A question for Billy.

Hello Billy,
i would like to know how was your gigs with the H.R big band in Germany.I have your first live cd "Meeting of the spirits",and of course i'd hope to have a second one...Did you play the music of Mahavishnu Orchestra or was it a new project?Peace,Stef

Stephane:
After playing in a quartet environment for a few days, the change in format was dramatic in that I went from "a small business situation where I was fundamentally responsible for 1/4 of all that is going on within the music to 1/20th of the musical focus since the band is set up more like a corporation with the conductor being the C.E.O. In a Big band everyone must tow their weight enough that it makes a big difference if there are weak links in each section. I can't be as free in the big band as I can be in a quartet as regards musical interpretation so, I must play more selectively in order to keep the fundamental rhythmic based in place. In this way the other musicians are more secure to play their parts as well. The music that we performed was a revisitation of the Mahavishnu Orchestra I performed and recorded with the band about 6 years ago...........'Boy, does time fly!' Recently I have been toying around with 'odd meter patterns' with my band so I was lucky to be relatively "in-sync" with the material from the M.O. and, in the end, I enjoyed the revisit but I believe that this time will have been the last one for me. The band, in my opinion, is the best big band in Germany when thinking as a group. There are bands with many very special musicians in their ranks that stand out as individuals but who rarely perform as a tight unit. This band works together very well and that really counts in my book. thanks for asking Stephane.

Boomer

Here is a link to a webcast of the entire performance. Due to the fact that it's streamed the audio and video are a bit out of sync with one another, but it's still an enjoyable performance nonetheless !

I think you did a fantastic job , as always, Boomer . And you guys will just have to watch it all the way to see what happens at the end of the performance.


http://liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/A_Celebration_of_the_Mahavishnu_Orchestra/




Peace, TED

Thank you Billy for the information,i know you're very busy this month!
And thank you Ted for your precious links as always! Peace Stef

I'm very happy to hear you liked the band, I lived in the 80's 7 years in Frankfurt and a lot of them are good friends.

Specially Martin Scales (the guitar player), whom I know from my 11 years in Munich (1999-2010) is one of my best friends (his brother too).

Thanks Ted for the VIDEO, the playing is absolutly great Billy!

Best,

Alex

Thanks, Ted!

This is just fantastic and I love
the whole subject matter - of
playing in this larger format
versus. They are so different
and really challenging.

You can see Boomer's dynamic
control and choices on behalf
of the rest of the ensemble -
a real example for us. I think
it is my favorite of situations.
Kick-ass sounding kit, too!

I especially enjoyed the Evans-
style arrangements. They were
urban and rich.

Many, many, many years ago,
I saw him at the Town Hall,
in NYC, with an ensemble like
this and I will never forget the
wall of sound. It won't leave
me - the memory of the horn
section holding their hands to
their ears at the volume Billy
was generating but note that
this was not at their expense,
musically. It was sheer fire.

This performance impacts me
but in a different and much
more meaningful way. Grand!

What a great finish for it, too!

Thanks, again, Billy, for your
never ending inspiration.

Regards,