Sidemen
What it takes to make a great sideman (or sidewoman) ...
What kind of gigs did you do when you got back?
I went to work for Wayne West in Norwalk, up behind a bar in a club again. The thing that impressed Wayne about me was that I didn't
play all over the top of him. He had a very classical voice and sang things like "Old Man River." I always figured that you play
so that the singer sounds good, and not play everything that you do – so he really liked that.
Being a true disciple of music, how would you define your role?
Music is king. No matter who that music might have gone through. If that person is an egomaniac, that's their problem, but the music
came through them. So if the music demands that I play one note every eight bars, I'm gonna own that note, 'cuz that's the note the
music needs. It's not about playing a solo; it's about what the music needs, so it can get to the listener the way it flowed through
the original writer.
That's the thing I adapt. People's egos and their personal problems matter only a little, because the music is king. I know it sounds
simplistic and philosophical – and I'm not gonna say it hasn't been without pitfalls – but whenever I go back to that place,
it makes everything clear.
Roger-Z
Editor
www.Roger-Z.com
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