Know what the gig is- Sorry to hear about the loss of singer David Johansen, a charismatic and multi-talented musician.
He taught me quite a useful lesson when I failed an audition for his band, decades ago. He took out a blues harp and said "Jonathan, you and I are going to play a little blues duet." Being in the middle of trying to become a good jazz pianist, I chose to show off and put a lot of jazz into the audition. I didn't get the gig. Now, whatever else I am, I play blues well, authentically, and with... "enbluesiasm". To my mind, I should have gotten the job, but I just couldn't resist jazzing things up. Wrong choice! Sometime later I auditioned for Oscar Brand, a well known folk singer. Right before I went in, an accomplished and celebrated jazz pianist (who shall remain nameless) went in. He was a much better jazz player than I and had worked with a number of world-renowned heavy hitters. When I went in I remembered the David Johansen audition and said to myself "Don't show off any jazz. Stay away from chromaticism, concentrate on folk-country grooves and improv." I got the job, and played with Oscar for years- albums, concerts, festivals. Great stuff. Finally, a few years later, I got a chance to back Chuck Berry, meeting him moments before we went on in front of 5,000 people at an outdoor festival in Virginia. He looked me in the eye and said "Have fun, get in to the spirit of the thing. JUST DON'T GIVE ME ANY OF THAT AHMAD JAMAL SHIT!"
I knew what he meant, I laughed, I listened, and had a great time.
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