Here we are at the new home of my blog, Listen. Why the change? The thing is that I started mrpcbass (by old blog) to get some sense for blogging, some general idea for what it might be like putting somewhat random thoughts out into the blogosphere, in hopes of hearing back on some level. In the meantime, I have really been paying attention to new music, the intersection of the music industry and other industries, while watching the music industry just exist. It’s a mess.

So I guess I’m turning over some kind of new leaf with this. Even though I might have to follow up that ridiculously long post about Rush with something about Led Zeppelin or John Coltrane, or some other completely amazing musician/band, I want to focus on something else. There may be profiles of new bass gear and the occaisional rant about traveling or being a musician. And while I’m at it, why not some vacation posts with photos of the family white water rafting?

Waitaminute, I never posted anything like that in the first place. And I have never been white water rafting.

But it is time to turn over a new leaf, or at least focus, and so the point of these “pages” will be to observe the music industry, listen to a bunch of music, and to think about what it all means.

Best,

Rick McLaughlin

Ok, so if you read my posts carefully, you will draw the following conclusions (among others):

• I listen to old music
• I think about nerdy things
• I love to combine my nerdiness with the old music that I listen to

And I can understand reasons why you might draw these conclusions. After all, a many-thousand word review of the complete works of Rush…well that qualifies as old music and nerdiness, which ironically happens to be much of the focus of the post. But let me say that I’m not completely old fashioned. In fact, I have been listening to quite a lot of new music, and I mean that both as “new” and as new. (more…)

All this talk about Rush has me wondering:

• If you were to read Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, back to front, would it be Collectivism?
• If you were to ready Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, back to front, would it be Biased-ism?

Thank you, thank you.  I’m here all week.  Make sure to tip your waitress…

 Rick

New York Bass Emporium/AlterEGO demo

Originally uploaded by iosonomolto.
I have my AlterEGO Acoustic Figaro 4-string. I have a babyEGO 5-string (with Velvet strings). And I have a babyEGO 4-string (with Spirocore). And I’m heading to New York.

Come to the New York Bass Emporium in Rhinebeck, NY on 5/26 at 2pm to check these incredible instruments out (call Mark Sacchetti at 516-319-8110 for more info).

Thanks,
Rick

My previous posts have evolved somewhat, which I suppose is the nature of these things. I think I’m starting to get a better sense for the shape of this. I think I’ll try to just list the tunes, and instead of writing something small about each one, I’ll go long on a few. See where that gets me.

(more…)

In November, I wrote about a day of iPod on shuffle. Here’s another one:

Wayne Shorter – Juju/Angola (from a concert at At Göteborg Concert Hall, Sweden, May 2003) – This is easily the best band out there. I wrote about them a few days ago. Danilo Perez, John Patitucci & Brian Blade back Wayne, but it’s not really “backing.” They are all equals and completely incredible individually, and as a unit. In my opinion, this is the most important band in the jazz world. (more…)

The other day, a student of mine asked me about traveling with a bass. It’s a huge conversation, really, but here’s a stab at a decent answer:

Traveling as a musician is one of the curses of choosing this profession. Simply put, there is nothing good about it. Ok, well seeing different places and experiencing different cultures is amazing and absolutely worth the struggles that we have to deal with. But insofar as the logistics and managing the traveling itself so that our instruments, and ourselves, arrive in one piece is extremely challenging. If you don’t believe me, ask any bassist who has toured about his/her experiences, and I promise that you will get an earful of horror stories. And here’s a favorite of mine – it’s the story of a trumpet player who got his arm broken by airport security. (more…)

I just stumbled across the funniest song ever, and it’s not by Spike Jones or Frank Zappa. No, it’s not by Steve Martin or Steve Allen, or even George Burnes. Not by Charlie Chaplin (but his tune Smile is one of the most beautiful).

The funniest song ever is I’ve Never Been to Me by Charlene. Another blogger has slightly less complimentary things to say about it:

http://jasonhare.com/2007/04/04/adventures-through-the-mines-of-mellow-gold-26/

Enjoy.

Rick

Many things are afoot here in Listen Blog central, which is why it has been so incredibly long since the last post. But first, let me say again how psyched I am about My New Bass. I sold one of my “old” basses, so I’ll be posting something on that ASAP, and I have a BabyEGO 5-string bass that I want to write about soon. (more…)