Bridge Over Troubled Water, part III

We had our first rehearsal with pretty much the whole band last night, we were only missing our lead trumpet player… more about him later… I must say, I was a little nervous about this whole thing until last night. I wondered if we were really going to be able to do this wonderful album justice.

There is so much going on for as simple as everything sounds, and there are some studio tricks that would be hard to reproduce live, but I don't miss them. There's something about the immediate visceral response that your body has to live strings, brass and reeds that makes up for the loss of a "special effect" or two. Although I still don't know quite how we're going to reproduce the HUGE snare sound in Bridge Over Troubled Water and the Boxer. That will be the sound man's job, and we've got Dean Boras, one of the best in the business.

Last night was the first opportunity we had to hear Jeff sing Bridge Over Troubled Water and he sang the shit out of it!! Ken Vork told me that when he first heard the album way back when that the entrance of the electric bass at the beginning of the last verse was like a bell going off in his mind and that it opened a whole new world to him. When that point came in the song, even though there was no electric bass at rehearsal (my job -- I'll get to it!!), tears welled in his eyes and started falling down his cheeks. That did it, I started tearing up, too. Jeff and I agree that that song is the center of the whole show. It is the song that means the most to people and carries an incredible emotional wallop. If we nail it every night, we will probably see a lot of tears.

I know now that we will have an incredible show and I can't wait to get started! My only worry left is our lead trumpet player. He blew us off for the George Maurer Holiday Show in December without an explanation and I'm afraid that he might do the same thing for BOTW, despite the fact that he said he was excited to play it with us. If he blows us off he's used up all his chits in my book and I won't hire him again. If he doesn't want to do the show, or if he feels we are under-utilizing his talents he should let us know now so that we can find a replacement. I want him on the show, he a great, funny guy and an incredible player, but I can't abide people who are unreliable. Hopefully he will make it to the next rehearsal and I can rest easy, there aren't that many more with everyone.

But right now I am looking forward to opening this show like I never have before. It's going to be great!