Yosemite, oh you are a special place, Zack / Natalie’s wedding

Posted on May 18, 2012 by geneperry

We went up to Yosemite this last weekend and I am finally getting around to posting about it. To start, Yosemite is amazing. I have heard that it is amazing and everything that you have heard is true! Phenomenal, breathtaking and wonderful. This last weekend was waterfall weekend, lots of gorgeous waterfalls on display at full bore – amazing. The girls were wanting to come back every year from now on – making it a mother’s day tradition, we’ll see how mama feels about that.

On the Friday we arrived, we spent the night at Jamie and Steve’s house. A gorgeous and modest single wide atop a very tall hill nestled away in the back corner of Mariposa. Gorgeous. Trees in every direction. It just happened that I brought my Stick and amp and was able to sneak in a jam with Steve – who had assembled a toy kit. He got some great tone out of it and we had a brief but excellent jam, some of which was captured on video.

While it was great to see Jamie and Steve, the real occasion was my best friend’s Zack wedding. It was actually a whole weekend of fun. On Saturday night they did a Korean wedding ceremony called the Pae Baeck, or what Zack referred to as the Payback – funny. Both Zack and his lovely fiancee were adorned in traditional Korean wedding outfits. I was excited to be asked as Zack’s attendant, which basically meant I poured beverages for the bride and groom respectively. I was stoked to be involved and SO happy for Zack and Natalie.

On Sunday, we hiked up to Vernal Falls. Gorgeous. Along the way at this time of year, the path that you walk to access the waterfall is so close to the falls that you are “misted” by the blast of the water cascading down from 800 feet. On a hot day, it is more than welcome. While Joelle was a trooper, she did have a bit of a hard time about 2/3′s of the way through the journey. She trekked on though and we were very proud of her. She was very excited on the way back down and really led the charge down the hill as we lost track of time and had just enough time to get ready for the wedding which started at 4:30 at the Awahnee Hotel.

Corinne was absolutely supercharged on the way up the hill! Deanne had to run ahead just to keep up with her. She ran out of steam on the way back down, but she is still small enough that I was able to have her on shoulders for a while.

At the top of Vernal Falls, we snacked on the chocolates that Natalie and Zack had given to us in a care package when we arrived. We also had flaovered Pelligrino waters and a gallon of water as well. I wish we had brought sandwiches as we were famished when we got to the top of the falls. It turns out the the trail continues up to another waterfall, the name evades me at the moment and then all the way up to Half Dome – perhaps we’ll make it to the next waterfall next year. Half Dome may have to wait a little longer.

The ceremony was brief but meaningful and beautiful. It was delivered by Jesse Donahue, a stand up guy. I was to glad that Zack had chosen Jesse to arrange the vows and lead the ceremony. He was fantastic! Humorous, but he didn’t push it. Meaningful, with excellent quotes from Shakespeare. Pure awesomeness! After the dinner, I gave a brief speech at the wedding, in which I spoke of my love for the Norman family. It felt pretty good and I got a big hug from Marc which sealed it for me! Happy day. They were both so beautiful and they looked REALLY happy.

All said and done, Yosemite, especially at this time of year, is a very special place. I was so honored to pay witness of Zack and Natalie’s union and look forward to getting some time with them in the future.

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Unurban, new macs

Posted on May 3, 2012 by geneperry

I am gearing up for next Monday at Unurban. I think Marc might be a bit burned out on playing with me, which I can understand as he far surpasses my skill to pull music from the real book. I am still hoping he can make it down but am prepared to play the evening solo if necessary. I had also spoken with Pete Ruskin about making it down as well as it has been years since we jammed in Soil.

We picked up Deanne a new Macbook Pro 13″! It’s a real dandy – 2.8 Dual core with 4GBs. It’s going to be so much faster than the Macbook she is currently using, which is almost 6 years old. I remember bringing that to the birth when Corinne was born and holding it over her and snapping pictures of her with it as I didn’t have a phone with a camera – or a camera for that matter.

