We’ve been playing live for the past 6 years, playing original tunes that I’ve written, or classic soul/funk favorites and rehearsing them to the best of our ability.
But when the opportunity came up, I thought it would be cool to do something a little different.
What if we played for several hours, not a set (or sets) of tunes with beginnings and endings, but one long, continuous blend of music, evolving and changing over that duration, like a DJ’s mix – but played completely live? And what if it was all totally improvised?
That’s the concept behind The Soul Barkada Lounge, which will take place on Thursday, August 12 from 7 to 11 p.m. at F-Square Printing, on 519 South Spring Street, as part of the Downtown Los Angeles ArtWalk.
The monthly ArtWalk (every 2nd Thursday) brings tens of thousands of people on the streets of Downtown Los Angeles (the Gallery Row district) all night. Much of the art gallery events are open from afternoon until 10 p.m,, with the restaurants and bars open until 2 a.m. It’s an awesome display of street energy and creativity in all forms.
So instead of doing just a concert, I thought it would be cool to show up, completely unrehearsed, at a local print shop/gallery/cafe and do this. Though technically it’s a “jam session,” I want to avoid that term. It’s not an open jam but only open to members of our band plus other musician friends of ours. We’ll try to create something interesting, take turns holding down instruments, and who knows how people will react? We’ll just see what happens. Isn’t that what art is about, taking risks?
Oh yeah, the event is completely free, by the way…
I probably never have been very vocal about this publicly, but one of my favorite bands ever is the British jazz/funk/pop band Level 42.
Most people, especially in America, know them as a two-hit wonder, through their mid-’80s hits, “Something About You” and “Lessons In Love.” Those hits hooked me in too, but in the pre-Internet era, reading about this band from various imported UK music magazines I was inclined to read as a teenager (and beginning musician) got me totally curious. By the time I heard their first note, I was hooked.
So for me they’re more than just two-hit wonders, they have a career that spans 30 years and 12 studio albums. Their music was the near-perfect balance of UK ’80s new-wave and the funk and jazz music that heavily influenced my musicianship in the last two decades. As a singer, keyboardist and bass player, Mark King and Mike Lindup. the band’s founding bassist and keyboardist, respectively, were great influences on my musicianship. Even the band’s 5-minute song lengths are the primary reason why my compositions average about that length.
The only problem was, due to lack of promotion support and personnel changes, Level 42 had not toured the USA since 1987. I remembered exactly 23 years and one month ago getting tickets to see the Thompson Twins (by then a duo) at the Greek Theatre, with Level 42 as the opening act. But (again, this was the pre-Internet era), an unexplained circumstance caused the openers to cancel and I went to the concert (I was still a Thompson Twins fan anyway; my first concert ever was theirs at the Hollywood Bowl in 1984) albeit with Chris Isaac as the opening act. No disrespect to Isaac, but it was a bittersweet night for me.
Over the years, I got to know other Level 42 fans, in both real life and online. Shortly after discovering the Internet in college, I was one of the charter members of the Level 42 listserv, administered by Boston-based Eric Hansen. In 1994 their Forever Now album was released, and the people on the Listserv posted rumors, reports and possible tracklistings. I had to buy it as an imports. Still, it was exciting.
But all good things must come to an end. The band announced their ending shortly afterward, and while Level 42 wrote its “-30-,” my musical path continued towards Acid-Jazz, Drum N Bass, UK Garage, House and other forms of dance/electronica.
In 2001, L42′s slap-happy bassist and leader Mark King commenced touring Europe with his younger brother Nathan on guitar, one of their previous drummers Gary Husband, and other musicians as “Level 42.” In 2006, founding keyboardist and co-vocalist Mike Lindup re-joined and they came up with their 12th studio album, Retroglide.
Earlier this year, the news broke: To celebrate their 30th anniversary, they were to tour the US for the first time in 23 years.
So it was a must for me to be there last Saturday at Downtown Los Angeles’ Club Nokia at LA Live.
It was more than a concert, it was a convention; real-life and virtual friends who were fellow Level-headed people were all there. Many of them had seen other shows in this tour, especially those in San Diego and Anaheim earlier in the week. My friend Evan, who got me my ticket, had seen them in New York the week before. Some donned L42 t-shirts, many brought mementos to sign (it was standard procedure for the band to meet fans after these US shows). As someone who’s not into the whole anime/comic book thing, this was my version of doing the fanboy geek thing.
Speaking of fanboy geeks, this was my reaction when the band played their opening notes:
The band played a 14-song set that seemed to go by in a flash. It was so unreal to me to see these people, especially King and Lindup, I reacted not by clapping or whooping, but by letting out a primal, guttural, “AAAAAAAAAAH!!!” after every song, after every cool lick, after every bridge – things I could only hear before through the aid of an analog or digital playback device, but never before in person.
