My Fair Lady, MNNV Chicago, More Shout Section, David Wycoco

Since the last post, I have kept busy.

Shout Section

I did a few more gigs with Shout Section Big Band including one at the Adler Planetarium for a fundraiser and then one out in Beecher Illinois. The Adler gig was on double bass, and the Beecher gig was on electric [Fender P-bass w/flats]. I'm diggin playin with this band-it's just relaxed enough where it's a ton of fun without much work, but is serious enough to get me to at least look at the trouble spots i have.
Videos of Shout Section are available on YouTube.com do a search for "Shout Section Big Band".

Monday Night New Voices Chicago

This is a pretty recent add on for me. I had known one of the producer's for a few years, and then ran into both of them at a staged reading that i was playing for [Rejected Hearts @ Strawdawg Theater]. They had told me at that point, they had a show coming up that they wanted me to play for. I have agreed to play for Monday Night New Voices Chicago on an "on call" basis. Essentially, if it's a night that they want bass for, i'll play-otherwise, i'll go home after work. It's fun, it's networking, and you never know where your next call will come from.

A note about Monday Night New Voices-it's a showcase/series originated in New York by Scott Alan. The Chicago edition is ran by Allen Sledge & David Tomzack. It is a series dedicated to showcasing rising talent both vocally and compositionally. They do not shy away from honoring an established entity while showcasing new talent [hence-the Lippa show]. Great guys, great production, and I look forward to seeing where this goes.

Fast forward to last week [i think-time is running together], and I played for the Monday Night New Voices featuring the music of ANDREW LIPPA!! That was killer and rather sentimental for me. The killer factor is that we were doing the music of Andrew Lippa with him in the audience. The music is quite fun to play.

The sentimental factor is this-the first show choir show i played for in high school was music from "The Wild Party" which was written by Andrew Lippa. Why does that matter at all? Well, it was from playing for that show choir show that made me think "theater bass playing would kick ass".

Gear wise-i played my Ray5 into the SWR WM12. I needed to cop a lot of tones out of 1 bass, and the Ray5 is my de facto go to bass. I received many compliments on tone, feel, and my playing in general that night-twas nice. I took a cab straight from Symphony Center to the theater, so i needed small and cabable. No chance in hell that i'd take a DB in that situation. There were 2-3 songs that I would have preferred DB on, but eh-i think i played 4-5 songs total of the night. I gotta be making either killer bread, getting great networking, or it needs to be next door to my apartment before I'll take 2 basses plus an amp to a gig straight from work.

David Wycoco

I'm continuing to play with David Wycoco. He's a blast to play with, and I look forward to this continuing.

General Gear Comments

I'd like to move to a lighter/smaller amp with more power sometime in the near future. We will see what the financial future holds. I'm CTA/Metra dependent for gigs, between the cost of car ownership, gas, and parking-I'm going to put off getting a car/bringing a car up here as long as I can.

I'm realizing that I don't need a million basses, but just a few that I can get the sounds that I need out of. 2 that belong in that small group of basses for me are my Ray5 & Fender P-bass. I think a nice fretless [maybe even my Squier Fretless-i need to practice it more], and a modern sounding 6 would right about cover it. I'll probably always have quite a few more than that, but hey-i like my toys.

all the best.