Just got back from my weekend in the Big City. Boy what a day Sunday turned out to be. Spent the day at the London guitar show which was a bit of a disappointment for bassists. EBS, Warwick and Marc Bass were there but that was pretty much it as far as big names go. We got to see Dominique di piazza (john McLaughlin) doing several demos and Steve Howe appeared on the main stage for a half hour acoustic set. Sadly, the event was dominated by several thousand guitarists all trying to out-malmsteen each other at full volume. In complete contrast, Stanley's gig was incredible. We got to the venue some 2 hours before the show and managed to get right up against the stage. Here's what we spent alot of time drooling over....
Meanwhile we'd got talking to a group of Polish Bass players who were working as hotel staff in London as they couldn't get work in poland. nice guys but totally mad....
That's Mike Pisanek on the right. Once Stanley started playing, I was amazed at the size of his hands. I'd managed to shake his hand as he went into the venue earlier but hadn't appreciated just how big they are - this shot makes his Alembic look like a toy...
(by the way, if I'd reached out I could have changed his tone settings, I was that close). Interestingly, he also played a f****r for a short tune...
It's a victor bailey signature model. Sounded very nice when Stanley played;-) The highlight of the show for me was his upright section. He played a couple of duets with his Israeli pianist then launched into one of the most amazing solos I've ever heard - even putting Victor's two handed tapping pyrotechnics to shame.
This was followed by an incredible drum solo and a brief encore. Overall, the show was superb but too short. While waiting for an autograph, we finally met up with Jazzyvee who'd come down from Birmingham for the day and here we are...
Sadly, Stanley wasn't doing a signing session so we had to chase him out of the building to get his attention. I managed a quick word but Jazzy wasn't able to get his control cavity cover signed. So, after a 30 year wait, I finally got to see one of my biggest bass heroes and boy was it worth it. Graeme
