Another fine night of music with Ed Johnson and Novo Tempo

It's the wee small hours before another day in the studio with Ed Johnson and Novo Tempo. Like a whirlwind of swirling paper, a million thoughts and bits of music are flying thru my mind , keeping me awake at 5am.
Ed has done it again. He's written six more masterpieces that bring forth a myriad of thoughts and feelings with every note, chord and breath. Jennifer Scott and Rene Worst are here from Vancouver, Mark Ivester is here from Seattle and we have our bay area regulars, Kristen Strom (TQ, short for Tone Queen), Scott Sorkin, Jason Lewis and Michelle Gorlitz plus the master of the digital arena, Gary Mankin. Last but not least our producer Leslie Evers, bringing her presence and intuition, working side by side with Ed, bringing to life another masterpiece on Cumulus Records.
We played at the Sanchez Art Center in Pacifica, CA last Saturday evening. It probably was one of the best nights we ever had. This band has the uncanny ability to pick up where we left off from the last gig and kick ass on the next. We played as if no time had passed since the last time we all got together back in...(it escapes me at the moment but you catch my drift).
We saw many of our friends, Morning Nichols, Bobby Norris, Dave (manning the soundboard), Gary Woods, Shawn Terry and Terri Derogatis, her mom and dad, Tami Ellis, Lionel Emde, Rene Batti and many more during the night. Thank you all for being there, it means the world to us to play for you.
For those of you who are listeners rather than players, this is the kind of band that musicians like myself work so hard in the woodshed to be able to play in. You step onto the stage with folks that you respect, love to play with and from the first note, take off like a flock of birds. Twisting, turning thru every musical nuance and the only way to describe it is to call it "magical". It's a totally different experience than playing what we musicians call a "casual" or a commercial type of gig where we step onto a stage and wish we were somewhere else, doing something else with someone else...
Don't get me wrong. You can have fun playing with cats playing "BrickHouse", "Twisted Sister's" greatest hits and the rest of whatever someone else wants you to play. But there's a catch. Nowadays, when you play a gig like that, the band plays an hour set and the DJ fills in for the next set. Then the band usually plays one more and is done and the DJ finishes out the night. It seems that the audience talks during the band's set and when the DJ is on, they rush the dance floor! Even if you play the same exact tune, exactly like the record, the audience will sit there talking about God know's what until the DJ comes on. It doesn't matter to them how good you are or how good you sound! People don't know what to do when they see a live band. They've lost the ability to communicate and interact with live musicians. It's a shame that music in that section of the universe has come to that. The day will be here soon where the bride and groom's 20 year anniversary first dance will be "Cop Killer" and even the DJ will be replaced with an Ipod and 4 hours of digital anonymous blah.
Okay, enough of the soap box...
Ed Johnson and Novo Tempo will be playing at BOAS this coming Sat, May 7th from 8:30 to midnight. If you want to experience an evening of musical bliss that takes you from here to Rio and many ports in between, stop by and be prepared to have your hearts moved and your minds opened.
And when you do, treat yourself to a fabulous dinner experience. The cuisine is world class and Joe the bartender serves up some tasty libations. The cover charge is $10, $5 with dinner, $5 for those under 21 and they can stay till 11pm.
This is one of my favorite bands to play in along with Wayne Wallace's Rhythm and Rhyme and of course WorlView (which will be at BOAS on May 21st).
And if you do stop by, please come up and say hello. We love to see our friends and want the chance to thank you all in person for supporting live music in the South Bay.
Till then.....