Tribute to Leroi Moore

Leroi Moore was a founding member of the Dave Matthews Band.  He recently passed away due to complications from an ATV accident.

In memory, I created a tribute mix on 8tracks:

http://8tracks.com/arsy/tribute-to-leroi-moore

Jazz Born Again

Musica Forte

One thing that drives me crazy about a lot of music recorded today is the lack of dynamics. Through the song the volume of all instruments are pegged. I feel like the song is shouting at me. If I change the station, wham! Another song shouting at me.

"In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but also to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic (staccato, legato etc.) or functional (velocity). The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics." - wikipedia

Nude (radiohead cover)

Big Ideas (Don't get any) from 1030 on Vimeo.

2008 Visalia Blues Brews and BBQ

Hey Friends! This friday, April 4th, is the first Visalia Blues, Brews, and BBQ event on Main Street. Come down, have a drink, and hang out.

The Mercury Blues Band is kicking off this year's first friday of the month series. We're going to have shirts and CD's for sale.

We'd love to see you!

The Bad Plus on Conan

The Bad Plus played on Conan recently*. I love their sense of harmony as well as their compositions. I've been listening to them a lot since finding out about them. Great band.

Btw, our band, Lunchbox, is opening for them at the Cellar Door here in Visalia on May 16th.


* Watch the Mar 14th Episode

Rock influenced Jazz

Amazing cover of a Radiohead tune by Brad Mehldau. Most of the jazz songs performed in the past were covers and renditions of popular music. This is clearly in line with tradition.

Music Industry Pissed Off? So what?

Radiohead Could Really Piss Off the Music Industry Machine

Radiohead used to be part of the music industry’s machine. Having now cut out the middle man, the band offers content direct to the fans. So with the music industry now looking for ways in which to continually make the same amount of money it raked in during its peak years, I wouldn’t be surprised if Radiohead gets sued.

That's the love/hate relationship with the major labels at its best. Most bands paying local venues and selling albums on CDBaby won't get the exposure a major label can deliver. However when a label places its bets they are certainly not going to take a chance with most bands. But when the lottery hits for a band they use that power against the betting hand.

I think that's where I find myself at odds with it all. If you strip away the concept of recorded music you may be left with a scenario where an artists plays live, and if worthwhile, to an audience. It's the experience of music at its purist. Somehow things got out of control when the middleman got involved. Artists become sugar who are fed to audiences mainly to benefit the middle man.

In my opinion, I'll just assume what ever happens to the industry happens. It's the irony of unbalanced power. A disaster could never be wrong knowing that the worst that could happen that some guy returns to playing a guitar to a crowd on the street.

Or better yet in a world without the music industry's shackles we could all better appreciate the values of jazz! Viva musica!

Jazz Photos

Crawdaddy's is a popular music spot in Visalia where our band plays several times a month. Inside the restaurant you can find pictures of various jazz artists on the wall. These three are my favorite.



Miles Davis' intensity has always captured me. In this shot I see the scene around him completely absorbed into the moment of his playing. Complete freedom within the constraints.



Coltrane's stare is piercing without aim. It conveys his vision of changing the world through music.



Dizzy's smile represents the excitement of the music. This shot taken on 52nd in New York sums up the excitement that was found at the center of the jazz world.

VAM Festival This Weekend!!

City of Visalia is promoting Visalia's rich music scene by hosting the Visalia All Music (VAM) Festival this weekend. Tons of music, people, food, and drinks up and down main street!

Our band Mercury Blues Band is playing Friday night at Crawdaddy's at 10PM and Saturday Night at Garden Plaza Park at 7:00PM.

I would love to see all my friends come out for this summer party!!

Difference Between Theory and Practice

I have been learning the real difference between theory and practice lately...

Every Tuesday night at Crawdaddy's Resturant in Visalia there is an open jam. The sit in musicians are seasoned players with depth in jazz...which is my passion. Because I don't get many opportunities to play upright bass jazz I've been hanging out there on Tuesdays trying to pick up what I can.

I usually end up getting lost in a song. I use it to discover where I'm lacking. At home I practice, learn the theory behind the music, and try to internalize the emotion of the song. However, when next Tuesday rolls around, I still find myself getting lost in the song.

Last night was a turning point for me. Finally I was able to hang on to two songs all the way through. I even picked up on a new one that was thrown out...at least well enough to play with some level of conviction.

Through this process I was reminded that there is a real difference between theory and practice. It is something often underestimated. You can talk about theory but it takes real practice to "do".

Mojo Working

God I love this clip ...

Mofo Party Band - First Audition

Wednesday night I had my first audition to play with The Mofo Party Band.

These guys are out of Fresno and mean business. Their upright bass player announced he was leaving the group and with little hesitation I jumped on the chance to try for it.

The audition went very well despite being tense. There were some details I had to pick up on the spot but they were very patient with me. John, the vocal/harp player, said it's no problem to stop for the details. They pay great attention to the little things.

After the audition they sounded very positive and asked me back for a second practice next week. In the meantime I've worked on polishing what I've been playing hoping to secure the role.

I really like these guys and where they are going. They do a lot of shows out of town which is appealing to me.

I'll keep the blog updated on the latest!

Happy Holidays!!!!!

Forearm failures

Over the weekend I played two shows. During the first show I noticed cramping and pains in my right forearm. For the second show the camping was strong enough to hold back my playing.

When I first started playing the upright bass I would get cramps but soreness would go away. This morning I still have the pain from this weekend. I hope it doesn't turn into anything serious.

I really need to do a better job with stretches and taking care of my hands before and after playing.

Speaking of hands, someone from the audience called mine "Butterfly Hands" cause of the sweeping motion created by the slap technique. I thought that was creative.