Pocket Players

There’s a term in musicianship called “playing in the pocket.” The most basic meaning of the term is being locked into the groove of the music you’re playing. And while It’s possible to train to be in the pocket with the use of a metronome, playing in the pocket goes way beyond tempo. It’s also locking into the feel of the song and the other instruments. As a player, it means you’re completely integrated in the song.

I’ve been a musician for most of my life. I sing and play several instruments, though my main instrument is the guitar. I’m no virtuoso on the guitar by any stretch of the imagination. I don’t play blindingly fast or play complicated melody lines. But what I’ve strived to do as a musician has been to play in the pocket; use my musical instincts to make what I’m playing completely integral to the sound of the band to the point where it’s not noticeable. But if I take it away, you know something’s missing. I’ve just wanted to be known as a pocket player.

This morning, I lit up one of my favorite cigars, a CAO Brazilia. That first puff was so satisfying that I just sighed; completely content with the universe. And I asked myself, what is it about this stick that seems to make my world right? The answer that came to me is that this cigar is just in the pocket. It doesn’t do anything fancy. It doesn’t have wild transitions. It doesn’t have exotic flavors. But the total package of what it provides just works.

And that’s like a pocket player. They’re solid and reliable. They don’t make many mistakes and even if they do, they’re so tight with the band that it sounds like it’s supposed to be there. The CAO Brazilia is a pocket player with respect to cigars. It’s nothing fancy and it’s not complex. But I can always rely on it to provide me with a great smoking experience because its flavor profile is right in my wheelhouse; right in the pocket!

Other cigars that I think are pocket players:

• Alec Bradley Magic Toast
• La Gloria Cubana Classic (Natural and Maduro)
• La Gloria Cubana Serie R (Natural and Maduro)
• Every Day Is Cigar Day Plablito Maduro

Though they’re always in my humidor and could be considered pocket players, Micallef Purple, Paul Stulac Red Screaming Sun, Paul Stulac Post Script, Martinez NYC Blend, Regius Small Batch Black Label. These are by convention budget priced sticks. But they’re a step above the ones I mentioned because they smoke as good or even better than cigars priced three or four times what you pay for them.