This was the second private gig I had this weekend, this time along the Delaware River above Easton. My friend Tom Church put together this musical gathering with jazz pianist Dan DeChellis, Tom and myself for a UU church fundraiser, a raffle for an informal concert at Tom’s house. My family was a part of this congregation before we left for CT so there were some familiar faces in attendance.
We were set up in a comfortable living room with a fire going, chairs set up, snacks galore with Tom, Dan and myself up front. We had ‘rehearsed’ on Monday morning but that session proved to me that we would play on the fly anyway. That’s how Tom rolls and Dan and I were cool with that.
Tom led the way with his repertoire of originals, folk pop and country so it was nice to play backup on mandolin, for the most part. It was a delight to work off of Tom’s songs and Dan’s improv and chords, explore the mandolin and add to the afternoon’s music. Folks picked up on the communication going on musically as did we three musicians. Our antennae were up and that’s what made the event special.
I added False From True, Nadine and Lessons from Pete as my tunes and that was the extent of my ‘taking the lead’ on tunes. It was enough. ‘Lessons’ opened up nicely at the end with Dan’s improv over the simple two chords, so I was tickled to share something personal with his creative ears. We nodded in agreement at the end. We connected.
The afternoon was a success. Again, I was invited into a small community of folks and had the chance to play music, banter about UU’s, support my good ole friend Tom Church and play music with him and a new colleague Dan DeCellis.
I sold a couple of CDs, too, to sweeten the pot, bought cheap gas in P’burg ($1.58) and Tom will drop off some $ sometime in the future. Another ‘off the map’ gig for friends and community.