1:59 a m January 30, 1999 (Van Goh's ear) Venice Beach California

Let me preface this with the fact that I love jazz-fusion (one of the few people left who do)

Last night I was 1 out of about 1000 people who went to hear Steve Morse band at The House of Blues. The place was cool but I had to stand the entire time and never was able to see the full stage. I was always peeking around something. I Really enjoyed Van Romaine. (The drummer) He reminded me of Mark Lloyd right down to the same kind of hair (or lack of it.) They both have an energetic style of playing (Ritalin deprived ballet) and wear a strange trance-smile. … Which reminds me, I've always wondered that if those 'musician' faces were the same faces they express in bed, especially guitar players. (If you've ever loved a guitar player let me know) -- anyway-Van built one hell of a fire under Steve Morse and Dave Larue. The music was definitely jazz-fusion although it was a tad too white for me. (Mechanical chicken pickin) although parts of it were great.
Tonight: I had no art openings to do and was feeling very lonely … I called my friend Nate and he said to meet him and 2 of his friends at Catalina bar and grill (close to Hollywood and vine) he said that he didn't know, but there may be something cool happening. -- The place was small. (About 60 people) We grabbed a table about 20 feet from the stage; hell the worst spot was 30 feet from the stage. I gave the band a visual assessment. They looked like typical musicians (probably from Pasadena) except when they hit the second measure I said, "shit these guys are good … It reminded me of what jazz guitar great, Glenn Alexander once told me about New York: "There are a thousand guitar players who will kick your ass and you've never heard their name." I figured this must be an example of just that. By the middle of the tune they were groovin hard and kickin the energy like a nitro-charged ghetto cruiser. Fire spittin guitar with the edges rubbed smooth by a classic B3 Hammond organ. Who the hell did we inadvertently stumbled into? The song was over and a singer walked up to the stage and introduced the keyboard player as T Lavitz … T Lavitz! NO @^!#4)&*!! WONDER!! … And on bass Alfonzo Johnson … ALFONZO JOHNSON! I am starting to giggle in disbelief as well, as my friends, we were not prepared! On drums Billy Cobham … BILLY COBHAM!!! WHAT IS THIS? THE TWILLIGHT ZONE! We were all laughing so hard everyone was starring at us… We were close enough to the band that if they looked our way, they would swear we were NY city street schizoids, who else would be laughing at their introductions. No one in the place was laughing and we were on the floor! Needless to say a night of Goosebumps and applause. I dug it a lot more than Steve Morse. Plus it was small and intimate. I was practically onstage.
This is the coolest thing about big cities … how many cities in the world can you walk unsuspectingly into a little bar and hear the finest music on the planet - 3 … 4 or uh …Ok-ok I'm not counting the great sitar players in Bombay!

From lonely to lively … That's the big city … I love it! ...heres a pic of hollywood blvd near vine

The kount

The art of Kaz Maslanka http://www.kazmaslanka.com/