Notch

I consider myself to have had several great, or at least very interesting, jobs and duties over the course of my life. I've worked at a dairy. I've been a carny. Even worked a little in the horse racing industry. But as of last night, I have become something else.

A jazz drummer.

And quite unintentionally.

I was working my sound guy job at Rohs Street Cafe last night. A jazz group called Made in Brazil was playing. Really nice guys, and incredible musicians. There were four of them: keyboard player/singer, bassist, saxophonist/flautist, and a percussionist/singer. While setting up, I happened to mention that I was a drummer, and I forget why, but it came up that my set was right in the next room. So they played their first set, which was really cool. Then, during their break, the bassist, Andre, came up and asked if I would like to sit in.

Now, I have absolutely zero real experience in jazz drumming. But, I hadn't really played drums in so long, and any chance is a good one. So I agreed.

I must admit, I was kind of nervous. But it was really fun. And since jazz drumming has much less structure and "rules" than the style I'm used to playing, it almost seemed like it was harder to mess up. But I still wasn't sure about the whole meshing with the band thing. For instance, I don't really what I'm supposed to do when other guys are soloing, like if I'm supposed to hold back a bit or just keep doing my thing, or what. And I think I had a solo, but I just kept doing what I had been doing, since compared to what I usually do for normal beats, it was like soloing.

Maybe that's why I didn't get another solo.

I dunno, but afterwards, the guys said they really liked it, and even invited me to sit in with them again next time they come. I'm going to be out of town that day, but I might be back in time to sit in for at least a while. I hope so, anyway.

Another cool thing was my cousin JE, his daughter, Olivia, and my aunt Edith and her new husband, Hank all stopped in to hang out. That was really cool cos I don't get to see them very often. (You might remember JE as the videographer at our wedding - there may be some pics of him and his kids in my Facebook albums)

Now if I could only find a job that actually wants me to start working for them...