I myself am eying the 15″ Macbook Pro and expect to pick one up just as soon as I sell my Fender Bassman. I am really anxious to get started in recording using Garageband and hopefully Logic, of course this is months away. Also still hoping to get something to tape before I turn 43 as that was a resolution that I had with myself to do!

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Lenny’s, UnUrban with Stevie

Posted on April 7, 2012 by geneperry

This past weekend was truly epic. Inclined got together and played up at Lenny’s in the Palisades, and then right after us, The Draft reunited after 25 years and played a couple of tunes. It looks like there was an article in the Palisades Post, in which I got a couple of quotes – really fun. It was doubly (tripley?!) fun because Marco Paul dj’d the whole affair and Zack got to jump up with us on Green Heaven. Lastly was the jam with Steve, Pat and Daryle – the DraftClined lives!

On Monday, Steve sat in with Marc and I at UnUrban. Marc ran a little bit late as he was under the weather. Steve and I really didn’t have anything worked out, so we were a little bit rusty. Marc showed up and right about the time the second set started, we started to work things out.

A little miffed that I forgot to pick up my bib for the Hollywood Half Marathon today. Now I can’t run. Pissed. The whole idea of an expo is really a pisser for me as I so busy during the week, and the weekend for that matter, there really should be some option for same day pick up of a bib. Why is an expo even necessary?

I’m over it. And I am going to sleep in tomorrow and spend time with my family, so I’m really thinking of it as an upgrade.

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Jam with Min and Marc

Posted on February 21, 2012 by geneperry

Yesterday I finally got the opportunity to play with Min, a guy a met out at a Jazz meetup and with Marc. Min brought his girlfriend Hannah, both were pretty cool people. A little quiet, but I expect maybe they were just a little nervous having met me for the first time.

We ran through Stolen Moments,Equinox (which sounded good), Autumn Leaves, I’ll remember April, Girl from Ipanema, Little Suede Shoes (this was new for me, it went well), Waltz for Debby, Autumn Leaves, Blue Bossa, In a sentimental mood, Alice in Wonderland and Mamawailer. Mamwailer was really fun as there is not as much movement in the chords so it gave me a chance to hit more pocket grooves. We also worked in Crackers and Jam which is an original.

Min is up on charts! He had an iPad with the iReal app on it. Very cool. It was fun to see Marc get a load of that. I felt a little discouraged as I was not able to play many of the songs that Min wanted to play – Four, Someday my Prince will come, Boplicity (actually Marc wanted to play that one), so I have my work cut out for me.

I could tell that Marc enjoyed playing with Min. It was a fun session and it seemed that there was some cohesion, I just need to get working on my parts if I am going to keep up with these two. I am hoping that we can meet again before we play at Unurban in two weeks. Hopefully we can do more of the groove stuff, I may put together a list of funk songs that we can play with Min – Sneakin in the back, potbelly, maybe even Knives Out which I have been struggling over.

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Jazz Meetup

Posted on February 1, 2012 by geneperry

So far this week has been really fun for playing out. To start, I went to my first West LA Jazz Meetup. There were about 15 people in attendance, which I consider to be a good turnout as everyone gets a turn to watch and to play. It was held at the Nativity Church out in Westchester. Sound was decent in that there were just a few mics for percussion and horns if they needed them. I watched for the most part as I was a little intimidated, as usual, being the only Stick player. By default, I always introduce myself to the bassist first and foremost as this is generally the guy my parts end up doubling, crossing-over or otherwise interfering with. Turns out it was a good move as the Bassist, Todd, was the only bassist and was more or less driving the session. There were about 3 guitarists, 3 pianists, 3 drummers, one alto player and 4 (!) trumpets. There was also a guy there that played chromatic harmonica – Mike A, he was very good and fun to play with. I was fortunate enough to be able to call 2 tunes, so I called for Girl from Ipanema and Stolen Moments. While I was pleased with the solo I had, the arrangement itself was not known by the rhythm section, so it came apart a little at the seams during the chorus. No matter, everyone was very receptive and willing to work with the madness that this the Chapman Stick. There were two drummers there that night, both very good. I introduced myself to a Korean drummer named Min who was really fun to watch. I exchanged info with him and am hopeful that we can jam in the future.

