I had big plans to go hear my old friend Donny McCaslin playing at Club 46 in Totowa, not far from where I live. But early in the day Mario Rodriguez (bass wizard) asked me to play on a Christian rock tune he was producing. Of course if he hadn’t told me I wouldn’t have known because the lyrics were in Spanish. Anyway – it’s always a challenge to come up with something fresh to play on a pop tune that doesn’t go to that many places harmonically. Mario is an amazing musician and knows what he wants; he also let me try a bunch of things out. Recording is so bizarre these days. Trying to put the right lick in here and then there and then over there is part of the craft of a recording musician. Its very different from playing on that type of tune live, where you let the flow of the tune take you as you build up the energy. I asked Mario to let me blow over the whole song so I could know where it went, trying to simulate a live performance. Then we went back and added or redid sections along the way. Later I didn’t know where we where in the tune, he muted the vocals and just told me to blow so, I don’t know, it felt good. The real craft now is in editing all the different stuff I played and making it sound good. Hopefully he had enough usable material that it’s not too much of a challenge!
Later I made it to Club 46 (yes that’s right, jazz in Totowa) just in time to hear Donny and Steve Laspina and Drummer Don Guinta play the head out to “Red Cross” and tell everyone thank you for coming. Bummer. Anyway, I got to see Donny and catch up – its been years. He’s gotten Married and I’ve had two kids since I saw him last. But hopefully it won’t be another 7 years until I see him. I bought his CD which I’ll throw on the CD player in few and at least hear him that way. What a great guy and great musician.
