Two additions to the Yoity Tot CD List

Just in time for Christmas (well, not really), here are two CD's I highly recommend. I love them both so much, I'm going ahead and adding them to the Yoity Tot CD list. Tony Bennett's "Jazz" makes it on the strength of his interpretations of many great jazz standards. I especially love his takes on Ellington's Don't Get Around Much Anymore and Solitude. Also, the recording is chock full of other jazz superstars, like Herbie Hancock, Count Basie, Stan Getz, Art Blakey, and many more.

The latest recording by Gordon Goodwin and his Big Phat Band is the other going on the list and in the top spot. Honestly, I haven't heard the entire recording yet because I can't get past Senor Mouse, but this rousing, full-out, big band stuff just gets in my blood and sends shivers down my spine. My love for jazz just deepens whenever I hear jazz done right, and George and BPB do it right. That's all I can say. It's a freakin' great recording.

Personal note of (some) interest (maybe): It's a little funny that I discovered Gordon Goodwin the day before my birthday and his band's latest recording is titled "Act Your Age". I turned 45 today, so I'm officially "pushing 50". That means if I act my age, realizing my dream of someday conducting in front of a big band will be really, really hard to achieve. So to hell with that. I've decided to pursue that dream nonetheless. I'll save "my dream" entry for another day...

Let there be music

A while back, my computer went on the fritz, and after two days of tinkering, I finally got it back up and running. When I did, however, my speakers were making an awful racket. Thinking something with my sound card got messed up, I just unplugged the speakers and went without sound for about three months. Then I got to thinking that because I could still hear some sound instead of nothing, along with the crackling noise coming from the speakers, maybe the sound card was fine and the speakers needed replacement.

Long story short, this turned out to be the case. I replaced the USB powered speakers with independently controlled speakers with their own power supply, so now, when I work on my computer (or blog, or play poker online, or workout near the computer, or whatever), I can listen to jazz. Just in the last week, I'd say I've listened to three hours of music a day, and now that I'm off for the next two weeks, I expect that to go up even more. Having been able to devote so much time to listening, I'm going to be able to write a lot of the reviews (on Amazon.com) of music I purchased over the last two months. Being able to listen to music actually increased my productivity!

So, my advice is keep those speakers and sound card working, and keep the music spinning. It's worth it.

Top 10 (Plus Bonus) Christmas Songs for a Recession

10) O, Bernanke (O, Bernanke, when will you print more money?)

9) I'm Gettin' Nuttin' For Christmas (not even a 'g' to spell right)

8) Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire (actually, pecans from the neighbor's lawn over a cardboard box fire in a 55-gallon drum in the Wal-Mart parking lot)

7) Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer (what else could go wrong?)

6) Have Yourself a 401(K) Implosion

5) I'll Be Home for Christmas ('cause I can't afford to go anywhere else, or, 'cause mom and dad are there and I can stay as long as I want, rent free)

BONUS) There's No Place Like Home For the Holidays (same reasons as #5)

4) Dodge the Malls (and Eat at Denny's)

3) Good King Wenceslaus (no, I really like that one)

2) All I Want for Christmas is a Bailout Package

1) Do You Fear What I Fear? (fill in with your favorite economic phobia)

Going around in circles (of fifths)

I did not have a piano lesson the week of Thanksgiving, and due to my instructor having a rehearsal, did not have one last week, either. Before the hiatus began, he instructed (what piano instructors do) me to work on three-note chord voicings going around the circle of fifths. This is a practical exercise for any jazz musician, one that can never be done too much. In my zealousness to learn our jazz ensemble's music and perform it adequately, I had not been practicing anything in the circle of fifths. Sad part is, practicing chord voicings based on the CO5 would probably have done me the most good.

So, after asking me to play three-note voicings around the circle, and being essentially unable to do so without a lot of mistakes and stoppages to think, that's what I've been practicing for the last three weeks. I've also worked some on four note chord voicings using the 9th and 6th notes, which in some respects is easier, but is difficult to get sounding right. I even learned to play Miles Davis' "Tune Up" using the four-note voicings.

It hasn't been enough. I need to do more of it. I need to work through the boredom.

If you are a jazz musician and you haven't worked through some skill on your instrument using the CO5, I humbly suggest you do so today, or at least, at your next opportunity. No need to thank me. The continual improvement of jazz music everywhere is enough thanks for me.

Christmas music I recommend

Thanksgiving is gone and Christmas is around the corner. While stringing your lights and decking your halls, here's some suggestions for what to listen to:

The Christmas Songbook by Helen Merrill

Verve Presents: The Very Best of Christmas Jazz

Of course, while checking these out you can use some links to go to my other reviews and find a jazz recording or two you might like, just to spice up the Christmas mood.

And for heaven's sake, don't forget to go shopping. Our economy needs a boost!

Gear up!

