Cartoon Justice-Make-Out Room, SF CA; 11/6/17

Sadly, no traditional walk around the Mission last night before the show. It was cold, albeit tremendously clear, so I opted to just park and get into the Make-Out Room and check in with Mika, Kersti, Thomas, and Jaroba. I must say that as I trolled for parking around 22nd St., I did get in the usual reflective mood re: changes in SF and myself. The City remains a beautifully odd place. It also seems increasingly alien to me, but I guess that I've gone over that ad nauseum.
With Cartoon Justice bass player Eli away on vacation, Mika pulled in Thomas Harrison Jr. to join in, along with woodwind player Jaroba. We did not get any time to rehearse, aside from a short email exchange which contained samples of the pieces that we'd decided to play for Make Out Monday. Things took a bit of time to gel. It seemed as though the first five or six minutes of our 42 minute set were spent poking in and out of each others' sounds, trying to establish some kind of vibe or groove. After a bit, I feel as though the total group, Harmelodic sound which we aspire to had begun to emerge. Some decent, grooving 6/8 Jazz Latin stuff on Spirit Aligned Truth lead to me taking a brief solo. That felt nice. We followed with a North African-inspired piece and ended with the relatively Free Villa d'Ornette. Take a guess who that one is dedicated too.
As I mentioned Cartoon Justice is expressly Harmelodic in approach: we aim to play a group music, based on Blues feeling and melodic guitar sketches. All in all, I felt as though we were able to float to that desired space, creating the mood that was sought.
After our set ROVA and Rent Romus's Life's Blood were tremendous. How cool to play on bill with so many great musicians.
Many thanks to Timothy Orr for letting me use his beautiful drums and cymbals!

Below: Kersti and Mika set up; mysterious T. Harrison Jr

Above: lovely Sonor kit and 1960's Zildjian cymbals, courtesy of Mr. Orr