Ben Zander Speaks

Thanks to Jerry Bowles at Sequenza21 for posting this talk by Ben Zander. Zander is a captivating speaker. A long video, but well worth watching.

Amanda Palmer at The Pops

Last Thursday night Katie and I took the rare opportunity to see Amanda Palmer perform in Boston with with Boston Pops.

Her Set List:
Missed Me
Astronaut
The Point of It All
Cain't Say No (from Oklahoma)
Brick (Ben Folds Cover)
Strength Through Music
Had to Drive
Coin-Operated Boy
Wonderful World (with Brian Viglione)

ENCORES:
Don't Tell Mama (from Caberet)
Sing (with Brian Viglione)

I am a big fan of Amanda. I am a big fan of The Dresden Dolls. That alone was enough for me to really enjoy this show, part of a series The Boston Pops calls its "Edgefest". It was great to hear Amanda's songs backed by the Pops orchestra. The arrangements were o.k. Not exactly how I would have written them, but they were solid. Maybe "safe" is the best word. The music of the Dresden Dolls and Palmer's solo work (both of which are mostly written by her) is adventurous, creatvie, edgy - it's too bad the orchestration didn't live up to that. A lot of effort was put into the opener, "Missed Me", with a percussionist on tambourine and a violinist following Amanda as she weaved through the audience, and a trombone player leaning over the lower balcony playing to her. It was a great opener, as theatrical as you'd expect from Ms. Palmer. A few of the tunes - "Astronaut" and "The Point of it All" were beautiful with the string underscoring. And, as is always the case, Amanda looked as if she were having the time of her life.

























Katie and I took these pictures from our great seats, in the first balcony overlooking the stage.


Afterwards, the Luminescent Orchestrii performed in one of Symphony Hall's function rooms. Let by Sxip Shirey, a friend of Amanda's, this hip NYC group puts a unique spin on eastern European folk music. It was a great night.

Blog On

Though I'm not the most consistent of bloggers, I do realize the relevance and importance of blogs in todays business world. And that point was hit home today by our guest speaker at the Portsmouth Rotary Club, of which I am a member. KD Paine, marketing guru, blogger and writer, spoke about blogs at today's lunch meeting, and it is more evident than ever that blogs are a force to be reckoned with. But what hit home with me was the impact Twitter is having on the internet world. I've known about Twitter for some time now, but not really paid much attention. Now I feel an urgency to check it out, get my own Twitter account.

And I need to be better about blogging.

Check out KD Paine's blog here.

Come on, really?

What's the deal with our government paying $40 a pop in certificates for people to buy digital converter boxes for their television sets. Read below from a recent AP article:

"The government established a $1.5 billion coupon program to help millions of consumers buy the converter boxes before the nationwide transition to digital programming in February. Households are eligible for two $40 coupons, which are aimed primarily at up to 21 million owners of the older-model sets that rely on antennas to watch TV. If they don't get a converter box when the country's broadcasters complete the switchover, they will wind up staring at a blank screen. Cable and satellite TV subscribers do not need the boxes."

O.K. I don't get it. Is TV really that important that the government needs to step in and give people who haven't bought a new set in over 20 YEARS a $40 certificate so they don't have to upgrade? Can't there be some reasonable restriction on this - like only for the elderly and those with a note from their doctor? COME ON! I can think of SO MANY other ways to spend $1.5 BILLION of our money.

Read the whole story here.

Family Ties

A guitar student who is graduating this month and heading to college to study music in the fall just played an original composition, written by his mother, on his studio recital. His mother has only been playing for a year, having begun guitar as a birthday present to herself. She wrote the piece for our adult student blues band, which premiered it just three weeks ago. His version is very clearly the same piece, but unique in it's arrangement just the same.

Very cool...and one of the many reasons I love my job.

True Colors 2008

Katie and I, with Anna and Chris, attended opening night for the second True Colors Tour in Boston on Saturday. The lineup was:

Kat Deluna
The Clicks
Regina Spektor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rosie O'Donnell
The B-52s
Cyndi Lauper
Master of Ceremonies for the evening: Carson Kressley

OK - we FINALLY were able to see Regina Spektor live in concert. For those who don't know that story, read more in the postlude of the blog post here.

Regina was the highlight of the evening for us, though the festival atmosphere made her performance challenging. She was on early in the evening and there was a lot of milling around and talking by audience members who were obviously there for the later part of the show and weren't too hot on the three opening acts.

