Bad Dogs at the Tavern
Before I start, I would like to commend guitarist Nick Fryer for the hard work that he has done in keeping a steady night going for original music. This is more than I have ever attempted to do for the jazz community, or anyone else I can think of, except for Rob Clearfield's program at ACME Art Works, Josh Berman and the cats at The Hungry Brain, Dave Rempis, etc.
Why do I mention this? Well, I finally made it out to the Bad Dog Tavern set that Nick has been in charge of these past few months on Monday, July 23. I really don't have an excuse that it has taken me this long to get there since I work across the street every Monday. Needless to say, I finally got there and was not disappointed. Bassist Jeff Greene's band Blink! played first. Dave Miller is really growing in all aspects of his playing; his sounds were very inspiring. Greg Ward sounded wonderful as usual, and the tunes and improvisation concepts were very original. Quin Kirchner played some interesting grooves. An enjoyable set.
After a changing of the band, guitarist Dan Effland's quartet came on. Jeb Bishop has been one of my favorite musicians for years. The band sounded cohesive, and Dan was really experimenting with some interesting sonic ideas. I get very excited when I go to hear music in Chicago these days. The creative music scene here has grown exponentially since I first got out here. It's very hard for me to find the time to get out, but when I do, I realize how strong and vibrant it is here.
Which brings me to the point of this blog entry. There were a lot of musicians hanging out. This made me very happy. But what pisses me off immensely is that they were all talking through the performances. At one point during Dan Effland's set between tunes, I turned to Dave Miller who was sitting next to me and I said "Boy, those yuppies sure talk loud." This was a sarcastic remark to show him the pathetic behavior of the musicians at the performance. How could anyone in their right mind go out to an original music set and ignore the music? What is more frustrating to a musician: playing for a bunch of yuppies who don't care (i.e. Pete Miller's), or playing for a bunch of your peers who talk right through your heartfelt shit? I think it's completely demoralizing. I compose a lot, and it takes me lots of energy to get a composition together, so I assume that it's the same for eveyone else. Then the people you think would care don't listen?
I am completely ashamed at almost every musician that was at the Bad Dog on July 23rd. I paid attention to everyone of you that wasn't listening. Musicians have to realize that we need each other or this music will die. We all are trying to find new ways to express ourselves. All of us are practicing everyday just to get a little better. Let's show some respect to our peers.
