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.

| Em7b5 |       | Eb7#11 |      | Dm7 |      | G7#11 |      |     

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

My Gentle Giant Intro.

 

then

then

then

Bass practice.

 

Practice doesn't make perfect, but it makes better.

I did an hour on each instrument today. 'Not Too Bad'.

Four strong winds!

 The four men who, under the guidance of Richard (of RBB), will take you into the blogging future.

Akish The Philistine - Angry Jesus (hosting RBB2) - Evil Doctor Richard (hosting RBB3) - The Curmudgeon

Read on in our LINKS!

New hosts for RBB2 & RBB3.

 Use our LINKS to check them out!

Richard's Bass Bag 2!

Richard's Bass Bag 3!

Things are stepping up around here!!!

The new age of blogging is upon us!

 

Search the LINKS and see what's new!

Five bloggers have come on board so far:

• Akish The Philistine
• Richard's Bass Bag 
• Richard's Bass Bag 2
• Richard's Bass Bag 3
• The Curmudgeon

All you have to do is search through our LINKS and see what's new!

Go and have fun!

It's very early in the morning but I'm drinking a coffee!

 WHY?

[Hey, Richard (of RBB), you know where you'll be taking a trip to soon!]

Yes, yes, I know. Let me explain.

Yesterday morning I was fooling around with the LINKS on my blog. I can't remember quite what I was trying to do but somehow, I managed to delete all my links except for one.

Look...

Only one link left! TC's.

I can probably reestablish some, like Richard's Bass Bag 2 & 3, but others will be gone for good.

[Oops, bathroom time is getting close.]

Bob's discombobulate Bobadilish is certainly gone for good (I'd kept a link). Ah well, it didn't look like he was ever coming back. So, at present I just have the one link.

Isolation.

Ah well, life goes on.

On the upside I did 2 1/2 hours of practice yesterday - 2 hours of violin and 1/2 an hour of double bass. Not too bad! I chose to do more violin because I have 12 tunes to cover there, as opposed to 5 on the bass. I've been working on that thing I showed you in yesterday's post. It's an extension on another idea but it has taken a bit of sorting out. I'm also working on the chord progression for Anthropology.

[Bathroom time.]

[Done.]

As you all in the North Island know, we're expecting a storm a bit later today. Cyclone Vaianu. Hopefully our area will get the least of it. Thorndon should be okay too. Peter should be safe on his third floor. He might even be able to ring for a cup of tea. 

Well, I think I've covered all my topics for this morning. I was pleased to see the Hurricanes have a good win yesterday. 

42 - 19 over the blues. Yes!

Go, the Hurricanes!

Ciao tutti.

Okay, what's all this about?

 

Well, I'm just working on something for my tune The Immigrants. I don't think you'll be interested, but it should give me a really good intro to the tune. I had a very busy day yesterday, what with lawns and things, and only achieved half an hour of practice. I certainly hope to put that right today. However, it was good that Daryl came around and helped me straighten the bridge on The Bob.* Thanks Daryl.

I'll also need to do more practice on Anthropology today. Actually, I need to do more practice on all my 17 chosen pieces. Busy times.

It was good to see Peter write two posts in quick succession yesterday. The poor fellow turned up at golf but forgot his 'boarding pass'. Ah well, he got a walk out of it. Seems like he'll be looking for a new playing partner since his old one disappeared from the blogging scene. Good luck with that, Peter. No one has heard from Rob for nearly two weeks now. Maybe the Catholic church turned him into a martyr?

Saint Robert of Moera.

He'd turned up to what was to be a quiet evening mass with a possible few runs through the rosary. The church shop was well and truly shut up. It was definitely a bring your own rosary beads night. He was near the back and said a quiet prayer to Mary. There was a small group of old ladies sitting in the front pew. One had a baseball bat and one held a rather big knife. The priest who entered was a little fat fellow who was dressed in all the mass gear. He signaled the man sitting at the back to move up to the front. The priest spoke to him. "We need a patron saint. Someone who is prepared to give their life for Gsus." "It's spelt J-E-S-U-S." the man said. "Gsus is a musical term, used by people like my sinning brother. I've recently left his blogging community because he's going to Hell for eternity. Jesus certainly doesn't want him in Heaven." "Well, you'd better make an effort to get on with Mr. Linford." quipped the little fat priest. "Not everyone up there is going to be fun. Here's the deal, we let these ladies chop you up a bit and you become a martyr. We get our patron saint, and you walk into Heaven untouched and you don't have to live anywhere near Mr. Linford."

* One of my two double basses.

I did two good hours of practice yesterday.

 

Okay, okay, I know that no one really cares about my practice, especially not the blogger referred to as TC. The reality is that I only know of one regular reader of my blog and that's TC, aka Racoon Hat Man.

Sooooo, I might as well write whatever I like. Gsus wept!

Hey, before I get onto my practice schedule, please let me inform you that the Roman Catholic Church is a place full of bullshit. 

There, that's done and out of the way.

I did an hour on each instrument yesterday and only stopped to protect my hands that have been a bit sensitive lately, especially my left hand, around the little fingers. I guess that I just have to be careful. Well, that coffee I just had wasn't really a test of being careful.

[Bathroom trip soon.]

[Now, actually]

[Done, though a second trip might be necessary yet.]

I'm practising 17 pieces between my two instruments at present. I'm really pushing for precision in my playing with timing, intonation, bow accuracy, etc. 

I know that, if my 'Playing with myself' concert goes ahead, my pieces with have to catch the attention of the audience and sound complete and interesting. To that end I'm working on a new technique on The Immigrants. Well, it's not really a new technique, but it might turn a few heads. Who knows?

