corsano baiza watt trio

from joe baiza regarding the upcoming tour he's about to sally forth on:

   "The intuitive response to something you yourself may have just said about yourself. This, while responding at the same time to what the others are saying. And it's a common and natural thread of logic that weaves an unexpected path.

   I like to make sounds on the guitar. Noise, a fragmented unsure melody, a bark, a side comment, a freshly minted harmonic realm, a frustrated tangent, a sentiment of union, of consensus, selfish babbling, brilliant babbling, babbling as textural wallpaper, long sighs, old memories, or just a good riff. I like to make sounds on the guitar with like minded folks. And that's what makes it such a pleasure to play with these guys."

thursday, october 17, 2024 - san pedro, ca


from watt:

   continuing my recent tradition of starting tours in my pedro town instead of hundreds of miles in somebody else's town, tonight we're at the the sardine... it's so fucking happening that toddski turned the former "ramona's bakery" (where all the bread for our best sandwich pad "busy bee" was made) at pacific and eleventh into a local pad cats can do gigs for real in, much respect to him, truly.

   ok, I should give some backstory to this tour since in a way it's fuckin way trippy - drummerman chris corsano, guitarman joe baiza and myself are gonna do a seventeen gig tour w/not one fuckin song cuz it's all improvised, composed in the moment. now me and joe baiza did a saccharine trust album ("worldbroken") this way and of course there's the four unknown instructors albums him and poet dan mcguire (wikipedia has the wrong dan mcguire listed on their page - that doof they point is some politician, crimony!)... last time I toured w/joe baiza was twentysix years ago - he did guitar for three tours of my first opera and was great... chris corsano's the new man but actually me and joe baiza have already recorded an album and done three gigs w/him, it all started around ten months ago when derek monypeny asked him to do an album for his new label w/me aboard, chris then suggested me asking joe baiza and that's how this all got rolling. crimony. actually there's another album which came from our third gig which was at u c san diego last janaury, chris mixed it.

   so chris flew from chicago wednesday night and took the bus to pedro from lax via union station in downtown l.a. - took a few hours but he got here safe. miss hiyori arrived from hamburg last week. no prac for this tour - never have done that before! thursday I bring chris over to my prac pad at the angles gate cultural center - I'm the oldest leaseholder there now, coming on thirtyeight years - that pdp kit perk got me years ago from dw in oxnard for the 2014 u.s. il sogno del marinaio tour cuz I figured why rent a kit when I could have one in my prac pad so anyone could just jump on w/out the set up/tear down schlep, correct? crimony. joe baiza's gonna use his squire telecaster guitar through his fender deluxe amp. of course I'm using my bergantino stuff (forte hp2x amp and nxtse 212 speaekerbox) being fed by the latest version of my reverend guitars wattplower mark II bass which is the first one I've had w/a maple fretboard and dave wentz pickup (rio grande pit bull) being replace w/a joe naylor design cuz of us losing dave a couple of years ago... I remember getting to talk to him over the phone once... he was most kind to me, most kind... I never get used to losing people. hey, hodge is here, so glad! he's looking really good, like in happening health and that makes me really happy. can't wait to play w/him this upcoming spring as we bring the next mssv chapter w/mike baggetta.

   the 'dine is only like ten blocks from my pad so we head over at six pm. there's a drum kit on stage here so chris decides to use most of what they got - very much dig he ain't too particular that way, focusing more on what he can do as a human and not getting hung up on the fucking "gear fetish" trip so many getting fouled up in and end up creating 'pert-near nothing, capito? crimony. the wrinkling brothers (joe dean and george hurley) were supposed to open but I guess they didn't get the word cuz joe dean is here as a gig-goer but had no idea about sharing the stage w/us! crimony. first big clam of the gig. there a taco truck catty-corner from the gig pad so I get three pastor tacos, real good, love it and I'm ready to go. we hit at nine and it's a great way to start the tour, I get a real good feeling from chris, joe baiza and the gig-goers... my sister melinda's here, yatta! also, I get to konk at my own pad and it ain't even eleven when I'm out!





