Among giants

(Louie Talan is one of the country’s finest bass players. He plays bass for Razorback, and has done sessions for the likes of Cynthia Ayala, Pinikpikan, Spy, and Kapatid.)

The term “giant” usually applies to things like mutant eggplants, super-size hamburgers, and even something as mundane as a pus-filled zit. Giant stuff is cool. Admit it. We all looked forward to the part when Bioman’s defeated adversary would turn gigantic at the end of every single episode.

But I digress. I would like to write about a different kind of “giant” — the kind whose massiveness exists through pure music genius. Just last weekend I had the opportunity to meet three such “giants.” These were jazz greats Scott Henderson, Jeff Berlin, and Dennis Chambers, known collectively as HBC. Though not as commercially famous as say ABBA or ZZ Top, they are undoubtedly certified musical giants — heroes if you will. And to me — pardon the expletive — the absolute sh*t!

I was fortunate enough to be part of the group responsible for their show that took place in Hotel Sofitel last Oct. 16. Putting this show together wasn’t easy. Time was extremely limited, and it took three organizations to put everything together, namely: the Philippine International Jazz Festival Foundation headed by Sandra Viray, JB Music headed by Jerico Fernando, and WombWorks Recording Studio — a trio for a trio. Each group brought its respective expertise to the table in order to make “Jazzin’ Manila” happen.

Here is a brief account of my three days spent with HBC:

Day 1: The Curse of the ‘beyg’

I spent most of the day psyching myself out, telling myself not to get all-fan-boy-like and stupid. I wanted to give them a decent first impression.

When they emerged from NAIA’s arrival area in single file, Scott Henderson first. I yelled “Hey, Scott! Great to meet you, man!” Their road manager, Alejandro Callera, and Dennis Chambers followed him. My welcome seemed off to a good start though I have to admit I had to stop myself from blurting out to the latter: “You are the best damn drummer on the planet!” Everything went to pieces after that when I asked Jeff Berlin, “Hi Jeff… um... can I carry your beyg?” In my excitement I managed to string together the words “bass” and “bag.” Here is a tip: If you ever find yourself faced with the opportunity to offer a giant some help with his bass or his bag, decide three hours ahead which one to carry — then have it tattooed on your forehead.

I spent the trip from the airport to the hotel in relative silence. It was a good thing Sandra kept the conversation at a lively pace. The lady is a fantastic host, which is something, I recently discovered, I’m not so hot at.

A few things became apparent as we pulled up to the hotel. First, Scott is fond of dogs. He went straight to the German Shepherd bomb sniffer at the entrance and started playing with it. Second, Dennis is fond of Jack Daniel’s whiskey. And Jeff… Jeff loves Hotel Sofitel. He was constantly enthusing, “Oh wow! This is too much! Man! This is too much!” Not a surprise since the hotel management gave an amazing welcome, complete with a high tea buffet. And here is where I finally pulled my foot out of my mouth, and tried to redeem myself by making decent conversation. I asked Jeff if John Coltrane’s Giant Steps was on their set-list. He replied, “We’ll see tomorrow!”

The curse of the beyg was lifted!

Day 2: This is how they do it

The nice thing about working with foreign artists is you get to compare standards of what is acceptable and what isn’t. I have always wondered how they can sound as great live. It’s all about great attention to detail, good gear, knowing exactly what they want to sound like, and an organized sound check with a competent sound engineer, apparently. As a promoter, it helps to follow their technical rider to a tee.

Scott and Jeff really maintain their instruments: properly intonated and set up, with fresh strings and batteries. Gear is packed and unpacked in an organized manner, no spaghetti-like cables or wires, no loose guitar picks, no T-shirts from last month’s gig in the guitar cases. They were very clean and very pro — a big lesson for me as a musician.

JB Music had a brand new Pearl Masters Custom drum set flown in just for this gig, and it was a pleasure watching Dennis meticulously tune the kit for an even sound. Front-of-house sound engineer and my partner at WombWorks Studio, Ariz Guinto told me he barely had to use any equalization or effects because the band sounded great right from the source; like a well-oiled machine, each part set up and running properly. Well, that apart from the fact that they are some of the best musicians around.

Scott has been described as possessing a mind like John Coltrane’s, the hands of Jeff Beck, and the balls of Jimi Hendrix. I would like to add that he has the humor of Gary Lising. His guitar workshop was entertaining — full of rock and roll swagger, and awe-inspiring displays of his command of the guitar. Being a music professor at the Musician’s Institute in Hollywood, Scott also discussed various musical concepts and shared his own theories on playing music.

One particular example is when he said, “This is how not to play.” Then proceeded to play an awesome guitar solo, after which he asked the audience: “What was wrong with that solo?” The audience answered, “Nothing!” Scott then explained that it made no sense. It had no motif, no theme. “It was just a random bunch of ‘correct’ notes strung together. It’s like a sentence that goes ‘This is my guitar, look at the lamp, that girl has big tits!’ The phrases make no sense together.” Then he played another solo, which was so simple and yet so beautiful — hard to imagine that it came from a man who likes to make hooter jokes. 

Jeff has always been known to have controversial opinions on music education. Perhaps if he didn’t play the way he did, no one would even bother to try and learn from him. But, Jeff Berlin the musician is all the reason you need to heed Jeff Berlin the teacher. For example, he believes one shouldn’t use a tuner. True enough, I watched him tune his bass from slack to perfect E, A, D, and G — purely by ear — in less than five seconds.

He also thinks musicians should not practice with a metronome because practice is supposed to be out of time. “You focus on learning the right notes first, before attempting to play it at tempo. Practicing with a metronome doesn’t allow this to happen.”

The bass workshop applied to all musicians. I liked that Jeff stressed the importance of practice. My favorite quote of the workshop — “You don’t become a successful musician from watching and copying what other successful musicians do, you become a successful musician by making yourself a better musician every day.”

You could tell Dennis had started his drum workshop even from the other side of the hotel. The distinct rumbling from the Sunset Pavilion seemed to imbue the grounds with a really funky groove. We had asked Dennis earlier if he wanted any particular drum sound dialed in, using effects, or whatnot. He answered, “No. I’m not too particular about the sound. Just make sure it fits in with the guys because they don’t like to play very loud.” Two lessons from that one sentence: he doesn’t have to be particular about the technical aspects of getting a sound because he is the sound. It is all taken care of by his solid groove, precise stick and footwork, and the well-tuned drum kit he used. Even though he is known as a hard hitter, he had his volume set low so as not to overpower the others. This man prioritizes his role as support for the bass and guitar. He is a team player.

Day 3: All’s well that ends well

As a promoter, it is normal for you to hear artists offer their thanks and then leave. The trio of giants asked when was the soonest they could come back. That, by far, was the biggest compliment possible for us as organizers. Jeff concluded, “The gig was awesome, the sound was really happening, the crowd was awesome, and Filipinos are just such nice people. Great hospitality! We felt at home.”

And to that I replied, “Let’s do it again next year, man! Here let me help you with that beyg.”