The Evolution of Musical Creativity

Moving away from Columbus the first time was one of the most difficult decisions I have had to make other than deciding where to go for college when I was 18. I had picked myself up by the bootstraps and up and moved 500 miles away to a strange and distant city full of the prospect of doctoral studies and music making. It was not an easy transition, because I found the music composition department at Ohio State in a state of chaotic disrepair upon arriving there. Things were awry and amiss, but because I was paying ten large in out-of-state tuition I stuck it out. More than ten years later I ended up moving back to the South, and I regret it. I did not finish the degree, but that chapter is not over yet. Why did I move? After having cornea transplant surgery and dropping out of school, I had to make a living. I began playing music full-time, and for the period of one year I was able to make a living as a performing musician. It took a lot of “driving your shoes” around, but with various venues in which to play I made it work. We worked at the Hyatt Regency in their lounge. I played jazz gigs at Barrister Hall. I played with Yumbambe at the Columbus Music Hall. It was a good year, but suddenly and without warming it came to a halt. Two prodigious piano players moved back to their home town of Columbus rendering me gig-less. They took back all their old gigs, so my skills were no longer needed. “Columbus helps its own.” I still believe this statement. It didn’t matter how good you were. What mattered was there was a finite amount of paying gigs, and only the “in crowd” got to play those gigs. I used to play at Lindy’s in German Village. I used to play at Hyde Park Bar and Grill. I use to play at the Statehouse. When this happened I began playing in the ghetto. A change was imminent, so I joined a predominantly African-American, “Old School R&B,” Hip/Hop band. For two years I usually was the only white person in the club, and I got used to it. No one really cared about your skin color. They just cared whether or not you could play good-feeling music. That requirement I met and did well. I worked hard on that gig, and it was a challenge. We played in a variety of keys. People sat in. You had to know various styles of music. Foremost I had to have the right “rig.” Piano it turned out did not satisfy the requirements in this kind of musical environment. The keys were too heavy, and the sound of the instrument didn’t sustain long enough to have a strong enough sonic impact. Organ was the proper choice with synth patches. I designed and put together a small, portable, 2 keyboard system based on the architecture of the Hammond B-3. It consisted of two 5 octave non-weighted keyed synthesizers controlling a 6 space rack of outboard gear. I had the best sounds possible in a small visually unappealing package. It yielded stereo mixed keyboard sounds with digital reverberation and chorus. I would put one amplifier on either side of the stage and position myself in the sweet spot. I used an organ module with 7 drawbars that had a Leslie on/off switch controlled with your foot. I also used a volume pedal. With that particular set-up I could effectively play this music. Since working on ships for five years, I have been back at the mercy of weighted-action digital pianos. I always have to program these instruments. They are capable of creating great sounds, but they do not come with them from the factory. When technology permits I carry a little memory card with my presets on it. MOTU’s editor/librarian Unisyn doesn’t provide the necessary “profiles” needed for the instruments I play. Being able to carry programming data from ship to ship on a laptop would speed up the process of performing well, since you will never sound good on a bad patch. The second generation Yamaha DX-7llFD with a Gray Matter expansion board is still my axe of choice for quality of sound and versatility. There are adequate sounds for a variety of different musical styles, and the sounds have a wide expressive band width. That means they are ‘fat!’ Keyboard playing has become a lost art, and the majority of my rigs are in storage. From time to time I like to reminisce and remember what it was like to play keyboard-based music with a group that truly knows styles of music and “how to swing.” It is unfortunate pop-based, sequenced, guitar-oriented music has forced many good keyboard players to quit cruise ship gigs.