a free form jazz odyssey in front of a festival crowd

Yes, I have proclaimed my love for another man. The man- Craig, owner of the list. Craigslist has revolutionized the way we in cities live. It is truly amazing what can be done through this wonderful .org, here are some of my examples.

2 apartments, both quite nice
1 Job, which is also very nice
1 Band, which can rock like no other
1 flat base snare stand, cheap
1 old snare drum and kick from Long Island
1 Priceless kick drum belonging to Elvin Jones, along with it endless Jazz Credibility

and today………..1 round badge Gretsch Kick drum for a ridiculous price.

Craig, you rock. So I am an ebay percussion addict, and I check for several things frequently. The 2 main ones being Onyx finish Rogers kits, the other Round Badge Gretsch stuff. Usually, the Gretsch are way out of my league, and the Rogers Onyx are as rare as me getting a comment on this blog, so i’m not that lucky. But yesterday was a big day. A Black Onyx Rogers Kit showed up, ending saturday afternoon. Black is the best of all Onyx- Billy Martin plays one, its just a very unique look. The lister did not specify that it was an Onyx finish- hence it did not get many bids. So, i was ready to stealth that shit. at the last second, I bid 550$, money i should NO WAY be spending on a drum kit. but, some shit head using a stealth program bid at literally the last second and won for 560. THAT PIECE OF SHIT. I hope he goes to pick up the drums, and while loading them in his car throws out his back, and is unable to play them, forced to look but not touch for the rest of his life. Lets face it, he deserves it.

So, being fuly depressed, I checked the old CL musical instrument section. Here is the post i found:

http://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/msg/123344081.html

If you are a pathetic drum addict, you will spot something immediately that gives it away. Kudos to my sister Sydney for spotting it quickly when I gave her the test. There is a little circle on the kick drum. That is….a ROUND BADGE. Made by Gretsch from the 50’s to late 60’s at their williamsburg factory. I bought this thing in Williamsburg, so its very fitting. I immediately emailed the people, and in about an hour, I got a response, making an appointment to pick them up this afternoon. When I got there, I had to keep it cool, a gretsch badge itself- not the drum, just the circular badge- goes for like 40$ on ebay. The people were very nice, and extremely happy to get rid of the gear to have space in their apartment. I pretty much threw 5 20’s at them and ran out the door. Looking at it was like seeing a hurt animal. Whoever owned it had absolutely no idea what it was. There was a sticker on the side of the kick, some paint splattered on it, missing one rim and chunks taken out of the other, scary stuff. The other drums included were kind of cool- what looks like a 1930’s Slingerland Radio King tom in BAD shape, and a misc floor tom in a cool red pearl finish. The cymbals are too crappy to re-sell, but i’m going to drill some holes in them, try to make some interesting sounds.

The Gretsch will take some $ to restore, but not nearly as much as buying a complete drum, so I am ok with that. Overall, a very positive CL experience. Does that guy Craig make a lot of $$ of the site? If not, he totally should. I am going to send him 5$. you should too

Well blog, looks like its time to get back together. New Year, New Post. I’m not making a resolution to update more, thats just freaking stupid. You cant force the blog, its just something that happens.

Major changes: I live in Jersey City, I have been to New Zealand and back, I work at a 4th job.

Lets go in order, shall we? a few quick sentences on each, then some complete thoughts on rap music and other things….GO

1. I have moved in with Web Master T Bone. We have a large crib in Journal Square, we are the youngest people in the building (that do not live with their parents). There are many Indian people, and we recently got a stereo system that is capable of playing vinyl, which is a good thing.

2. The New Zealand Trip. Man, it was crazy. It was the first time I was out of the country, and it is a beautiful place down there. The biggest highway is 2 lanes, the green is the greenest i have ever seen in my life, there are definitely more sheep than people. We rented a car and I drove on the other side of the road.
there are some pictures on my facebook thingy:

http://emerson.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001904&l=024f2&id=13000538

3. 4th job. I do some part time stuff at a commercial editing place. We cut radio spots extremely quickly. Yesterday I had to do 6 in 3 hours. Its fast paced, but enjoyable. I meet a lot of those dudes with the intense movie voices.

ok, thats the big points of the last 2 months. what else? I’ve been drumming a lot. I had another lesson with that Martin guy, who i may or may nor be intimidated by because he is very good, and I learned a bunch. Mainly what I learned, is that practice is by far the most important thing. No one is born being able to do some crazy polyrhythmic clave shit, you gots to practice. So I have been practicing. And when its time for the percussive showdown one day, on california salt flats in death valley, at sunset, with a crowd of millions cheering, with nothing but 2 drumsets, myself, and the drummer from weather report, i’ll be all set to go.

side note- Tarn told me he liked Weather Report one night, I told him we couldnt be friends anymore.

Here is a phenomenon I have noticed while living at the new crib. When there is food in the house, i eat a ton of it. But as the supply drains, I eat less and less. The house was empty to a pathetic degree, so we went food shopping. As soon as it was stocked, I became a pig. eating like a somalian refugee unleashed at the Sizzler buffet. Now the supply is in medium stock, and we are under control again.

That is all for now, postig shall resume soon, real, it will be kept.