Performing
adding it up
Now and again I go for a jog without music. After the crunchy/clear headed/isn’t this moment grand thing passes (and it does, without fail), I return to the usual fragmented contemplation that running is supposed to help alleviate. Cresting a hill today, an equation popped onto my mental chalkboard, the results of which were too [...]
bubbada bubbada
By hook, crook, bell, book and candle, I managed to infiltrate the ranks of the jazz department when I was at CSUN. Classically trained folks are usually a liability in such settings: stuck to the page, desperate for someone to just tell us what to play. I carved something of a niche for [...]
up and down
Getting good at something happens in cycles. My latest learning adventure has been Lindy hop. After my first 2 lessons, I was emboldened. I dove into the deep end and got crazy serious about it. I’ve had a few rough nights where I didn’t feel super coordinated or leads did things like try to give [...]
1000 thank you-s to @ericasipes for her input on my LaCinq manual. Making changes tonight, should be available next week.
DVD project!
I wrote AMCM to try and fill some of the gaps in the “how-to” canon. Mostly, I thought we needed a text featuring a bunch of pictures and the occasional justification/explanation for certain bits of technique. There’s another volume in the works- I have all of the content down, but this time I’m trying [...]
Read Moreletting go
Lindy hop as metaphor: my instructor constantly has to remind me to wait for a lead and then follow it to the end of the momentum, as I’m awfully clever at guessing what I think will happen… …and even if that’s not what my partner means, he’s forced to do it anyway. Probably a good [...]
Read Morenew adventures in music geekery
Perhaps it was growing up around a dad who seemed to know how everything worked (right down to the subatomic level) or maybe I’m just a junkie for the pedagogical process, but I’ve always wanted to learn how to rehair bows and work on instruments. I’ve haunted benches from Los Angeles to London and [...]
Read Moreadding it up
Now and again I go for a jog without music. After the crunchy/clear headed/isn’t this moment grand thing passes (and it does, without fail), I return to the usual fragmented contemplation that running is supposed to help alleviate. Cresting a hill today, an equation popped onto my mental chalkboard, the results of which were too [...]
Read Morefrom the big man himself
Whoa. Click to enlarge what Santa had to say in response to our letters!
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be careful what you fail for
Part of what makes my blog a little different from those of some other professional musicians is that I tend to expound about the sorts of things that highlight my frailties rather than serve as promotional material. It’s a niche I claim- and I don’t think there’s a line of folks waiting to take [...]
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