Global Bass Online                                                                                April 2002

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On Expecting the Unexpected...

Well, 10 weeks in Switzerland wind down in just a day or so. Back to Canada, to the land of Minus 25 Degrees Celsius and winter weather that would freeze the brass hoohaz off anything. Yeesh! 

It is rumoured Spring will soon be there. We shall see. It seemed that Spring hid here this time. It has been incredible, apparently the locals think so too. In the section of Zurich where we stayed, I don’t think even one centimeter of snow fell the whole time we were here. 

I had no idea I would learn to like this place so much and it is very hard to leave. I hope someday soon to be back here with My Other Half, this time for good.  

Ah, but you guys don’t care!  Besides, what on Earth does all this have to do with bass? Nothing directly...except one thing, and here it is... 

I learned that you CAN expect the unexpected. Nothing is over until you breathe your last breath. No matter how crappy your day job, you CAN get out, you can follow your dream of being a full time musician. It you don’t paralyze yourself with self doubt. If you don’t confuse pessimism with realism and if you allow your dreams to breath. If you can nurture the flame of the reason you first fell in love with music and this wonderful instrument we play. Remember? 

No matter how limited you think you are as a musician, you can carve out a little piece of paradise, even if you only find a smoking little weekend band that makes your muse soar. It can be done.  

Music truly is magic. It truly is An Ancient MoJo. It can lead you places you would never dream. It can save you and it CAN destroy you too... and never think for a moment think that you can truly control it. You are not at the helm, so sit back and just enjoy the ride.

I myself would never want it any other way. As John Lennon said, ¨Life is what happens to you when you are making other plans¨.  Watch and see. 

This month we feature Marcus Miller as our Cover Story. We caught him in Zurich with his solo project band. In a small club, packed with fans right to the rafters, the man was rockin’. Great sound, simple stage set up, a band bursting with talent, Marcus ran the musical gamut, featuring songs from his long and varied career. And the man can slap too!  I am sure he broke a few local speed ordinances with that thumb!   An incredible ability to be profoundly melodic and percussive, all at the same time.  

Andy Long continues with his series on Stick players, inundating me with articles on an instrument that fascinates me a lot and intimidates me more than a bit.  

You can slow down now, Andy! For reasons beyond my understanding, and most everything Andy does is beyond my understanding, he has taken to calling himself  ¨The Hand¨. I have no idea why and am afraid to ask him. ¨The Hand¨ also includes this month an in-depth article with Les Holroyd, bassist for Barclay James Harvest.  

Brent ¨Noisy Tony¨ Johnson offers up an angle on a story that at first made me feel like we were being invaded by guitarists. When he first proposed the idea to me, I felt vaguely like people must have felt when they first encounter missionaries.  

His premise, entitled ¨What Are They Thinking?¨ covers an interesting perspective on what guitarists think of us and hope to receive from us as bass players.  

Lastly, we hearken back to an article run a few months ago on Stephen Jay. In this article he talks about his Theory of Harmonic Rhythm. At the time it really didn’t sink into my big old empty head as to what he was on about. I reread the article and then went to his home page. I then read the article on this subject and realized that this man was on to something. Something BIG! Some ideas that will shake you up with some truly new ways at look how and why some music recording and writing works and some fights you every step of the way.   

All in all, a wide and varied group of articles in this issue. New ideas and new ways of seeing old ideas. We hope you enjoy.  And feel free to comment !   

Also don’t forget to let us know if you would like to be placed on a no-obligation, no commitment list to be notified when we start printing a hard copy version of this magazine. We just want to know that if we build it, you will come! 

Warren Murchie

Editor

Wannabe Swiss

 

 

                                  

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