Not much to say about Kat Deluna - she has an OK voice, but I'm not into karioke hip-hop performances.

The Clicks were loud, and fun. Not terribly original.

Rosie O'Donnell was surprisingly good. I expected to be preached at about politics, but no, not a word on that front. It was a touching monologue about coming to terms with living longer than her mother, who died at 41 of cancer when she was only 11. And about seeing her kids grow older and being able to be there for them at times when her mother wasn't. A very soul-searching set.

The B-52s really are the world's greatest party band, and with them the party got started. Mostly new tunes of their latest album - Funplex - but they did perform classics "Roam", "Private Idaho", "Love Shack", and "Rock Lobster".

Cyndi Lauper was high maintenance on stage again this year. (Last year she complained - rightfully so - to the sound engineer the entire concert. This year's victim was the lighting guy. Last year she came off as a frustrated artist in a bad sound situation. This year it was more pain-in-the-rear-diva.) She has a remarkable number of hit tunes.

All in all a fun night, though it will take a great penultimate group to get us back next year. For the last two years we attended to see an opener - The Dresden Dolls last year and Regina Spektor this year. But we've learned that it is not the best opportunity to see these great young opening bands. They get little respect from the audience and their sets are cut way to short by the time constraints of the festival. It was great to hear the B-52s, so if the band in their slot is someone we want to see, we might go again. But 2 years in a row of Cyndi Lauper is plenty for a lifetime.

To read about last year's concert, go here.

Stories

Having spent a lot of time working with adult students in music lessons and ensembles, I have heard many stories about why people begin or return to music study later in life. In fact, there are as many stories as there are people to tell them.

Just last night PMAC hosted its Adult Student Departmental Workshop for the spring 2008 session. We have two of these each year, one in the fall, one in the spring. It is an opportunity for adults who take private music lessons at PMAC to play music for each other and share their experiences as an adult music student.

What struck me, is that one adult told their story of how they got back into music after getting their kids involved - and then the next said, "hey, that's my story" as did one or two other people. But I think the reality is, though we have similar tales, I bet each story is actually unique.

We all have a story about our creative lives. What we did or didn't do as a child - what we were encouraged to do, discouraged from doing, whatever. All of our experiences shape our lives. Some of these experiences are traumatic - keeping us from fulfilling a dream such as playing a musical instrument. Some are just stories of "life getting in the way."

Whatever your story, I want you to know that if you love music, there is NO reason why you shouldn't be making music right now. The music YOU want to make. If you were told as a child that you could only play classical piano, but you really wanted to rock out - well, now YOU are the boss, and you should find the time to learn to rock out on the piano.

We all have fears about learning something new. That is probably a topic best saved for another blog post. Regardless of any fears you carry, you can learn to make music. And learning with others, in ensemble environments, is an amazing way to go.

Stress

Life is stressful. And the more productive, active, interactive, and successful you are, the more stressful it gets. One way I deal with stress is by taking time to be creative. Since playing saxophone is my profession, I have other creative outlets that help me deal with stress. I take drawing lessons and draw, pencil on paper. This is challenging for me, I enjoy it, and it removes me from my everyday world. I can easily lose myself for an hour or more in my drawing pad - just me, my subject (so far all of my subjects are inanimate objects), and my pencils and paper. I emerge from my drawing time refreshed, renewed, and alive. I may not always be ready to return to "the grind", but I'm much better for it just the same.

How do you handle stress?

Why

There have been many, many studies in recent years telling people why to learn music as an adult, particularly as an adult over the age of 50.

• Learning and making music utilizes parts of the brain that keep our thinking sharp and vital
• Playing a musical instrument is good for maintaining strong motor skills late in life
• Playing music in an ensemble provides a person with regular, positive social interaction
• The physical act of playing a musical instrument is in fact a way to keep your body in shape
• Having a creative outlet later in life is good for our spirit, our mental well being

These are all interesting, and there are many more reasons just like them - but they are not really that important to me. I think you should make music because everyone should experience the wonder, joy, excitment and more of music. Isn't that enough?

Creativity

I believe all people are creative. But beyond that, I believe that we all have a common need to express our creativity. I'm not talking about music, not art. Just the act of "creation" or "self-discovery". Part of living a healthy, fulfilled life is finding ways to express our individuality. We can do this in many ways - through our chosen trade, which is hopefully our passion. Through our relationships. Or through art. What is important, is that we be creative, we live creative lives.

