KevB

I was asked to play Victor Wooten in a low budget porn movie (weekend slappers 2) but it was obvious that the amount of body paint for my gut alone would have bankrupted them so I had to decline.

I was recently asked to audition for a band (though it didn't really turn out like a proper audition at all it was so disorganised) and then I was given a load of guff by the band leader how much time they were going to be spending in the USA and Europe. Now the 'band' (actually an earlier version of the band in the 80's) did have history playing abroad so it wasn't totally delusional. However I just stopped him in his tracks and said I wasn't the guy they were looking for, full time job to cling to and all that. As others have said it your working life that dictates how seriously you go down the band route as much as your personal life. It's interesting to see just how many reasonable 'name' bands when you look at their tour dates these days are mainly playing weekends with very few weekday gigs, ie one or more band members have full time Mon - Fri day jobs!

When I got my USA S1 jazz on eBay it was collection only. When I turned up to the address the actual owner wasn't there, he'd left it for me to pick up and leave the money with an employee as the address turned out to be a hairdressers. Interestingly, as soon as I walked they took one look at me and said 'You must be here for that guitar'. I clearly didn't look like I was in for a cut and blow dry. Why is this relevant to this thread? When I'd inspected it and was happy and finally got it home I was checking through the hard case supplied with it and came across the original receipt which had a Denmark Street address on it but I can't recall the actual shop name. The original buyer had paid a hefty wedge for it barely more than a year earlier. Still one of my best bargains all in all and it remains my most used instrument.

[quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1336537432' post='1647104'] My favourite bass solo bits are [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMhVZmPFRqI"]Bigtime[/url] and the outro to Does it Really Happen by Yes [/quote] Yeah that bit in DIRH where it fades out and then comes back in with what sounds like a fairly improvised bit from Squire, very melodic. I've always had a soft spot for this one, from about 1:55 in from Glenn Cornick ; [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2RNe2jwHE0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2RNe2jwHE0[/url]

[quote name='grimbeaver' timestamp='1336376837' post='1644523'] sorry I didnt notice anyone playing guitar, check the cans out on the cable lady though [/quote] If she tidied your cables like that you'd have a word though I'll bet!

I have two US Fenders from around 2004 (Jazz S1 and an active P deluxe with extra bridge PU); [IMG]http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c307/KevB64/IMG_0938.jpg[/IMG] I also have a basic Squier P special from around 2008 which was bought brand new for less than £200 through Thomann. The US basses were both bought used via ebay. Definitely a higher quality finish on the US basses but the Squier was a fraction of the price. Having said that the neck is fine on the Squier and is decently put together. The Pu's are not in the same league as the US basses but I could easily buy good quality replacements and still save money. However there is no doubt I'd get a bigger % of my money back from the S/H US fenders than I would from the Squier even though it has had only 1 careful owner (me). I think the higher value instruments are a bit like cars, there's a big devaluing from 1st to 2nd owner but after that they find a level of value which doesn't change too much.

There was also a memorial concert on one of the channels a while back. From stuff I've read you get the impression he was often his own worst enemy but some terrific tunes along the way.

Bugger, I like a bit of Joni now and again. Was it relatively recent stuff or archive material?

All words of wisdom and not just applicable to jazz. And not an effect pedal in sight

Only just caught up with the recorded later from last night. Wasn't all that impressed with them tbh but probably not quite my thing. Sounded like a (albeit tight) pub band with a better than usual singer. God knows what that dreadful racket Jack White inflicted on us first was though, more 'emporers new clothes' stuff from someone who still hasn't put out anything I really like. Norah Jones was quite good though.

Most of us probably wouldn't put up with that amount of fret buzzing bt it all adds to his sound. Like the bit where he goes a bit nuts around 5:32 and 6:00

Just checked their wiki, yes it was Nigel Harris up to 84, I saw them first in 86 or 87 when Fudge had joined.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1335456586' post='1631551'] You need Spotify, mate!! Saves me thousands.... I remember the drummer on early Pendragon stuff was very much in that mould (I met them once when they were auditioning singers and was able to watch him close up - don't recall his name, may have been Nigel Harris but I am not sure). [/quote] Fudge Smith?

