The recording Saturday went really well. Got to live with the results for a few days/weeks to know what we've really got, but I suspect there will be a CD out in the not too distant future. Playing with Don Braden was a thrill, and has sent me crawling, whimpering back to the woodshed (but in a good way). We recorded 10 tunes, 9 of which we can use. Of these, all but one were written by me, that one having been written by George Coleman, Sr., father of our drummer George Coleman, Jr. Marty Rizek on bass. Came up with a funny idea for liner notes.
"MRC Trio Meets Braden"
Notes on the tunes, by the composer (mostly)
Ikon Tact
Pretentious Vic: The drum intro sets us off wandering through uncharted, wild environs. We come upon a huge monolith, represented by the bass line.The abstract melody line is the icon of the title, engraved upon the monolith. The improvisation represents a search for meaning in hieroglyph, an attempt to translate some ancient lost (or possibly alien) language.
Regular Vic: Pronounced "eye contact", I just thought it looked funny. Funny title for a funny tune.
NAVL GAZR
Pretentious Vic: This is a comment on the de-humanization / objectification of women by men in our increasingly coarse society. As father of a little girl I wanted to send message that she should never be defined by what some man objectifies her as, as some sort of body-image-conscious piece of meat.
Regular Vic: That's a worthwhile message, but not really the point here. If I ever got vanity license plates, I thought it would be funny to get ones that said "NAVL GAZR" (pronounced "navel gazer"). Plus, bossas and sambas make me think about girls in bikinis on the beach in Rio, where I assume some navel gazing goes on. Guess that's a pretty crappy message, huh?
Giant Blues
Pretentious Vic: Here we have a tone poem, where a race of tiny, weak people (played by the guitar) run frantically from an approaching giant(played by tenor).
Regular Vic: This is a minor blues, with some Giant Steps changes on top of it. Hence, "Giant Blues". I soloed first so that I wouldn't embarrass myself after Braden. So, maybe there's some truth to Pretentious Vic's story after all.
There's No Then In Zen
Pretentious Vic: Living with Zen master (my cat, Mr. Kitty), I am constantly being taught important Zen truths. This is meant to express that there is no future, no past. Only the eternal now.
Regular Vic: Umm, that's actually what this one is about. That, and when George first mentioned playing with Don, I wrote this one thinking about his sound and feel.
A-KNUF
Pretentious Vic: The title is a guttural, almost unpronounceable sound. Like the earth breaking apart in the beginning of time (think of Stravinsky's "Rite"). The bass line (the earth) breaks apart, releasing small signs of emergent life (the small motives of the melody, heard in varying combinations and lengths). These are combined and re-combined, until they converge into a more fully developed form of life.
Regular Vic: This is a funk tune in (or on) "A". "Funk - A" backwards is"A-KNUF". Plus, since the writing is so minimal, I thought there was barely enough (a-knuf) material for a whole tune.
Why Aren't You Listening?
Pretentious Vic: A lone voice crying out to the universe in search of understanding.
Regular Vic: I don't have anything funny to say about this one. I don't really remember where the name came from, but it's a bluesy tune that's clearly becoming more insistent, trying to get someones attention.
Amsterdam After Dark
Pretentious Vic: I've never been to Amsterdam. But I hear it's lovely.
Regular Vic: A tune by "Big George", we gave it a sort of "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" (by way of Horace Silver) feel. Hope he doesn't mind.
The "Fight or Flight Response" Blues
Pretentious Vic: Confronted by a terrifying object (the unison line at thetop of the tune), our "hero" (the band) has two options - fight or flight (represented by the "head" played twice, transposed up a half step the second time). The rest of the tune is a portrait of the psychological battle between these two instinctive reactions.
Regular Vic: Whenever I have a tricky musical idea I want to try out, I usually do it over a blues, so that there will be minimal musical challenges when it comes time to play the tune. I wanted to write something that would modulate back and forth, but not sound like it was modulating. The title seemed to fit, sort of because of Pretentious Vic's reasons, two sides ofthe same coin.
New, as of yet un-named Ballad
Pretentious Vic: To name a thing of beauty is to destroy it.
Regular Vic: Didn't pick out a name yet. My daughter saw this written on a set list and she asked me "Is that one of your songs?". I said yes. She then asked "Is that what it's called?". I told her of course not, that I just hadn't picked out a name for it yet. She said "You have some pretty weird names, I wouldn't be surprised if you called a song something like that". So, just to bust her chops, I'm sticking with it.
