some of my stuff

[Wen1001]

hey guys, just thought i'd post up some of the stuff i've done with my group WIIERD here in Singapore... i know that it's not perfect and i've got stuff to work on but i thought i'd get some opinions and critique....i eagerly await the being torn apart [img]wink.gif[/img]

first tune is a tune written by my keyboardist called "bundle of nerves"...he was going for a return to forever kinda vibe...well, we tried our best, this was taken live so the sound's not very good and i was pretty nervous cause we were playing with Greg Lyons as a guest saxophonist, he's pretty big around this area. Here goes.... pardon the time flipping and lack of structure in the drum solo [img]wink.gif[/img]

http://rapidshare.de/files/8797368/03_Track_03.m4a.html

next one's bessie's blues (played in piano tro format), which we played in this club that had some basic recording facilities, this was when the group just got together and we were still trying to feel each other out...WIIERD's primarily a piano trio but we try to get people to play with us when we can.

http://rapidshare.de/files/8798182/08_Track_08.m4a.html

last one...a take of maiden voyage that i think my piano player absolutely KILLS on.

http://rapidshare.de/files/8798986/0...oyage.mp3.html

tell me whatcha think, and i'll try to take it well ...

[Wen1001]

Hey paul....Singapore [img]wink.gif[/img] i'm in Singapore

You're right. Most times when i listen back to stuff i wish i did less...and just let the music speak for itself more... I guess it's all part of the self-editing process.. Gimme some time and maybe one day i'll learn to be more of a musician than a drummer! [img]wink.gif[/img]

[LDGuy]

I'm just going to type as i listen, hehe, so here goes.

1. That bundle of nerves is a nice tune. Reminds me of early Yellowjackets stuff. You heard their new album? - really good, but plently of overplaying as far as the drums are concerned, but i think it suits the music, just like Cobham's playing suits Mahavishnu. This tune is pretty perfect for what it is. Was this sax player sight reading charts? That's rediculous if he is. Nice rhodes sound, and wicked sax and drum sound. Can't really hear the bass, but from what little i can hear it sounds pretty sick. Your keys player reminds me a bit of Steve Weingart, he's got a lot of those atonal licks, which are mirrored nicely by your playing. You've got a lot of Wecklish snare licks you play, which makes this pretty similar to the new DWB stuff (except unfortunately not as tight, but not as over produced either). You should listen to Multiplicity; i think you'd see a lot of similarity (except i really hate the way it's mixed, and all that panned percussion is really OTT) Ooh, drum solo. Plenty of Weckl/Will Kennedy in that. Hehe, this seems like the sort of tune i'd write! Some nice licks there. Damn, i wanna play with this band!

2. Ah, Bessie's Blues. Nice tune. Sounds like Ahmad Jamal/Chick Corea on piano! Nice drum kit sound! Woah, some crazy bass licks there. Erm, is there a head in there somewhere? Ah well, sounds good. This is kinda the right amount of note playing for live stuff, but this isn't the sorta stuff i'd want on a live cd. Wow. Bass solo. hehehehe. Sounds like a 5 string. Nice drum licks. Ooh, some trades. BLUSH-DA! Legend. This is the sorta stuff i really wanna do playing piano - beats all this real-book stuff i'm doing with my quintet at the moment. SHIT, DID THAT PIANIST ACTUALLY PLAY THAT??? 6:00! Crazy! Ah, there's the head. Nice. This is the shit.

3. Now, Maiden Voyage. This is one of my fave tunes ever, so if you make a right royal mess of this i'll have to shoot you. Thats a nice beginning. Those sticks sound weird - i would have used brushes at this point, rather than those rod things. The pianist is playing quietly enough for it to warrant that. Thats a bit too much drums methinks. But that piano is exquisite. I still these drums are too loud. I would have switched to sticks about halfway through this piano solo, just to progress it. From what i hear, you're already playing quite a lot, so you haven't really got a lot of headroom to get up to that climax if you want to. I dont think the bass player's helping much either. This is a piano solo, not a band solo, which is kinda what it sounds like like. That can be good, but i would have progressed to that point, otherwise it can get pretty boring. I went to see Scott Hamilton play a few weeks back, and he's so declined since his early days. It's just lick after lick after lick. There's no progression to his solos, or at least nothing that the band can really get a hold of to give the tune structure. I think you are progressing it quite well here, by about halfway though the track it has a pretty good feel, but it's cool to really build up to that. But this piano solo is pretty sick. Still not as good as Herbie, though!

So how long you been playing? I assume your pro - who've you played with? How old are you (if ya dont mind me asking)?

Some wicked stuff here. Please post any studio stuff you've done or new shit, so we can hear. This is some seriously good stuff.

[Wen1001]

hey LDGuy, thanks for the reply and critique...i'm 22 years old this year and have been playing for 10 years...but only took it seriously in the last 5 years. i'm by no means a professional, in fact i've spent the last 2 and a half years serving my national service but i was lucky enough to get into the Singapore Armed Forces Concert Band, they pay me a small allowance and i do some gigs here and there which pay but definitely not anything substantial. I've just finished my national service and am off to berklee next year.

I'm lucky in the sense that with Singapore being so small (only about 3.5 million people) and having an even smaller jazz/muso community if you're young and interested to play pretty much the whole scene is supportive of what you're trying to do...so at jam sessions i've gotten to play with some really amazing cats who used to live in the states but have somehow settled down here. There's a bass player here called Christy Smith who's played with a whole bunch of guys including fela kuti, he's basically the gandfather of the whole scene and seen as the wise man here. There's also a great drummer here called Eddie Layman who's played with Sanborn, Tom Kennedy and i think Joey Calderazzo...these two guys do the weekly jam sessions at Harry's, the place tht has the best straight ahead jam sessions here. Anyways, because of the unique situation here in Singapore i've gotten to play with basically almost everyone who's here and some people who are passing through, though i don't know if you'd know any of their names if you didn't live here. But i think there are some really great players here. The piano player who plays with me in these recordings is my age, 22. We're born a day apart.

the sax player wasn't sight reading but he only had one rehearsal with us the day before the show...he's such an amazing cat. You should hear some of the tunes he writes...

Anyways, since you asked here's two more tunes...(i'm sorry if i'm offending anyone here by constantly posting my shit. I promise i don't have that much more stuff anyways)

This one's of the same band playing a funny version of "Friends and Strangers"

http://rapidshare.de/files/8844090/06_Track_06.m4a.html

And another where we're playing a pretty relaxed straight ahead tune...for the life of me i can't remember what it's called off the top of my head! but Greg Lyons is killing on this one too..
http://rapidshare.de/files/8844214/04_Track_04.m4a.html

Thanks for the comments on things to work on...i definitely appreciate the honesty...listening back to the takes there are whole bunch of things i wish i did differently...i definitely wish i played with more maturity.