code / design - Leslie Grove
photography - Cary Whitley
Killick and Frank Gratkowski - 03/14/2007
Last Friday night I had the rare opportunity to play with one of the true masters of the saxophone, Frank Gratkowski, and one of Athens' best improvisors Killick(Killer)Erik Hinds. We played a hour and a half set, opening with solo performances and mixing duos in with trio performances as well. Playing with Frank brought my game up a few notches, I was sometimes really pushing to keep up, but I think I acquitted myself well. Killick was all over his "Big Red" also, spitting out irrational runs, and generally stoking the idea furnace for the entire set. I felt like my brain was jellied by the end of it all.
It's nice to participate with visiting musicians and I hope that this can be repeated in the future. It's a great lesson, and a good time playing with others outside the normal pool of musicians that I am involved with. Playing with people I don't normally play with keeps me from anticipating too much, and sends me into areas in which I have never travelled before.
Very refreshing.
