Thoughts On The 8/13 1 Uppers Practice
The 1 Uppers get together every week for a 2+ hour practice session. We’ve kept to this schedule pretty faithfully since the band’s inception. It gives us an opportunity to work on new material and polish up any rough spots from recent shows. It’s also our communal time to form the hive-mind that is at the nucleus of good bands. There is no substitute for playing together. I have certainly seen brilliant performances delivered by musicians that have spontaneously assembled but this is the exception; most truly great bands come from hours of invested time working together and becoming mutually attuned.
Sometimes I come home from 1 Uppers practice frustrated with my playing and feeling that I’m creatively blocked. Other times I have fantastic nights where I’m happy with my playing. Because so much of what we do is based on a framework and then extended via improvisation, it’s a different experience from delivering a meticulously rehearsed performance. In the case of my other bands, such as “The Dudley Manlove Quartet” we spend time carefully crafting arrangements of our songs to continuously improve our show. It doesn’t mean the music is less challenging; only that it requires a different discipline where memorization and recall are emphasized.
Over the course of the past several years, these regular practice sessions have yielded some great music and fun times. We often wrap up our practices and walk together to a nearby bar for a beer and snacks, and general musical chatter. Making music with such fine friends is a joy. We’ll be releasing a CD on Friday September 14. Stay tuned for details!