Hard Work Leads To Greatness

"I'm becoming more of an investigator again, like before Ms. Lulu turned me on to Blogspot."




Wayne Shorter at Carnegie Hall (about 5 years ago). He'll be at Town Hall in a few months:


Lodo Grdzak (right) w/ Imelda May: She'll be w/ Jeff Beck at The Beacon in March 2011.

Todd Rundgren at Gramercy Theater (this past Tuesday):

Tonight (Friday) marks my intermission between the week and the weekend. Maybe that’s the way it is for most people, but normally my work and life don’t run a straight 9 to 5; or a straight Mon. thru Friday. A lot of times my job requires that I catch someone when they’re home, so I’ll drop-in weeknights after 6:00; or maybe (if I’m truly inspired) early on a weekend morning. A lot of weeks my big day off is Monday or Tuesday.

But my weeks this month have been pretty straight. 8:00 in the morning to about 9:00 at night. ‘Til Friday, when I take my intermission just as though I were fully domesticated or married.

With all this work, its hard to find time to write--or even blog. I feel I’m becoming more of an investigator again; like I was before Ms. Lulu first turned me on to Blogspot. Less of a writer. Yet how can I get mad when I’m getting a steady check again? Now I can buy my Prince tickets (which I did this morning); buy my Jeff Beck tickets (on sale tomorrow morning), buy my Wayne Shorter tickets. All I need now is Kanye or Stevie and I’ll be set.

Speaking of Kanye, I’ve been listening to his new disc for three weeks now. That’s got top-billing on my Ipod. College Dropout will always have a special place in my heart since I dropped out of college after my first semester--just like Kanye. But his new disc...its now. We can’t go back to when College Dropout first came out. Everyone’s in a different place. Everyone but Kanye that is. He’s still number one.

Its amazing that I’ve never seen Kanye in concert. I go see everyone; and Kanye’s been my favorite guy for a lot of years now. But I’ve always viewed him as a studio artist. A great producer. One of the few pop stars still interested in creating a complete album you can listen to all the way through. And Kanye does it every year-and-a-half or so. He’s definitely a hard worker. And he’s not only an elite visionary in his conceptions, he’s funny as all hell.

But there are only a few rappers who can pull it off live. Past footage of Kanye on TV and video left me with the impression that his voice wasn't powerful enough to fill a big place like The Garden. His ego certainly, but not his voice. And in a way he's his own worst enemy since you can’t compare him to anyone but the greatest of all time: Chuck D; Rakim; KRS One; Nas; Jay-Z; Black Thought. I believe Kanye surpasses all those guys; except on voice and tone.

But truth is, I’ve never seen Kanye in person--so how can I say that? His voice definitely sounded stronger when I saw him on Saturday Night Live. And I think people forget that when they watch You Tube or even a concert on TV; thats a live representation of the concert. As good as the footage may be, its still not the same as being there for the experience. Its only a sense of what it was like. So I can’t say anything until I actually see Kanye.

Tonight I’m gonna smoke weed and watch You Tube before I sack-out for about 10 hours or so. Big night. I never watch music videos--only live performances; and as much as I watch the performers, I watch the crowd and gauge the level of the connection between the two. Sometimes I wont be particularly moved by a performance, but I’ll see the crowd’s really wowed. Almost everytime that happens, if I go back and watch the performance again, I change my mind and side with the crowd. They’re the one’s who were there.

A good performer can make you think they’re the greatest that’s ever done it, even if its only for a second. Todd Rundgren did that to me this past Tuesday. Todd's not my favorite--not by a longshot. But he was so great in concert that for about an hour of my life I'd have gone to war for the guy. I hadn't seen him before; so despite his age, there was still a freshness for me. Kind of like when I finish a really good book. For a second I’ll say That was the greatest thing I’ve ever read. Only to question myself as the newness wears off. Really? Well,...

Sometimes an otherwise anonymous person will reveal themselves to be a great performer. Artists like that remind you not to underestimate your fellow man. Sort of like Kanye rapping for the record execs in his pink Polo; but perhaps Jay-Z is be a better example for my purposes. If you knew nothing of Jay-Z and I showed you his photograph, would you recognize the kind of power he has over a crowd? Sense his presence? I certainly didn’t. I always thought he looked rather plain; until I saw him on You Tube. Then it was immediate. The man’s a stud. A star. And the crowds love him.

We had a rule in Detroit, back when I used to play guitar. We’d say, you can either do it live or you can’t. All that technical stuff is great, but at some point you just gotta be able to bring it and move a crowd. That’s the only way to have a long career in the music industry. Rock the house. I certainly couldn’t, that’s why I’m here, mired in mediocrity.

But I've been working hard and all my concerts are coming up, so soon I'll soon be surrounded by greatness.



Prince at Madison Square Garden (just bought my tickets for next week)

Wayne Shorter: Elegant People (gonna be at Town Hall in February):