There were several hundred fans at Club Nokia, most in their ’30s to ’50s. The crowd was interestingly diverse, I saw people of all colors represent as fans – but that’s typical of a true Los Angeles crowd. Although several drove or flew in as their tour only touched on 10 US cities, pretty much all of them either in the East Coast or West Coast, so people flew in as far as Canada to see the band play.
The thing that tripped me out the most was the communal experience of their music, which had, over the decades, been something largely enjoyed by myself, or with a couple of friends at the most. The fact that some strangers knew all the words to their 1983 UK hit, “The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up)” was something I wasn’t used to.
The band, long known for its extremely high level of musicianship for a pop group, played a tight, well arranged set with much energy throughout. My only complaint was that it was way too short. By the time they reached “Lessons In Love,” though I was elated, I was also lamenting the fact that the concert was nearly over. If U2, who has also been around for three decades, can pull off a 3-hour show, why can’t these guys? For all I care, they can just make up stuff – jam. We’d still eat it up.
They finished with a two-song encore at the bookends of their contiguous career: 1980′s “Mr. Pink” and 1994′s “The Sunbed Song.” It was too cool. But it wouldn’t hurt to hear more.
Lindup, King meet fans.
At the end of the show the diehard went up to the stage and shook hands with King and Lindup. I went over to Lindup and told him how much he influenced me as a musician. He stood there and listened to my testimony intently and seemed real humbled by it. How awesome. And I gave him a burnt CD of some Elson and the Soul Bakrada songs (You never know…). Other fans showered him with praise, one, presumably another musician, said, “You’re the reason why I work…” Other fans pleaded him to stay with the band (as he only re-joined in the past four years). He was also asked about his solo projects, and I also asked him about his Favoured Nations project (with ex-L42 drummer Phil Gould), a band that plays every so often in London. But he replied, “Oh, I don’t know if that will happen anymore.”
Here he is, chatting with fans in front of the stage (And that’s my CD he’s holding in his hands!):
After the band left the stage, I followed the group of some two dozen fellow L42 fans who converged before the show for dinner at the nearby ESPN Zone up to the Club Nokia’s VIP lounge, which was open to all after the show. An ’80s DJ played music for us 30-something-and-older types. But the best part came: The band came out to meet the fans.
A lucky few got passes to the sunken-and-roped-off VIP lounge section, but a lot of pass-sharing went on between us fans. Unfortunately after one was given to me, a staffer confiscated it. Still, King and Lindup even stood at the perimeter of the roped-off area to interact with fans.
It was here where I got a picture with Lindup, who was wearing a Dave Smith InstrumentsMopho t-shirt. I made a comment about it and asked if he endorses DSI instruments (as he plays a DSI Prophet-08 onstage). He clarified he didn’t, but did say that representatives from the Northern California-based synth company did come to L42′s San Francisco show the night before, and that he recommended some improvements to the synthesizer as a veteran user of the Dave Smith-designed Prophet-5.
He also said he programmed his Prophet-08 synth himself, trying his best to manually transfer the Prophet 5 sounds. I had him sign my CD booklet of L42′s World Machine album – the first album of theirs I bought (though that one was on cassette…)
Level 42's Mike Lindup.
Of course the experience wouldn’t be complete without meeting Mark King himself, also a bass playing influence (I can sing and play bass simultaneously too, but not so much the rapid slapping thing). My friend Craig, who played bass in a few bands with me some 20 years ago, had an emotional experience finally meeting his 4-string hero that night. Someone standing nearby commented, “Man, that’s like someone meeting Miles Davis!” I also had King sign my CD booklet and got a pic with him. I told him about how his music influenced me and coyly told him, “If you guys come here again and need an opening act, lemme know” while handing him my CD.
“So you’re the man?” he said, glancing at the CD. “Elson is your name?” he continued.
I barely replied with but a mutter when he finished with, “Elson…Trinidad? You’re a f-cking legend!”
I stood there, dumbfounded, as he moved on to another fan.
I had Keith come down on Sunday to record some percussion, particularly for some of the newer songs I’ve recording – namely “Why Love” and the ballad, “I Would.”
He brought his congas and we did those tracks, and even re-recorded some others (“Invisible”), where the newer track gave the song an added energy.
But tonight the highlight was the windchimes. Keith recorded a few windchime accents on some of the track, especially on “I Would” and the chimes gave the song some added sparkle. And even though my two condenser microphones were not of the same make and model, it was more than worth it to set them up to record the chimes in stereo – that made a huge difference, as recording windchimes in mono sounded rather lifeless. The end result was something that made the recording sound a little more big-budget than the usual (because who else uses windchimes in their recording?)
