On the way out to the early gig at Outres
Market, I had a feeling that things were going to go well. The four of
us were in a tuktuk heading to the venue and I looked up into a warm
starry sky with Orion directly overhead. The driver had arrived early
to pick us up, things seemed to be clicking. We got there, Mike got us
wired in, and then we laid down a great hour-long set, no pause between songs,
bang bang bang, it was kinda thrilling. Started with 'Serendipity'
which is a jazzy jam I wrote here and we really sounded good and tight.
People were quite into the music, it's not much of a dancing crowd
here, but they were moving and smiling as were we. At one point, Bianco
(sax/flute) played a solo and then decided it was the perfect time to
go pass the hat. Big crowd, he couldn't resist. We finished that song
and started the next as a trio, while he worked the room. It was pretty
funny, actually (and it got us a nice chunk of change)
Then
back into the tuktuk, back to town for our last night at Led Zephyr.
Apparently we have some fans, the place wasn't packed, but there was a
lot of support from the Canadians, the Russians, the Israelis. Kinda
beautiful in a way. I have been extremely comfortable on stage here,
and since I've had the great opportunity to play with Simon holding down
the groove on bass, it has freed me up to have a little more fun.
Especially on the two chord jam tunes, I've been playing my syncopated
part on rhythm guitar while doing salsa steps with my lower half. Sing
and dance and play. Love it, it's great to have a bass player with good
feel. Kind of a 'must have' at this point.
And the highlight
of all of it was sitting around afterward with Tim and Neil who are part
of the management team at Zephyr. They really liked us from the
beginning and Tim said, 'Working with guys like you reminds us of why
we're doing this'. They've dealt with some asshole musicians, takers,
egotists etc and it can take a toll. We were appreciative, professional
and giving, as were they, so there was a certain sheen on the
proceedings, people working together pulling in the same direction. And
hanging out after the gig, laughing, drinking, gossiping, talking about
the future.... it felt very very good. This place is a very real
possibility for next winter, in whatever musical capacity. If the band
can re-form, great, if it turns into some kind of open mike/cabaret
situation, great. To have an excellent venue that appreciates what you
bring, and wants to bring you back.... priceless.
My band
mates joke about hitting me over the head and kidnapping me so we can
keep gigging together. Feels nice, but a touch sad to come to this
point. But, what can you do? It was an incredible 5 week musical ride,
between the rehearsing and the relationships, the gigs and the laughter
and the friendship. Something tells me that there is more in the
future. Hope so.
Sweating into the guitar
Had a rough night at the open mike tonight...
It probably started earlier in the day when I went to the music store to
teach a guitar lesson. Some guys were sitting around rehearsing for
tonight's event, so I invited my student to go around the corner to my
guest house where we could work without disturbing anybody. As we left,
I banteringly asked the rehearsing guys to hurry up cause I was teaching
another lesson there in an hour. I thought it was obvious that I was
goofing, but apparently people took me seriously. It was one of those
New York humor moments that can be misunderstood. I thought the people
knew me well enough to know that I'm supportive of all what they are
doing, and I'm only wanting to help. So I kind of pulled a Colbert type
shtick, that people didn't pick up on. Oops.
So there we are at the open mike and Simon reports that people are pissed off at me for having an attitude. Dude it was a joke. 'I know but maybe some other people don't'. So I talked to a few of the likely offended and got that cleared up. But then Mike wanted me and the quartet to close the open mike, so that was more fuel to the 'Glauber has a big ego' thread of the day. Me, I wanted to play early, do a few things I hadn't done in a while, use the open mike like an open mike and try out some material. Instead I watched everybody do their thing, backed up a few people, but was getting progressively more uptight and negative about the whole thing. It just seemed like an off night. It felt to me that people were playing too long, the music was mediocre, the Russians who kept asking me when I was playing were getting impatient, Mostly it was me, getting triggered by the 'he has a big ego' theme, which goes way back to my 'family of origin' stuff. I was ready to say 'fuck it, I don't need to play', go diva on the whole situation, but I've found that only makes it worse. So it was a 'fraught' open mike for me, which is too bad, because that particular Friday evening jam was where I first tapped into the community 5 weeks ago. I sucked it up and did my best, and it was OK. It's been quite an arc over the weeks, though it kind of thudded at the end. Oh well. No harm done, just part of the human story.
