Bass Instincts
For me, this has been a week of falling in love again with music, and especially with the electric bass as an instrument. Too often in the recent past, I put bass playing on the back burner in favor of guitar playing. But this is changing thanks to several things and people, which have inspired in me newfound passion for my old instrument. Here they are in order of coming to my attention over the week, in narrative form (and with a number of links included):
On tuesday night, I was stopping at the local food co-op for something to eat after practice with Whiskey Galöre, the band in which I am playing bass these days and which started me on the serious revitalization of my practice. On my way back to my car thereafter, I saw a flier for a show happening the next night at WWU's Underground Coffeehouse featuring Taarka, the "seismic gypsy hypno-jazz" quartet who are mainstays of assorted Seattle art festivals and other similar events, as well as playing many more real shows (which I had not yet myself attended).
I have seen Taarka play with several bassists before, none of which have disappointed. But when I saw them wednesday night, I was blown away. Doing the greater share of this blowing was the bassist playing with them that night, Damian Erskine. Here surely is a god among bassists. The six strings of his instrument are merely appendages of his cunning hands and mind. Suffice is to say, I want to have his bass babies.
The next day, after enjoying the recordings on Damian's site, and doing a fair bit of practicing myself, I did some thinking about the fact that when I get some disposable cash, I need to invest in new amplification for my bass rig, specifically a couple of smaller speakers do complement the booming thuds of my single 18-inch speaker. But, I was quickly distracted and lulled into long, lustful stares at several ridiculously exotic instruments (seen here and here). I shall certainly have one of these, next time I have five or six thousand dollars lying around.
So there it is, and now I take on the playing of my instrument with an enthusiasm I have not known for a long while. Good days to be.
On tuesday night, I was stopping at the local food co-op for something to eat after practice with Whiskey Galöre, the band in which I am playing bass these days and which started me on the serious revitalization of my practice. On my way back to my car thereafter, I saw a flier for a show happening the next night at WWU's Underground Coffeehouse featuring Taarka, the "seismic gypsy hypno-jazz" quartet who are mainstays of assorted Seattle art festivals and other similar events, as well as playing many more real shows (which I had not yet myself attended).
I have seen Taarka play with several bassists before, none of which have disappointed. But when I saw them wednesday night, I was blown away. Doing the greater share of this blowing was the bassist playing with them that night, Damian Erskine. Here surely is a god among bassists. The six strings of his instrument are merely appendages of his cunning hands and mind. Suffice is to say, I want to have his bass babies.
The next day, after enjoying the recordings on Damian's site, and doing a fair bit of practicing myself, I did some thinking about the fact that when I get some disposable cash, I need to invest in new amplification for my bass rig, specifically a couple of smaller speakers do complement the booming thuds of my single 18-inch speaker. But, I was quickly distracted and lulled into long, lustful stares at several ridiculously exotic instruments (seen here and here). I shall certainly have one of these, next time I have five or six thousand dollars lying around.
So there it is, and now I take on the playing of my instrument with an enthusiasm I have not known for a long while. Good days to be.
posted by Mephisto at 11:54 AM
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