The thing that tripped me out was that the windchimes was a total physical instrument. It wasn’t just a matter of striking them, but a matter of muting them, which is done with both arms. I have a total new respect for the chimes now! Forget “more cowbell” – it’s all about the chimes!
Last Saturday, we did our sixth consecutive appearance at the Lotus Festival in Los Angeles’ Echo Park – a traditional summertime L.A. event.
But we didn’t expect it to rain.
That’s exactly what happened in the middle of our set. It’s safe to assume that this is the first time it’s happened in the entire history of the festival (which has gone on for most years since 1972), and that we were the first – and only – act ever to get rained on!
The Soul Barkada members arrived there around 3:30 p.m. in preparation for our 5 p.m. set and we had our gear transported backstage. Here was the vibe just before we went on:
We finally took to the stage but had to wait for the sound techs to get all our signals set up in the board, namely my keyboard. We were introduced by Filipino American actor Dante Basco, best known for his role as Rufio in the 1991 movie Hook. How’s that for your Hollywood celeb encounter?
All was going well, especially for our guitarist, August, drummer Jay (who brought his family down to check out the show) and bassist Larry, who saw us as a spectator at our very first Lotus Fest show (and first show ever) in 2004, and is now playing with us onstage.
It started to rain right before we played our third song, which was our bossa nova cover of “Dahil Sa Iyo,” this time with a full band arrangement. I suddenly saw drops of water not just in front of me on the stage, but right on top of my keyboard! First of all, IT DOES NOT RAIN ON THE LOTUS FESTIVAL! It’s normally 80-90 degrees, very hot and very sunny. But on this humid, cooler-than-normal day, the precipitation just had its way. As if on cue, the hundreds of people situated on the lawn in front of us seemed to fled, but the show had to go on, so we played (while at the same time I feared electrocution…).
Well, fortunately that never happened, and we played a great set of “Brand New Thing,” our new song, “Why Love?” (performed by the full band for the very first time) and “Dahil Sa Iyo.” We were supposed to do “Hearts,” but cut that and closed with our cover of Michael Jackson’s “Another Part Of Me.”
Fortunately Jay’s wife was able to take some video of the Lotus Fest, which includes our MJ cover:
Finally, after leaving the stage, this is what we were up to:
In hindsight, it was another great Lotus Festival gig; the rain was a minor threat (which didn’t last too long; it was over by the time our set ended) and it only made this year’s show that more interesting. At least we knew that we made history that day.
Summer’s finally here! (Kinda…) So “Let’s Go Outside” and enjoy some great events here in the Los Angeles area — Like The Lotus Festival this weekend in Echo Park (in the actual Echo Park park…)!
Elson and the Soul Barkada will be returning to the festival, performing a brand new song, some old favorites and a few surprises! We’ll be playing on the main stage at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 10!
Joining me on Saturday in the Soul Barkada will be Keith Dasalla (percussion), August Schmid (guitar), Lisa Ulanday (background vocals), Louie Ulanday (background vocals), Jay Arbolario (drums) and Larry Feldman (bass)!
The festival is FREE, and bring the family! Unfortunately, this will be the last Lotus Festival for a few years — the lake at Echo Park will be drained and renovated for the next few years.
They also plan to replace the lotus flower bed that has been dying for the past couple years. So don’t miss this one!
Louie, Lisa, Keith and I converged at the KSCI studios in West Los Angeles, just across Bundy Dr. from the Fox 11 studios. The LA 18 studio was located in the first floor of a low-rise office building and we set up for our acoustic performance immediately. We were told beforehand about the sound configuration – 3 mics and 1 D.I., that’s it. They would only tape one song, although we came prepared to sing two songs – our original, “Brand New Thing” and our cheeky bossa-nova version of the Filipino classic, “Dahil Sa Iyo.”
We wanted to do the latter, but there was a shortage of microphone stands in the studio, which was crucial since Louie and Lisa also played some hand percussion (claves and egg shaker, respectively). So we decided to soundcheck and go with “Brand New Thing,” when the show’s host, Jannelle So, rushed into the studio and interrupted the soundcheck by exclaiming, “Wait! I thought you were going to do “Dahil Sa Iyo!” The show’s topic was Philippine Independence Day (June 12), which was why.
We all looked at each other, trying to figure out how to MacGuyver this one, since Keith had his congas mic’ed and my vocals were mic’ed as well (My Nord Electro 2 keyboard went through the D.I.). So then Lisa offered to hold the egg shaker with her left hand, the mic with her right, and share it with Louie, who played claves with both hands. Problem solved!
We did the song in one take. There was one tiny keyboard blooper on my behalf but it didn’t detract from the performance (plus the bum note was still in key, so it wasn’t really a mistake, was it?).
