MUSIC PART 2

Yo, after seeing a metal band on Wednesday night, I thought I should mix it up and see a jazz show on Friday night. So, my friend Sean and I headed out to one of my favorite venues in San Francisco, Cafe Du Nord. It's a great, kind of dark, club. Small, intimate stage, good sound and great drinks.

It was Scott Amendola's 40th Birthday Bash. Featuring Charlie Hunter, Ben Goldberg, Ron Miles, John Shifflett and Jeff Parker. This was a great show. They were doing all kinds of jazz, from standards to weird experimental stuff using samples and electronics.

I first saw Scott Amendola play with Charlie Hunter and Pound for Pound back in Santa Barbara. I was blown away by him then and he has only gotten better. He has a unique playing style, very free and open. He can go from the phattest grooves to the heaviest swing. I was very impressed with his brush work as well, songs where it seems like he was just soloing over the entire thing. You should check out his site: www.scottamendola.com

So, other cool things about the show: I was standing about 5 feet away from Scott and about two feet away from Charlie Hunter (who is one of my favorite jazz guitar players). I could actually read Charlies music on the floor in front of him, it was really cool to read along with the band. Their charts were really cool and creative. We also got to hang out and joke around with Charlie Hunter after the gig, that was very cool.

Jazz or metal, it doesn't matter... Great drumming is great drumming!

Alright, that was part 2. Tomorrow, I talk about playing on the radio :)

STEVe