There will be another jam on Monday, February 20. I am going! I am hoping that I can get Peter Ruskin, Marc Bagasou and perhaps Ravi Carman to tag along. We’ll see. I posted something on the Stickist in hopes of finding other Stick players for a Meetup, we’ll have to wait and see!

 

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Daisy the rabbit, First solo performance

Posted on January 24, 2012 by geneperry

Daisy the bunny
On Thursday of last week, Deanne decided to get a rabbit.

A rabbit?!

I heard this on the way home from LA to Temecula. At first, I was a little bit miffed because I was not involved in the decision, but this was just my ego that was bruised. I was really more concerned for Deanne as having another pet is going to be very challenging given that we already have a cat, a dog a turtle and that she is doing quite a lot of horseback riding with Brandi up at her folks house.

The rabbit’s name is Daisy and it is a love! She is very gentle and as it turns out, very easy going with people, cats and dogs. The first night, we put her in the bathroom so she could just get used to being with us. The second night, we set up her habitat which was provided for us by her previous owners. Elie was tolerant of her, but for the most part, not very interested. Marley was very curious about the new addition and I think she was really wanting to play with the bunny.

In any case, from what I have read, rabbits are quite easy to own, you just have to give them space and attention, like you would any animal. Joelle and Corinne are prepared to assist with the day to day task of feeding the animals and tending to them, so Deanne will not be alone in the task. I am a bunny believer!

Stick at Un-urban
So on a whim last Thursday, I decided to swing by McCabe’s guitar shop to see if they had any music for Chapman Stick – a fantasy, I know, nonetheless, I went. Turns out there was none and I was not surprised. I did manage to strike up a conversation with what turned out to be one of the owners. I mentioned that I played the Chapman Stick and was curious to know if they would consider some sort of class at McCabe’s for beginning Stick players, perhaps even getting Emmett to come down if possible.

He liked this idea! He directed me to speak with one of their employees who is there on Sundays and Tuesday, so I am hoping to check in with them at that time.

I then walked down the street to un-urban, a coffee house just off of the 10 on Pico, east of Centinela. I inquired as to who the manager was, turns out her name is Pam. At about 9am tonight, I decided, after about a good hour of practicing, why don’t I give Pam a call and see if they want someone to come out and play Chapman Stick. When I called, Pam picked up the phone – I asked her if I could come down and play music, and she was very receptive.

I made it down to the cafe at 10pm, she was not there yet, so I set up. I got a cup of coffee from a nice guy named Matt. He served me my coffee in a beer stein, it was good and strong. I played unaccompanied for about 20 minutes; In a sentimental mood, Alive in Wonderland, Someday my Prince will come and segued into Somewhere over the Rainbow. This yielded the most applause, from what appeared to be about 7 people. People had questions about the Stick, so I took a moment to speak to them. There was no mic, just me and the Stick. I was using a Behringer K900fx and an Ernie Ball Volume pedal, running both sides of the Stick into the pedal and the amp.

Pam was very pleased with the music, and as I was breaking down, the man at the back of the coffee house asked if I could play some more. Needless to say, I was delighted to do so! I played Naima, an original called Forever in Love, some improvisational numbers (E and F are my favorite keys) and Equinox.  I am hoping to add an original called Gingerly to the set as well as Duke Ellington’s Come Sunday and Eric Clapton’s You look wonderful Tonight. The gentleman that served me my coffee was very gracious about clapping after every song, and I was grateful for him being so considerate.

At the end of the evening as I breaking down a second time, Pam asked if I would like to come back and play again. This was such great news – I agreed. I mentioned that I had a friend that was quite good at Saxophone and that he might be interested in coming out and playing. Unfortunately, Marc was sick, as I had called him the moment that Pam said I could come down to play. I confirmed next Tuesday at un-urban with Pam and later when I got home with Marc via text.

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Wednesday night practice

Posted on January 19, 2012 by geneperry

Marc had a suggestion early in the afternoon prior to our Wednesday night rehearsal, basically stating that we should try to cover less material in the course of an evening. I hadn’t really stopped to think about it until after I had reviewed all the material we had been stacking up over the past few weeks. He was right, we ( I in particular) need to get focused on learning fewer songs and playing them well.

