So I'm sitting there. And sitting there. Hours. And the only idea that
comes into my head/hands to open the solo of Latcho Rock is to
quote the Duke Ellington classic Caravan. Now, while this kind of thing is
always kind of fun in a live setting, it struck me as kind of corny for
somebody's album project. I might add that I have been left alone to "put
on whatever kind of solo I wanted", so there was nobody to discuss this
with. Nobody. Just me, all tangled up in cables, preamps, headphones, and apparently,
with what I was trying to say in this solo. Sitting there. Finally I give up. I go with the flow. I accept my own unoriginality.
Caravan wins and I lose. And then...it gets sooooo
easy. The solo pops out in like a minute and a half. Andrea walks in just
as I am punching myself out of record. I decide on the spot, that if she
likes the solo,
that it will be my gift to the project. I put it on for her, kind of
grimacing inside as Caravan takes center stage, and she flips. I find out
that Caravan was their theme song for years when they worked in the circus
and I couldn't have picked anything more appropriate. I couldn't help
thinking that in spite of my best intentions to do otherwise, I didn't
pick Caravan but Caravan picked me. I guess maybe I wasn't alone in the
studio after all....
Ken Basman
Click here to see the rest of the
photos in the circus
