Dear READERS,
It seems to me that I always seem to preface these blog entries with. "I am sorry for not updating this is so long." I was unaware that so many read this website and found it helpful. Having realized this, I will do my best to update as often as I can with everything that has been keeping me lifted or slumped. But first and foremost I would like to say:
THANK YOU so much to all my readers out there. I hope to be in better contact with you regarding your comments, questions, and interests.
That being said, feel absolutely free to email me at Andrewbowers.bassist@gmail.com
I am completely serious, I would love to hear from my fans, students, fellow musicians, bassists, and mentors!
So now, time for the actual post:
Since my last post, I can only give scope to the massive amount of progress that has been made. I will attempt to address it in categories.
News regarding ALL ORIGINAL music:
West of Eden: Since the summer of 2010 West of Eden felt a warm loving embrace and a well received reaction at our CD Release party back in July. The Album, Sin if You Sing: The Overture is available on iTunes for purchase. Following the release there were several more dates booked for the band that were to full crowds and great bands. Edifice was a great progressive rock band that ended up becoming very good friends of ours and at some point I imagine us doing a few shows in the future! As of the current moment, West of Eden will be on a break for awhile as Kaleb (guitarist) and Seth (drums) pursue their own music endeavours and finishing school. I wish them the best of luck and hope everything goes well for them in the near future!
Aella: Now since my last post, there has been a new development in my original music career. My band Aella formed in the post-rock / post-hardcore genre with members including, Mike Engdahl (Guitar), Dallas Owen (Vocals / Guitar), and Eric Selzer (drums). We recently had our Debut show in Wichita, Kansas to a full house and arguably one of the most energetic crowds I have played to in my career. CURRENTLY we are recording a 6-8 song EP that is being self-produced and we CANNOT WAIT to get it out to the masses and resume booking! Please visit our websites at www.myspace.com/aellaband or www.facebook.com/aellaband I would love to see all you fans, readers, friends, and musicians there checking out our tunes and helping us grow!
News Regarding my Jazz Career:
Okay, so for those of you who are interested in the more improvisatory aspects of my music career, this one is for you!
I am in the process of writing (upwards of about) 10-15 tunes that fit in the classifications of Neo-soul / progressive jazz / ECM / post-jazz. This will be in addition to a few jazzed out arrangements of artists such as, Bjork, Imogen Heap, and Little Dragon.
A brief way of describing this would be, a touch of melancholy, romance, mechanical gears, ethereal soundscapes, aural painting, colour exploration, and experimentation all backed up by two or three of my most trusted, first call, world class, colleagues. David Consiglio (drums), Annibal Rivas (guitar) and or BEn Jervis or Ryan Partin to make up the front line!
I'll be looking to air out this material within the next two weeks as rehearsals will be starting soon!
News Regarding my Session / Sideman Career:
I have recently joined up with working / party / dance outfit, The Source. I must say, this particular group has kept me INCREDIBLY busy. It's a great experience learning tunes that have been the top billboard chart tunes and learn how our predecessors have formed basslines, paved the way for the bass in ensemble settings, and help redefine what popular music is. To me, being in the band is not only a great way to be playing with great local musicians and having a blast playing late nights at the clubs, but a history lesson in pop music. I can't wait to get further in-depth with this group!
News Regarding my Music Theatre Career:
Since meeting Jesse Warkentin (musical director for Music Theatre for Young People), my career as first call bassist for MTYP has been a great experience. I have never seen, met, played along side so many talented children for such productions as: Rent, Children of Eden, All Shook Up, and Annie! The pit experience has been great because of the fact that I've been able to work with a lot of the same musicians. I find that making the connection between your colleagues is important for putting on a great show! I have to be able to trust that when ad libbing that the drummer is gonna catch something with me, and he ALWAYS does! The music has really come alive when playing with this pit!
Okay so now that the news update is finished, at this point I'll move on to things that are specific to my growth as a musician, interesting concepts I've learned, and things that I think might help you musicians and readers out there on your path to musical enlightenment!
The road to self-development ends up revealing the most useful and interesting bits of information when it feels that you are ready to receive it. For example, a lightbulb moment I had quite recently was coming to appreciate the art of playing your part. There have been countless issues in bass magazines over the last several decades about playing the part. They are always talking about keeping it simple, keeping the pocket, and being a great sideman. In my opinion, they are leaving out some KEY points.
Yes 99.99% of the time we are (as bassists) expected to play the pocket, to be a solid foundation for the band to rely on. While that is something beautiful and wonderful to aspire to, I believe this statement / theory to be completely and utterly based on circumstance. For example, take Earth, Wind, and Fire. A great band where bassist Verdine White was a great ensemble player. A man who never played too many notes, knew how to make the band the best. He has no doubt received praise from the bass community and musical publicity. On the other hand, take the Bill Evans Trio with Scott LaFaro on bass. Why was he ranked as such an innovative musician? Was it simply because he played a lot of notes? Too many some will argue. However think of the difference between these two groups. One group was a trio, the other was a multi-membered group. As a bassist, you must be aware of the type of group you are in, before determining what your pocket really is. The fewer the group members, the more space there is to fill. Now this doesn't mean play your entire bag of tricks to each member in the audience, but what this means, is that there is more freedom and space that is REQUIRED of you to fill. Consider your battlefield before you strategize my low end war lords!
(Part two of blog entry to be posted soon)