Phil Woods was one of a hundred truly great musicians I’ve been blessed (and I do mean that literally) to work with; just once. A last minute sub. A teaching seminar. A gig where the guy was doing a local event and didn’t want to bring the ‘real’ band. Some society gig. So rather than being a great time it’s often kinda awkward. You’re next to this ‘god’ and you’re only going to be together for a few hours. It’s like getting a seat on a plane next to yer childhood idol. Do we talk? Can I ask burning questions? How much do I get to gush? Will I do something stupid? No. Maybe. Not much. Yes.

I confess, I don’t particularly enjoy the saxophone. Don’t get me wrong: some of the greatest music ever performed has been made on the sax. Frankly, the basic tone often sounds to me like what it was invented to be: a really loud, easy to play band instrument. Don’t be angry. Mozart often said […]

Singing with volume! Why opera singers sound ‘that way’. Ronnie James Dio is not loud enough? Vibrato. Loudness. Spike Jones does Pagliacci. Jubilee Singers. Opera vs. Pop.

This is by far the longest post JCH and I have ever done together. If you’re a regular reader, you know that I edit these conversations to keep the word count to around 800. Many times I will break a talk into two or more separate posts because the last thing I want is to have these go from being digestible to a boring New Yorker novella. But in this case, the conversation was too broad (you’ll get the pun as you read) to easily break apart. Although it seems like yet another of JC’s diversions into classical music (and worst of all opera, ughhh) there are important points to be made about our beloved progressive rock as well as Detroit so please hang in there. I think you’ll find it interesting.

Roger CortonA couple of weeks ago I came […]

Getting ready for the East Coast leg of the tour. What makes for a really big shoe? Duke Ellington: the original SexyMF. The dilemma of Danny Collins: give people what they know or do new material? Steely Dan and studio musicians. What it really means to be professional?

Roger CortonSo we were supposed to talk the weekend before you started but you were playing a gig. That surprised me. Just some bar gig.

JCHYep.

RCWhy did you do that. I thought you would be resting up.

JCHYa know. I have no idea. The guy texted me a month ago and I just replied ‘Sure’. It was like a reflex. What was interesting was this: I hadn’t played with those guys in 2-3 years and ya know what had changed?

RCNothing.

JCHHow’d ya guess? Seriously. I’m sincerely surprised you got that right away. I guess I shouldn’t be because that’s something you’ve whined about before with your own band.

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Well, at least for making music. The sounds on Solid State Siren aren’t as cutting edge as we would’ve hoped. Shortcomings of music technology. Why paper and pencil makes for better music than any computer tools. StaffPad to the rescue.