Oh my goodness. Well, I did it. I did my first recording playing jazz on my upright. My good friends, and excellent musicians, Jonesy, and Chris are starting to work together a little. They're doing a gig in FLA in February and want to have CDs to sell there. I suggested since Jonesy plays piano like 3 people at once (VERY strong walking left hand, comping and soloing) and Chris plays vibes and drums, that they put a little novelty into the act and have Chris play both drums and vibes, sometimes in the same song, moving from one to the other, and they call themselves a "trio" - just for fun. So, they're the Tambur Jones Trio, or TJT.

Since Colin designed the music room of the Slammer perfectly, and it has all the acoustic panels on the wall, it's a GREAT sound for acoustic. I have a great Yamaha 6'6" grand piano, and the room sounds amazing. They're just putting one stereo mic in the middle of the room and it sounds great. It's a perfect room. Chris plays with the Noel Friedline Quintet and they recorded their whole last album at the Slammer, so TJT is also recording at the Slammer. Man, they're so good. They just call tunes and play them. No multiple takes, not much talking, they just play. Real jazz.

So, they wanted me to play on one tune. They wanted the TJT to become the TJQ. They wanted me to play bass on a tune. The bass sounds great in that room. Remember, there are NO electronics. Just 3 acoustic instruments. They picked a fairly easy tune that we've played a few times, "Just Friends." I was so scared. Jonesy said the head would be with a two feel, but that I should just "feel" it, because "It's jazz for christ's sake." So, he told me what to play on the intro, counted it off and off we went. Man, they sounded so good and I tried to listen and I was staring at the page so hard. I was trying to be loose and swing, but I was so scared. I tried to remember everything and then forget it.

I got in the groove and I was doing okay. Chris did a few choruses, and then Jonesy played an amazing solo and then nodded to me. There I was, doing a jazz bass solo with the tape running. Jesus christ. At the end of the solo, I felt relief like getting out of a burning building. I made it. No one got hurt.

We finished and we listened back. The bass sounded SO LOUD to me, but I wasn't clamming, my time was good, and they said my intonation was really good. It all sounded okay to me. I was amazing. They thought I wasn't loud enough. This is acoustic, so I move up a few feet and we did it again. It was a little easier this time. I like to practice, so I was happier. Jonesy started to show us how the intro would go, and give us the tempo with a few bars and I played along with him and Chris came in and the demo became the take. We just kept playing. I stayed right in half position. I didn't sneak up the neck at all. When it got to my solo, as I soaked through my shirt, I tried to do some interesting rhythm things, some easy triplets and stuff, but try to put something there. Right before my solo, Chris left the vibes and went over to drums with brushes and it sounded great. I got through my solo and I didn't get hurt. I didn't fall apart.

We ended and they were happy. They've got so much material that I don't know if it'll make the final CD. Whether it does or not, you ALL should buy the CD because these guys swing the whole world, and they were kind enough to help out a retard who's learning to play bass. It was really fun. I was so nervous during the playback, but it sounds okay.

I played jazz upright and I have proof. Oh my goodness.

Penn

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