It had been quite a while since I bought music equipment. In 1986, while I was living at my parents', I bought about $10K worth of stuff and built a small studio in the basement. I even glued acoustic panels and shag carpet remnants to the walls to help with the sound deadening in the tiny room. (We had formerly used that room to raise Discus fish, so it had plenty of electrical outlets all around the wall - perfect really - for a recording studio.) Back then, I even had travel cases for everything custom made so I could carry everything to Japan when I went back. Out of necessity, when it came to buying music equipment, I was a bit of an expert back then.

So, two week ago, when my ensemble instructor gave us all of six days' notice that we had to have our own equipment at the concert, I was a little pissed. Pissed because I would have to go through a lot of extra work to get my piano removed from its semi-permanent stand, but mostly because I knew that having to buy equipment can be a pain - pain which I was not looking forward to. Back 22 years ago, we didn't have the internet, so gathering information on equipment, researching prices, and all that took a long, long, long time. Using the internet to research what I wanted and how much it would cost me this time around was a breeze. The only catch was the narrow time frame. I would not be able to order off the internet and get everything sent to me in time. (Well, technically, I could have, but the first case I looked at had a retail price of $129 with free shipping, but expedited two-day shipping was $69 more. Who would pay that for what could be a one time gig?)

Long and short of it is, I did my price and product research online, but I was going to have to do my actual buying in the real world. I really only needed to buy a case and an 'X' stand, and it was pretty easy to see there were limited options for the former, but basically unlimited options for the latter. As far as the stand goes, a stand is a stand is a stand, so price was my only real criteria (I didn't want to spend more than $30, as they are usually available online for around $25). As for the case, my piano only cost around $500 in the first place, so I was not going to buy a $300 hard case for it. That just didn't make sense. Nope, a $99 soft gig bag was going to be the way to go. I called around to the three or four major music shops in the area, only to find nobody had what I wanted. This was on the Thursday after the announcement that we had to supply our own equipment. One shop told me they had a used gig bag, but when he went to make sure they still had it, he discovered it had been sold.

In the end, I was able to find one store that had 'X' stands reasonably priced (around $35) and another store that had a custom Yamaha case not unreasonably priced (around $165). So, I figured I was going to be in for $200, and I let it go at that. On Saturday, I decided to physically make the rounds of the stores, just to see what I could see. Since I had already called around, I knew where I could go to get what I wanted, although not necessarily at a price I wanted to pay, but I thought there was at least a chance I might see something that would work or that I would talk to somebody who could steer me in a different but acceptable direction. I set up my itinerary, and decided to make a stop at a place that over the phone told me they didn't have what I wanted, and from there, I would go in order to two other stores where I knew I could purchase what I wanted.

Well, there's something to be said for doing legwork. The first place I stopped at, although they had said they didn't have stands, happened to have one really nice one, still in the box, that met my needs perfectly. It was more than I wanted to pay ($65), but the salesman said he could knock it down a little. I asked about a case, and he said he didn't have any, but he might have a gig bag that would work for an 88-key instrument. I told him, that's what I'm looking for, even though I said "case". (This is probably where some confusion hindered my search: these guys differentiate between bags and cases. I just consider a gig bag as a "soft case". Oh well.) Again, he had one that was still in its wrap, and again, it was more than I wanted to pay, so I asked him to do a package deal. I ended up getting the case and stand for around $175, tax included, out the door. List for both would have been between $200-225. Online would have been around $130, or $200 with fast shipping, so all in all, I got what I needed when I needed it, pretty much within budget. I didn't even bother to visit the other two music stores.

I guess I still know how to do procurement of music equipment after all.

A new practice routine

Pretty soon, I'm going to write about my experience in buying music equipment. It will, I believe, be very practical and useful for readers of this blog, especially those who are truly new to jazz and the world of music, maybe need to shop around for and buy equipment, but haven't done so in a while. But first, I'm going to put down my practice plan.

This plan is to get me playing better, not to learn tunes (so much), as to just get better. My piano instructor says I need to know more chords and I need to know them more fluently and naturally to play jazz, and he's right. Plus with jazz ensemble being over (for now), I don't have to jam certain tunes into my brain. I can just do what my nerves, muscles, tendons, and will tell me. So, here it is:

-Play three note chord voicings through the cycle of fifths until I've got them down.
-Go through the Real Book and play every song I could play before the concert but haven't played in the last three months (there are a lot of them).
-Work completely through the jazz styles book that I bought and haven't even cracked yet.
-At least once during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays (each), go through Hanon in one sitting, front to back.
-Listen to (carefully) and review all the new music that I picked up over the last few months that I haven't reviewed on Amazon yet.
-Go through the piano chords newsletters I've received over the last two months and pay attention to them and work on them
-Work on Christmas songs
-Play four note chord voicings including the 9th and 13th through the cycle of fifths until I've got them down.

I should be playing pretty good by the beginning of next year if I stick to this plan. I'll let you know how it works out.

Now, to work!