by Quinto Governor II » Sun Dec 03, 2006 11:04 pm
As we come to the end of another year. Its a good time to reflect and do an assessment of the past year. Anyone care to share how the year has gone for you, in terms of your development. A few months ago I felt the year had not been as productive as my previous few years, however; I now feel more satisfied with what I have accomplished. The second half of the year, I put more time into doing stick rudiments, and was finally able to achieve one of those breakthroughs. The bounce is there now and my speed has increased a little. The timbales are not my priority, but I love that sound so much, (especially when I'm out salsa dancing) that I have to keep dabbling at it on occasion. When I first started studying and practicing seriously I brought a bass guitar, keyboard and roland drum pad. Within the year, I was recording crude songs on the computer, and having a ball doing it! Hadn't done a lot of recording since then, until this year. Tried putting together the different parts to Mozambique and Comparsa, and a couple of weeks ago recorded, as best I could, the bass line from 2 of the cuts on Tito's Top Percussion cd. Now I'm able to put my new found level of speed and stick control to the test. :>) So whats ahead for the coming year? If the blessing continue to come my way, I look forward to continued improvements. Would really like to improve on the chekere. Hope to bring some of my park drumming buddies around to the idea that we can play something structured sometime. Thinking of promoting the idea of a early meeting where we can practice the different parts. Some other buddies that I play with once a month have already indulge me in doing this. They too tend to prefer improvised playing. So things are going great after all. The band is still together, although; we have not had a gig in a while. Recently added Blue Bossa to the repertoire. We are starting to add some pop standards too- I think maybe to have a broader possibility of venues to try to play. Also found a local club that has a weekly jam session. Been going there, although they don't play enough jazz for my liking, and certainly not latin jazz. A lot of vocalist come in and many of them will sing r&b tunes, but there are some regulars who play and sing jazz and bossa nova, so I'm sure to get my fix. :>) Plus, the house band is excellent! Well, would really like to hear how the year has been for you all and if you have had any of those breakthroughs. Thanks!
Yambu