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Performance Archives

Making Your Own Latin Jazz Bass Lines
Ask Damian Erskine

Making Your Own Latin Jazz Bass Lines

Q: I’m sitting here listening to your Trios CD, which has become one of my favorite discs – if it is at all possible to wear out a CD, I’m doing it with Trios! For “Mambo for Tajrid”, “Costa Del Sol”, Corea’s “Spain”, et al, on the CD, what suggestions do you have for getting a handle on Latin jazz...

Performing Live: Memorization vs. Reading vs. Improvisation
Ask Damian Erskine

Performing Live: Memorization vs. Reading vs. Improvisation

Q: I’m not a professional musician, but lately I’ve been performing a lot more often. I play both upright bass and bass guitar, and I like to play just about any style of music: pop, funk, folk, jazz. These two things have made me somewhat “in demand” in part-timers’ circles and has led me to get involved in two or...

Consistency: From the Practice Shed to the Bandstand
Ask Damian Erskine

Consistency: From the Practice Shed to the Bandstand

Q: I seem to have an issue with consistency. I seem to be able to pull certain licks and lines together when practicing, but it always falls apart when I’m actually playing with the band. Any tricks to develop consistency? A: Tricks? No. But I do have some thoughts. 1. Context I had a realization after something similar to what...

Audition and Performance Preparation: Recording Yourself
The Lowdown with Dr. D

Audition and Performance Preparation: Recording Yourself

One very enlightening way to prepare for an audition or performance is to record yourself prior stepping on the stage, or into the audition room. Expensive equipment is not required to gain benefit from recording yourself. Although better recording equipment means you can listen back in greater detail, the fact is that free recording software and the microphones on most...

Amp Stands: How to Raise Your Amp without Losing the Bottom?
Ask Damian Erskine

Amp Stands: How to Raise Your Amp without Losing the Bottom?

Q: I recently down-sized my amp from a classic SVT setup 8×10 with a head to a combo amp. Obviously much smaller. I want to raise it off the floor without losing the bottom end because I have used my Ampeg rig exclusively for 20+ years, and I am used to having that stage sound from the top speakers near...

Blues Endings: Tips for Avoiding the Train Wreck
Blues Bass

Blues Endings: Tips for Avoiding the Train Wreck

Early on in my musical career, a wise man once told me that the mark of a good band is one that starts together and ends together. This doesn’t mean that whatever is played in the middle doesn’t matter, but it alludes to the importance of how well-rehearsed the players are or how well they feel each other out if...

Playing As One
Ask Damian Erskine

Playing As One

I’m pushing the pause button on questions this week thanks to an experience I had just last night, which is a great lesson for all musicians. I’m traveling to Tokyo with the Jaco Pastorius Big Band at the moment. Last night, we had our warm up concert in Sunrise, FL. After the gig, I got into a conversation with fellow...

Chops vs. Groove
The Lowdown with Dr. D

Chops vs. Groove

A while back, someone asked me to discuss the concept of “Chops vs. Groove.” The reader didn’t elaborate very much, but the impression I got was they felt having, or perhaps displaying, “chops” and the ability to groove were somehow mutually exclusive. Although someone can groove pretty hard with only a moderate level of technique, it doesn’t take much investigation...