And on we go. Two gigs tomorrow, an opening spot at Outres Market, where I've been 0 for 2 so far. Maybe the third time is the charm? Then we take a tuktuk back into town to play 2 and 1/2 hours at Led Zephyr. These are the last of the paying gigs. After that, it's a couple more days to get organized and, as Jelly would say, 'I'm away'. Tuesday 12 hour trip across the border and on to Bangkok. Wednesday 5am flight to Japan, Seattle, Eugene. In a way I'm glad that things aren't at their height, then it would be harder to leave. The season is beginning to wind down as March hits. Believe it or not, some cold Oregon weather sounds pretty good for a month or so. I've sweated into my guitar more than I've ever sweated into a guitar. On a daily basis, sweating into the guitar.
So there we are at the open mike and Simon reports that people are pissed off at me for having an attitude. Dude it was a joke. 'I know but maybe some other people don't'. So I talked to a few of the likely offended and got that cleared up. But then Mike wanted me and the quartet to close the open mike, so that was more fuel to the 'Glauber has a big ego' thread of the day. Me, I wanted to play early, do a few things I hadn't done in a while, use the open mike like an open mike and try out some material. Instead I watched everybody do their thing, backed up a few people, but was getting progressively more uptight and negative about the whole thing. It just seemed like an off night. It felt to me that people were playing too long, the music was mediocre, the Russians who kept asking me when I was playing were getting impatient, Mostly it was me, getting triggered by the 'he has a big ego' theme, which goes way back to my 'family of origin' stuff. I was ready to say 'fuck it, I don't need to play', go diva on the whole situation, but I've found that only makes it worse. So it was a 'fraught' open mike for me, which is too bad, because that particular Friday evening jam was where I first tapped into the community 5 weeks ago. I sucked it up and did my best, and it was OK. It's been quite an arc over the weeks, though it kind of thudded at the end. Oh well. No harm done, just part of the human story.
And on we go. Two gigs tomorrow, an opening spot at Outres Market, where I've been 0 for 2 so far. Maybe the third time is the charm? Then we take a tuktuk back into town to play 2 and 1/2 hours at Led Zephyr. These are the last of the paying gigs. After that, it's a couple more days to get organized and, as Jelly would say, 'I'm away'. Tuesday 12 hour trip across the border and on to Bangkok. Wednesday 5am flight to Japan, Seattle, Eugene. In a way I'm glad that things aren't at their height, then it would be harder to leave. The season is beginning to wind down as March hits. Believe it or not, some cold Oregon weather sounds pretty good for a month or so. I've sweated into my guitar more than I've ever sweated into a guitar. On a daily basis, sweating into the guitar.
Purim in Cambodia
How bout this one for a Purim story....
another in a long line of weird things that have happened during that
holiday. (I've got some tales). This Swedish girl was wanting to help
her friend get off work early, so she told a 'little white lie' that it
was her birthday and could her friend leave work early and help her
celebrate. Before she knew it, all these people were wishing her happy
birthday... a cake appeared, everyone
was buying her drinks, it was a big party (and it wasn't her birthday).
She said that she got so drunk she actually thought it was her
birthday. She told her friend, 'This is the best birthday I've ever
had', and she meant it. It wasn't her birthday, but it was Purim, when
the Jews are commanded to get so drunk they don't know the difference
between good and evil. Afterward she said that she felt guilty for
making it up and having it get so large and crazy. But when I told her
about Purim, and the fact that her story is a perfect Purim metaphor,
she was very pleased. Felt much better about her deception. Cosmic
forces, people....
