Joshua Bell and Jazz

On Valentine's Day, Mrs. S dragged me kicking and screaming to a chamber music concert to hear the violinist Joshua Bell. (Well, not kicking and screaming, because I did buy her the front row seats that she asked for. Let's just say I was dubious.)

Even as the ladies ooh-ed and ahh-ed over his good looks (see below), Mr. Bell knocked my pink-heart socks off!



I'd never heard such violin music. His control was amazing, his stamina that of a marathoner, and his mastery of dynamics and tone was just phenomenal. He's recently been dabbling in popular music and jazz, and since Funny Valentine was on his last CD, I felt pretty sure he'd play that for the Valentine's concert encore. He decided to play something different, but it was fantastic too.

We got several autographs and talked with him for a little while at the dinner after the concert. We met some fascinating people at the concert, too.

What's the point?

The point is, one month from last Thursday, Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra will be in Huntsville Alabama for a concert, and what Mrs. S. and I have discovered is that when a big name star, like Joshua Bell or Wynton Marsalis, comes to your small home town, you'd better make the time and effort to go and see them. There's nothing quite like the relatively intimate show that consummate musicians and entertainers can put on, as proved by Mr. Bell and as Mr. Marsalis will no doubt prove in just less than a month.

For the record, Mrs. S. and I paid about $250 for season tickets so we could be guaranteed of seeing Mr. Marsalis's concert, and while tickets for that are still available, two nights after the Huntsville concert for the concert in Atlanta, Wynton Marsalis tickets are going for $165 apiece (if you can find them). That means Mrs. S and I will be seeing Mr. Marsalis in concert for a discount, and we got to see two musicals for free.

Can't beat that with a timpani mallet.

Jitters

For four years, I played organ at good ol' St. Mel's in Cleveland OH, mainly as accompanist to the adult and children's choir. Our “season” ran basically with the school year: from Labor Day through Memorial Day. Every week I played a limited liturgical repertoire spiced with simple Bach and Handel chorales and whatnot, always on the same instrument, always with the same choir, largely for the same people.

And every week I got nervous as hell.

I'm amazed to think back to that now and realize, I can honestly never remember a single occasion when I did not get nervous. One would have thought that after a while, it becomes second nature, you really don't think about all the people who are hearing you play, and you don't get nervous, but I always did.

When we played the Flying Monkey last semester, I was nervous, but not in a terrible sort of way. I was mainly just worried about how the performance would go, since the band hadn't played together but one of the previous four weeks. For some reason, though, with tomorrow night's concert looming, I am pretty nervous. This is despite the fact that both of the bands I'm playing in have practiced together every week for the last five, and that I have also practiced hard and finally mastered all my sections. I should be less nervous, but I'm actually more so.

I think a lot of it has to do with the venue, which this time is an actual hall, where everybody will be able to see and hear me clearly. All I can do now is put it out of my mind, concentrate on not letting the cold or flu bug I'm fighting win out, and then play like I know I can play.

Not a very helpful entry, I know, but hopefully insightful to some of you performing jazz musicians out there. Break a leg!

Entry #100: Let me introduce you to the Steinway

At UAH, where I'm studying music, there are three pianos. The first is an electronic Yamaha P-140, which is utilitarian but still, being newly purchased to replace a similar keyboard where some of the key keys didn't come back up after being struck, is very, very good. That is the piano that I use when the "varsity" big band is rehearsing while we (the "junior varsity" big band) are, which is every Monday and Wednesday. Then there is a Yamaha grand, which generally sits in the practice room but is often moved on stage for the varsity big band's rehearsal. I get to use that one when our combo practices (Wednesday after big band). The third piano is a Steinway grand, which is only used for recitals and concerts. It is stored in a room behind the main stage. I'd only ever seen it once.

Until last night.

A cold snap here in north Alabama forced the music department to move the Steinway out of storage, due to it being in the northwest corner of the building, in an unheated storage area of an unheated recital hall. (And we all know that extreme temperatures, cold or hot, wreak havoc on pianos.) So, the varsity big band pianist got to play the Steinway during their practice, while I finally got to use the Yamaha for our junior varsity practice. But after that, our jazz combo moved into the recital hall and I got to fiddle on the Steinway.

Which was nice.

It felt about the same, but the response seemed a little sharper than the Yamaha. I didn't like the sustain pedal, because it sat up pretty high and was a little stiff to press down on. Plus, I couldn't really tell what kind of response I was getting. The strings were impressive to look at, and the sound was decidedly fuller, which made me regret that I can't play the piano very well. I would have liked to have been able to do something on it other than my meager hack moves. It was sort of like driving a Ferrari three blocks to the grocery store: Yeah, it was fun, but it could have been so much more. Still, I can console myself with that thought that not every pianist ever even gets to play a Steinway, but I not only got to rehearse on one, I will get to perform on it next week as well.

So, February 11 is the big day. In the combo (which will probably lead off the concert), we'll be doing "Ruby, My Dear", and in the big band (which should play third after the other combo), we'll be doing "My Funny Valentine" and a commissioned original, "I Hung the Moon Up There Just For You". I'm going to have to really practice hard this weekend to get everything up to speed, but I'm pretty close already, so, it shouldn't be a problem.

For those of you in the neighborhood, I hope to see you there.