Miguel de Maria -> RE: On music in general (May 9 2005 5:45:57)
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Ron, you should check out the version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Iz, that is Israel Kawaiianakole (something like that, I actually can't spell his name). Just one very fat man with a sweet voice and a ukelele. It has actually become kind of popular and crops up now and then on commercials and what not. I had a fun musical experience at a wedding a few days ago. We road tripped up to Sedona, about two hours a way, and played after a string quartet. Everything was messed up because for some reason it started hailing and everything had to be moved inside... so we had to set up while the quartet was still playing. Everyone was supposed to be outside at a cocktail reception, but they were milling about and in our way. I had a little touchy situation with the other guitarist, because for most of our partnership, it had been his group, his gig, and I was basically just his accompaniast. However lately, I have been getting most of the gigs, and this particular client was very clear that they wanted the music to sound like my demo, not his (I think they had a copy of his, too!). So it was hard, but I had to be diplomatic for him not to turn the volume up too much or make those whalesong sounds with his effects pedal. Even though we were playing pretty quietly, the wedding planner came over and told us to turn it down. But by the third hour, people had loosened up a little, and I think my partner had been stealthily turning his volume up, but no one cared. A couple people started dancing during one of our songs, and I guess people thought it was time to start dancing, because pretty soon the floor was packed. The DJ was actually waiting for us to stop so he could set up, another consequence of the weather-induced complications. Anyway, soon it became clear that we were going to be a dance band for the rest of the gig! I have rarely played for people trying to dance, so we kept it simple and rhythmic--Santana, a couple other rock type songs, a cuban Guajira, for example. Rumbas are terrible to dance to, and of course any kind of classical or flamenco were out of the question! After all these were just normal people at a wedding! Anyway, it was getting tiring, but we just kept repeating stuff and messing around wth rasgueados and having our percussionist do solos. It was pertty fun! We got to really improvise and do whatever we wanted, as long as we kept the rhythm good for them to dance. At the end, they wanted us to stay a couple more hours, but I wanted to go home (had a gig the next morning!) and we didn't want to step on the DJ's toes too much. AFter all, there is the macarena!
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