Our rehearsal went very smoothly, we covered All Blues, which we had not yet played together and Sentimental Mood (which I have been playing incorrectly!). We spent the better portion of the second half of the practice reworking a tune that we had played the first time we got together. Thankfully, Marc has been able to record using is iPhone. So we picked this one up after letting it lay dormant for almost 2 months. Its starting to sound much better. We had reviewed an original which I have been doing a lot of work on called crackers and jam, the title of which will inevitable change, although most of this was arranging as much of that track is already written.

 

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Pony club of Southern California

Posted on January 14, 2012 by geneperry

The family is heading down to Fallbrook this morning to watch Corinne and Joelle participate in the Pony club of Southern California. There will be lots of kids, I think girls mostly, that will be riding horses and ponies of sizes.

This week at work was a little rough as we have had some outages and tickets that have been bounced between groups. Thankfully, our team is pretty sharp and we have had good luck in getting the ticket to the right team.

I am still stoked on the meeting of Paul and Marc! I feel like we are off to a good start and I am looking forward to collaborating with them and hopefully getting an opportunity to play out and do some recording.

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Jams are go!

Posted on January 12, 2012 by geneperry

Tonight was an amazing night for music. To start, I finally reconnected with childhood friend Paul Grundman. He is such an amazing talent and a fine person, it’s been no less than 10 years since I saw him last. It was such a privilege to play with Paul AND with Marc, who is also phenomenally talented. Marc and I have developed a great bond over the past 2 months – it was great grabbing a beer with him afterward and getting his thoughts on what we had played. Very positive and very fun!

We went through some jams to warm up with and then pressed on through Stolen Moments, In a sentimental mood, (mostly serious) Girl from Ipanema and Equinox. We rehashed Crackers and Jam and a ballad which was previously untitled which is now officially called  Forever in Love. What else? We spent some time writing and arranging what could be called a samba called Subway Sabor.

I have a lot of work to do on my sound. My current 1×15 cabinet is seriously lacking tone. I also need to consider replacing the SVT-III amp as it is just too heavy for what we are trying to do. I’d like to replace 1X15 with a 2×10 and possibly an Ampeg pf-500 for the head. We’ll have to wait and see as I think my days of playing both sides of the Stick through my paltry Behringer 90 watt keyboard amp are coming to a close.

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Still looking for a trade, Churay for Chanukah!

Posted on December 20, 2011 by geneperry

Despite having posted my 12 string Grand Stick on the Stickist for 10 days now, I have still not found any takers on a swap for a 10 string. I have had some people that were looking to trade out Sticks of lesser quality, but I know the value of my instrument.

Chanukah starts tomorrow, which is really exciting. Kind of bummed that I will be up in LA for it as I am working on Wednesday. On Thursday, I will head over to the Perry’s house for a luncheon for my beloved Aunt Mary. I am looking forward to getting some time with her.

Had great fun last night with Sam and Jeff from work last night at Killer Shrimp. I don’t know that Sam had ever been and I know that Jefferson had not been there before. So much fun! We talked about our upcoming DC2 project a bit towards the end of the conversation, it is really amazing to see how intelligent both Sam and Jeff are – I am very fortunate to be working with them and have much to learn from them about IT infrastructure.

I have had some success in setting up the SP10 Dev environment at work. I was able to get search working yesterday and today, I am really hoping that I can get the Quest Migration tool up and running.

Also – I have been working with Marc on Wednesdays which, every other one for now. The last session was extremely productive. Marc pieced together a more up tempo groove in D, I had come to him with a groove that I had in F, more of a simple two part Jimmy Smith groove and together we came up with a tune in Eb that was reminiscent of a 50′s doo wop ballad. Wild. That pieced together with our first untitled track and a piece that I putting together called Gingerly totals 5 originals. Still hoping to knock out Knives out by Radiohead, Blue Juice by Jimmy Cliff, Sneaking in the back by Tom Scott and possibly Stolen Moments by Oliver Nelson and we have a set!

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