friday, october 18, 2024 - fresno, ca


from watt:

   pop at five, we gotta bail early cuz of the today's sitch... I cook up some salmon w/celery, green beans, brussel sprouts and ginger in olive oil for chris, miss hiyori and myself and then we pull anchor at six to get joe baiza who's three blocks east of little tokyo in downtown l.a., we pick him up just after seven and north on the I-5 for fresno. the new boat (ford transit 150) - well, she's fourteen months old now - handles real good and I use my leash as the navigatore through it's electronic stuff via bluetooth, crimony. chris is riding shotgun and keeps me company, very kind of him. the weather is very happening, I'm most grateful for that also. fresno is about 240 miles north of my pedro town... I know the route well cuz my pop moved there after he retired from the navy in the late 70s and I would visit him as much as I could, trying to catch up w/all the time we missed each other cuz of his tours w/the navy when I was little (he was a machinist mate and worked in nuclear engine rooms).

   first piss stop of the tour less than a hour from fresno state, I wait in the boat cuz we got plenty of fuel and I ain't gonna pay $5/gallon if I don't have to. we meet professor richard near the music department, very kind man who's bought us chow - he got me pastor tacos w/whole pinto beans, very good. there's a drum kit here so chris uses that. music students give us questions in between "pieces" we create for them in real time. it's very interesting for me to hear bof joe baiza and chris rap about music, improvising and "finding your own voice" via artistic expression. I'm digging. professor richard knows about my pedro town too, he's gotta a family connect there and he's also a standup bassist! crimony. I think the connect for this gig was through mike baggetta, he's done a couple of trips here and he turned chris onto this opportunity, much respect to him. the music students ask some really good stuff, I'm so glad we got to do this.

   we finish up and are out about three and head over to the tower district of fresno to a pad called strummer's - actually we're playing the little side-bar next to the venue. it ain't opened so we head over to a nearby record store called ragin records cuz the ownerman paul there is the cat who got this gig together. around five the gig pad's open so we head back over and load in. the gig boss paul and me have a big spiel after at a little table and you ain't gonna believe this: this is the same man that thirtyfour years ago put on the only gig my pop ever saw me play. crimony. it was w/fIREHOSE at a rented-out "spaghetti factory" multipurpose room in this town. my pop really tripped on watching how the whole thing worked, me and my guys in a brand new econoline I'd just built and the do-it-yourself way gig boss paul got hundreds of gig-goers to make this show happen... he invited us to konk at his pad in nearby clovis! crimony. I can't thank paul enough for making that possible and it's bof a total surprise and a mindblow we're here spieling about it now in 2024. crimony. here's another trip: he actually lived in the same navy housing I did in pedro when I first got there from virginia - it was many years later (I moved from there in 1970 when my pop got stationed on the enterprise which was based in alameda) and though we stayed in pedro (my ma was sick of fuckin moving) but had to move these newly-built "park western estates" apartments that were next to this older proj just called "park western" which is where d boon lived and I met him at peck park which connected bof our pads... ain't that a trip? the coincidences of life always amaze me, these connects that can confound you! crimony. now where that navy housing was (across from the boneyard my ma's ashes are now in) has really lame-built over-price crap pads (called "ponte vista") and it's part of something called rancho palos verdes - not san pedro. quote the raven: "nevermore" - correct? it's real good talking w/gig boss paul, man, it's something. I lost my pop to cancer right after that gig, in 1991 and him getting to see me play at least once for me is profound... I'm most indebted to him, truly.

   now I got a brother named justin who's thirty years younger than me - same pop but different ma's... he arrives and it's so good to see him again, love him much. coming up on eight, chris says it's show time so we bring it. this improvise way of doing gigs has much surprise for me, I listen real hard to joe baiza and chris so I can try and help build an interesting "conversation" w/them musically. the fresno gig-goers are most kind to us, truly. I speak w/many of them after we're done, very genuine and w/much heart - I am most grateful to them, truly.

   we head for my brother justin's pad but of course I fuck up and go to the address he gave me in clovis and not fresno like a fuckin idiot... I get it correct on the second try. it's like eleven bells and everyone's tired but I start talking to him about our pop cuz... well, I can't help it. every time I see him I think of our pop and wanna relate things to him... he was only a couple years old when the cancer killed him and so only has tiny memories, it always hurts me to think about that - the way life can deal you a impossible-to-figure hand. he's gotta konk though cuz him and his family have a trip they got in the morning to ventura so onto the air matress w/watt soon as I hose off. even w/so much to think about I still konk pretty quick now that I got 659 days w/out alcohol - that too is a fuckin mindblow, believe you me. crimony.