Sometimes, our creativity seems to dry up. We get in a rut. We run out of ideas, loose our passion. I don't claim to have answers on how to return that passion, that creativity to our lives. But my experience is that when this happens, one of the best ways to regain our creative selves is to seek out "creation" opportunities that are not our norm. As a musician, when I'm feeling burned out, tired, unispired, I will revitalize myself through active involvement in another creative activity. Writing, drawing, painting - whatever. This seems to jumpstart my musicality by giving me a fresh way to express myself. A new perspective for seeing the world.

What is your alternative outlet? Where do you go to recharge, reinvigorate, renew?

An interesting read

Check out Ethan Iverson's epic blog post on Lennie Tristano and race in jazz. I don't know much of Tristano's music and found this to be an amazing introduction, with links to .mp3 files and YouTube videos.

Fiery Furnaces

First amazing concert of 2008 was the Fiery Furnaces - back in January. Caught them with Katie, Anna and Jose at The Space in Portland. I've already forgotten the opener. But the FF were amazing. They played a wide range of songs from their many albums, focusing mostly on their latest, Widow City. Will have to keep an eye out for them - they are a Chicago based band but get to the northeast once in a while. Actually, they were in Boston just a few weeks ago and Katie and I were bummed we couldn't make it to the show.

Other great concerts this year:
Medeski, Martin and Wood
Joshua Bell
The Fringe
John Zorn with Masada
The Molenes - CD Release Party

Upcoming shows:
True Colors 2008 tour - featuring Regina Spektor (FINALLY!), B-52s and Cyndi Lauper (end of this month)
Radiohead
possibly Rush?

I'm planning on getting back on the blog bandwagon. Sorry for the absence as of late. It's been a busy, busy year.

Been a long time...

After a long blog hiatus, I'm back. Many things to share:

GREAT Concerts this year so far...

MANY WONDERFUL PMAC happenings....

Much to share...

Will be back with details soon.

Oscar Peterson's Virtuosity

A thought-provoking blog post about the late Oscar Peterson by Boston Globe music critic Matthew Guerrieri can be read here.

New Year's Resolutions

To continue tradition, I post selections from my new year's resolutions for the third year running. Some I do better at than others, but, hey, you gotta start somewhere.

The past year has been a relatively good one. But you can always do better. In fact, I ran into a friend at the grocery store this afternoon who said her new year's resolution for 2008 is "to be better." I'll be a little more specific.

This year's list has many old favorites, like resolution #2008-4 - get more exercise. Or #2008-11 - write down all appointments. But there are some new ones like #2008-7 - try not to embarass the kids (or wife for that matter) in public. Already goofed on that one today - DO NOT ASK!

In 2007 I succeeded in writing in keeping the blog going. I actually wrote a lot (for me) this year. Resolution #2008-22 is to take more photographs to include on the blog - so keep an eye out for those.

Like most every American, I do resolve to loose weight (#2008-6), and I'm trying to do it in a healthy and permenant way. But nothing can beat #2008-1, which is why it tops the list. Be kind to people. I always make an effort to be kind to everyone I come in contact with (and even those I don't), but I think the world deserves a little extra effort from all of us these days. I hope you will consider that resolution too.

Peace out.

Crossing the finish line...

...from one year to the next. Happy New Year!

Sweet Dreams Are Made Of These

Great show last night at Boston's Orpheum Theater. The Dresden Dolls, with openers Meow Meow, The Luminescent Orchestrii, and the Lexington High School Drama Club. The traditional carnival atmosphere of Dolls shows prevailed, with performers throughout the venue - living statues, performance artists and more, including the girl dressed in the provocative nurse's outfit serving a platter of crushed strawberry shortcake that looked as if it may have just come out of the operating room. Gross - I didn't have any!

Amanda Palmer was under the weather, so I think they cut their set short. It was powerful and dramatic, even with Amanda's hoarse voice. I hope to one day see her in good voice! But the way she sings, I'm not too hopeful, unfortunately. She could definitely use some vocal training. But musically, she's the whole package, so it is easy to forgive her technical shortcomings since it is rock 'n roll after all.

Brian Viglione was in top form, and all that was missing was an extended drum solo. Why they didn't think of that, I have no clue. He has at least as many admirers in the audience as she does, if not more.

