Sunday, February 28, 2010

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.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Bill Evans makes everything better

I've decided that for my semester long jazz arranging project, I will try to write a big band score to Bill Evans' "Peri's Scope". Consequently, I've been using my piano lesson to work mainly on that song, develop some voicings and alternate or substitute chords, and look at other things to make the music come alive and be more interesting in a big band arrangement. Of course, I have a brilliant recording of that song played by the Bill Evans Trio from "Portrait in Jazz", and I'm also fortunate enough to have a transcription of the song as well, allowing a deeper analysis of Bill Evans' playing and another source for ideas for the score.

So at my lesson the other night, my instructor and I listened to Peri's Scope twice through: once while looking at the transcription, once without looking at the transcription. When it got done, we talked about it a little bit, then my instructor played through it a little bit, just to experiment. He whizzed through the song with some pretty remarkable voicings and phrases and then about halfway through the second time he stopped, turned to me and said, "Everything goes better if you listen to Bill Evans first. Everything goes better if you listen to Bill Evans first. Not just piano playing, but everything!" To which I said, "So, if you listen to Bill Evans before doing your laundry, your clothes will come out cleaner." He just exclaimed, "Exactly!"

So, having trouble assembling that computer desk? Worried that your version of your mother's recipe for sloppy joes won't taste the same? Got a personnel review coming up? Listen to Bill Evans before you start. You'll be surprised and pleased by the results. My piano instructor and I promise.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

How I spend my Sundays (non-Super Bowl weekends)

7:00 Wake up
7:01 Play stupid games on Facebook
7:17 Go out and get the newspaper off the sidewalk
7:18 Start cooking breakfast
7:30 Start eating breakfast
8:00 Work on the Sudoku-Triple puzzle
8:30 Make another cup of brandy tea
8:40 Play stupid games on Facebook
8:45 Write blog posting
9:15 Bury three buckets of fruit and vegetable matter in the compost pile
9:30 Start working on jazz arranging homework
10:20 Shower
10:30 Work on jazz arranging homework some more
11:20 Play stupid games on Facebook
12:00 Lunch
12:30 Read a book, nap, read, nap, repeat
14:00 Jazz arranging homework
15:30 Play the piano
16:00 Start cooking dinner, listening to jazz
17:00 Dinner
18:00 Watch a movie
20:00 Chill out
22:00 Watch the news
22:12 Read ten pages of a motivational book
22:30 Try to sleep
1:45 (Monday) Finally fall asleep
2:15 Dream of pretty Japanese girls having drinks with me in a jazz club (if I’m lucky)

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

How jazz is affected by an "economic stimulus"

(The following is adapted from an email that's been making the rounds for a year or two now...)

Before I tell you how jazz will be affected by the "economic stimulus", it would be helpful to define, exactly, what an "economic stimulus" is. To do that, we have a simple discussion in Q&A format:

Q. What is an 'economic stimulus' payment?
A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.
Q. Where will the government get this money?
A. From taxpayers.
Q. So the government is giving us back our own money?
A. Only a little of it.
Q. What is the purpose of this payment?
A. The plan is for you to use the money to purchase a high-definition TV set to stimulate the economy.
Q. Won't that only stimulate China's economy?
A. Shut up.

In order to help the U.S. economy with the economic stimulus, remember, if you use your economic stimulus to:
-Buy something at Wal-Mart, the money will go to China or Sri Lanka.
-Buy gasoline, your money will go to the Arabs or Hugo Chavez.
-Buy a computer, it will go to India or China.
-Buy an appliance, it will go to South Korea.
-Buy fruit and vegetables, it will go to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala.
-Buy an efficient car, it will go to Japan or Korea.
-Buy anything at Dollar General, it will go to Taiwan.
-Pay your credit card debt or buy stock, your money will go to "management bonuses" and "management" will hide the money offshore (probably in Belize).

So, what can the average American do to keep the "economic stimulus" money in America? Simple:
1) Spend it at yard sales, or
2) Go to jazz clubs, or
3) Spend it on prostitutes, or
4) Beer, or
5) Tattoos

These are the only American businesses still operating in the U.S.

Conclusion: Go to a jazz club with a tattooed prostitute that you met at a yard sale and drink beer all day!

Your fellow Americans appreciate your patriotism!