After the song, we packed up our gear and the stage was cleared for the talk show portion. The show was not taped live (the taping lasted between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m.) but the recording happened in more or less real time with few delays in between shoots. The first pair of guests were two women from LAFACE (no, not L.A. Reid and Babyface’s record company), which was an organization of Filipino employees of the City of Los Angeles (which, incidentally, Louie and Keith could qualify for), talking about their Philippine Independence Day event tomorrow at City Hall.
I must say, that though we weren’t nervous or anything, she did an excellent job of easing us into the taped interview via some chit-chat before the tape rolled. She mentioned about eating cereal for breakfast and also asked us some prep questions (and yes, one of them was the prerequisite one of whether we spoke Tagalog or not, LOL). I was glad we got to tape the performance before the interview, the interview was so casual and relaxed. I would have been kind of unfocused had we done the performance afterward.
It was rather quick, she asked us how the band got formed, where we play, etc. I winced when the on-screen graphic read, “Elson & d Soul Barkada” and asked them to correct it after the taping, but the staff said that it was done because the screen couldn’t accept enough characters…ooookay then). At the end of the segment, the song performance was shown on the monitors in real time, so we watched it.
After the taping she said we could return to the show to plug our eventual album release, and have us play 3 songs and dedicate the entire show to Elson and the Soul Barkada. Wouldn’t that be something! We also got a picture with Jannelle. Kodakan!
The show aired at 4:30 p.m. and I got back home in time to watch it. Though LA 18 broadcasts in HD, they tape in 4:3 aspect ratio (and show that in stretched 16:9) so I made sure to watch it in 4:3 . It’ll be on YouTube in a few days, after airing in syndication in Hawaii on Sunday. Will post it here when it’s ready!
Playin’ some some P-Funk (“P” for political)! Karen Bass speaks.
We rocked the Karen Bass Election Night Party last night, which soon became a victory party, with her garnering 85% of the vote to win the Democratic Party nomination for the 33rd District Congressional seat.
It was five of us – myself, Keith on percussion, August on guitar and a couple folks I got for the gig – Russell Walters, a bassist whom I play with at the Midtones jam session in Chinatown, and Luis Enrique Lopez on drums, whom I actually met at the Conan O’Brien rally back in January. We did two sets — doing some socially-conscious ’60s and ’70s soul covers from Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and the Isley Brothers, and another set with “The Karen Bass Song,” as well as tunes from Sam Cooke and Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes.
It was pretty rockin’, even without us there they had some of the best music I heard at any political event. The DJ was Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who is the executive director of Community Coalition, a nonprofit organization that Bass herself started years ago. We fit right in with the soul and funk tunes he played.
Our good friendEric Garcetti was there as well, who did a welcome address, as well as several other elected officials, many of whom dug us, such as L.A. County supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who gave us this, “Yeah, I feel the groove” kinda gesture, which prompted me to spontaneously give him a high-five, which he returned, and Congresswoman Diane Watson (whom Karen Bass will be succeeding), who gave us a favorable gesture as she passed by and told me personally that she totally dug our sound!
In addition, there was a Korean drumming troupe, a drill team from Leimert Park and a Michelle Obama lookalike/impersonator. A great night for all. Congrats, Karen!
ESB Performing “Brand New Thing” at the 2008 Lotus Festival
Just got confirmation today — We’ll be playing the 2010 Lotus Festival in Los Angeles’ Echo Park on Saturday, July 10 at 5 p.m.!
The Lotus Festival is where Elson and the Soul Barkada (back then just known as “Elson”) had its first-ever gig in 2004, so we’re glad to play this event.
Last year, due to the City of Los Angeles’ budget woes, the Festival was put on hiatus (the City ran the festival for a number of years). This time, a nonprofit organization now organizes the festival (in conjunction with the City) and the Festival is back on! It’s been a Los Angeles summer tradition since 1972, and although its meant to celebrate Asian and Pacific Islander cultures, it attracts Angelenos of all colors and walks of life to Echo Park for a weekend. Now, as for the absence of lotus plants in the lake for the past few years…that’s another story entirely.
Okay, it’s all confirmed, Elson and the (Acoustic) Soul Barkada will be on television, on Los Angeles’ KSCI Channel 18 at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 10 for the program, Kababayan LA. Apparently we’ll be her guests for her Philippine Independence Day show, which means we might perform a little surprise tune for the occasion. I’ve been on TV before, but not in HD (lol)!
Our next performance is not a concert.
. It’ll be on YouTube in a few days, after airing in syndication in Hawaii on Sunday. Will post it here when it’s ready!
Playin’ some some P-Funk (“P” for political)!
Karen Bass speaks.
