it had to happen at some point in time
since starting this blog thing i have managed to do a daily posting
without too much effort, inconvenience or need for motivation
but friday the 27th of july started out bad and got progressively worse
it all spilled over into saturday and now early sunday morning i am back to it
i can count my best friends on the fingers of one hand
and last night 2 of them were there with me making it a very special occassion
they had both sucummbed to my likely overwhelming enthusiasm
for the sound lounge and any lineup appearing there
this based on multiple visits over the last few months
we got there close to starting time and yours truly spotted the table
right at the front centre stage in it's usual empty mode
with every other table in the place already occupied
well i'm up for the challenge of sitting on the bow of this vessel
so we settled in and without too much delay we set off
as the band slipped on stage and without notice settled into their set
from the first bars it was apparant that this was going to be interesting
we are so close to the action we see the colours of their eyes
and the fine strands of james waples' brushes
and the finger prints on mike majkowski's double bass
mike nock left of stage and mostly obscured by his grand and electric pianos
this intense closeness actually meant it was natural to be absorbed by one musician
as opposed to taking the whole performance as the sum of the parts
james waples is a superb percussionist
his closed-eye, head hard-left, hunched posture seems almost trance-like
as he moved between both ends of drum-sticks, brushes, tom-toms
and hands-on cymbal playing resulting in an endless stream of top-end sounds
mike majkowski seemed to be most comfortable in tonights performance
providing rhythm in accompaniment to mike nock's leading piano
mr nock also provided the entertainment for the night
amusing us with his ability to play piano and paper-shuffle without effort
for he seemed to be constantly on the lookup for sheet music that he seemed to not need
he also introduced the tunes without too much explanation to the titles including
the heart of a tree is in it's roots, elegance, lost dog
the defining point of difference in tonights performance
was the electric piano that mike explained was one he had finally settled on
and felt comfortable playing in the live environment
it certainly added a unique sound to the set at times almost jarring
but also in a way sounding like something vaguely familiar
to which i was reminded of the style and sound of gil scott-heron
4 or 5 tunes in the first set and the break brought us back to reality
at this opporunity i took a visit to the bar to be pleasantly surprised
at the number of people in attendance which heartened me for the band and venue's sake
the second set brought mike on bass to the fore leading his own piece called rising and falling
he explained the music was partly inspired by the feeling of the ocean
this came across strongly in the repeat rhythms he produced
using both hands at the top end of his instrument to stroke, pluck and bash the strings
this tune seemed very well constructed, rehearsed and presented
this piece for me was the highlight of the evening and it also seemed with the crowd
the rest of the set was in part quiet, loud, intentionally shambolic or tightly played
i very much enjoyed the performance as did my friends
i think they may now understand my enthusiasm for my local
but i will not insist on their company at every show
thanks to g and f for their support and company
