Pat collected me yesterday for lunch on 6th. with an adjoining bookstore & cafe - we left before bibliophiliacal tumescence claimed my day's energies - and then to registration at SXSW. It's a lucky gigster if the musicians you work with are both genuinely good, friendly people and outstanding as players (the proportion is increasing significantly in my life as the actual numbers fall) so I'm lucky to be working with Pat. This man is a walking encyclopaedia of professional musicians, their backgrounds, connections & associations.
Then, the Rapid Acculturation Program & Time Zone Shifting Procedure hurtled me out to the Barton Creek movie palace for two art movies: Nicholas Cage in "8mm" and Mel Gibson in "Payback". (Art is subjective, n`est-ce pas?). Hurtling back without getting lost, Pat & I met up at the Doubletree and moved off to wave our power laminates at La Zona Rosa: Jeff Beck with Jennifer Batten (Jennifer is a hero of mine). I hadn't seen either of the JB's live before, and it was a treat. Personal favourite: "Day In The Life". The stench of smoke was oppressive. A woman standing right behind me, blowing her smoke directly into my nostrils, finally drove me out. The power of music failed to overcome this physical violation.
Today we have the panel on taping. I wonder if the organisers intend to record the discussion.
"When a musician believes that music is a commodity, music dies in them."
