Weba
World Photo credit: Rick Whims
 Left
to Right: Ralph Gorodetsky, Weba, Wayne Griffin, Joe Baiza
|
WELCOME
TO WEBA WORLD | PUTTANESCA: Music (1993-1997).
Featuring: Weba Garretson, Ralph Gorodetsky, Joe Baiza, Richie West,
Diane Barkouskus & Wayne Griffin.
My primary songwriting collaborator with the SHRIMPS
and my other musical work was Steve Stewart. In 1993,
his wife got a job in Santa Barbara, so they decided to leave Huntington
Beach and move up north. I was devastated. Steve said he needed to
take 4-6 months off to make the move and I decided that the our creative
relationship was over.
We had just submitted a tape to the Independent Music Seminar in San
Diego and had been invited to perform. I had asked Danny Frankel
if he would play with Steve and I, and Danny said he would bring Ralph
to play bass. I had a rehearsal scheduled with the four of us the
day before Steve called it quits. Mark said to go ahead with the rehearsal
anyway, and this lead to my working with Ralph and Joe Baiza.
We recorded two albums together.
This was a really fun period. Steve and I had developed these spoken
word/singing pieces where I set text to classics like "Highway
to Hell" and "Ventilator Blues" -- I would tell a story,
sing a chorus, tell more story. The performances that Steve and I
created went over well in coffee houses. This was in the early 90’s
when women were especially fired up over the Anita Hill scandal and
I was part of two political groups -- The Bohemian Women's Political
Allliance and WAC (Women’s Action Coalition). I was getting in
touch with my anger, my rage and these new pieces that I developed
with Steve allowed me to vent.
But "Highway to Hell" and "Ventilator" really
came into their own when performed with Ralph and Danny. They invited
me to sit in with the Mecolodiacs, Joe Baiza’s Ornette Coleman
inspired free jazz ensemble. The Mec’s were doing a regular Monday
night thing at the Mint, and lots of people were coming down and sitting
in.
Webaworld performed at SXSW Music Festival in 1994 & 1995 (Austin,
Texas), IMS Music Festival 1994 & 1995 (San Diego, CA), Paradise
Lounge, Eichelbergers, Above Brainwash, Chameleon (San Francisco),
Wickiup Cafe & Casbah (San Diego, CA), Rhythm & Brew (Indio,
CA), The Ark (Long Beach, CA), The Mint, Cafe Largo, Luna Park, Al's
Bar, Spaceland, Utero, Alligator Lounge, Lingerie (Los Angeles, CA).
In
1996-1997, Webaworld became Puttanesca. Ralph and I wrote a new set
of songs for the band to record. These were less spoken word/music
combos and more like regular songs. The combination of a strong groove,
outside chord voicings and my smooth delivery created an unusual sound
which is unlike pretty much everything that's out there. We recorded
an entire album at Catasonic and put it aside to pursue other projects.
Joe went to Germany to record and tour with the Mecolodiacs and I
got involved with the Eastside Sinfonietta.
Seven
years later, I'm revisiting this matieral. I'm currently remixing
these tracks and will also perform a few of the Puttanesca songs like
"Red Haired Woman" and "Shift." In my upcoming
concerts.
Listen:
mp3 from Webaworld (Lyrics
by Jim Krusoe
mp3 file (3.53M |