saturday, october 19, 2024 - pacifica, ca


from watt:

   pop at six. like a baka, I spaced on getting coff-making instructs last night from my brother justin so it's like when the power goes off in the bathhouse and you're groping around... "is that you? is that you? whoa, that is you!" - that kind of thing. I find the coff machine, then I find the filters, look for coff... whoa, trippy kind package saying it's got mushrooms to provide more focus - never seen that before. I get it happening and yeah, it gets me going... I then chimp diary for the first two days of the tour.

   after a while my brother justin pops and I get to continue talking to him about our pop... he says it's ok to speak of these things cuz I told him I was worried it might be weird but he assures me it's ok and that's a huge relief cuz I feel I really want him to know this stuff but don't wanna foist anything that might feel lame on him. in a trippy way, me telling him about our pop kind of makes it feel like he ain't gone, like he's w/us in a way - it ain't just for my brother justin, it's also for me cuz I miss him much. his boy - my nephew - santi pops and whoa, big man! seven years old now and beautiful. his ma patti pops and she brings from next door where her parents live some chow her ma made up for us: eggs, refried beans, vegetables - really good and so very kind, it's beautiful, truly. my brother justin, patti and santi are gonna visit other members of patti's family in ventura so they gotta bail at nine and a half so we got just their older dog francine to keep us company. I learn some trippy stuff from joe baiza - he actually started on bass when he started playing w/jack brewer which is new to me, even though I've known joe baiza going on fortyfive years is a first for me. crimony. he says he wasn't on bass long though, he switched to guitar... we (minutemen) did our first gig together in backyard in wilmas (where him and jack brewer lived, next door to pedro in wilmington), we bof laugh hard remembering that time back then. trippy how the paths stretching back to yesterday lead to today, crimony.

   twenty after twelve, we pull anchor and head north on ca-99 and just before one I pull us over at a "love's" in madera to do this tour's first gas-up, $4.10/gallon... good price for the sitch and cuz of past experiences, I don't like being below a quarter tank. right before chowchilla I take us west towards gilroy on ca-152, the road I get us on in 1989 when that bay area earthquake hit and wrecked downtown santa cruz. this new boat can load mp3s from a usb stick so I put everything from my ipod and shuffle-play the stuff for us, like eight thousand pieces of sound! crimony. I supplement w/stories from my past to chris who seems not to mind. he's a good tour cat, focused yet relaxed and always positive - a real fortifier for watt and I'm most grateful.

   north on us-101 and then to I-280 and finally pch for a bit 'til we get into pacifica ("there's the pacific ocean!") and arrive at winters tavern (tonight's gig pad) a little after four. we gotta wait around a little before a truck moves and we can get the boat anchored. miss hiyori goes and gets me some carnitas tacos from "taqueria pacifica" and man are these bambinos something else, really really fucking and stuffed-up big time, grande! I chimp diary after two more moves w/the boat cuz of vehicles bailing and offering opportunities, we get as close to the hatch that's gotta smoove sidewalk leading to it versus rough beaten up asphalt in the rear of the pad. the gig boss ceej shows up pedaling his bike, so good to see him again, I think I've played here now 'pert-near five times... brother steve (stooges sax man) lived his last years in pacifica so I think of him always when I'm here.

   first konk in the boat of the tour and I fuckin konk hard. no soundcheck - this sitch has none of that, especially w/our sitch itself! there's two openers but I miss them cuz of my way-heavy konk. crimony. chris rousts me at one of eleven... hate when bands stall and don't think of the cats after - I can tell they left already cuz one of the coches was parked in front of the boat and now it's gone... some shit never changes, huh? whatev... thirtythree after when we hit - I make sure I'm real close on chris cuz I really dig getting in w/him - my thinking is my boomstick ain't a four-string guitar but rather a four-string drum set! damn right. the pacifica gig-goers are beautiful and encourage us big time... gotta say that so far this gig ends up my favorite of the tour. it's kind of like the three gigs we did before this tour (that's how new this band is), the third one (the one chris mixed and made a cd of)... ain't that a trip? I am most grateful joe baiza and chris, most grateful - also to the pacifica gig-goers cuz they brought their own "components" to the whole enchilada. I love how music is still such a powerful dealio on the reality in my life, love it... gets me so excited to realize I am alive and part of such creative stuff that is way happening. this "improvised chapter" in my journey is bringing me such mindblow surprises and twists/turns - in the fucking moment! crimony.