And another Swedish vignette... this one with the two twenty year old girls who are staying in the room next to mine at the barracks, er guest house. (it looks like a barracks). Two blonde Swedes, but they have dyed their hair and eyebrows black. I said, 'So in other words, everyone wants to be blonde and they bleach their hair, but you two who are truly blonde, you dye your hair in the opposite direction. That's funny'. The one I was talking to pointed to the other one and said, 'No that's funny'. I turned to her and said, 'You're funny?' She said, yes I'm funny. Her name was Fannie (pronounced 'fonny'). THAT was funny.
And another Swedish vignette... this one with the two twenty year old girls who are staying in the room next to mine at the barracks, er guest house. (it looks like a barracks). Two blonde Swedes, but they have dyed their hair and eyebrows black. I said, 'So in other words, everyone wants to be blonde and they bleach their hair, but you two who are truly blonde, you dye your hair in the opposite direction. That's funny'. The one I was talking to pointed to the other one and said, 'No that's funny'. I turned to her and said, 'You're funny?' She said, yes I'm funny. Her name was Fannie (pronounced 'fonny'). THAT was funny.
My favorite restaurant...
I have a favorite restaurant here, very near
the beach, small family operation, not well known, delicious and cheap
food, very nice people. It's under some big trees, and it's one of the
breeziest, most comfortable places to hang out on a hot day. I was
having an incredible sea food amok lunch there half an hour ago.
Incredible because the owner was likely showing his appreciation for me
being a regular customer. He made a
special bowl for me, big shrimps, hunks of calamari, some fish and
veggies in this thick roe-infused sauce, served over rice. ($2.50).
Ridiculous, one of the 'meals of the trip', it was that good.
Anyhow Simon is strumming my guitar, various acquaintances are happening by for a chat and a laugh, and then this drunk Russian twenty-something sits down at the table next to us and starts 'communicating'. The guy was pretty hammered at 1:30pm, he was drinking what looked to be a cup of cane juice (local treat), but I'm sure it was laced with vodka or whiskey. Simon switches into a happy reggae groove to the chord progression of Woman No Cry (Let it Be, Rock Me Baby, I'm Yours (Jason Mraz) or any groovy song in that style. Your basic l V VIm IV progression ho ho ho.
He played it in D (the 'People's Key') which I had recommended yesterday. So I start making up lyrics, just having fun and here comes the Russian, he's now making up lyrics, mostly along the lines of 'hey no problem'. So we're singing we don't want problem with Russia, no problem with France, no problem America, goofing around and having fun. It was some kind of real-time validation of Simon's and my conversation of the day before, about what kind of music brings people in, invites participation etc. That progression in that key is can't miss, and here was the proof. The owners are looking on with smiles, it's a lovely scene.
Now the song is over and the Russian is acting the fool a bit, and he calls the owner 'Papa'. Mama laughs and 'Papa' says...'Big Problem'. Totally cracked me up, given the just completed jam. To be able to be funny in a language other than your own is huge, and the guy hit it out of the park. I have to find out his name (I'm there daily, it shouldn't be a problem). A few days ago he was listening to 'Imagine', and I asked him about it. He said, 'my favorite song, I listen every night before sleep'. He's a Khmer guy, special person, special place that his family runs. No, I'm not telling you which one it is. There will be no 'Tripadvisor.com' recommendations here. Why would I want to wreck it?
Anyhow Simon is strumming my guitar, various acquaintances are happening by for a chat and a laugh, and then this drunk Russian twenty-something sits down at the table next to us and starts 'communicating'. The guy was pretty hammered at 1:30pm, he was drinking what looked to be a cup of cane juice (local treat), but I'm sure it was laced with vodka or whiskey. Simon switches into a happy reggae groove to the chord progression of Woman No Cry (Let it Be, Rock Me Baby, I'm Yours (Jason Mraz) or any groovy song in that style. Your basic l V VIm IV progression ho ho ho.