Anyway, it was a fabulous way to end a great year of concert-going. Cheers! and here is the Dolls' Set List:

In The Flesh (cover of Pink Floyd) - Brian opened the show with vocals - a refreshing surprise!
Girl Anachronism
Missed Me
Gravity
Ultima Esperanza
Coin-Operated Boy
Mrs. O
The Gardener
Two-Headed Boy (cover of Neutral Milk Hotel)
Fool (pre-recorded by Neutral Milk Hotel with dancing by the Lexington High School Drama Club)

Mein Herr
Fight for Your Right (to Party) (cover of Beastie Boys) - with Brian on electric guitar and singing, Amanda on drums, and guest Sxip Shirey on what looked like a melodia
Mandy Goes to Med School - with Meow Meow's accompanist Lance playing piano four-hands with Amanda
Boston
Encore: Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) (cover of Eurythmics)

In Memoriam Oscar Peterson

The summer after I graduated from college, my undergrad degree, I worked as the Artist Liason for a concert series in Waterville Valley, NH. This meant I was responsible for making sure the performers arrived, got settled in their accomidations, made it to and from the venue, and got everything they needed backstage. It was a very cool job to have at age 22. I met violinist Joshua Bell, Roberta Flack, the Canadian Brass and others. But the one artist that was a true gentleman, a really amazing person, not just musician, was Oscar Peterson.

I came to jazz late in my musical development. I was trained classically - in fact, I got that job through my classical saxophone professor. At that time I knew little about jazz. I had never heard of Oscar Peterson. My exposure had been limited to the excesses of late Mile Davis, who I saw play rock-fusion at the 1986 Amnesty International benefit concert, and Spyro Gyra, who I loved in the early 80s. This was my first brush with jazz greatness.

I had the rare treat of sitting in a completely empty hall the afternoon before the concert while Oscar rehearsed the trio. I consider that moment to be the true birth of my love for jazz.

I remember following his limo on the two-hour drive to Logan Airport the day following the concert (which was unbelievable). When we got to Logan, he was concerned about walking the long distance to the gate - his health was already failing him (he had a stroke a few years later, but never stopped playing). I arranged for a wheelchair and I pushed him to the gate myself. He smiled, signed some autographs for the staff that I had been charged with getting, and then gave me a generous $100 tip - completely unexpected and unecessary, but he insisted after I first declined. It was a memorable gesture, but not at all the reason I fondly remember him to this day. He was real. Not a superstar personality - though he had literally played with everyone who was anyone in the jazz world. When his hands touched the keys, he was a giant. But when it was just the two of us at the airplane gate, he was a grandfatherly figure. He loved life and this world. An unfortunately uncommon trait.

Thank you Oscar.

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson
August 25, 1925 - December 23, 2007

2007 "Best of" List: Concerts

As I do every year, I am posting an incredibly subjective, extremely biased countdown of the top ten concerts I attended this year. I highly recommend any and all of these performers. Catch them the next time they're in town!

10) Matt Langley and Tim O'Dell (at The Press Room in Portsmouth, NH)
Matt is a great jazz saxophonist, and it is great to catch him on the all too rare occaision he has a Portsmouth gig with Tim O'Dell. The two of them really get each other and it comes out in their playing.

9) The Explorers Club/The Blueprint Project (at The Lily Pad in Cambridge, MA)
Charlie Kohlhase's Explorer's Club and Eric Hofbauer's Blueprint Project are wonderfully lyrical, experimental jazz ensembles where the players never stop interacting with each other in the most creative ways. And this was our first visit to the Lily Pad.

8) The Holiday Pops with Kenneth Kiesler (at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, NH)
Ken is a great friend to PMAC and eight of our young students sat in with the orchestra for two pieces at these concerts, just last week. I hope that one day we'll have a full time professional orchestra on the seacoast.

7) The Molenes (at The Red Door in Portsmouth, NH)
Dave Hunter, Tom Ferry and friends are one of the best local acts on the scene. Just the right mix of country, rock, blues and party.

More on my night out on the town to see The Molenes here.

6) Brandy Carlisle (at The Music Hall in Portsmouth, NH)
One of the best Music Hall concerts of the year. Riding the wave of her new album, Brandy took Portsmouth by storm and left the town a buzz. We'll definitely be there next time she passes through. (And we met her after the show - she's as sweet as her music.)

