A rainy day in Nui town.

 

...and I've got to drive to Upper Hutt!

I'll take my pills and head off at about 7.30am because I need to drop Nef at Waterloo Station.

I've booked a motel in Wellington so I can go to that Jazz jam. Maybe I shouldn't have, but I'll go ahead with it now. It's on at a place called The Undercurrent in Tory St. and starts at 8pm. A late night for me!

Fun.

Enjoy your day.

Sin, if you need to.

Stormy Weather.

 Don't know why 

There's no sun up in the sky,

Stormy weather,

Since my babe and I 

Ain't together,

Keeps raining all the time.

LISTEN HERE.

              * * *

Firstly, huge thanks to Peter and Lynn for the offer of a bed for the night. Fortunately, our house is fine. They obviously heard about the flooding in the Nui. We're lucky that our house is on the side of a hill. Thanks though, guys. Much appreciated.

I spent a lot of last night listening to the rain and wondering if I would / could go into work. It could be a difficult drive to Upper Hutt, what with all the flooding. I awoke, just after 6am, to an email that told me the school was closed. 

YES!!!

I've just had a coffee to celebrate.

I guess you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

[Bathroom visit coming up.]

[Now.]

[Done.]

So, I see that Old One Good Foot (Rob) is busy recording violin tunes. I suppose that keeps him busy. I guess I'll get a bit of practice done today. I'm not going to the open mic on Thursday evening now. It is possible that I might go to a jazz jam in Wellington tomorrow night, but it depends on the weather. It's like practising with a metronome - time will tell.

Well, there you go, that's my post for this morning.

Don't forget to read the posts in our LINKS.

Ciao tutti.

Driving on SH2 could be classed as a sin today.

My Bebop playing is under fire.

 Two comments were left on my last posts.

Gosh!

Robert comes back after fucking off for a few weeks (his blog was all closed up) and now he's a Bebop expert! AND he's putting words into my mouth!

Actually, I'm happy to have a Bebop play off with Robert any time. I don't think that he has played a proper jazz gig in his life. 

* * *

It's raining as I write, and as I drink my coffee.

Yes, yes, Peter, I know. Allow for bathroom time before driving my daughter to the station in Lower Hutt. Steph is moving to Melbourne in a couple of weeks and this is her last week at work. I'm back at work tomorrow, weather permitting. There is supposed to be quite a lot more rain and I need to drive to Upper Hutt tomorrow. SH2 was flooded yesterday, or was it the day before?

I practised for 1 1/2 hours yesterday. My time was down a bit because I have to be careful about my hands. I'm still thinking of going to an open mic night on Thursday. The plan is to play The Accordion Lady and OBS. I'll have SGB up my sleeve for the very off chance that I get to play an encore. Hey, it pays to be prepared. Coffee finished - that was nice! [Bathroom time.] That was quick!

* * *

I really started to get into Jazz around 1974. I'd bought a cheap bass guitar. Hearing the Rodger Fox big band at university was a big influence - those guys just seemed to be having so much fun! I also fell in love with the sound of a walking bass. I bought my first Fender Precision bass around 1976. I also started working on double bass around 1975. The violin took second place for quite a while. It was fun coming back to the violin quite a while later, though I did play some viola for a while. I was helping with the youth orchestra in Tauranga and they needed violas.

Oops, sorry, I have to go and get Steph to the station!

Ciao tutti!

Coffee needed.

 And you know what that means.

Ah well, I've already visited that room three times during a long cold night.

I did 2 1/2 hours of practice yesterday. 2 hours on the violin. I'm thinking of going to an open mic night next Thursday. If I do, I'll probably play The Orange Blossom Special and The Accordion Lady, with Sweet Georgia Brown as a backup. I'm being very careful with the hands and elbow. Fortunately they seem to be holding out.

Ah, it's nice to be sitting by my heater!

I'm also enjoying my coffee.

I won't be playing A Night in Tunisia at the open mic night (if I go) because I don't think that Bebop would go down well there. It'll probably be full of folkies and Bluegrass fans. The OBS is a piece that I've worked on for many, many years and I keep making little 'improvements' to it. It's a fun piece to play. 

Well, that's my lot for this morning.

Ciao tutti.

For Robert.

 Check out 'A Night in Tunisia' HERE.

Party Time!

We're attending a 1st. birthday party this morning. The birthday boy is a good friend of mine. His older brother is a good friend of mine too.

It's pissing down in the Nui. Really pissing down! Never mind, the party will be inside.

My hands are feeling a bit better this morning, though my right elbow is still very sore. I'll go very easy on the practice today. Maybe it will be more 'head practice'? 

I've added Robert's blog back into our LINKS list. I see he's building rosary beads now. Why doesn't he just use his ten fingers? 

Peter will probably be off to see (listen to) the Mozart Requiem this evening. He certainly knows how to have fun! Well, I can't actually be certain about that.

Robert must be getting sick of Haydn's cello concertos because he's talking about having a go at A Night in Tunisia. That could be interesting. I wonder if he'll record it?

I'm presently having a coffee. Yes, yes, I know!

Today's party starts at 10am. It's all built around when little ones need to sleep. There will just be family there - from mummy's side and daddy's side. It'll be nice to catch up with the people from mummy's side. 

Back to work next week. Well, I only work for two days and those are both short days. I can handle that, as can my bell.

The weather is not improving. Robert might need waterproof rosary beads today. Peter might need to wear long trousers this evening.

I do hope he tidies himself up a bit.

Actually, I'm very keen to do some improvising work over the last chords (sort of like a coda) of 'A Night in Tunisia'.

There are some interesting chords there. The 'melody' that goes over them 
is interesting too.

I might have a bash at that before going to the party. Don't worry, I'll be careful.

Ciao tutti e stai attento.

A Night in Tunisia.

 

Wow! What a cold morning. I'm certainly not in Tunisia! 

I started reworking A Night in Tunisia yesterday. It's a tune I've played for quite a while, but I want to take it to the next level. There are some tricky little bits that will certainly add to it. Unfortunately, I have a sore left arm elbow (I've had it for a while) and some of my left hand fingers are a little stiff. I'll have to be careful, but practice must go on. 

Bass practice has been going well. Surprisingly the big bass is a bit gentler on my left hand elbow.

I hope you're all using our LINKS to read the blogs available there. 

That's it for this morning.

Ciao tutti.

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| G-maj7 | G-7 | Gb7#9 |      | Fmaj7...