Chicago Joe's Rock n Blues Camp concert

Last night was the big end-of-camp performance for the Chicago Joe musicians of week four. There were five bands in all, and they absolutely rocked the house! Nick's band, ORZ, played four songs: an original piece called Home, Stevie Ray Vaughan's Texas Flood, a crazy Black Keys song Strange something, and David Bowie, Fame. I must say, his band was the tightest, most fun, and had the best variety of songs. In my humble opinion...

Here's Nick nailing the synth riff in Fame. Please excuse the sound. I was right by the monitors and it was LOUD:



Here's Nick and Aaron, his best band buddy, at the dinner we had beforehand. Pylon fans and band members, note that he's proudly representing!

Below is Nick with Jeep, friend, counselor and carpooler extraordinaire. He was also in Talk Talk, as you may already have heard...

And this is Nick with the famous Chicago Joe, who made it all happen.


At the end of the show Nick was on sax, and he and another sax player and a trombonist joined the last band for this rousing number. They only added the brass section on Thursday night, but they nailed it and it was SO MUCH FUN!!! Once again, my apologies for the crappy sound.



In truth, everyone totally rocked last night...

Talk Talk update

I talked to Jeep tonight. He told me all about his time with Talk Talk. He toured with the band for about a year, in 1984, and knows them all. Personally. He said what I figured he'd say, that he really doesn't know what Mark Hollis is doing, but that he bought a house somewhere in the country and has given up music. He said Mark was a private person, very uncomfortable with the public lifestyle and touring and performing. He said "He was a hard guy to get to know." I knew that. I could tell. Damn genius musicians and their quirks. Jeep told me that he was uncomfortable in the limelight, and felt awkward, and to cover it up he "often came across as arrogant." Yep, I completely get it.

Anyway, Jeep told me there are several videos from the tour he was on, and I've found a few. I had to search pretty hard to find him in the video, cause the Jeep I know has bleached blond hair and is 20 something years older than he was then. I figured he'd look a lot different back then, but he really doesn't He has dark short black hair, but other than that, it's him.

In this video of Dum Dum Girl, Jeep's playing acoustic guitar and wearing jeans and a jean jacket. At around 2:39 there are several shots of him. He's also the guy who is standing up on the drum riser a bit after that mark.



Here's another one, from the same tour. This time he's in a white tee shirt at the left of the stage. He jumps off the risers in a really rock and roll move at one point. I can't embed cause YouTube won't let me, but here's the URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW_3DcfoDLc

Hey, I think he's in this one, too! I'll have to ask him, but isn't that Jeep on the left playing his guitar way up under his arm? I'm almost sure it is:



WOW. I've watched this one before, and had no idea. I'm thunderstruck, only a much more clever word than that...

I'm honestly humbled and impressed, but not because Jeep was in a famous band. I know lots of famous band members. I'm overwhelmed caused Mark Hollis is an idol of mine, and to me is this mysterious, reclusive icon of popular music. I can't believe I know someone who knows/knew him. It's just too much.

Talk Talk...Six Degrees of Separation

Okay, I have this really fabulous neighbor named Jeep. He lives four doors down from me and is a talented musician and songwriter. I knew he had played in several band as a younger man in his native England, and now he works on the recording side of music. He's got a studio in his basement and is pretty successful recording mainly hip hop and rap musicians. Jeep is the fellow who took us to the guitar store back in April, helped Nick pick out the perfect guitar and gave him all kinds of advice. He's married to a beautiful singer and they have a daughter, Sophia, who's the smartest two year old I know. Their dog Charlie is my dog Jazz's boyfriend and an all 'round great dog. I adore them all.


This week Nicholas is attending a "School of Rock" kind of camp which is run by Jeep and Chicago Joe Jones and several other local musicians (above is pictured last year's camp group...see Jeep back center with blonde hair, Joe on the right with the dreads.) I was just on their website getting directions to the place for tomorrow morning, and I read this blurb on Jeep's biography:

Born in the United Kingdom, Jeep Hook began his career as a touring musician for Talk Talk, the hugely successful 80’s band whose song "It’s My Life " was recently covered by Gwen Stefani of No Doubt... Jeep was later signed to Virgin Records as part of the blue-eyed soul duo, Millions Like Us. Since then he has owned and operated successful recording studios in London, Los Angeles, and now in Atlanta with hookhouse studios.

I'm sorry...but I thought you said "touring musician for Talk Talk." Oh, you did? HOLY COW!!! I have known this guy for like six years, knew about the band Millions Like Us (because he has a big poster of it in his studio) but TALK TALK???? Do y'all know how much I love Mark Hollis? I don't think Jeep was actually in the band, but apparently he was their tour guitarist. Holy crap, this is huge.

Tomorrow Nick is riding to and from camp with Jeep, and you better believe I'm gonna get the whole story. I want to know where Mark Hollis is now. He's done quite the Rimbaudian thing, making a huge splash in the music world, writing beautiful songs and lyrics, recording those fabulous albums with Talk Talk, and later the one solo album, and then disappearing into the English countryside, never to make music again. I'll let you know what I find out. Maybe I can even get an email address or something. But of course I couldn't share that with everyone...so don't even ask...

This is one of the more hypnotic, haunting songs from the band's next to last album, "Spirit of Eden." If you don't have this album already, get it, turn it on, stretch out on the floor, turn off the lights and let it take you where it will...



My God, I love his face.

My son, the musician

I might be in trouble. My son, Nicholas, who has always been extremely musically talented, has suddenly become interested in actually being a musician. He's already a virtuoso at the piano, and this year in school started playing alto sax in the band. A few weeks ago, he got a guitar, though we have yet to start lessons. But it's always been just a kind of fun thing for him. Until yesterday.

My neighbor, Jeep Hook, is a transplanted Brit who played in his share of bands back in the day. (In fact, I just now googled him and found he toured with Talk Talk. How did I not know this???) He now has a successful career recording local artists in his home studio. Yesterday, Nicholas and I suddenly remembered that he had an assignment due today for band class that involved making a tape or CD of him playing a series of scales on the sax. Of course, we had nothing to tape it on since my computer doesn't have a mic and our old tape recorder is long gone. The only thing we could come up with was a mini voice recorder thing, which would have made the scales sound absolutely horrible. So I had the idea to call Jeep, who kindly he agreed to let us come down so that he could record the scales on his ProTools.

Okay...we'd been in his studio before, but always as visitors. This was like a real session, with a microphone, monitors, playback, and an artist. Nicholas completely got into it, re-doing takes, adjusting the mic, and in the end, designing an 'album cover' for the CD to give his teacher. Jeep took a photo with his computer, gave it that title, and sent it to us to print out. Nick came up with the pose himself, down to the half-closed eyes:

I think someone's been going through my old jazz albums. And I think I'm in trouble.