I was so distracted today .....

.... I had a rare occasion to meet up with a friend that I do not see that often at my job tonight, so we made plans to meet up early and grab some dinner before I had to work. Well, my days are fairly predictable lately, so this was a change of pace, and it kind of threw me off schedule a bit. I showered early, dressed early, and packed up my PA800 to bring to the restaurant to sit atop the Yamaha digital grand that is in the house. I set it behind the car and went back into the house to lock up ... then I left for the shore. I drove almost 90 miles before it hit me in the gut that I had left the keyboard sitting IN THE DRIVEWAY ... ooops. never did THAT before. Maybe there was a subliminal knowledge that the other piano was there, but man - it was frightening. I called the only neighbor who's number I have and it was disconnected! Yikes! Lucky that my daughter was close by and she ran over to the house and (whew) it was still there in the driveway when she got there. It had sat out for almost 2 hours unattended.

So, with all the horror in the world, and all the mistrust and greed around us ... my Baby Blue was safe and untouched.

Sometimes the universe treats you right!

Sooo you played the gig on the Yamaha Piano?

when i play gigs at coffeehouse i don't even leave my yamaha mm6 in the hall with guests even when i take 20 minutes break.

Yup, I pounded on the (ugh) weighted, 88 keys all night. My LH pinky is exhausted from all the octaves I was playing to fatten up the sound. I walked a lot of bass too, and that never felt right on weighted keys.
All in all, it was a successful night - had a nice dinner, make some tops, got a nice salary, and best of all .. NO tear down at the end of the night.
I finished playing at 8:30 and was driving home before 8:35!

A true professional in every sense of the worde Bravo!!

I rushed from a patio job to a job across town on house piano. When the 2nd one was over, I noticed my MS-60 wasn't in the back seat. At first, I thought it was stolen, but realized I MIGHT have left it at the first job. I got back to the first patio job location, and there it was...been laying in the grass in it's black case from 8:00 PM to 2:30 AM. 600 people had walked by it, and the place had been closed for 3 hours or so.

What luck!


R.

Yeah you wouldn't wanta lose that MS-60. Then you would be forced to use something 20 years newer, like Midjay or SD5!

DonM

Luck had nothing to do with it....they knew what was in that black case.....

OUCH!

I'm waiting until the SD-5 is an antique. You KNOW I like "axes" with a little seasoning (LOL).

Actually, the way things are going now, I don't plan to play arrangers out anymore. I'll use them for sound score roughs, but that's about it.

More challenging to do singles without any automation, but certainly doable.


Russ

Sure you can do singles without automation but that takes more talent than some of us have! You play better with a butchered hand than most guitar players with two good hands ever dream about. I need HELP when I play!

DonM

Don, if my abilities were exactly like yours on both keys and vocals, I'd be a happy man.

I'm looking forward to getting to work that job up here together when the "dork" owners get their financing together.

Truth be known, we could sit down with no rehearsal at all and "knock em dead" together.

Ray Price, one of my my all-time favorite "class acts", has nothing on you, my friend. You certainly earn the name "Gentleman Don".

And that keyboard steel sound is fantastic! Add the humor and ability to write and I think you're "Slicker than snot on a door-knob"!


(BIG HUG and lots of respect)!

Russ

Don, Thanks for the good words, but the ability to play the singles I play has more to do with the kind of jobs I'm taking than ability.

If I were subbing for you at Earnests, you'd better believe I'd be using an arranger.

These are "wallpaper" jobs for organizations...dinners just before a business meeting, where everyone is talking, for an arm of the local or state government or a horse farm dinner, just prior to a sale, where everyone is talking business...same thing.

Arrangers are great tools for other kinds of jobs, and I'm certainly not slamming them or implying that doing "non-arranger" jobs is somehow better.

This "naked" approach is just what I'm doing right now, along with the group jobs.

Later in the year, I'm going to take a house job...a little jazz room in the back of a Chinese restaurant owned by a long-time friend. He has seen places in NYC with small jazz rooms. I'm going to use my SD-5 (finally), and I'll have a "guest" every week-end...a horn, guitar player, singer, etc.


Then, I'll be in my element! You're welcome to play, but that commute would be a "killer"!


Russ

You can come get me in your airplane, then bring me back after the job!
DonM

If you'll pay for the fuel, I'll be there (LOL)

R.