[Dixielandjazz] The Sub

[Stephen Barbone]

All the musos on the list know the agony of getting a last minute sub
for one of the regulars. Happened to me on last night's brewpub gig. Our
guitarist, (one of the finest in the USA) was ill and couldn't make it.
I had a 24 hour notice and so racked my brain for a sub, thinking
"bringdown", the band guys will be disappointed.

Then I called a guitarist I had done some recent "modern" jazz trio
work, with and voila, he was available.
But, he didn't know any Dixieland or Swing tunes. Not to worry, he has
great ears and reads impeccably and I'll bring Sheik's Fake book. It is
well done, and easy to read on the job.

On the gig now, and E. (Shawn) Qaissaunee shows up with guitar. Band
guys and regulars in the audience say, uh oh. We lead in with "Back Home
Again in Indiana", easy swinger, to loosen up and I tell Shawn, think
Freddie Green & Basie, and to listen to Ace Tesone, our bass player who
will feed him the chord roots. Also tell him that he knows the tune as
"Donna Lee".

Lo and behold, it's like we have Freddie Green on guitar. So I decide to
introduce Shawn first. Now he is about 5 feet tall, weighs about 90
pounds and looks lost. But he has that secret smile persona.

Intro goes something like "Our guitarist is a sub, and only 33 years old
so the band average age has dropped to about 60 tonight. He was born in
Kabul Afghanistan and luckily got to this country as a 5 year old when
his dad took the family and fled, to teach Mathematics at Ohio State. He
is a graduate of Berklee College of Music, has made 2 CDs of his own
original music. He brings together blues, funk, rock and eastern sounds
to create a unique jazz language which you will hear tonight. He is a
monster guitar and bass player and has studied with Wolfgang Muthspiel,
Jon Damien and Pat Martino."

For the rest of the evening Shawn played like he'd been with us for 10
years. Read all the tunes from Sheik's book beautifully. Just 2 chorus'
and he had them down cold, closing his eyes and gently rocking to and
fro.. Swung his ass off much to the delight of the band and the
audience. Took some mighty impressive solos. More modern, to be sure,
but jazz that was original, based upon the roots and swinging like
crazy.

The ultimate accolade, our trombonist Glenn Dodson (28 years as
principal trombone with the Philadelphia Symphony and 30 years ago, one
of the 4 finest classical trombone players in the world) was very
complimentary of Shawn's musical skill as well as his jazz energy. And
that is not given easily. What a great night we all had.

Who said Muslims can't swing?

Cheers,
Steve Barbone