On 2006-12-31 18:32, modre wrote:
I played saxophones. went to Berklee in the early 70s, but I finally put it down late 02 after the deer took my lower back...couldn't hang that off my neck for very long, music changed, and playing weddings in tuxes made me feel like a ho...I was always more blood and guts...you had to be to travel the road I did. I was never a performer...I was more a craftsman...my goosebumps were from making it happen, not how "they" were entertained.
way back in hs, I needed a replacement for a trumpet player who thought dixieland was jive...so I took a baseball player named Matt Blistan and groomed him...turned out (much to my surprise) to be a future Prince player...went under the name of Atlanta Bliss after the Purple rain era, and is in the trailer for Cherry Moon but not the movie...also has a wall full of gold records he loves to rub in my jealous face.
after Berklee, I played with a super funky band from Colombus O. called Liaja...bass player was Vernon Porter...who went on to play with Dave Mason, Bette Midler, Kenny Loggins and many others...his effort now is a band called Above the Clouds out in LA. Liaja was the best band I played with. The right fire to make it national, but we were young, egotistical and sucking down huge quantities of drugs...tho the girls treated us nice.
after my mind lost a few vital cells, I bounced around 1/2 nuts...got invited to play with Lonnie Smith, but didn't know who he was so declined. did some recording dates, then did some shows with Martha Reeves (Vandellas), Peter Noone (Herman's Hermits) Bobby Marchan (Huey Smith lead on the 50-60s hits), Floyd Dixon (wrote Hey Bartender), Teenagers (Frankie Lymon long gone from a herion OD...but Herman Santiago was still pushing), and a whole list of other Oldies folk.
I never hit the big-big when the fire was hot, but got a chance to touch some of the roots, taste enough of the fire to satisfy myself "what might have been", and the better part, survive the head trip. The family I have around me now keeps me level, tho I still swing wide on tangents...and the drugs out priced my budget...so all's well that ends well.
I set it down 4 years ago, but I'm on all sorts of recordings over the years....yes, that's right...I'mma bad MF. see my skid plate:
http://www.triumphrat.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=Forum&file=viewtopic&topic=67935&forum=51
a disclaimer...I'm sure folks think my posts are arrogant...that's not how they're meant...I've just been thru so much, I don't do PC...what you see is what you get...no appologies.
you can tell more about a person by looking at their dogs and kids than by anything that comes out of their mouths...you can tell the tree by it's fruit...so please don't be offended by my manner...if so, grow up...I did...the hard way.
:thump:
occassionally I sit and piddle on soprano, tenor was my main ax. bari was what everyone wanted me on.
I have a Selmer series 3 soprano with Runyon Quantum metal
Yamaha Custom alto with Guardella King R&B
selmer series II silver tenor with Runyon (sold the Guardellas)
and had a Couf (Kielwerth) bari with Guardella King R&B.
also play flute, piccolo and clarinets, some keyboard, hand drums yada yada yada...I was lucky to have a Wurlitzer side man from about 1960 (first mechanical drum machine, and it developed my sense of time to make a n*gger winch his lips and pull in de slack.
post may be longish, but it doesn't even tell the story.
what's more interesting to me is the reaction of the reader...whether distaste, and on what grounds, or acceptance...and on what grounds.