I have pretty much all their back catalogue in one format or another but infortunately never got to to see them play live. I think I read somewhere that Andy Latimer got quite ill a while back and couldn't play gigs for a while but might be getting back to better health now? Or am I confusing him with someone else?.

Yep, if he really really does need all 16 pedals (I'm doubtful he does but let's say for the sake of argument it's necessary for the stuff the band plays live) then he's got to get his act together on the set up. 2 hours is bad enough for rehearsals but for most real life gigging situations that's unworkable. Proper pre arranged, wired up (and TESTED!) pedal boards are the answer surely? If you are in a paid for rehearsal space and he's going to take that long I'd tell him to arrive 1.5 hours before everyone else needs to and he pays for that 1.5 hours out of his own pocket, the cost of remaining time is split between all band memebrs evenly as usual. My last band (admittedly only a 3 piece but i used to take along my midi pedals and sound module as well as basses) used to book a rehearsal space for only 2 hours at a time and we'd get through most of the set in that time.

We've all heard stories of massive backlines onstage with only a fraction of them actually connected and in some cases in the past lightweight 'cabs' full of dummy speakers have been used. What you see isn't always what you hear, it's a rock [i]show [/i]after all. Sabbath were punishingly loud at their height though.

Gong may be more your thing Bilbo as they are quite jazzy in places. However, I did the same thing in the late 70's/early 80's having got into Hawkwind and heard Hillage, Here and Now and some other prog hippie types. I decided I really ought to give 'em a go and whilst I liked occasional tracks (first album I got was Camemebrt) I didn't find whole albums particularly strong. My cheapo 'best of' collection is still the only Gong album in my CD collection. I have been diverted in the last few years though. Some kindly soul made an entire collection of obscure prog/art music stuff available as a free download a few years back and I've been slowly wading through that. A good deal of that stuff is quite jazzy and off the wall and I enjoy quite a bit of it at least as much as, or more so, than Gong yet a lot of the artits were quite unknown to me even though I thought I had a decent grounding in the area (canterbury stuff etc).

I saw H&H on that tour as well in Nottingham. I don't think I made it to the end of either support act, unadulterated racket. But as has been said, it wasn't for me and my generation, twas for the kids and they seemed to be lapping it up.

[sup]Don't sweat it, there are loads of crappy jazz artists we haven't heard either [/sup]

+1 for jam/open mic nights. Very good intermediate stage between practising at home and being in a full time proper band. Find a regular one, go to a few without an instrument, take note of the people who seem happy to play with other bass players. Get in conversation with likely playing partners, ask if you can get up next time with them and then learn some songs they do regularly. That's how I got into it before auditioning for proper bands. I started way too late to be honest but the route I took was the right one for me. I just spent far too long between the occasional bedroom practice/jammimg with mates with no prospect of playing live and actually getting out to a jam night.

A single clocking in at over 7 minutes! Not a bad tune actually but I think it could have done with a bit of trimming here and there like a good few from the last album.

I only ever record the full version on Fridays. Looks like I'll be doing a fair bit of the old '30 second jump forward' bit on the old DVD HDD. I have the latest Weller album and only heard it through once but I thought it was actually quite listenable though I'm not a huge fan.

Yeah if it's a kids thing then the Rolf one already mentioned would work, as might this; [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZYzbkk5X4M"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZYzbkk5X4M[/url] I know technically it's an Emperor but the lyrics use 'King'

There seems to be 2 of them, the 3 day event at end of April then a 5 day event in early August. I noticed Marseille are down for the August one so at least one BC member will be playing as I recall a thread on here where a memeber had a successful audition for that band. Can't see me making it though some of the modern prog bands are of interest.

Last band I was in was a trio and we would typically get around £180-£200 for a gig. However I've been in a 4 and 5 piece band in the recent past that didn't get any more. Pubs usually have a set rate irrespective of band size. Whatever they might say publically I'm sure there are plenty of 5 piece bands doing the rounds in Nottingham for less than £200. Only those that go through an agency will get more and then they lose 15% up front to the booker anyway, often don't make a massive amount more per band member than doing it themselves for less up front. We bring it on ourselves though. More bands than venues and if some bunch of kids in it for the laugh say they will gig for £100 then it brings the rates down for everyone in the end. We're all scared of getting blacklisted by venues for asking too much so the venues have us over a barrel while there are bands prepared to play for peanuts.