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continued from page 3b
And from there the rest of the
evening was all downhill The
cord we'd managed to solder
together (using a pack of
matches borrowed from the
waitress) decided to commit
suicide halfway through a guitar
solo, and gave a loud scream of
terror as it died Eight people
filtered into the joint by 11 30.
and two even danced during
one song Our drummer had
consumed a large quantity of
beer and was staring blankly at
his left tom-tom
We were obligated to play
until one. so we started taking
longer and longer solos, and
watched the Rolling Stones on
the TV above the bar while we
were playing We started trying
out new lyrics on old songs Billy
Joel's It's Just A Fantasy''
somehow became "It's Just A
Panty-Raid (It's not the fire
alarm)".
We whipped through the last
set and were ready to leave at
the stroke of 1 00 The Jerk was
asleep on his table, and
managed to knock over a glass
of beer in his slumber My
brother eagerly collected our
earnings from the owner
Excitedly we went out to the
car to split up our earnings
After gas for the van and a four
way split. I put my 25 cents into
my pocket What are you going
to do with yours7' asked my
brother
T have to buy a pick for
tomorrow night." I replied
FALL
CLASSICS
Designed To Make
You Look Your
Vers Best
7b6 L. 1 3th Street
Just One Block From Campus
343-3333
—^ {*44^4^.-.
YOU HARDLY KNOW ME
Tom Grant
WMOT Records
Tom Grant takes the best elements of
rock, jazz, R & B and funk, and wraps
them all together into a tight, punchy
package full of pure joy from the moment
the stylus touches down on the vinyl
Grant, a Portlander, has been playing
jazz keyboards in America and Europe
for a number of years, and his
experience shows His American debut
shows great depth, and a style that
veritably soars from Grant's keyboards
Lester McFarland (bass) and Tod
Carter (guitar) are superb They help give
Grant's album a little extra kick that really
makes it go Both McFarland and Carter
have played with the Jeff Lorber Fusion,
and a certain feeling from Lorber's style
can be found in Grant's music Compa
risons are to be expected Lorber studied
under Grant, Lorber uses some of the
same musicians as Grant, and Lorber
even adds a keyboard solo to Grant's
album
The most obvious similarity, however.
is that both keyboardists have an excel
lent understanding of how to use
synthesizers to their full potential, but
without making a sideshow of them
Grant's mastery of his keyboards is solid,
and results in a wide variety of equally
excellent voicings
The album has a number of strong
cuts, representing a number of styles
"The Imposter,” the opening cut, is a
Lorber-ish powerhouse With an
excellent guitar/synthesizer unison, a
synthesizer solo by Lorber, and a soaring
Larry Carlton-esque guitar riff, one
would think that the song would be
complete Not to be outdone. Grant
comes along with an acoustic piano solo
that rips around the ivories like Tom and
Jerry, yet does so with precision and
grace The end product is superb
Grant pulls some nifty tricks in “So
Free," another haunting tune. The intro
features some almost classical acoustic
piano, then takes us into a laid-back
piano bar with a mellow Rhodes A soul
ful acoustic guitar solo by Carter and a
nice acoustic piano lead by Grant add to
the mood
Tom Grant
But Grant suddenly rips the carpet out
from under us by shifting from a relaxed
4/4 time sig to an offbeat 7/8. He brings
us back out of it lightly, and we re back in
the piano lounge again Amazing
With Grant s imaginative writing and
superb production, "You Hardly Know
Me" is an excellent album for anyone
who enjoys jazz-rock or fusion After this
debut, those of us who didn’t know Grant
are going to be watching out for him in
the future. bymattmeyer
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