He played it in D (the 'People's Key') which I had recommended yesterday. So I start making up lyrics, just having fun and here comes the Russian, he's now making up lyrics, mostly along the lines of 'hey no problem'. So we're singing we don't want problem with Russia, no problem with France, no problem America, goofing around and having fun. It was some kind of real-time validation of Simon's and my conversation of the day before, about what kind of music brings people in, invites participation etc. That progression in that key is can't miss, and here was the proof. The owners are looking on with smiles, it's a lovely scene.
Now the song is over and the Russian is acting the fool a bit, and he calls the owner 'Papa'. Mama laughs and 'Papa' says...'Big Problem'. Totally cracked me up, given the just completed jam. To be able to be funny in a language other than your own is huge, and the guy hit it out of the park. I have to find out his name (I'm there daily, it shouldn't be a problem). A few days ago he was listening to 'Imagine', and I asked him about it. He said, 'my favorite song, I listen every night before sleep'. He's a Khmer guy, special person, special place that his family runs. No, I'm not telling you which one it is. There will be no 'Tripadvisor.com' recommendations here. Why would I want to wreck it?
Played my second to last Friday night open
mike on the beach, at Cafe Noir, and it continues to grow and thrive,
turning into quite a scene. One of the highlights is these Russian
folks who hang out here, Sergei (about 40 years old) plays some guitar
and sings, so there is a group there to hear him. He's not great, but
he gives it a lot of energy (and he brings his friends). They've come
to see us at Led Zephyr a few times, and
the women in particular are always smiling, dancing in their seats,
enjoying the music. They have very little English, but Sergei's wife
said to me, 'we are fans of you' and that was really sweet. I thanked
them for showing so much energy when we play (it is dance music, after
all, and they are two of the folks who get it). We ended the
conversation with the hands together, head bowed symbol of respect.
(it's beyond language, you see).
Hey speaking of Russians, there are some really interesting characters here, and you never really know who it is that's walking down the beach. There are billionaires, business people, legal and otherwise, 'security types' (lots of brawny bald headed guys who look like leg breakers for God knows what organization. There are bathing beauties, shop owners, pasty guys just arrived, you hear a lot of Russian in the restaurants and cafes. It's very interesting and I'm aware that I feel quite alien from them.... maybe because we grew up with them as 'the enemy'.
The other day I was bobbing around in 3 feet of water when a Russian guy on a jet ski starts approaching the shore to pick up his rocket-body girlfriend. She was maybe 20 years old, tall blond Sharapova look-alike in a bikini who was walking out to meet the jet ski. He cut the engine and it drifted right over to where I was hanging out, so I put up my hands to keep it off me. 'Sorry' he said, I said 'no problem' and I held the craft steady while his girlfriend put on her life vest and climbed aboard. I would never stare at a gorgeous young Russian woman in a bikini, but hey, I was holding the jet ski and here she was. Damn! Oh yeah, life on the beach...
I'm just soaking up as much of the fun as I can, tearing it up at the open mike with the quartet, eating grilled tuna and drinking beers, playing music on the street late night again. Another Saturday night gig tomorrow, apparently a lot of folks are going to show up. We're adding material, getting tighter and therefore able to be looser, if ya know what I mean. I know what I mean. And what I mean is... this chapter in Sihanoukville has been awesome. 10 or so days to go... soak up the fun.Had two nights off from gigs, so what's there to do? Hell, make some music, I don't know what else to do at this point. Jelly and I ended up at the Irish bar where the owner kept our glasses filled and we entertained the regular crowd of drinkers, jokers and shmoozers. (is there an Irish word for that?... because God knows they do it). At one point, it seemed like the Italian guy at the neighboring bar turned his music up to drown us out, or was it a coincidence? We stopped for awhile. Started again and the asshole did it again. (no coincidence) I'm thinking to myself that there is a special place in hell for someone who would drown out live music and good cheer with recorded noise. (St Peter at the gate), 'Um Mario, what is this? Why were you killing the live music with that recorded crap? What's wrong with you, son? Rejected! Get outta here!'
