Tradegy of riches

Right now, there are five double basses in my house. One is up for sale, one will be in a couple of weeks.

Writing a Fugue

Its been a while since I've written anything for this blog. Partly, its because I've been so busy with work and gigs. In any event, I have a couple of posts coming up soon on Stampede gigging (i.e., the Calgary Stampede, also known as harvest time for the musician, especially if you play an upright bass) and some biographies I've been reading on jazz players. Until then though, here are a couple of videos I came across while writing a couple of fugues based on songs by the Dead Boys. The first is by Glenn Gould, the latter by Daniel Pi.

What I'm Not Reading (to save my knees)

I'm currently sacrificing a book to save my knees. In a previous post I wrote about how I lock my knees while I'm playing (a result of nerves and habit I think). Well, this, combined with hiking, wrestling with my son, and yoga, have resulted in my right knee being in a lot of pain. I was told that the pain was, in part, due to locking my knees as it puts greater pressure on the knee. Now that I'm in a bit of pain, I lock my knee all the more when playing and then have to hobble away in even greater pain.

A solution: In trying to break this habit, I've been carrying Three Nights in Havana Pierre Trudeau, Fidel Castro and the Cold War World by Robert Wright to gigs and rehearsals. I put the book under my right foot. This forces me not to lock my knee, but rather have a small bend in my knee. (The book is about 300 pages.) As a result I'm taking notice of my knee-locking habit and, so I'm told, keeping a small bend in my knee will strengthen the muscles around my knee.

"The World's Greatest Bass Player"

I just finished reading Bill Milkowski's biography of Jaco Pastorius, The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius. I was a little skeptical aobut the book when I started reading it, expecting it to be a tribute of sorts, glossing over the sadder parts of Jaco's life. That said, I really liked the book. Milwowski does a great job detailing the life of Jaco and demonstrating how bad his mental illness really was. The book isn't at all hagiographic, but rather portrays Jaco as he was, a gifted musician with a severe and troubling problems. Part of the problem he faced was the way his behavior alienated everyone around him and the extent of his denial that he needed help. I found myself emotionally moved at times, experiencing anger, sadness, and frustration. Its a good read for any Jaco fns or jazz fans in general.



It got me thinking. I've always been a big Jaco fan. Following him, my electric basses are Fender jazz basses. I have one (a '78) that's been with me for years. I used to have a '69 fretless. I sold it when we moved to Canada and it became a significant portion of the down payment on our house. One of the first pieces I learned was Teen Town and in high school I was always chided for playing the opening of Birdland as false harmonics rather than following the bass line as written.

I remember when I first learned of Jaco's death. I was in college at rehearsal for the jazz ensemble. The piano player told me about it and we talked a bit about him. The band had a few (well, more than a few) purists in it who either weren't impressed by him or (in one case) didn't know who he was.

It makes me wonder what he could have accomplished had he gotten (and accepted) his the help he needed.

Levitt in the Blogosphere

I follow, very loosely, several blogs regarding economics and economic research. Given my past run-in with Steve Levitt (editor of the Journal of Political Economy and co-author of Freakonomics) I found this article interesting (originally referenced here).

There is a common question about the abuse of editorial powers in the economics profession, with a lot of gossip and stories circulating right now. On my recent trip to Europe, I was taken aback by how many people had stories about editors at various journals abusing their power or holding grudges against certain groups of authors. These stories have always been out there, but on this trip I heard a lot of very recent (within the last year) stories of editors behaving badly. It seems like we might be hitting a critical mass. Maybe some checks and balances will finally get implemented.

50 Days

I keep a log of my practice time, something to remind me what I'm working on and (on those days when I need a boost) to show me that I'm making progress. Yesterday I sat down to write something in it after practicing. To my shock, it had been 50 days since my last practice.

I had a lot going on over the last two months. I had a lot of deadlines at work and a trip to Europe to plan and get prepared for. I also have a busy family life that needed attending too. But 50 days? What happened?

It sounds worse than it may actually be. I had a lot of gigs in the two months, but not more than twice a week. Is that a lot? Do I have any other excuses for missing 50 days?

I'm trying not to think aobut it. Its inevitable that time can get away form you. For me, music is an avocation rather than a vocation. As a result, it sometimes must take a back seat. The last 50 days are a sunk cost. I'm putting it behind me and moving on.

However, I'm suffering for it. While I'm not back at step one, I feel like I'm re-training muscles to move in a disciplined manner, re-learning pieces, and generally struggling with intonation. (at least relative to where I was). On top of this, my callouses are gone and the Calgary Stampede is on the horizon. This is a busy gigging time for just about every musician in town. Without my callouses, it will be 10 days of pain so I'm on the rush to get some good time in with my bass.

Overall I'm quite surprised at how far my skills had dropped off in over 50 days. (As an aside, I started yoga again after at least a 3 month break. I'm having the same realizations there as I am with my bass playing.) Maybe I shouldn't be, but its striking how many things (particularly playing the bass) are not like riding a bike: you can and do forget. It reminds me of the old quote (which I heard as attributable to Louis Armstrong)

If I miss one day's practice, I notice. If I miss two days practice, the critics notice. If I miss three days practice, the audience notices it.

Cure for Color Blindness

For the last 41 years I've been color blind. As a kid, I colored in things wrong and failed (to everyone's amazement) those tests where you have to pick out a number or letter from a circle filled with colored dots. As an adult, I've made fashion faux pas, mixing the wrong colors so many times that my wife now checks to make sure I'm not a walking eyesore of color.

Anyway, I recently got a new pair of sunglasses: a polarized pair of Oakley Hijinx. These replace a pair of Arnett Hot Cakes that I've had for over 10 years. After all that time, my wife and daughter convinced me that they looked silly; I looked as if I was a fly or maybe wearing goggles.

The polarization in these new glasses is incredible. I can see colors! At first it was a bit overwhelming. Everything just jumped out at me. Yellows were too bright. I'd get mesmerized by the different shades of green in a tree. I could tell the difference (for the first time) between the amber and red lights on street light. (I used to gauge the light's color by its position.)

I took an online color blindness test just to confirm that the glasses were helping. I scored 3 of 10 without the sunglasses., 6 of 10 with. I think I might have done better without taking the test on a computer: with the glasses on, I can barely see the screen.