A place for our band.
Who We are
A diverse collective of individuals with different musical styles, different experiences and skill levels on our instruments/voices/music. Our ‘Day’ jobs are in the construction-design-non-profit organizational fields. We are a ‘medium’ sized group of between 6-9 core members with occasional ‘guests’ joining us.
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Co-Leaders are: Gil Deanda and Steve Suzuki: Responsible for scheduling the practices and maintaining what songs are practiced, charts, recordings for practice playback
What we Play
An eclectic mixture that centers around Jazz/Latin/ R&B/ Blues and Rock. Music varies by what we collectively agree to play ( e.g. seasonal/event specific pieces as needed)
Why we Play
For individual/group Fun, Enjoyment and Satisfaction.
‘Fun’: is defined as having a baseline technical ability with a balance between discipline,
practice and freedom to express.
Our Goals
To be as ‘Tight’ as possible on our performance pieces: Everyone knows their parts, knows the charts and know what others are playing and when; to listen to others.
To be proud of our performances and not embarrassed.
Collective practices roughly every 2 weeks –Internal goal of improvement
Public performances once every 3 months (quarterly) – External Goal for audience enjoyment and fun through our performances
Develop a Core Set of 12 -20 (Tight) songs for 1-2 hour performances
Our Principals
Family comes first – we are not a ‘hard core’ group where the group comes first; if something comes up with our families that is the priority
No gigs on weekdays – unless collectively agreed to. Performances reserved to weekends in compliance with ‘Family’ principal above.
Individual practice ‘Woodshedding’ to improve our individual abilities and overall tightness and ‘musicality’ of the Band
We are all learners. We learn from each other and from ourselves. Constructive criticism and openness/trust that anything said is for the individual’s musical improvement and enjoyment in the context of the group.
Fairness for everyone; solos only if you want and are ready
Performance songs only when ‘Tight’.
Other
Develop a solid and consistent equipment ‘Set up’ arrangement (amps, mics, monitors, etc.) that we use for practice and in performance that maximizes our ability to hear and see what each other are doing. Monitors/PA other equipment as necessary
Practices generally to include: Core song development; new songs; open jam for fun; pizza.