Re: Paul Gabrielson
Posted by Bobby Haworth on March 13, 2019, 11:11 pm, in reply to "
Paul Gabrielson"
I can't speak for Paul as to how he feels about the things that plagued me. We did discuss the level of musicianship displayed by Mike and Tim on several occasions and I know Paul to be a top-notch musician, so I'm sure he is as aware as I was of the deficiencies. But let me tell you this about Paul: if not for him this group would be stuck in Lodi (again.) Paul gets very little credit for all the work he does to keep the group moving from point A to point B. He makes all the travel arrangements, books the flights, hotel rooms and rental cars and provides up-to-date info about all that for each member of the group via an app called Master Tour. Add to that the fact that my absolute favorite part of the show (and on most evenings, the audience's high-light as well) was Paul's solo in "Scotch & Soda". Every night it was different and spectacular and every night I marveled at how he managed to maintain the integrity of his solo as Mike was playing different chord progressions and wandering tempos from night to night. I'm only speculating, but I have a sense that Paul's in it for the paycheck, which for a bass-playing side-man is pretty substantial. Not only does he get paid for performing, but also a pittance for his tour-coordination duties and a bit more for selling product after each show. I'm sure it's a good income for him. In my case, my musical integrity and self-esteem trumped the pay-check.
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