I think I'll leave it there for today. I have got a few things to do.

Have a good Friday.

Ciao tutti.

All hands on dick.

All hands on dick. Oops, I  meant...

ALL HANDS ON DECK!

Peter wrote a post yesterday. Nothing from Robert's blog for over ten days. No biblical quotes, no advice from Gsus or the one true church. It seems that we only have Peter's posts to go by now. 

"It's sad really but at least here, in Thorndon, we have the fire engines to look at."

Okay, you get the idea, a pretty average TC post.

I intend to start with some double bass practice shortly this morning. My hands have felt a bit vulnerable lately, so I'll try to take it gently. I'd like to get the first 32 bars of My Gentle Giant well memorised. The piece starts with pizzicato and then 32 bars of the arco tune. My intention is to play both parts twice. 

I'm on standby to help with my son's family today, so I need to be ready to go very quickly, if needed. I guess I'm a bit like that fireman from Peter's post.

Ah Thorndon - firemen, cars speeding around, it's all happening there. They've also got rid of the raccoons. It certainly is a lot more peaceful in the Nui. Obviously, no one knows what is going on in Moera these days. 

I've started working on Anthropology. It is not an easy piece but it's a piece that I've played for quite a while, so I'm onto it. The backing chords take a bit of practice. I found a quote about this piece in the bible.

Nigel 2:17 Gsus was not a chord that would be needed in Anthropology but there are probably places that you could drop it in, maybe at the start of those two Bb7 chords? Yes, that would work. A Bb blues scale is also a nice way to play over that A section. Then you can define the chords of the B section. Gsus has spoken.

Well, I'm being a bit naughty and have had a coffee, so I'm going to need to leave the computer for a short while.

[Okay, I'm back.]

I'll wrap it up there for today.

Ciao tutti.

Nothing to report.

 

Rhythm Changes.

 

A section: || Bbmaj7  G7b9 | Cm7  F7 | Dm7  G7 | Cm7  F7 | Bb7    | Eb7 Edim7 | Dm7 G7b9 | Cm7 F7 ||

                 || Bbmaj7  G7b9 | Cm7  F7 | Dm7  G7 | Cm7  F7 | Bb7    | Eb7 Edim7 | Bb7     | Bb7     ||

This is the section that I need fluent chords over. Oh sorry, I'm talking about Anthropology. Remember that I'm playing it unaccompanied, so I need to make the chord progression heard, as well as solos and the tune. At times a bit of each. The B section just contains four dominant 7th chords a 4th apart, so that's pretty easy. The form is A A B A.

Okay, I've got a few jobs to do today, but then I'll get stuck into Anthropology, along with other tunes.

A few jobs?

• Drop my daughter off at Waterloo station.
• Tidy up the back bank and lawn.
• Touch up paint on the bathroom door.
• Pick up my grandson from childcare.

Those are the main jobs that I know about.

Hey, but I'll get that practice done, that's for damn sure.

Ciao.

Add two.

 

Good morning. Here are two good pieces of news for Easter Monday.

• Gsus has risen from the dead, yet again. It is a widely used chord.
• I have added two more tunes to my 10 violin unaccompanied solos.

Let's deal with the second piece of good news. Ah, I know that my reader isn't interested in Gsus chords.

I have added Autumn Leaves and Anthropology to my violin unaccompanied solos. Autumn Leaves is a classic jazz standard that has some special significance for me, but I won't go into that. Anthropology is a Bebop tune that has a lot of notes in the tune and is what we call a rhythm changes tune. That means that it basically follows the same chord changes as 'I Got Rhythm'. Well, who could ask for anything more?

I got rhythm, I got music
I got my man
Who could ask for anything more?
I got daisies, in green pastures
I got my man
Who could ask for anything more?

Old man trouble
I don't mind him
You won't find him 'round my door
I got starlight
I got sweet dreams
I got my man
Who could ask for anything more?

That means that I now have 17 tunes to practise. Don't forget those 5 double bass tunes - Sii Gentile, Almost Blues, Gypsy Feet, My Gentle Giant and Shelley My Dear. All originals. I intend to practise those first today.

* * *

I'm having a coffee this morning. Special Easter treat.

With consequences. (Well, let's see how the new meds hold up.)

Boy, that last post from Peter was a long one! Well done, that man though! 

* * *

Did you notice the first picture on this post? I bought it when I needed to erect some big shelves in what has become our storage room. Yes, it's a rubber hammer.

The handle is made of wood, but
the 'hitting part' is made of very
dense rubber.

Very dense rubber.

Okay, I'm not a violent guy, but imagine that someone tried to break into our house in the middle of the night. I need something to defend myself. A gun? A machete? A very sharp knife? A crowbar? A spear? I'm not a fighter, and I'm a bit old, so I'd need something to help me protect us all.

Okay, you wouldn't immediately think of a rubber hammer in this situation, but I believe that it would be the best weapon for self defence. That rubber is like rock! It could be used like a very hard fist. I wouldn't want to come up against it!

Okay, enough about violence. I'm just trying to put forward the idea of unique solutions. I mean, who wants to come and hear an old guy playing tunes (lots of unpopular jazz, for that matter) on an unaccompanied violin and an unaccompanied double bass? I really don't know. But does it matter if no one shows up? I see that the brothers are organising another jam for later this month. I remember going to one and I played a song I wrote in my early twenties. It's called 'Shy Boy'. No one was impressed. Actually, the reaction was the opposite. It's an important piece for me. I didn't have much self confidence when I was young and I often paid a price. That lack of self belief certainly affected my music. Now here I am, too old to care. What I do is what I do. I'm a rubber hammer guy, so watch out!

Okay, that's it from me for this morning.

Sii gentile.