Discovering the New
The greatest joy to me in music is discovering the new, and discovering new artists. Friends took me to see Rob Rhodes the drummer this week, and playing with him was the brilliant young guitarist Terrence Brewer, who I had been meaning to check out for some time. After their sets a reggae funk band set up in the other room, named NIAYH. It stands for “Now is all you have”. They were fabulous, and I bought cds for myself and my friends. Completely different music than the jazz trio, but wonderful. In my last blog I mentioned the violinist Emily Palen. She plays in the band Dolorata, in a duo called The Royals, in a country blues band The Goldenhearts. She also improvises as a solo violinist. As she comes from a classical, and then blues and rock background, it sounds very fresh to me. I believe she may bring something very special to the music world, and I admire and learn from her fearlessness.
Last night I played a gig with my dear friend Alex Popovics on bass, whom I’ve played with for 30 years. The alto player, David Bullers, I discovered jamming in a club near my house, and the percussionist, Rachael B, I heard recently with my friends Caminos Flamencos. Only Alex and I had played together before. No rehearsal (why rehearse when you can gig, I like to say). I knew it would sound good, as the players are all excellent and listen, but I didn’t know how good it would be. By the second set it felt to me as if we had been a band for years. Tonight I’m going to hear Rachael B’s band Locura.
Gregory James
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