We were glad when they said unto us,

"Let us go into the House of the Stanktiddy! This is the Place that Soul Music has made; we shall rejoice and be happy in it! Aman and Aman-ed!" as prophesized by Reverend Dr. Boogaloo

 Great-googa-mooga!! As the picture shows, the Happytime Tabernacle #2 for All People is alive and well! And I’m ever so happy to report that at the „Soul Signifyin’ Revival“, a high time was truly had by all!

Yes indeedy: it was a huge challenge to bring this event to the Place-that-Cannot-Be-Named. Techincal difficulties, logistics and timing proved to be bigger challenges than I had expected.  Plus, the really nice people at the Place-that-Has-No-Name are understaffed, underpaid, undermotivated and lack the neccesary resources to mount a production of the size and scale that I had planned (i.e. an overworked PR dept., not enough microphones and monitors, ect.). Although I knew all this going into the game, I was determined, by sheer force of will, to make this event happen. But occasionally, trying to make bricks without straw means that on somedays, you can’t always get what you want: this was reflected by the low turnout on Friday night and having to call off Saturday night’s show due to low ticket sales. A true Bummerama.

However, I can say that the feedback that I got from the people who came out on Friday was positive to the extreme: the set design was beautiful , the singing was brilliant, the musicianship of all the artists involved was exceptional. I would even go as far to say that pound-for-pound, this was one of the best bands I’ve heard play in town this year.

In the weeks of preparation leading up to the event, there were moments that took me back to when I was kid learning to make music, when we would be in a garage somewhere finding our parts and practicing and practicing until we got it right. This painstaking discovery process, this quest to find the deep groove, is what has kept me going all these years. 

Take for example the fact that Mike Russell is an outstanding guitar player, but to leave it at that would be a mistake: the man is a musical visionary. He hears and sees and plays things that many guitarists cannot hear and and see and therefore, simply cannot play. In fact, there were riffs and figures that he found which are probably not even in the musical vocabularies of most guitarists in the world right now. It’s true. That’s why when you call his name, you have to put „Funky“ in the beginning of it like you would call somebody Dr. or Professor or Sir. Mike Russell, I have said this to your face and I will say it to you again: How Great Thou Art!! Lawn-ham-mercy!! How GR-AATE!! THOU ART!! Woooo man!! I’m looking forward to the day when we get those huge, super-sized Marshall amps and all the tech stuff you need cause when THAT happens, and they hear you, son, you gon’ make some of those other cats retire. 

Then, there is Mr. Earl Bostic, a man who eats music theory for breakfast. As a seasoned bassist, Earl has the ability to hear ALL the parts and lock the bottom down. It is always a privilege for me to be on stage with Earl because he is an excellent musical communicator: in the brief sessions that we had leading up to the one and only rehearsal we had all together, Earl was able to describe complex musical concepts to the other players, in a timely and kindly fashion, so that everyone could stay on the same musical page. Earl Bostic proves that disciplined musicians are experts at critical analysis, abstract thinking and inter-personal communication skills. Plus, because he’s a bass player, he’s so deep, you can’t get under him. 

My grandfather was drummer and he taught me to trust my rhythmic instincts; this is why I know Dr. DiCarlo is a drum doctor. He’s a rhythm healer. He knows that a good beat can heal you! I’ve never seen him lose a case!! Aman-ed. There’s not a tempo or a groove that’s ever been too hard for him to solve!! This why he’s a funky drummer: not only does he feel the groove, he lives it everyday. He lives it everyday because he understands CHI and Feng Shui…he understands what it means to flow like water. Ham-mercy!! I believe he’s got a black belt in karate, but when he hits those skins, he plucks at them so sweet, it makes you want to get up and dance right then and there. Wooo-Lawd!! Dr. DiCarlo is an expert at percussions, paradiddles and polymetric paradigms!! I truly believe he is annointed by the African Holy Ghost and it lives in him. 

Jan Giese is my favorite piano player. Don’t get me wrong: I know there are some good piano players out there; I’ve been a good piano player myself and I’ve heard quite a few good ones in my life. But you know its not enough to play all the right notes, people. Naw its not. If you gon’ play the piano, or synth or whatever keyboard you gon’ play, you gots to play with expression sometime. Jan Giese not only plays with expression, accuracy and dynamics, he can take a melody, swing it all around and make it sang!! He’s the kind of piano player that I always wait, in anticipation, to hear solo. Cause I know that when he streches out…good-googy-woogly…its going to be something that you will never forget in your lifetime. Period. He came all the way from Munich to play with me and he played ALL the keys…. 

Long story short, the BAND. WAS. SLAMMIN. Woooooo-Lawwwd!!! 