5) Kim Kashkashian (at Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory in Boston, MA)
Violist extrordinaire - that's VIOLA, not violin. A fabulous program that was made special by the fact that we had the rare opportunity to have dinner attend the concert with an old school friend from Baltimore. Thanks for setting that one up, Debbie.

4) Fiveighthirteen/RomanUs/ZumbaTres (at The Barley Pub in Dover, NH and at The Press Room in Portsmouth, NH)
We witnesses a spectacular accomplishment when Fiveighthirteen performed Radiohead's Kid A in its entirety at The Barley Pub, where RomanUs opened for them. And then they opened for ZumbaTres at The Press Room less than a month later. Three great bands, two great shows.

3) The London Octave (at St. Martin in the Fields in London, England)
Our first concert overseas, could you top St Martin in the Fields for a venue? Bach, Handel and more. It was a fabulous way to kick off the year.


For more, read my original post about The London Octave here.

2) The Bad Plus (at The Stone Church in Newmarket, NH and The Music Hall in Portsmouth, NH)
I preferred hearing them in the intimate setting of The Stone Church, but their performance at The Music Hall was nothing to sneeze at either. Very possibly the tightest trio in jazz today. And most definitely one of the hippest. And to top everything off - they performed Smells Like Teen Spirit at The Music Hall and Life on Mars at The Stone Church. Life is good.

1) The Year of the Dresden Dolls: The Dresden Dolls/Amanda Palmer with Jason Webley/Brian Viglione/Gil Ahron Trio with Brian Viglione/The Onion Cellar/True Colors/Sxip's Hour of Charm (at The Zero Arrow Theatre, American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, MA, The Space in Portland, ME, The Brick House in Dover, NH, the Bank of America Pavillion in Boston, MA and at PMAC)
If you read this blog, you already know about my love for The Dresden Dolls. I discovered them late last year, and took just about every possible opportunity to see them live this year. And next Saturday we will FINALLY see the Dolls the way we've alway wanted to see them. In a full rock show they are headlining at Boston's Orpheum Theatre. This year we saw them in the play "The Onion Cellar", opening for Cyndi Lauper on the True Colors Tour, and each individually in various locations and with various groups. Brian Viglione even gave a clinic at PMAC in February. So this was definitely the Year of the Dolls.


For more about The Onion Cellar read this post.

My True Colors Tour post is here.

And here is my post about Amanda and Jason at The Space.

Honorable Mention: Jim Howe Memorial Concert at The Press Room in Portsmouth, NH)
Farewell Jim, we'll miss you terribly. Thanks to Ryan Parker and Les Howe, Jr. for helping us all remember him the way he would have wanted.


Postlude: The concert that never happened - Regina Spektor (at The Orpheum in Boston, MA)
The one bittersweet moments of the year concertwise was when Katie won tickets to see one of our favorite musicians - Regina Spektor - from Bullmoose Music. Yet when we arrived at the concert, the tickets were not there. The show was sold out. HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT. Regina's Label, Warner Music, has promised Katie tickets to a show this year. We'll see what they come up with.

May 2008 bring many, many more great shows!

Remembering Andrew Imbrie

In 1994 and again in 1996-97 I studied composition at the University of Chicago with Andrew Imbrie. He was a visiting professor my first semester at the university and he returned again a year later. I jumped at the chance to work with him both times, and studied with him during his entire tenure at Chicago. He was a friendly, kind man who took immediate interest in my music. In fact, he was one of the few teachers I think I ever had who truly believed in my music - from top to bottom.

We became friends and our relationship moved out of the studio and into the real world. Katie and I would go to dinner with Andrew and his wonderful wife Barbara and discuss life as a musician and composer. I remember him coming to our apartment on South Ellis Ave. to visit, with gifts, when Max was born. I can still see the joy on his face when he cradled week-old Max in his arms. He was in his mid-seventies at the time, tall and bone-thin. Simultaneously imposing and frail.

I remember stories of his children, including one son who tragically died at age 18 in a car accident. He remembered that son with a piano sonata titled "Short Story." His music is a wonderful mix of refined craft and deep sentiment.

Andrew chose a path of teaching for his life - not just to pay the bills. He was a teacher through and through. Many of today's top composers worked with him, and his contributions to the world of music education and composition are important and far reaching.

I am proud to have been one of Andrews students, and even prouder to have been a friend. I will miss him dearly.

For more on Andrew and his life, click below.

http://www.sfcv.org/2007/12/04/in-memoriam-andrew-imbrie/