January 28, 2007
Rhythm and riffs
My friend Lindsey, a piano player, asked me to join her and a vocalist friend of hers at school today to work on a few songs they had written. They had also asked my friend Steve Rockwell, who is an amazing percussionist. We got some work done on a couple tunes they had, and after they left, Steve and I stayed to jam for a little while.
And ladies and gentlemen, this is why I got back into music. What a fucking awesome experience is it to play with someone that you can connect with! All we did was play through chord progressions, nothing even melodic, but it was probably the most musical experience I’ve had since going back to school. Steve is probably the best “listening” musician (if not the best musician hands down) at the school. It’s hard to explain to non-musicians who are reading this the absolute joy in the give and take process that two musicians can have in special moments. It’s a kind of flow, like energy passing back and forth. The chord changes ran rampant (but still magically made sense), we played in odd meters, used a lot of silence, played out of time completely and then found our way back… it was awesome.
I got a lot out of it, and I hope Steve and I get a lot more opportunities to play together. It was a very freeing experience. I haven’t been able to experiment with rhythm or chord progressions that way before. It’s hard when you’re playing alone at home to feel that kind of energy.
Today is the kind of day that makes me so glad I got back into music. I’m even more inspired to move forward now. Thanks Steve!
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Gene.. gene.. gene.. im glad that ive inspired the artist in you. I as well really enjoyed playing with you, the flow was there and i think we were letting music happen and not makeing it. We will have to do it again sometime soon.stephen () - January 28, 2007 at 10:42 pm
