Played at the Inn at Morro Bay last night. It was a slim crowd, but they were appreciative.
This guy named Bill Cyeeta came in with his wife, a middle-aged gentleman, and they guys in the band were telling me he’s an upright bass player from down south. I talked with him for a little bit at the set break, and he was real cool, so I had him play a couple of songs.
I could tell right away that his technique was great, he’d definitely been playing for a long time. His knowledge of music was deep and he knew how to apply theory correctly to certain sections that I couldn’t do. He was good.
So then, after like two songs (an F Blues and Footprints) I came back up. Great, this guy just played excellently. Now I knew I had to turn it up. We closed the set with All Blues. When it came time for my solo, Mike Raynor (drummer) laid out completely. I started playing the Brian Bromberg style bassline with the melody at the same time and then I pulled out all the stops. It got Bill’s table AND the table next to him light up.
My technique, after playing the Upright bass for only one year now, leaves much to be desired. But my “Sense of adventure,” as Bill put it, more than made up for it that night. It was cool. We had a real good time, and it was great to see how my bass is supposed to be played.
