LR May 3rd 2014

Hi Everyone:

Yesterday I had a really nice salad for lunch, that the boss lady made for me!! Last night we went out to a new spanish tapas restaurant and had one of my all time favourites, Steak Tartare....If they are bold enough to put it on the menu, it has to be good and it was! Done perfect, with a mixed in quail egg, spices, onion, garlic, diced pickles and a grainy mustard.....

Carnivore's rejoice!

We are in Naples, Florida and over the past week, we have found a new spot, where a couple of nights a week, there is a core blues band and other old timer musicians who are in the area, join in. Last tuesday we went there and they played for 4 hours solid, adding in harmonica players, bongo, sax, guitarists, etc......these guys must have been playing 40-50 years and they were tough to look at (lol), but man could they all play. Each taking turns with great solos, etc. Very respective of each other, cool,

They just get up and say, hey, lets play x and do it in A minor, or what key is your harmonica, ok, lets play it in that.....

Lol, very very impressive, it was great..we went again last night and there was a completely different set of backup musicians with some of the same frontmen and others joining in. Local musician hangout to keep up their chops....

I'll go again next week to see who shows up, before I have to go home to reality.

There were also some interesting guitars, Gibson firebird (all white), lots of Fenders of course, strats and tele's On the tuesday the bass player had a fantastic WALL bass, transparent blue, 5 string, man he was good.

On friday, the bass player had a Gibson SG looking bass, never seen one of those before. Sounded great.

Anyone been out to see some wonderful musicians like that? Watching these guys you can tell they all wanted to "make it" in the music industry, but these guys are it, in my books!

Alf

I like Naples and used to live in Fort Myers (probably where you flew into). I saw a good band in Boulder, CO last August and will hopefully see a few this summer in Minneapolis.


Cheers,

Will

On friday, the bass player had a Gibson SG looking bass, never seen one of those before. Sounded great.

I'm surprised you're not familiar with the Gibson EB-3 basses. They were extremely popular in the '60s when I started playing (maybe you're not old enough). Not so popular these days, as the Fender P-bass or it's clones have taken over. Jack Bruce started on a Fender VI but switched to the EB-3 for Cream's second album, Disraeli Gears. Find some old clips of Cream and you'll see him playing it. It was not uncommon to see bands with the bass player on an EB-3 and the guitarist playing a matching SG--look at old clips of Blue Cheer, or the aforementioned Cream.

Thx for the info, cool

I'm old enough, 57 but have only been playing guitar and paying attention for 6 years, lol


Yes, Will, Naples is awesome, we bought a condo here and love it. Gator music on tamiami is a g&l dealer

.these guys must have been playing 40-50 years and they were tough to look at

I suppose I should be offended by this--Hey Darwin, stick up for us old geezers!

The scenario you describe is similar to many of the local blues jams here. That's what got me back to playing out after a hiatus limiting me to "bedroom playing" until about 7-8 years ago. The "host band" will play a set and then they will create sets comprised of whatever players show up. You will get a whole range of players of course, but some of the local jams attract some extremely good talent--pros and semi-pros. This also provides great opportunites to meet other musicians. This is how I eventually hooked up with my current bandmates.

Certainly no offence intended!

That's awesome and I congratulate you, wish I could do it.

Certainly no offence intended!

That's awesome and I congratulate you, wish I could do it.

No offense actually taken--especially since at 57 you are approaching "geezerdom" soon yourself.

There is a time when "geezerdome" is 30 and there is a time when 57 is a youngster.

I love the sound of live music period. I have enjoyed sitting in a hotel lobby listening to elevator music played by a live band. Musicianship is preferred of course but I have hung around to check out gear.

I know of a venue that offers a similar situation for jam nights but it is a sardine can and mostly standing room only.

Hey Alf ,
That sounds like a great place to spend sometime .
Coincidentally last week I discovered a great Blues Band too . At this cool little bar also .
The singer had his own harp mike and amp . Man he could play the harp .
The guitarist was playing this worn Dakota Red 1964 Stratocaster and a 1957 Fender Tremolux amp.
Oh the tone !!!!! And he could really play .

That's awesome, I love that


"I'm old enough to be a curmudgeon, and young enough to know that I am one!"

Missed this Alf, Good that you are finding some good hangouts. There are a lot of good musicians out there when you start looking around a bit.

The SG type basses were very popular back in the 60's. Gibson was very well know and brand loyalty was the thing and people were reluctant to try something else. I had an EBO SG type and when I first saw a Fender bass it did not appeal to me. Now I wish I had bought one and still owned it. I got my first Fender bass in 2000. Iv;e had several but don't curently own one. Thanks for the LR. They are scarce nowadays. I am almost in geezerdome territory myself.-- Darwin

We've got several good Blues and rock jams in my area and I can see good blues and a variety of rock/ R&B played several times a week if I feel like going out.

Live music is the best.

When you talk about guys who have been playing for 40- 50 years and are not much to look at- You've just given a good description of my band, and probably many others on this board.

I'm glad to hear that the blues is alive and well in Naples, Florida.