   gig boss ceej helps me w/the schlep w/my stuff which I try do soon as possible when the gig's done, he's most kind, love bringing it for him. first though I spiel w/la-ni - so good to see her again. there's also a cat name joe who's from pittsburgh and we talk of richard mckenna's "the sand pebbles" which is where I found that book the morning after a porno for pyros gig I helped them w/in 1996. most interesting! I can't tell you the impact that book has on my life... the movie version was me and d boon's favorite movie when we were boys but the actual book - something I learned about later when I found it in pittsburgh really was fuckin something on me... love it big time. lots of other good words from gig-goers, thank you much.

   we're konking w/dr ray and dr robbin in oak-town so I wheel us there (along the way thanking big time joe baiza and chris much for bringing me such a good time on stage tonight) and we have a real good time w/them at their pad which I dig much, air mattress in "my chamber" part I've dubbed cuz of the bitchin spirit there I always feel. it makes me konk just like that, feeling safe and all. me and dr ray have a real good spiel about all kinds of stuff interesting and then I hose off, get in my nightwear and then am out, just like that. crimony, it's two and a half in the fuckin morning!





sunday, october 20, 2024 - arcata, ca


from watt:

   pop at nine! crimony, that's how late last night was. for the first time in this pad, I venture upstairs and see doctor ray's music room, crimony! it is something else, wow. much respect. we all join together in a real good spiel 'til it's time to act like shepherds ("and get the flock out of here!")... we pull anchor at eleven-forty, bye bye doctors ray + robbin, see you again in nine days!

   I get us on I-580 west, passing san quentin (johnny cash had a gig there, correct?) to us-101 north and the last of the camino rael once we pass santa rosa. more great spiel from chris, respect. skies are clear, weather happening: thank you from most grateful watt for bof that and our happening drummerman/tour boss, truly.

   quarter of two I yank the boat over in ukiah for a piss stop at a convenience store/gas pump pad - we're good so only pump out (piss) and no pump in for the boat... I don't dig the vibe and damn if joe baiza gets treated real bad by this pad's counter man - well, fuck that. further down, or is it further up? at three and a half I pull us over at a gas place w/a name I ain't mentioning cuz I don't want to ("q: what did they find in the captain's head? a: the capatian's log") and am only getting five gallons cuz I don't like the boat having less than a quarter tank (did I chimp this already this tour?) - fuckin $5.40/gallon, that's why only five gallons and we're only eighty-something miles from where we need to be.

   I get us into arcata twenty after five... drop anchor temporarily outside the miniplex (tonight's venue) for the load-in w/the flashers going in the bike lane... I ain't leaving the wheel, scary sitch. gig boss merrick is there to let us in to a chamber on the side of this bar w/maybe "the goat" as its name? I'm not sure but the chamber we're working tonight feels real good. a local cat is gonna record the gig and I rap w/him while setting my stuff up - so happening I can do that sitting in a chair I'm gonna use, love my bergantino stuff - just one of the reasons but a most happening one. very nice man... a good sign about maybe cats who're gonna be here later at show time? I think so... trippy, we're gonna do two sets, I 'pert-near never do these. they're kind of hard cuz I ain't used to how to "pace" myself, you know? I'm up for the challenge though, especially w/joe baiza and chris involved!

   well, eight pm comes and goes (that was supposed to be the go-time for the first set) and I'm wondering if this tour's gonna be like this every night... we get underway and it's way happening, bof from the arcatra gig-goers and the cats I'm playing w/, I really enjoy it, really do. ok, a break now 'til the second round... I stay in my chair on stage, fuck it. chris got us chow from a pad nearby called "bencharong thai house" and I have soup that's really good, lots of fresh vegetables along w/shrimp. I feel good and healthy from it. usually I cannot chow before a gig but this soup is light enough not to hurt me or weigh me down. happening. ok, it's been decided we get to start at nine and a half now... yes! I try hard to make my stuff this time around be different than round one, digging the challenge but it ain't just me which helps big time - it's joe baiza and chris aiding and abetting plus the happening arcata gig-goers, thank you thank you thank you from watt, truly!

