Day 16: I Never REALLY Liked Resolutions Anyway...

Resolutions in Congress are pretty useless. Some politicians get together and say"Let's resolve to say we don't like Figgy Pudding.... or this tax. or the entire socks and sandal movement sweeping America thanks to that troublemaker in Georgia - the inestimable Mr G!" Ok - so they didn't say any of that... but their resolutions, no matter how noble, accomplish nothing, really. Well, the same is true of my resolutions. I resolved to blog every day.... sounded good, but dudes and dudettes, this old man got exhausted, my soft comforter on my bed called my name ever so sweetly, my flannel sheets and flannel pillowcases whispered my name just loud enough for me to hear and I was lost - a prisoner of flannel sheets and a soft comforter that held me in their gentle grip these last few nights.
But I'm back! Therefore I am making a new resolution... I hereby resolve to therefore make no resolutions  resolving to do anything about any resolutions made, past or present. Wow... already broke that resolution. See how helpless I am? I am a victim of my own resolute nature.

Ok - on to more serious matters. This last Saturday, I had a dream gig come true. I got to play Jazz standards for four hours at the Chick Filet at Barrett and Hwy 120 for the Father-Daughter day. It was a dream for the following reasons:
1. I love Gershwin, Rogers and Hammerstein etc. And I got to play so many great tunes as a solo artist.
2. I got to use only my Macbook (for my guitar tone) and my iPad for the accompaniment tracks within an app called iRealBook - over 900 jazz standards with accompaniment tracks using real sampled instruments (Bass, piano, drums) and not cheesy midi substitutes. It was a superior sound. No amps... woo hoo!!! A small PA, my Macbook and the iPad. I took up very little room and it was easy schmeezy set up and tear down.
3. Being primarily a bassist who has only started playing guitar seriously this last 10 years or so, I know my limitations and I know I am not  a complete jazz guitarist. But I am a musician who loves these tunes and I wanted to find out if I could pull off a gig like this and not do dishonor to the genre or myself.

Well - the owners loved it, the patrons loved it, a cow danced with several of the young ladies there with their dads, so I counted it as a win.

I faced what was for me a formidable challenge and won!!!!

I love to teach music, and I believe I am pretty good at it, but teaching music and performing it to a degree that is acceptable to the listener and myself is a different matter. I still need to be stretched and challenged and pushed even after 40+ years after I made my first dollar as a musician.

I guess the one big thing about what happened Saturday was the simple fact that the God I serve knew my love for this music and my desire to one day to be able to perform it for an audience, and this job was a gift straight from Him. I did not solicit the gig, in fact I wasn't looking to play jazz ANYWHERE on my own on guitar (especially not on guitar!). But this was one of those "friend of a friend" deals. A friend of mine asked me of I would consider doing this for a friend of hers, and I said yes... and the rest is, as they say, history.
I am not so arrogant as to say that now I am a jazz artist. But I do know that I can play some of it without shaming those who are, in my eyes true jazzers. So what am I? A most fortunate child of a God Who gives good gifts to His kids, Who deposited a love for these tunes by the great songwriters of the 20th century into my heart , and Who moved events in such a manner that I found myself actually playing a solo jazz gig for an appreciative audience.
How cool is that?
Mr G