one voice
There was a conductor who spent his life learning how to shape sound. He knew more than one language. Italian when rehearsing Verdi, German for Brahms, French for Debussy. One […]
Bob Wiseman
two ostinatos
Two ostinatosneither a favouriteeach chasing its own escape My hands argueweaving crooked stories In B flatthe pinky wanders the pentatonica stranger at the gate If I act as if I […]
lay down sally
There was a woman named Sally who sang in a cover band. She wasn’t really into most of the songs but it was a living. She carried debts in her […]
frochill in quebec
Halid Frochill wore scarves indoors and referred to himself as “a curator of genius.” His voice was syrupy, his handshake just short of sincere. He carried a leather-bound datebook, always […]
the boissevain
Young violinist, Claire Bergen, lived on the edge of Boissevain. The wind came across the fields like a tired old hymn and nothing rushed, well maybe the clouds. One day, […]
insomnia
Sometimes I can’t fall asleep. It’s partly the strange bed, a mattress that feels like someone else’s rhythm, and partly the stress needing to be up early to drive my […]
daniel johnson in E
The new ostinato is in E major, yet it is no simple pattern. The leap of a twelfth bends the passage’s logic like a frozen river cracking beneath each step. […]
my favourite part of the Judee Sill movie
“But it hurt so much to play stand up bass. I’ve got real thin fingers. Stand up bass is really hard. I used to shoot heroin and be able to […]
stagefright kabbalah
There was a musician named David Klein. He could play melodies that felt older than his hands. When he played alone, it was a little supernatural. Candles trembled. The cat […]
heist of the century
I just finished watching Stolen: Heist of the Century on Netflix, after reading about it in the Bob Lefsetz blog. From the opening minutes, I was hooked. The twists, improbable […]