Tenor Madness

Chris Collins at Wayne State University has put together a great program that goes through tomorrow called Tenor Madness.  Performances, Lectures etc featuring:

Chris Collins

Jerry Bergonzi

Emanuele Cisi

Francois Louis

And others.

I am no where near Detroit so for me,the best part of this whole thing is the LIVE WEBCAST!!!!

More educational institutions need to be doing things like this...

Check it out...

Smile...

These have been making the rounds.  Two videos; one very funny, one very curious.

Enjoy:

Funny

Curious

While you're in a mood of giving...

Many of us have had our checkbooks and credit cards flailing lately in support of whoever we're supporting in the upcoming elections.  While we have them at hand I'd like to draw your attention to another cause that could use your help.  

Darcy James Argue and his Secret Society have a very important opportunity to record a much needed collection of Darcy's original material on New Amsterdam Records.  This sure to be magnum opus will be entitled Infernal Machines  Unfortunately, such things can be prohibitively expensive for a quartet, let alone a full steampunk big band.  Darcy is making an appeal for help.  This is a great chance for all of us to support a wonderful composer and project.

About Darcy and his music;  I first became aware of Darcy through his blog.  Truth be told it was one of the primary influences for this blog.  I had heard recordings of his music there and was really inspired by his composition.  The real tipping points for me were his performances/lectures at IAJE(RIP) this past January in Toronto.  I was absolutely floored by his music.  He is in a class with Maria and the few others that are really going places with large scale jazz composition and orchestration.  You can read my initial reactions to his performance here.

Please consider helping him out.  Here are the details...

An informed Electorate...

There are very important issues for all of us to think about regarding the upcoming election. However, there are some that don't get the same press as others.  The issues shown here are certainly important to me and may be to you also.  Please make sure you register and participate in the election in November...

Know Thyself....

According to the "what breed of Liberal are you" quiz, here are my results....

My Liberal Identity:

You are a Peace Patroller, also known as an anti-war liberal or neo-hippie. You believe in putting an end to American imperial conquest, stopping wars that have already been lost, and supporting our troops by bringing them home.

Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com

Happy Birthday...

 John Coltrane

I will be listening to Trane for most of the evening, the playlist I have put together has material from all three of the big periods.  His music never ceases to inspire, everything about him is superlative.

Here is one of my favorite videos of Trane in performance.  Such beautiful intensity and dig the steam pouring off of Elvin...  

You know, the rain is gonna come...

Well it's been a busy week!

After a wonderfully relaxing vacation in Chicago/Northwest Indiana I'm back at work with two new classes.  My role this term is much more administrative (yuck) than pedagogical and I am dealing with that shift with varying degrees of success.

Going back to work, as with many musicians who teach, always brings my thoughts to priorities; where do I focus..on my art or on the teaching?  I read something that brings that question into very specific relief a few days ago.  Over at Bottomless Cup, D0nna Tr0y has written so eloquently about this dichotomy that I feel I can add nothing but kudos on articulating a very complex set of concerns.  I also must congratulate her on her very brave decision to focus on her art full time.  Read the entire piece here. 

I have just completed a few arrangements for various people and ensembles, but my own writing seems to always get pushed aside in favor of other projects.  If any writers out there have any wisdom to share on this point, I'd love to hear it.  I have a composition that has been sitting on my piano for several months now!  I hate to sound like I'm complaining because I am truly happy and grateful for the work, but it is a true dilemma of balance.

This past Wednesday I played a very "sustaining" gig.  I have a standing trio that I do occasional work with.  We have a "semi-steady" hit at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk VA.  This past Wednesday was especially rewarding.  The communication and energy was great and I felt myself playing in a much less self-conscious way.  Self-consciousness is something I have been dealing with in my playing a lot lately.  It seems that the more I deal with vocabulary, the more aware I am of it NOT being present at certain critical times.  Of course, upon listening back, it is often more coherent than I think but the point is that I am not as in the moment as I'd like when I'm playing.  This past Wednesday was a breath of fresh air if for no other reason than I was able to play and detach from what I played in a very quiet and calm way.  It feels nice to get back to that again.

This next week I'm presenting a recital in honor of Trane's Birthday.  We'll be performing material from all three of the big periods and I'm looking forward to exploring this material in a much deeper way over the next few months.  The challenge for me in presenting something like this goes back to the idea of self-consciousness I wrote about a bit ago.  When I'm playing standards or tunes in general, I feel that I bring a good bit of who I am to them.  When ever I approach Trane's material, the history and archetype is SO strong in my mind's ear that I begin to think about how I SHOULD be playing over these tunes instead of what the music is doing now.  As Lovano says:  "The tune is playing you"!  As I work through this recital my goal is to present the music in a way that not only highlights Trane's music but also his aesthetic of individual expression through the music.

Finally, we're waiting for Hanna to pass over.  We're expecting a tropical storm by the time it gets here...nothing too serious, I hope.  I will say this, my friend Jackie is right!  Kenny Wheeler is wonderful music to listen to while watching rain!!