With only ONE rehearsal all together in the same room, and NO sound check, THIS band showed ALL-THE-WAY-OFF on Friday night!!! And to the people that missed it, I can say that ya’ll missed something extremely significant. In fact, you missed out on something important in life. I say this because I’ve witnessed great concerts all over the world all my life and this one was incredible! Not because the music or the show was perfect. We made a small mistakes here and there (we did not signify or call attention to them of course) but from beginning to end, the energy, the enthusiasm, the intensity, the musicianship and WOO!! the JAM was astonishing….we made them gargle „The Wine of Astonishment“…by the time we were through with that first set, lighting into Sly’s „ I Wanna Take You Higher“, the people in that place had to go SHEEEEEE-IIIIIIITTTT!!!!! They couldn’t help but come up on the stage at the end of the show and dance with us. 

And we only played two hours: we had enough music and energy to play for at least 3 and a half. No joke. 

SO, I take my hat off to „Funky“ Mike Russell, „Cool“ Earl Bostic, The Amazing Jan Giese and the The Incredible Dr. DiCarlo for their endurance, creativity, skill and excellence. These are musicians whose experience and work ethic create unforgettable performances. This is the kind of band that I give a money-back guarantee on: if you ever come out to hear this band play and you don’t experience an original moment of musical excitement that you can’t get anywhere else, I will give you your ticket money back. THATS how good these guys are right now. 

Plus, having one of the best (if not THE best) soundmen in town, means that when the people in the audience say „The sound got better and better and better as the show went on“ in a hall that produces acoustics-from-The Abyss, you KNOW that the guy is on point. Christoph, you are the man. All the stress. Not enough time. Doing everything on the fly. I promise you that the next time we do this, we will check out the acoustics and the equipment beforehand, because the situation in the Place-that-Has-No-Name did not do you justice for the remarkable skill set that you brought to the table. I am so grateful to you for all your hard work and patience and I will strive to make it up to you in 2008. Thankyou Christoph for proping me up on every leaning side. You are the MAN!!! 

And I can say the same about Matthias. Such a huge talent. So creative. Brilliant. Determined. Working with a sense of urgency. It is so rare that I get to work with people who are willing to think WITH me. Matthias, I’m really starting to look forward to making that movie now. I believe we are going to shake some things up very soon in this town because you understand the meaning of the word „Inszenierung“. You understand and overstand what it means. I am so grateful to you for all your good faith and hard work and support during these past months. You, my bruva, will get a Christmas present from me this year. 

Furthermore, having Mfa Kera AND Errol Shaker in my corner is like having two nuclear reactors in the trunk of my car: when that thang takes off from the curb, ya’ll are like rocketships going into places where the brave dare not go. How much experience do you two have between you? Okay, I’m not going to answer that. But I will say that you two were perfect. 

Kera, all you ever have to do is just be. Just be. When you came out, it was like the turn in the narrative, like when you are in the middle of reading a good book or watching a good movie and BAM!! That suprise moment, that raises the energy and the anticipation and the excitement level…I think I should start calling you Ms. Excitement…The Hardest Working Woman in Showbusiness…my sister you are amazing…people came up to me all week and asked me „Who WAS that woman?“ I told them, „THAT was Mistress TT“. Thank you Kera for all your love, support and enthusiasm. 

And Errol Shaker: absolutely amazing. I had to really concentrate when you came out because you made me want to laugh so hard…I almost lost it man…talk about mother-wit, comic timing, improvisational skills, voice, expression…bro man, you got the whole package. I kept asking myself this week: why didn’t we try to do this sooner…like years ago? We really don’t get to work together enough on stage Errol. We must change this. Thankyou so much for all your encouragement and support. You are without a doubt one of the best thespians that I have ever been fortunate to work with. I look forward to 2008 with you. 

Some say that a man is only as rich as the quality of friends and loved ones who look out for him. In my case, this is definitely true. I have so many thank-you’s for so many people and I would be amiss if I did not thank all my peeps who attended and helped me in major ways to realize the lauching of the Happytime Tabernacle Concert Series. Therefore, I offer my truly great, big, juicy, thank-you’s to: 

Sister Barbara, Roman, Dominic, Jens, Julia and Willie, Steffi, Ute, Annette, Uwe, Sabine, Margit, Paul Alexander, Priya, Selma, Friederike, Christine, Maria, Leni, Gordon, Sarah, Manuela, Bjorn, Wolfgang, Wiebke, Beno, Martin, Suleyman, Ibrahim and Semiah, Marco and Collette, Charlotte and Phillip and lastly, but obviously not least-ly to Rita, whose love and support, good faith and judgement, encouragement and courage has carried me all the way to this current day. 

I am grateful.