Last weekend I had the pleasure of getting together with a couple of old friends, band-mates from my high school days that I hadn’t seen in over 20 years. We set up some time in the studio along with my current band-mate and guitar counterpart Mo, and had planned on a good long jam. At the last minute, Mo’s son’s band got a call to fill in at a gig and needed to take most of the drum kit with them, but they brought in a few replacements from an old kit, leaving us with just enough hardware to scrabble together a minimalistic rig. My drummer friend Chris, always an easy-going fellow, adapted easily enough and between the four of us – Me, Mo, Chris and Lyle we put together a solid hour of improv.
This was my favourite jam of the night – a bit of everything – some melodic soul, a bit of power, a few vocal musings by Lyle, and some interesting beats and rhythm changes.
Tuesday is my regular jam night with my friends. We have a collective of fellows from various walks of life and ages, who are brought together by a common love of music. A great group, lots of fun, and always a few hours of improv. All of us play more than one instrument, so it’s pretty common for us to switch places, taking turns playing bass, keys, and guitar in addition to our drummer, who likes to sing on occasion and play percussion.
We like to listen to the record and select ideas to work on either together or individually, and this weekly musical therapy has been a great source of inspiration for me over the last number of years. Our host, Mo, makes flight cases and does live sound under the M.I.N.E. audio brand name, so hence the project nickname. We have a web site, posting raw and edited jams from a catalogue of over 1400 jams recorded over the last few years. Please have a visit, and let us know what you think: www.themineproject.caWatch Full Movie Online Streaming Online and Download
I post the occasional live jam here on the music page as well, especially if it is the source of inspiration for a more polished tune.