Some guy asked if we could play Summertime and we did a nice version in C minor, people singing along. Apparently Mario is a Gershwin fan, because he kept the music off from then on. I had come very close to going over there and calmly telling him that it's a mistake to drown out live music, not in a hostile manner, but straight to his face anyway. Out of respect to Connor who owns the Irish bar, I managed to not go there, but the feeling was very strong. We need live music, people singing and celebrating in real time. It's life...To shut that down with canned noise hits me hard. I'm glad that he somehow figured it out.
Back gigging tonight and for the next 5 days. The only bummer is that the Miss Sihanoukville event where I was scheduled to play got moved back a week, and I'll have to miss it. Dang! I was looking forward to that one as the culminating event of the stay here. Oh well, they'll have to crown the new Miss Sihanoukville without me. I'll be in Oregon. Maybe I could play a Miss Springfield event? Uh, maybe not... In a week I head to Bangkok to catch a plane home. Yup, Oregon is still home.
Hey speaking of Russians, there are some really interesting characters here, and you never really know who it is that's walking down the beach. There are billionaires, business people, legal and otherwise, 'security types' (lots of brawny bald headed guys who look like leg breakers for God knows what organization. There are bathing beauties, shop owners, pasty guys just arrived, you hear a lot of Russian in the restaurants and cafes. It's very interesting and I'm aware that I feel quite alien from them.... maybe because we grew up with them as 'the enemy'.
The other day I was bobbing around in 3 feet of water when a Russian guy on a jet ski starts approaching the shore to pick up his rocket-body girlfriend. She was maybe 20 years old, tall blond Sharapova look-alike in a bikini who was walking out to meet the jet ski. He cut the engine and it drifted right over to where I was hanging out, so I put up my hands to keep it off me. 'Sorry' he said, I said 'no problem' and I held the craft steady while his girlfriend put on her life vest and climbed aboard. I would never stare at a gorgeous young Russian woman in a bikini, but hey, I was holding the jet ski and here she was. Damn! Oh yeah, life on the beach...
I'm just soaking up as much of the fun as I can, tearing it up at the open mike with the quartet, eating grilled tuna and drinking beers, playing music on the street late night again. Another Saturday night gig tomorrow, apparently a lot of folks are going to show up. We're adding material, getting tighter and therefore able to be looser, if ya know what I mean. I know what I mean. And what I mean is... this chapter in Sihanoukville has been awesome. 10 or so days to go... soak up the fun.Had two nights off from gigs, so what's there to do? Hell, make some music, I don't know what else to do at this point. Jelly and I ended up at the Irish bar where the owner kept our glasses filled and we entertained the regular crowd of drinkers, jokers and shmoozers. (is there an Irish word for that?... because God knows they do it). At one point, it seemed like the Italian guy at the neighboring bar turned his music up to drown us out, or was it a coincidence? We stopped for awhile. Started again and the asshole did it again. (no coincidence) I'm thinking to myself that there is a special place in hell for someone who would drown out live music and good cheer with recorded noise. (St Peter at the gate), 'Um Mario, what is this? Why were you killing the live music with that recorded crap? What's wrong with you, son? Rejected! Get outta here!'
Some guy asked if we could play Summertime and we did a nice version in C minor, people singing along. Apparently Mario is a Gershwin fan, because he kept the music off from then on. I had come very close to going over there and calmly telling him that it's a mistake to drown out live music, not in a hostile manner, but straight to his face anyway. Out of respect to Connor who owns the Irish bar, I managed to not go there, but the feeling was very strong. We need live music, people singing and celebrating in real time. It's life...To shut that down with canned noise hits me hard. I'm glad that he somehow figured it out.
Back gigging tonight and for the next 5 days. The only bummer is that the Miss Sihanoukville event where I was scheduled to play got moved back a week, and I'll have to miss it. Dang! I was looking forward to that one as the culminating event of the stay here. Oh well, they'll have to crown the new Miss Sihanoukville without me. I'll be in Oregon. Maybe I could play a Miss Springfield event? Uh, maybe not... In a week I head to Bangkok to catch a plane home. Yup, Oregon is still home.
