Animal {Slight return}

Eighteen months plus.


That's how long it's been since my last patrol in Uncle Buffalo's Woodshed.  Last night saw my return to the old familiar territory at Back Street, and according to many who were there, my exile might as well have been eighteen hours.  Even I myself have no complaints or regrets about the play, which is a rare thing to those who know how self-critical I am regarding my work, even in a "mere jam" situation.


As always, Buffalo Bob was the chief instigator; he convinced me to come out for the usual fun-and-games as a way to distract me from my serious private circumstances.  I was reluctant at first, what with it being ages since I had any regular plays and all, but BB put just enough gentle pressure on me to say "what the hell," and off to Back Street I went.


Upon arrival, I got the usual warm greeting from BB and Den-Mama Linda, and we made with the small talk, jokes, and the usual silliness.  Several Colleagues from the old days turned up - Mighty Joe Taylor, Wild Willie, my man Nick, Derek Lauer, and in a spectating capacity, Dangerous Dan and Darlin' Dar.  We all did the happy to see ya thing during the run-up to the play, and I fell into a pleasant state of readiness in short order.


Come the show, BB kicked it all off backed by Drum-Bud Josh, Joe, and Doc Jim Evans on bass, one of BB's old friends {and one of my newer Facebook musical friends}.  The groove they set pretty much sealed my conviction, and I simply soaked it all in until my time came.  True to form, BB saved me for last, but he also was true in throwing me up first with a completely ad-hoc aggregation of  Derek and his bass player, along with Joe and a sax and trumpet player.  Derek played a couple original jazz / blues hybrids, and I jumped right in and wailed like the Animal of yore, despite having absolutely no clue where Derek was going, or what he wanted.


Once that bit was done {to decent applause}, BB swapped Doc Jim back in on bass, and I got ready to start some serious cooking.  Derek led us into another blues-jam, and I locked as tight as I could with Doc, and we took off - and I mean, took off. See, DJ and I have been "Facebook only" fast friends for several months now.  Last night was our first blow together, and it took me all of 15 seconds to start exploiting the chemistry as much as I could.  DJ's the kind of bass player I love to work with; rich musical vocabulary, crackerjack improv skills, and rock-solid timekeeping.  As such, I unleashed a very fair amount of my usual "lead drums" mayhem, and stone me if it didn't work, and work well.  Early on, I glanced up, and DJ was just laying back and riding along with Derek and the other cats, completely at ease with what I was doing.


This imperceptible signal made my night, it did.  My mess can be a bit of a handful for some bass players, but DJ took it all perfectly in stride.  I made a point to play as many unison-riffs with him as I could - my way of returning the subtle compliment.  I did get a couple of Smiles from him during the solo parts, so I knew he was digging things as much as I was.  Joe and the other cats weren't neglected either; I visited each during their solo-turns and complemented their business with some tastefully restrained improv riffs, even throwing in a little bit of "ambidextrous swing" during one passage - which blew away Dangerous Dan, as he told me after we finished.


At this point, BB swapped himself in for the horn players, and we tore into good old "Sunshine of Your Love."  Way comfortable with DJ, and itching to do the do with BB, I combined the best of Ginger Baker and my main man Mitch Mitchell into one boisterous package.  BB was all smiles, Joe was having a high old time, DJ was kicking ass - and I was the engine relentlessly driving it all.   We flourished out the evening in damn fine style, both band and crowd 100% satisfied.


I was my usual soggy, panting heap afterwards, but for once I was also 100% satisfied.  Last night was one of those rare times when even my many mistakes worked perfectly.  As always, this was because I was simply responding to the caliber of everyone else's playing.  They all wanted me to play well, and they did everything they could to give me plenty of material to work with.  And work I bloody well did, to pretty good effect.  DJ was full of praise and admiration, as were Joe and Derek.  I returned the praise and admiration in-kind, fully aware of what was coming next.


BB was laughing and shaking his head; always a good sign with him.  Like my last time in the Woodshed in mid-2010, he couldn't believe that my most recent hiatus hadn't atrophied my skills appreciably.  I have a hard time believing it too, to be honest.  The only explanation I have is that a Gift such as mine might always be there, whether I exercise it or not.  To me, this is a true sign of the ethereal, or purely Divine nature of such a Gift.  Yes, I had to work incredibly hard to learn how to use it properly, but once learned, I have somehow never forgotten any knowledge of the application.  I can stop playing the drums for two days or two years, but you'd never know it, judging by last night's acid-test.


In the end, last night's blow in the Woodshed was one of the better ones I've had, by any standard.  More than that, it re-opened my eyes to my true calling.  Ever since my Mom died, I've been living a halfway-sort of existence, by allowing my music to be over-ridden by more "important" concerns.  The "importance" of those other concerns was obliterated into dust motes last night.  Nothing is more important than me giving my Gift frequent and regular exercise.  And for the foreseeable future, I'm gonna fight like a wildcat to try and achieve that goal once more - or die trying.


God willing, it'll be sooner rather than later for my next Woodshed patrol.  I've got plenty of musical business to take care of - like quickly cementing the bond with DJ, as I did with Darryl in 2008 -  but private circumstances are looming that might be too hard to surmount, before I can do so.  Time, luck, Fate, and Destiny will tell {but the odd million or so prayers won't hurt either}.


Until the private crisis is resolved, I can at least take comfort in the fact that possibly my last play was one of my very best.  I'd like to personally thank BB, DJ, Joe and Derek for the wonderful inspiration they all gave me, as well as Josh, Den-Mama Linda, Dan, and Dar for the moral / fan support.  One and all are wonderful Friends to me, and I Love the lot of 'em.


I hope to see them all, and the rest of the Audience here, the instant my private business is resolved.  Until then, be of good cheer and please don't worry - I'll be around until I'm not any more at all.


Dig?


More...............


...................when the time is right.