by Gregory 'Bassie' Jackson
Its been way too long… I realize that… busy busy… thanks everyone… and you too Adam… for all the encouragement… Joshua up in Mass… and so many others… Morty out in Arkansas… and the Mighty Spear… Mr. Rodney…
At this moment Cecil and I… are at Java shop out in Gainesville Florida… back in the sunny climes… the smell of roasted coffee… the taste of the remains of the latte'… the hiss of the espresso machines… students mingling and chatting… as they click away on laptops… nice flow… save for this lame muzak… playing… but hey… free internet…
Let me say these past few weeks have been sweet… so many different environs… from city to town… from north to south to west… ummmmh…
Where have we been? sometimes it is like a blur… soldier vibes we call it… that's when we make the show… and then push out at 3:00 a.m. ummmmh… its all part of the flow… all of us must have a lot of discipline… and do the things we must do to get up…
These contrasts I will call Chiaroscuro… contrasts… that's what the word means… been reading a lot from a book on Da Vinci… yunno… some brain food… and its a word that comes up again and again… what it means to explain… is that there is contrast… it is part of the world we exist in… from city to town to country… from night to day… from the snows to the rains… the dry dry parched earth… its all part of the continuum… yunno…
It illustrates boundaries… relief… change… it reminds us all… in our own way… that there exists a summit… a personal summit…
Madison Wisconsin… a pleasant vibe… intimate show… then off to Detroit… where we had a chance to do the city thing… yeah… big venue… and lots of yardies… Glen Washington… big up to ya chief… and a few others… Chicago… what a surprise… every man has a single room… you should have seen us run to get our keys… smile…
Seems when we are in the House of Blues… there is always some magic… and that night was no exception… the men dem love to pull out ties and suits and things… Trommie Lee… aka Micah is good for that… but also Mr. Rodney… recently he pulled out some incredible ties… to show us he has his ready too… Oh… but did you all catch Steven Stewart… ummmh… now you all know by now that his thing is wearing all black… its only once in a blue moon you will see him in anything but black… and House of Blues was no exception… but that night… ummmh… out came the black suit jacket… no shirt… ouch!!!!… look baaddd man… onward forward in the silver streak… from Detroit to St. Louis… talk about strange vibes… we checked into a hotel that was more a medieval castle… actually more like 18th Century England… with original wood and structure from a mansion in the U.K… it has a peculiar odor… at least to me it did… there was a giant bear… stuffed heads… animals… and a bunch of other things… even the gun in a display case that was used to shoot the bear… lots of old dark woods… a few of us went next door and had some Chinese… and we gigged in a brand spanking new theatre… contrasts… what was that word…? Chiaroscuro…
From there to the college town of Columbia… lately the silver streak is laden with the sounds of doo wop… courtesy of Tedo… the original doo wop king… chuckles… seems he got this collection of video's while in San Fran… and he is hooked… been cleaning up the doo wop collections at all the local c.d. shops… and the college town are big for that… now you got Deep… aka Sylvan… he is the soul man… and the "real natty"… but we call him deep… don't know where that came from… I think Tedo… we enjoy it when they are sparring… lovely… on the bus… over this or that… even today… while watching Third World Cop… as we pulled in hear to Gainesville… sparring over the result of the movie… who would have chosen what to do… in this or that situation… just straight up fun…
Anyway… Deep… he's the original soul man… nuff Ojay's up there… and don't forget the man in black… Stewie… you get him going… and he's going to go into his box… and pull out Heatwave… and Confunkshun… and lots of classics… and tell you a thing or two…
In the mean time… as we make all these runs… you got James… and Micah… running all the c.d.'s on the bus intotheir laptops… collecting everything in sight… James be bopping with them headphones too… so if you bump into him… you are going to have to speak up… cause he is travelin… just like the Spear tune… "more than 2,000 miles…" Wicked tune… have you heard that one?
So anyway… bouncing and bopping into Columbia… college town… and a wicked show… Spear had that place in a trance… and the system really held up to our power needs… cause we really pump in some watts… with the live horns… and the keys… and the power even just from the vocal… we use a lot of juice… some places nearly run to melt down… the amps… a few times they nearly did… and you gotta hand it to Virgo… our engineer for keeping things in check… Columbia… things held up sweetly…
Onward to Lawrence Kansas… and Fayatteville, Arkansas… where we have some of our biggest fans… Morty and his wife really made us feel comfy… an intimate dinner in there home… setting everything up for us… and handling things well… both of them are some of the nicest people you can meet… check for them anytime you are down there…
More contrasts… onward to Austin TX… what a town!! it was like the wild west out there… the strip… ummmmh… another intimate affair… the club… but what vibes… and a strong sound… Phat…
Since Clydie… sax man got his new remote mic… you see him walking around stage… doing his solo's… like on tumble down… have you checked that one out… he does the circular breathing… and just blows… and blows… now he walks across stage… and comes right up to the front… giving me a wink as he passes by… Tedo makes a joke every now and then… cause it seems he doesn't dance… as he plays… but hey… that's how it goes sometimes… right? smile…
New Orleans… House of Blues… simply wicked… Mrs. Rodney arrives… and the vibes are elevated even more… greetings and blessing Mrs. Rodney…!!!
Houston, TX… the silver streak pulls into another Double Tree… warm cookies… and what? free internet… there is Virgo up there… Sylvan… Cecil… and me… yeah… I should have put this diary at the time… but I didn't… smile… no hard feelings… right… Cecil pulls out the acoustic guitar in the lobby… and begins to sing and play… nice vibes… roots vibes… yunno…
The Spear is burning strong… and the more we travel… the deeper the dimensions of this experience reveal themselves to me… its interesting… and its a growing experience… which is very positive…
There is a reason we are hear… and a role we all play… and its clearer to me… about the longevity… more things reveal themselves… and yet… there are more and more elements within…
I hope some of the things I have shared have heightened your interest in the Spear experience… and can help you relate this experience with you own life…
Chiaroscuro… its a word I took from reading Da Vinci… a man from antiquity… but who's reasonings still add meaning and inspire thinkers and artists to this day… and yes… there is a reason for longevity… same like the Spear experience… don't you think? sure…
till next time…
jahloveeternal…
Gregory Dale Jackson… aka Mr. Bassie
