Well... this week I didn't really stick too strictly to my plan. Not a bad thing, just saying...
I guess I was thinking a bit too much about subbing at Heyday. So I wanted to have my up tempo swing a bit better, as well as using the bow to continue strengthening the left hand.
I did stick with the same drum beat this week. So Fresh and So Clean - Outkast. Still haven't quite got it up to speed, but it's close. I found something today with the kick, as the foot moves up tap down with the toes. Like a double stroke with a stick. I'll see if that makes it easier to play faster consecutive kicks.
Piano... not much difference. There are 2 fingers in my right hand that feel stiff. I need to bring them up to par with the other fingers.
I had an awesome time playing at Heyday this week. I did a Lain night, and a couple of 'Sinatra' style jazz nights. The good thing is that there's an instrumental set to start things off, then the singer comes on for the next 2 sets.
I was a bit nervous cause I know these guys are on another level. I think I did a pretty good job, not perfect of course, but I think these guys speak their mind if somethings not right.
It just feels great when you get to play with amazing musicians! It would have been nice if I had a song list as I don't really enjoy reading the whole night. I did know about 30% of the material, so it wasn't the whole time. Actually probably good for me as I don't read so much these days. I would like to get down a quick analysis approach where you just look at the chart for the first round, then remember. Might need to spend a bit more time studying harmony and the piano for that though.
Anyway, I recorded last nights sets and will upload these next few days. There's an absolute killer drum solo from Charlie Foldesh somewhere in the 3rd set. Oleg Roshine plays the keys so effortlessly and beautifully too.
The recorder I put right near the bass amp, so there's a few meters distance from the drums. So it's either I'm playing a little rushed, or I should place the recorder in the middle of the rhythm section. I'll try that next time.
.....
This week I'm subbing at Chair Club which is going to be more pop/funk/r&b kind of stuff with the electric bass. So I think I'll need to spend a bit of time on these new songs. Also another night at Heyday and a corporate event, I'm going to be pretty busy this week.
So pretty open about practicing this week too. I know one thing..... I need to stop looking at crypto charts as they just take up too much time and energy. I was betting pretty heavily on an ALT season, but it's so unpredictable. Even BTC is risky, everything else is probably 100 times more than that. I kinda messed up trading (again), so I think the HODL game is just better for me. Although most of my trades were winners, when I lost, I lost big. So it's either I find a platform to minimize losses, or just stop.
So to get some peace of mind, I think I'm just going to hold BTC and after my debt is payed off, start dollar cost averaging back into a 10 year BTC holding. Try to think in much longer time frames.
Time is really the most valuable thing. And I plan to start writing/recording after next week which I'm really excited about.