week…
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Bass CDs
New Album: Jake Leckie, Planter of Seeds
Bassist Jake Leckie and The Guide Trio Unveil New Album Planter of Seeds,
to be released on June 7, 2024
Planter of Seeds is bassist/composer Jake Leckie’s third release as a bandleader and explores what beauty can come tomorrow from the seeds we plant today.
What are we putting in the ground? What are we building? What is the village we want to bring our children up in? At the core of the ensemble is The Guide Trio, his working band with guitarist Nadav Peled and drummer Beth Goodfellow, who played on Leckie’s second album, The Guide, a rootsy funky acoustic analog folk-jazz recording released on Ropeadope records in 2022. For Planter of Seeds, the ensemble is augmented by Cathlene Pineda (piano), Randal Fisher (tenor saxophone), and Darius Christian (trombone), who infuse freedom and soul into the already tightly established ensemble.
Eight original compositions were pristinely recorded live off the floor of Studio 3 at East West Studios in Hollywood CA, and mastered by A.T. Michael MacDonald. The cover art is by internationally acclaimed visual artist Wayne White. Whereas his previous work has been compared to Charles Mingus, and Keith Jarrett’s American Quartet with Charlie Haden, Leckie’s new collection sits comfortably between the funky odd time signatures of the Dave Holland Quintet and the modern folk-jazz of the Brian Blade Fellowship Band with a respectful nod towards the late 1950s classic recordings of Ahmad Jamal and Miles Davis.
The title track, “Planter of Seeds,” is dedicated to a close family friend, who was originally from Trinidad, and whenever she visited family or friends at their homes, without anyone knowing, she would plant seeds she kept in her pocket in their gardens, so the next season beautiful flowers would pop up. It was a small altruistic anonymous act of kindness that brought just a little more beauty into the world. The rhythm is a tribute to Ahmad Jamal, who we also lost around the same time, and whose theme song Poinciana is about a tree from the Caribbean.
“Big Sur Jade” was written on a trip Leckie took with his wife to Big Sur, CA, and is a celebration of his family and community. This swinging 5/4 blues opens with an unaccompanied bass solo, and gives an opportunity for each of the musicians to share their improvisational voices. “Clear Skies” is a cathartic up-tempo release of collective creative energies in fiery improvisational freedom. “The Aquatic Uncle” features Randal Fisher’s saxophone and is named after an Italo Calvino short story which contemplates if one can embrace the new ways while being in tune with tradition. In ancient times, before a rudder, the Starboard side of the ship was where it was steered from with a steering oar. In this meditative quartet performance, the bass is like the steering oar of the ensemble: it can control the direction of the music, and when things begin to unravel or become unhinged, a simple pedal note keeps everything grounded.
The two trio tunes on the album are proof that the establishment of his consistent working band The Guide Trio has been a fruitful collaboration. “Santa Teresa”, a bouncy samba-blues in ? time, embodies the winding streets and stairways of the bohemian neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro it is named for. The swampy drum feel on “String Song” pays homage to Levon Helm of The Band, a group where you can’t always tell who wrote the song or who the bandleader is, proving that the sum is greater than the individual parts. Early jazz reflected egalitarianism in collective improvisation, and this group dynamic is an expression of that kind of inclusivity and democracy.
“The Daughters of the Moon” rounds out the album, putting book ends on the naturalist themes. This composition is named after magical surrealist Italo Calvino’s short story about consumerism, in which a mythical modern society that values only buying shiny new things throws away the moon like it is a piece of garbage and the daughters of the moon save it and resurrect it. It’s an eco-feminist take on how women are going to save the world. Pineda’s piano outro is a hauntingly beautiful lunar voyage, blinding us with love. Leckie dedicates this song to his daughter: “My hope is that my daughter becomes a daughter of the moon, helping to make the world a more beautiful and verdant place to live.”
Bass CDs
Debut Album: Nate Sabat, Bass Fiddler
In a thrilling solo debut, bassist Nate Sabat combines instrumental virtuosity with a songwriter’s heart on Bass Fiddler…
The upright bass and the human voice. Two essential musical instruments, one with roots in 15th century Europe, the other as old as humanity itself.
On Bass Fiddler (Adhyâropa Records ÂR00057), the debut album from Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and bass virtuoso Nate Sabat, the scope is narrowed down a bit. Drawing from the rich and thriving tradition of American folk music, Sabat delivers expertly crafted original songs and choice covers with the upright bass as his lone tool for accompaniment.
The concept was born a decade ago when Sabat began studying with the legendary old-time fiddler Bruce Molsky at Berklee College of Music. “One of Bruce’s specialties is singing and playing fiddle at the same time. The second I heard it I was hooked,” recalls Sabat. “I thought, how can I do this on the bass?” From there, he was off to the races, arranging original and traditional material with Molsky as his guide. “Fast forward to 2020, and I — like so many other musicians — was thinking of how to best spend my time. I sat down with the goal of writing some new songs and arranging some new covers, and an entire record came out.” When the time came to make the album, it was evident that Molsky would be the ideal producer. Sabat asked him if he’d be interested, and luckily he was. “What an inspiration to work with an artist like Nate,” says Molsky. “Right at the beginning, he came to this project with a strong, personal and unique vision. Plus he had the guts to try for a complete and compelling cycle of music with nothing but a bass and a voice. You’ll hear right away that it’s engaging, sometimes serious, sometimes fun, and beautifully thought out from top to bottom.”
While this record is, at its core, a folk music album, Sabat uses the term broadly. Some tracks lean more rock (‘In the Shade’), some more pop (‘White Marble’, ‘Rabid Thoughts’), some more jazz (‘Fade Away’), but the setting ties them all together. “There’s something inherently folksy about a musician singing songs with their instrument, no matter the influences behind the compositions themselves,” Sabat notes. To be sure, there are plenty of folk songs (‘Louise’ ‘Sometimes’, ‘Eli’) and fiddling (‘Year of the Ox’) to be had here — the folk music fan won’t go hungry. There’s a healthy dose of bluegrass too (‘Orphan Annie’, ‘Lonesome Night’), clean and simple, the way Mr. Bill Monroe intended.
All in all, this album shines a light on an instrument that often goes overlooked in the folk music world, enveloping the listener in its myriad sounds, textures, and colors. “There’s nothing I love more than playing the upright bass,” exclaims Sabat. “My hope is that listeners take the time to sit with this album front to back — I want them to take in the full scope of the work. I have a feeling they’ll hear something they haven’t heard before.”
Available online at natesabat.bandcamp.com/album/walking-away
Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
Tour Touch Base (Bass) with Ian Allison
New Gear: Spector Woodstock Custom Collection Volume II
New Gear: The Dingwall John Taylor Signature Model
This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
New Gear: Esopus Guitars Launches New Acoustic/Electric Bass
Debut Album: Nate Sabat, Bass Fiddler