A day in the life and some great gigs...
A day in the life... up by 8am, hit the
internet. The young guy says, 'Hot coffee, sir?' I answer, 'Yes sir'.
He runs off to grab my coffee. Write a little something something about
yesterday, hit the beach. Stretch and swim, back by 11 to teach the
daily lesson with Bo. He's doing fantastically well, learning a year's
worth of stuff in a couple of weeks. 'What else do I have to do here?',
he says. Grab some local food from one
of the places across the street. Rehearse with Simon and Jelly for
hours in the afternoon. We have about 20 tunes ready to go (6 or 7
Glauber originals in the bunch). Hit the beach, stretch and swim. I
can put my nose on my knee in a forward stretch these days. It helps
that I'm stretching in the downhill wet sand at the water's edge.
Heavenly... forget the yoga mat, I have sand that shifts and adjusts
with the water and the deepening stretch. Grab a little food for
dinner, most likely some grilled fish that was just caught. Can't get
enough of that. Play music at night in one venue or another. Tonight
is a little gathering at the music store, tomorrow an open mic at Led
Zephyr bar, next night a Valentine's day gig on Victory Hill. A heck of
a nice way to spend February. No wonder I'm feeling happy. Only three
weeks to go... got my first pang of 'short timer's disease')
----------------------------------------------
Epic night in Sihanoukville... Wednesday is the open mike night at Led Zephyr, nice venue with a great stage and PA. During the day, we met Pyotr, who is a Moscow based trumpet player, classically trained, and now a fiendishly gifted soulful horn player (and a wild man as well). He came and jammed on a couple of songs during rehearsal, and yeah, can you play some tonight? He showed up and tore it up. But that was only half of it. At sundown, Simon and I were drinking a coffee, talking about music, when the guy at the next table chimes in that 'he's a professional drummer' based in London. As we talked more, it turned out that he has played with McCartney, Tina Turner, Kate Moss, recorded on maybe a hundred albums, appeared in videos etc. Name of Preston Heyman, (yup he's all over Google, you can read about him). Anyhow, I would never invite a drummer I've never heard before to a gig, but in this case, I had a pretty good sense that he was the real deal. He was.
I also invited seven or eight folks I had met in the past days, and they showed up too, so the venue had some extra juice when we hit the stage for a five song set. The drummer hadn't made it, I wasn't surprised as it wasn't a done deal, so we kicked off Same Same as a quartet. People started grabbing their cameras and hitting record. There were three or four going which was gratifying, as this seemed like a special set. And as the opening song is coming to a close, suddenly there is a solid drum beat behind me and Preston is in on the tune. We followed that with 'Happy Finnish Girls' (swing), Bhang Lassi (reggae), 'Boom Boom' (cajun rock) and ended with 'End of the Night' which is a jazz blues closer. It was fantastic, everyone played well, the people loved it, the general manager came over to set up some gigs, it was a perfect audition. But mostly it was fun and satisfying. Just a great feeling to draw in great players and put it out on the stage. A couple of ringers on top of our rehearsed trio, and wow, nirvana in 5 songs. We're hired for Saturday night, decent pay, food and drink tab, a nice gig. If it goes well, there will be more.
-------------------------------------------------------------
I've done many gigs in my time, but tonight's ought to be unique. There is a place in Sihanoukville called Victory Hill, and among its attractions is the so-called 'Boom Boom Street', a block-long stretch of bars with lots of ladies sitting there waiting for a 'date'. I hear that many of the women are paid to just hang out there and entice the guys to come and drink, while others will go back to your room with you. In the middle of Boom Boom street is the 'V Lounge' which is hosting tonight's 'Valentine's Day' Beauty Pageant, a precursor to the Miss Sihanoukville competition later this month. I was invited to be the live entertainment for both events. I think the organizer wants a variety of theme music to help the contestants sashay around the stage, show off their charm and their outfits. No bikinis or nudity, I believe it's about the dress and the poise and the audience reaction. There are 4 judges, including my buddy Simon, who somehow got one of the slots (he's very excited:-)
I was hoping to do the gig on piano but apparently there isn't room for one in a tight venue, so it will be me and a guitar playing through a nice PA system while the ladies bask in the applause and appreciation. Let's see, what to play? Wonderful Tonight, You're Beautiful, Ain't She Sweet... yeah I got this... (In case I gave the wrong impression, I think the contestants are 'good girls', not professionals, though sometimes the lines can get blurred). Should be quite a scene up there, and something tells me there will be a little material for tomorrow's post. It sure beats a dozen roses and a date at Applebee's. Happy Valentine's Day, everybody.
