Performing
The Swan: a practice guide.
It lives! First off, thanks to the people who bought the first guide. Here’s the second one, dedicated to a piece that means so much to so many. Next up, some Bach!
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 [...]
Inspiration, it's been too long. Welcome back. #fb
If
I was watching SportsCenter when the coverage turned to NASCAR, whose championship was determined last night by the narrowest margin in history. It came down to the wire with Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart, who had been in something of a public war of words (and fenders, and pit crews) as they emerged [...]
Read MoreToday
Veterans Day. This morning, I was scanning what people had to say in their blogs and various social media outlets. One guy, a friend of mine, said something to the effect of “Happy lip service day! Too bad we keep making cuts to the VA budget…” While I agree that few budgets should [...]
Read Moreon happiness
Note: I sat on this post for nearly two weeks, debating whether or not to publish it. Few topics are as sensitive and reflective of one’s world view as happiness is. It’s easy to glibly opine about the stuff burbling away in your brains and put it up on the internet. Here’s hoping that whatever [...]
Read MoreQuantico
As a kid, people always asked what I wanted to do when I grew up. Maybe they could already detect my ill-fated and inconvenient relationship with music and were testing the waters for a more rational direction. It was around the age of 12 that I could say with eye-rolling certainty that I was going [...]
Read Moreup 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 [...]
Read Moreon regrets, dancing, and being alive
I had a pretty significant health scare back in the spring. It was to the point that they thought I may have had less than 5 years left. I remember seeing the doctor’s number on my phone about 20 minutes before I had to give a huge group presentation at Hopkins. I picked up [...]
Read Moreon having faith
I was recently asked if I’d always had faith in my path as a musician. It’s a good question, and one that provoked some decidedly non-soapbox/swashbuckling answers. Folks come here for a dose of upstream boldness. And I suppose in this post I still deliver, but Emily Dickinson might call it delivering slant. What does [...]
Read Moreon writing.
I work really hard when I write. It’s some of the most enjoyable time I spend (tied with practicing cello, dancing, and flying). A few years ago, I hassled the folks over at Strings into letting me scribble a bit for them. I am still astonished that they keep calling me back for more, given [...]
Read Moreit’s only rock and roll (but I like it)
I’m with the band. No really. My friends and I, despite all our classical training and knowing better, have pretty much always dated guys in the rock and roll scene. There’s an occasional composer or sound editor (and one pro skateboarder) thrown in from time to time, but when we sit down and dish the [...]
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