The Gig Was Good

Well, you probably weren't waiting to hear about it with baited breath (what's that smell?), but here's an update on the the Amigo's jazz gig.  It went well.  There is no serious danger of a Grammy nomination for the best live performance of 2008, but the crowd was friendly and happy and enough of them partied 'til midnight to please the hotel management.

Due to the personnel and the amount of time available to pull together an evening's worth of tunes, set list focused on relatively simple songs that are a) accessible and b) jammable.  Of course we wanted to avoid the "Jazz Odyssey Syndrome".  All tunes were limited to 10 minutes or less.  That's a bit much, but tolerable and as the crowd's social lubrication index rose, so did their enthusiasm and applause.

Angel & M**2 were in attendance, and they both liked the show.  The Friendly One overheard the Manager telling the Vibes Player that the evening was a success and that he was pleased. It generally a good thing to please the Manager.

Those of you who remember the infamous "High Desert Classic" Rugby Tournament and the El Paso Rugby Club gig, circa 1975 will be pleased to note that last evening's jazz performance had nothing in common with the audience (ahem) interactions of that memorable evening.  The Amigo defines success according to such gaps. Hence, we can breathe a sigh of relief and be pleased at the results.

Doing extended guitar solos on up-tempo tunes in the key of Bb, Eb, Ab, Fm, etc, is a challenge.  Even though it's more work to play in those keys, it is hard to deny that playing in keys other than those found the standard rock catechism is both stimulating and fun.

A good time seemed to be had by all.  That is a measure of success, is it not?