   I get my stuff together when we finish, rapping w/many of the most gig-goers as I do - lots of bass workers, in fact! outside the boat I have a big spiel w/a couple also, we rap on some heavy connects I feel bass has in the world and why I'm so glad d boon's ma put me on this thudstaff so long ago, man am I grateful - I shit thee not.

   we follow chris' bud ethan to his pad in nearby eureka and there's a little pad in his back yard that's fucking happening to konk in, love it... thank you much, brother ethan. shower ain't working he says so no hose off tonight but I ain't really sweaty. I do konk like that though, really digging that it's just after eleven. man, can I konk easy these days, w/in minutes. man, my first arcata gig was most happening, truly.





monday, october 21, 2024 - eugene, or


from watt:

   pop at seven, very comfortable in this little back yard pad ethan and reiny have, much respect to them for providing such a happening place to konk, truly. last night ethan brought coff machine too w/filtered water from the well they got here and it makes for real good coff, many thanks from most grateful watt.

   we pull anchor at noon and from suggest from ethan we fuel the boat up at a little pad w/a real old timey one pump w/the tank right behind it called the "indianola market" at $5.00/gallon which he says is the cheapest around. it sure is one of the most unique gas pads I've been to, the cash lady at a counter behind a swinging window-hatch, trippy. brother ethan made me a sandwich w/ham and mustard which is good but I ain't much used to bread these days, chowing it 'pert-near only on sundays when I chow breakfast w/my sister melinda at her pad in our pedro town and that's some trippy "sprouts" kind so I'm a little worried about blowing it out in my levis but nature relents and I keep things "tight" down there or whatever, praise be. I roll us up past coast w/surf of california parts I've never seen before... we leave the coast for the beautiful hilly forest (love the smell coming through the boat's vents) and there's some winding road that thank god has turn-outs cuz there's also lots of tailgating pendejos being the reckless cabrons I guess they feel they gotta be. fucking lames me out but whatev... we "swerve to avoid" and "live to tell the tale" (thank you ishamel), correct? twenty of two we come up on a wreck that just happened, car up on its side in the middle of the road... hope no one's hurt... it looks bad though... looks like an over-correction result... consequences - why can't us humans learn?

   at crescent city we leave us-101 for us-199 (the redwood highway), my first time ever crossing from cali into oregon this way. trippy thing near this junction, somewhere called "organ donor's grove" - crimony! makes you think a little bit, huh? traveling w/chris in the navigatore's chair (shotgun, starboard bow) reminds of doing an mssv tour in a way, especially the first ones cuz I spiel w/him kind of like w/mike baggetta - telling him all kinds of stories in my life and how it relates to who I am now. I dearly hope I ain't boring the fuck out of him... it does help me focus w/being on the rudder, believe or not cuz it channels my thoughts as I keep aware of "road dangers" or whatever you wanna call this way of sharing these "channel ways" w/other boats and the other pendejos manning them. crimony.

   just before three joe baiza calls out for a piss stop and damn if there ain't a rest area sign that just then appears - we got nostradamus on guitar! that's courtesy of chris, not my invention, I gotta give credit where credit's due. back on the curvy-curvy road (many times having to use the turnouts to let pendjos blow by), this whole ride it looks like it rained all night but I'm so glad we got none to deal w/besides the other assholes rolling the dice on the "random misfortune" NOT crap. crimony. seven after three and it's the first time I've crossed into oregon from cali this way, NOT via the siskiyou pass. first town in oregon is cave junction - my second time through but from the other end (off I-5) to play bruno's cavern (I guess now closed? damn!) on the mssv aki tour 2023... for buttloads of years I've been searching for gigs bewteen nor cal and central oregon cuz it's a fuckin hellride and the shit beats you up. you would think ashland w/its shakespeare festival would have something, huh? well, the search keeps going... there's some rain on the way up the I-5 but not heavy, most grateful for that.

   twenty after six I reach the gig pad in downtown eugene, john henry's and drop anchor right behind the same selfish pendeja who cut us off making a u-turn and then taking the better spot... well, at least we arrived alive after hours of other pendejos endangering everyone's futures - remember that wreck we came on just before the border? this calms me enough to laugh at yet more examples of human folly and am so glad I'm w/these compadres in the boat and able to create and have good time, yatta!