----------------------------------------------
Epic night in Sihanoukville... Wednesday is the open mike night at Led Zephyr, nice venue with a great stage and PA. During the day, we met Pyotr, who is a Moscow based trumpet player, classically trained, and now a fiendishly gifted soulful horn player (and a wild man as well). He came and jammed on a couple of songs during rehearsal, and yeah, can you play some tonight? He showed up and tore it up. But that was only half of it. At sundown, Simon and I were drinking a coffee, talking about music, when the guy at the next table chimes in that 'he's a professional drummer' based in London. As we talked more, it turned out that he has played with McCartney, Tina Turner, Kate Moss, recorded on maybe a hundred albums, appeared in videos etc. Name of Preston Heyman, (yup he's all over Google, you can read about him). Anyhow, I would never invite a drummer I've never heard before to a gig, but in this case, I had a pretty good sense that he was the real deal. He was.
I also invited seven or eight folks I had met in the past days, and they showed up too, so the venue had some extra juice when we hit the stage for a five song set. The drummer hadn't made it, I wasn't surprised as it wasn't a done deal, so we kicked off Same Same as a quartet. People started grabbing their cameras and hitting record. There were three or four going which was gratifying, as this seemed like a special set. And as the opening song is coming to a close, suddenly there is a solid drum beat behind me and Preston is in on the tune. We followed that with 'Happy Finnish Girls' (swing), Bhang Lassi (reggae), 'Boom Boom' (cajun rock) and ended with 'End of the Night' which is a jazz blues closer. It was fantastic, everyone played well, the people loved it, the general manager came over to set up some gigs, it was a perfect audition. But mostly it was fun and satisfying. Just a great feeling to draw in great players and put it out on the stage. A couple of ringers on top of our rehearsed trio, and wow, nirvana in 5 songs. We're hired for Saturday night, decent pay, food and drink tab, a nice gig. If it goes well, there will be more.
-------------------------------------------------------------
I've done many gigs in my time, but tonight's ought to be unique. There is a place in Sihanoukville called Victory Hill, and among its attractions is the so-called 'Boom Boom Street', a block-long stretch of bars with lots of ladies sitting there waiting for a 'date'. I hear that many of the women are paid to just hang out there and entice the guys to come and drink, while others will go back to your room with you. In the middle of Boom Boom street is the 'V Lounge' which is hosting tonight's 'Valentine's Day' Beauty Pageant, a precursor to the Miss Sihanoukville competition later this month. I was invited to be the live entertainment for both events. I think the organizer wants a variety of theme music to help the contestants sashay around the stage, show off their charm and their outfits. No bikinis or nudity, I believe it's about the dress and the poise and the audience reaction. There are 4 judges, including my buddy Simon, who somehow got one of the slots (he's very excited:-)
I was hoping to do the gig on piano but apparently there isn't room for one in a tight venue, so it will be me and a guitar playing through a nice PA system while the ladies bask in the applause and appreciation. Let's see, what to play? Wonderful Tonight, You're Beautiful, Ain't She Sweet... yeah I got this... (In case I gave the wrong impression, I think the contestants are 'good girls', not professionals, though sometimes the lines can get blurred). Should be quite a scene up there, and something tells me there will be a little material for tomorrow's post. It sure beats a dozen roses and a date at Applebee's. Happy Valentine's Day, everybody.
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