This interview has so many golden nuggets of useable info for sidemen to use to take action on and get gigs, it'll blow your mind! Dee Curtis our consultant here on the blog gives you the nitty-gritty on what you need to do to get session work. It's a short informative piece, but take notes please.
And yes this is a repost. Dee has knowledge of music like a great historian does, and he's created massive value for other musicians here in London where I live,Detroit and many other blues and music hotspots. If you ever get a chance to see Dee in Detroit where he's living and playing now, do it. Its a once in a lifetime chance to see a true blue bluesman.
i swear I should have a recorder going whether I'm talking to him on the phone, in person or on the internet!
This is an old conversation with Detroit based bluesman Dee Curtis. I talked about a recent article I read in Guitar World's (Bass Player Mag) about Gov't Mule Bass Player Andy Hess. It said he spends a lot of time looking over charts, studying and practicing material. He also stated, that sometimes doesn't matter on stage if you're trying to get a certain feel. The charts and playing note for note can sometimes get in the way. Those are my words folks.
Dee Curtis: Some of it does matter. Sitting down and runnin' scales and loosening your fingers up to warm up. It could be different for Bass Players. Once I'm on stage I try to be inspired or reach deep inside to pull out the vocals and the music. I know players who think about the next chord before they play it, and that takes away from the natural feeling of it.
It's more of a spiritual feeling when you let go and go to the next level and let it flow. If you've played a song enough times and know the next riff is a certain note you can just play. From there once you get to that point you should be able to improvise to some degree. This is because you can automatically know where the music is going. You should be able to stretch it out at a-certain point to go up a level.
Some of the Bass Players you've played with over the years, do you find some are more suited to live, session work or other types of Music?
Why is that?
Dee Curtis : I use different bass players for different things. In the Dee Curtis Trio, I use two bass players. One guy's a singing bass player who's very adept at R&B. Over the last couple of years he's adapted to the styles and dynamics of my music. My other Bass Player does a lot of church material, and is a cousin of mine, and we've played so much over the years that no matter what I'm doing he can come in and mold to the style I'm playing at that particular moment.
He plays a 6 string bass which I really like because he can cover a lot of territory, and can play a lot of chords and improvisational riffs.He's a bass player that I prefer. The drummer I use is my Brother Paris. He also plays keyboards. Currently he's doing quite a bit of sequencing and drum programming along with producing. I also use a guy named Rudy who's a Jazz Fusion drummer which I love and is closer to rock drumming--and that's something closer to what I'm used to. My drummer in Canada, Carlos LaTorre was and is a rock drummer.
Mark: Carlos is one of my favorite rock n' roll drummers who would make a great session guy with either metal or progressive rock acts.
Dee:Carlos has a lot of jazz elements in his playing, and could play funk as well as fusion. This made him more of an all around percussionist. I look for players of that caliber. I also look for guys who can change the tempo and feeling of a tune on the fly in subtle ways. One of my next cuts on an upcoming demo will be a Blues-Latin mix. In ending, Dee is always looking for solid backing in his side men. The Dee Curtis Trio is currently playing here in Southern Canada. So look for Dee up here in Canada at a blues club or bar in Toronto, Hamilton, London or down in Windsor or the US North East very soon.
Mark Grove -- CGP--www.canadianguitarplayer.ca
Dee Curtis -- Blues Recording Artist and Consultant to CGPM
deecurtis@rock.com
This is a back catalog article that bass players and front men should read.
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