Roger Zee Memoirs

"Life and Times of a Pandemic Musician"

Plain Jane 06/07/20

Back in the mid Eighties, Jaco fever swept the bass-playing Nation. And I succumbed to it! Bought a new, black, Japanese Fender Jazz Bass, took it to the woodshed, and made it my goto instrument. Welcome to another excerpt from my memoirs, "Life and Times of a Pandemic Musician."

At the time, my brother -in-law Jon Gaines (now sadly deceased) worked as a graphic artist at a Manhattan firm. He introduced me to his co-worker and fellow artist Annie (vocals, keys), who along with her husband Graham (drums), and Errol (guitar) needed a bass player to complete their originals band.

That ended up a match made in heaven! For a couple of years, "Plain Jane" played weekends in and around Greenwich Village at Kenny's Castaways, The Bitter End, Tramps, McGovern's, etc. We rehearsed at the infamous music building on 8th Avenue and 39th Street (home to the likes of Metallica and Madonna) and cut a live demo at Mountain's rehearsal studio in Battery Park, lower Manhattan. Nothing like playing through Felix Pappalardi's refrigerator-sized Sunn bass amp!

Things proceeded famously until one fateful rehearsal. It appeared that Graham had a number of issues with Errol, the guitarist, and myself. I can't remember his problems with Errol who I always thought played great with his own tasty, distinctive style. Graham told me I had to switch back to my Fender Jazz Bass because I played out of tune on the fretless.

Wow! Errol and I looked at each other in stunned amazement. We had no Inkling, no warning of this pronouncement. We loved playing in this band and felt an intense chemistry. The audiences loved us and we packed houses.

"Another One Bites the Dust!" The band broke up after the next rehearsal. A few months later, I ran into Annie while riding the subway. She told me that she'd gone back to playing wedding gigs. Sadly, I chalked it up to the fact that the most talented musicians always seem to find a way to self-destruct at their moment of triumph.

A few years later, I put together my own trio, the Roger James Band, and at one time worked with the extremely talented guitarist Simon Chardiet of Joey Miserable and the Worms. Because he didn't drive, I had to pick him up and return him at the end of the night way out in Rockaway Beach.

But Joey taught me two valuable lessons. It's better to do a gig with talented musicians and no rehearsal than to rehearse and perform with mediocre players. He also reiterated that I should not sing and play fretless bass at the same time! It hurt his ears, LOL!

So on another beautiful, breezy Covid-19 lockdown day, I find myself once again in my apartment working up bass lines. This time to Joni Mitchell's groundbreaking album, "Hejira." PS, I ended up selling my black, Japanese fender Jazz Bass and regret it to this day! One <3

YouTube - Coyote - Joni Mitchell