old world
Playing the Cameron with the Cameron Family Singers. They select songs that are trickier to improvise with than the usual “country” tinged pieces other people I’ve known choose. Their aesthetic […]
the herd
Some people think upon learning history, that the people of other times were foolish but not us. We are in the here and now. We are too smart to just […]
the thing imagined
There is an improvisational technique I keep trying to hone. I realize it slowly over years and years. I am not proficient but I have made inroads. It is a […]
on fire
“Back in 1968 I saw Tony Williams and John McLaughlin at the Jazz Workshop in Boston on Boylston Street. It was the size of your living room, you’re stepping all […]
Ernie Tollar
Ernie Tollar, everyone’s favourite musician, is now a soloist in the Multiple Sclerosis all stars. Soon traveling to Mexico for a treatment that potentially halts or slows down its progression. […]
Les Baronets
While awaiting a rejection letter from the music faculty of the University of Western Ontario regarding my application, I have been developing a course concept. It revolves around teaching music […]
probably think this post is about you
Listening to an interview with drummer Andy Newmark, talking about the recording session fifty years ago, on You’re So Vain by Carly Simon. Richard Perry, the producer, replaced him with […]
earlier AI
I played a piece I wrote at the Mendelson Joe memorial in April and it was videotaped. Good thing I didn’t realize that because recordings often are a distraction. When […]
and i am saying it
People sometimes imagine life is a dream. But I am real – aren’t I? Sort of like discussions of God. I used to balk. How could one doubt something invented […]
mihaly
Listening to an interview with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the man Chris Cavanagh recommended to me about creativity. He says one of the surprises when they began mapping data on more than […]