November 25, 2011/Europe: i never posted the rant below, which i wrote in Monroe, before coming over. perhaps i shouldn't. perhaps i was/am too self involved/absorbed in this new music that will very possibly go unheard. i 2nd guess myself too much; am my own biggest critic and worst enemy. i question the quality of my work to the point of not releasing it; sometimes for years after the fact. mercifully, i have a coterie of close friends whose judgement i trust implicitly, to whom i send my work for critique and feedback. if my mixes pass their approval, I'll go with it.
i began [this week] to burn cds of solo piano sessions i had done from 2006 onward- with the intent of listening to, cataloging, and archiving them; plans to use them toward various cd projects, etc. some using my acoustic piano in Switzerland and some using my electric piano in Louisiana. but... after a few days, got so overwhelmed by the amount of solo [only] work, that i had a kind of break down, and had to stop and sleep for 2 days. finally got into the 2008 stuff only to find more; i hadn't even gotten to the 2009/2010/2011 solo recordings- and am not sure i can, unless i take more time in between.
i took an old calendar book- sat down and began listening to each session, listing each track, making notes as to if i should edit a piece, leave the song intact, solo, add lyrics & vocals, or even a 2nd piano track, or other instrument [like B3 or a synth 'wash' in the background]- i did it for days until even thinking about the amount of lyrics that would be needed threw me into a downward spiral. I'm not even sure i can edit/archive the hundreds of songs i did here in 2009- 2011. i might very well have to turn this chore over to someone with better/stronger nerves.
on top of that i found tons of writers cassette tapes from the 70s and 80s [which i had digitized, but not edited: recording one whole side at a time: i.e. SIDE 1- which could have 15 songs on it- SIDE 2 -same thing] on a 1TB external HD- which threw me into another fit. i brought all this work with me thinking i would have the time to work on it all... so, i am going to have to prioritize... make lists... and get busy, if i plan to get any of it done. i'm sure there are some good songs amongst the old cassettes that can be revisited... and re-done
BUT i also brought my Lexicon/Omega/Cubase 4 input, interface -and 4 or 5 mics- and got stands from Andre @ AVA yesterday or the day before- to BEGIN writing recording MORE piano tracks. originally i had used my Tascam DR1-portable digital recorder- which has 2 stereo mics on it- which sounds fine- BUT i decided i want one mic on the bass end of the piano, one on the middle section and one on the highs- so i can mix it all better... and have one track open in case i want to add vocals- although i have UNLIMITED tracks w/the Cubase 'computer' studio software. i might possibly do multiple piano tracks- 3 @ a x- then decide what to do vocally later. i have yet to set all this up and begin working...
and yet, since being here i have already written/recorded several NEW multi track songs, which go with the ones i did when i was here in august of this year, and one or two i did in monroe in october- which i THINK i will release as a solo cd- if i get it together- and which will be a total departure from things i have released to date. very dark, depressing, lyrically- w/layers on top of layers of sounds: a super synthesized mode ala Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Serge Gainsbourg, Brel, Bowie during his darkest phase, Sisters of Mercy- etc- the side of me that's only been glimpsed somewhat on "danger, sex and sound fx" only moreso; but which has always been lying there, dormant; except on writers tapes- however these ARE the new 2011 writers tapes] - it has not been a good year [other than having had a prolific musical output]- this work has been somewhat cathartic and purging; possibly a bit healing.
and then ladies and gentlemen... the blues. the jazz. the improvisation. the experimental. the songs. the madness of categorizing all this so i have pools of material to choose from... styles which people do not actually associate with my 'roots'/ on stage/ performer image. c'est la vie... c'est fou...
alors:
November 2, 2011/Monroe, Louisiana
at the risk of being redundant i am again improvising and recording more and more stuff while home, before i leave for Europe. my electric piano sounds fine for this stuff- sounds fine, anyway- i still haven't even opened the Pandora's box/can of worms that are all the acoustic improvisational piano sessions i did in Switzerland this year and 2009- it seems i am [as my friend Joni said of web pages i have moved to blogs for sake-keeping, removing them from my original site] "hoarding" ... i keep writing [improvising] more and more material, and filing it to be dealt with later. my theory is "why not?" since i have the wherewithal to do it now; there will come a day when the fingers won't work as well. being a creative person. i cannot stop creating.
the 'doing' of all this is also a learning process- and rehearsal, of course- I've grown to find standard blues, R&B, & rock 'song' structures too confining; too limited.i am taking my 'collage' and dada approach to these improvisations- going for more of a free from jazz feel- going outside the normal chord progressions, timing, and rhythms- going on musical 'learning' journeys.
i've said this before in various rants: when i was young and just began playing piano- i was studying classical music. but when i had 'done' with my 'practicing' i would start improvising and spending hours a day in the ether; "making up stuff". i feel like after 50 years i am coming [or going] back to that place... and i like it. i wish i would have recorded everything back then, just to hear what i was doing [i think i might have some of those 'sessions on reel to reel tapes]
in the psychedelic 60s i started getting into all the psychedelic jazz stuff- or should i say 'mystical' jazz- like/especially alice coltrane [who to this day is my piano hero] but also ravi shankar and such... and the combinations thereof; nina simone was and is amazing solo: just voice & piano- amazing piano. also discovered thelonius monk [late] whose "brilliant corners" i found on a 45- and still have. for some reason i always prefer 'solo work- without all the distractions... although alice takes it to the stratosphere.
i'm keeping it VERY simple on these 'home' sessions- piano plugged into a minidisc recorder- so when i get the urge, i just turn on the power strip, sit down, and 'away we go'. i normally have some coffee and then do a few tunes; if i get bored with whatever i am doing during the day, i stop and do a few tunes; and before bed. have been doing some thematic trips, like "meditations" "variations" etc.
all in all, i find that less IS more, and i am trying to distill and compress whatever it is i think i have learned over the years [and hopefully am still learning as i go along] into it's minimal essence.
dada- blues dada- jazz dada- taking blues scales and chopping them all to hell and back- maybe even leaving them scattered- transforming them from 12 bar blues to a hybrid of be bop, blues, classical & jazz/ fragmented disjointed etc. ok by me; same with jazz: which i find is in the ear of the beholder. i LOVE early dixieland [mainly the slow stuff]- le jazz hot- not so much the jazzing of 'evergreens'/the great american standards [elevator jazz]- i always preferred 'live' and improv stuff. i hated the period of jazz fusion- which made me nervous. i've never been one of those musicians who can play a gazillion notes, arpeggios, or all that digital diarrhea; nor could i stand to listen to it. to me, it's [fusion jazz/overplaying just because one can] musical masturbation.
[C]2011 DOUG DUFFEY
