Jimmy Peggie: Sound | Vision

Speaking of Doll By Doll in the last post brought back some memories of their gigs I attended. The first time I saw the was the first night of a national Devo tour and they were supporting them. They were dangerous looking dudes getting loads of feedback out of their Vox AC30s. Not quite what Devo’s management had in mind because they were thrown of the tour after that one gig. They knocked my socks of that night. Anyone who has heard their Palace of Love track will know the role feedback played in their sound. (Palace of Love what a brilliant song – “I love stealing fuck magazines and tearing the apart, Last night one exploded and a piece flew in my heart…” Anyway the next time I saw them they were headlining at a club. Another great performance and what sticks in my mind was that a friend had come back from a holiday in Canada that day and she’d brought me a Mounties hat as a gift. I acn only assume I was they only person ever to wear a Mounties hat to a Doll By Doll gig during the prime of punksville.
Music

Jackie Leven will be joining Ian Rankin on his new BBC Radio 4 show covering the topic of music in crime fiction. The pair made a CD of their talks last year (Jakie Leven Said). Ian Rankin is the successful crime fiction writer. Jackie Leven is the former front man for Doll By Doll and now an established solo performer. Both hail from the Kingdom of Fife.

Some free form improvisation at Coffee Talk in Mesa on a Sunday morning. Check it out each Sunday morning at 10:30. At the moment we are a loose group going under the name Freetribe.

It rained again this weekend!! Usually we play outside.

This pic taken by Steve. Chris recorded the event too.

OK so we had to wait 143 days between rain showers. A new record was set. Anyway it rained on Saturday. Here are a couple of photos from the weekend.
The first one has Steve, Sharon and Chris standing in the rain while I of course stand under the cover.

Carles Benavent the flamenco bassist from Spain stole the show the other night at the Chick Corea show. He was awe inspiring. I think the audience sensed they were experiencing something special and totally different too.

For the first few numbers there seemed to be a problem with the sound, but when they got that sorted out his bass lines cut through the heavy rhythmic music. Lightening fast lines coupled with flamenco strumming were at the heart of many of the things he played.

I have enjoyed his recordings – but they in my opinion, don’t really do his sound justice. It was a rare treat to be able to catch him live.

Carles Benavent is playing in town tonight!! He on tour with Chick Corea promoting Chick’s new album The Great Adventure. I got a ticket today and am eagerly looking forward to it, as he has always been one of my favorite bassists.

Here is a cool site for all the bassists out there. Its is the Silvio Dalla Torre site and features information on amongst other things, the New Dutch School, different tunings, and four finger left hand techniques. Check it out.

I was lucky enough to catch Ben Allison playing at Bar 55 when I was in New York last week. The music was a mix of free form/groove music. Michael Blake was on sax along with an unidentified trumpet player and drummer. Blake played in the past with the Lounge Lizards. Both are members of the New York based Jazz Composers Collective.

Ben’s playing and compositions are a great source of inspiration for me so it was a wonderful experience to get a chance to catch him in such an intimate setting.