   anyway, fuck that shit - we're here to get to share in some freak flying in eugene tonight! up on stage doing check is human dinosaur - I've had austin on my show many times and hope to have on more. his bandmate xeres brings me music of his - whoa, we go to the new boat to stow it... I get a seat to put right up to witness them (they'll be first). next I meet randolf, I've had him on even more and in fact him and graham will be on the first twfps edition I do when this tour gets done. he's involved w/this bitchin music trip called the eugene difficult music ensemble which blows my mind big time w/all they bring, a beautiful thing. he's hear adrian who's also been on and they'll be second tonight w/their #@*! trio which I can't wait to witness also. this is my first time meeting randolf in person... reminds me of the old days when you knew cats through only their fanzines and they you'd be playing on tour in their towns, set up by them, having them open and konking at their pads. crimony. janys the bookerman here's been on my show also, crimony!

   miss hiyori got me some tonkatsu along w/some kaiso (w/goma) and miso from a nearby chow pad called "tokyo sushi" which I dig much. tonkatsu is not so easy to find in the u.s. and I'm so glad she found it. on the way to the head to go dump I 'pert-near do a "down goes frazier" cuz of a piece of the deck that's raised but the crutch I used saves me from the tumble. crimony. a gig-goers witnesses it... I tell him "like ishmael, I alone live to tell the tale" while inside I feel so fucking very lucky. the worst thing for us who are less-younger is to take a fall, really something to avoid, truly.

   I witness human dinosaur opening the gig, I get a seat right up front (put one right up front) and love what they bring. fucking bravo big time. it's like a mind movie, reminds me a little of that zbs stuff I got into as a teenager listening to kpfk but it's its own world, it's own time and own journey and I got carried away w/them. much respect to austin and xeres, they got the show lit! right after this gig-goer introduces me to his three children he brought - he tells me one learned my "history lesson - part II" for his fifty bday. crimony. music does stuff like and my heart feels it. another gig-goer tells me he lived in pedro in the early 80s and knew us minutemen and here for me. very dear.

   the #@*! trio is next and they're actually a sextet. adrian cervantes (who's on cello tonight) gives me a copy of the score, whoa! I think it was randolf's but he drops out of the performance to make them a quintet due to tech probs w/his mixer/mike, damn. beautiful score though - it's going on my bulkhead back in pedro! don haugen's part of the ensemble (we're konking at his pad tonight) and so is randolf plus three others I have yet to meet... the surprise of what they could be reminds me of the old days in the 70s when I never knew what was gonna happen at a punk gig... love it!

   we're on at ten and a half and damn me for bogarting the fucking sound... I took wrong direction from joe baiza but I think even more responsible for this was me not checking w/the sound cat (so sorry not to get his name cuz he was very cool people) when joe baiza and chris did after our load-in, I have no idea why I didn't do that but now am (along w/my two bandmates) realizing the consequences. chris tells me he can't hear joe baiza and I feel like the hugest pendejo for that. crimony. I take action though to reconcile things and joe baiza repositions the angle of his amp and I do the same, so glad I put wheels on my bergantino speakerbox - not just for the schleps but for stuff like this, especially w/m planted in a chair. I feel a little beat down by my own stupidity but try to overcome that so the eugene gig-goers can get a good show, despite this fucking huge-ass clam from the pinche bass player. I do think we bring a gig w/something though right after behind the curtain us three have a powwow to "debrief" the sitch w/me apologizing and then getting advice from bof joe baiza and chris that I'm gonna use on the future gigs... for watt, gigs ain't just for working, they're also for learning - it's always been this way... maybe not a bad thing? I think so... I'm most grateful for joe baiza and chris bearing w/my slow-learner self.

   we load-out and say bye, don's pad is about twenty minutes southeast of eugene and we actually arrive before him and his partner vanessa but there is one big sheep there to "greet" us - we get the word from vanessa via chris' leash to NOT let the sheep out. so I drop anchor and soon they arrive to make things happening by shooing the sheep down the road/path, "bah bah" all the way I hear it sing to us. a table-move to make space for the air matrress and soon as I can I get into my nightwear and konk cuz I am fucking beat... so glad konking comes easy to me these days, I'm as glad as I am to be get to play w/joe baiza and chris, truly.