Fresh on the heals of my highly successful tour with The Jason Parker Quartet, I decided to give a free touring seminar on Ustream today. I had such a great time talking with all sorts of wonderful musicians about what worked and what didn’t. It was an amazing experience to have us all in one […]
Thoughts
One year ago today I started this blog. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I thought it would be helpful both for me and for others if I chronicled my life as a working musician. My hope was that I might inspire others to take the journey which has […]
I started regularly reading about 50 jazz blogs a little over a year ago. Since that time I’ve been turned on to new music and new ways of thinking. I’ve talked with fascinating people and even threw my two cents in about some controversial subjects (here and here). I enjoy talking about music and jazz, […]
The idea of the cultural relevance of art is not new. In fact, I’d argue that all art springs from the need of the artist to say something about his or her relationship to the world. It’s this relationship that makes us all unique, as no two people interact with or see the world in […]
If you follow me on Twitter you’ve certainly heard me talk about my love for the website Nextbop.com. The site is run by two 20-something jazz fans from Montreal (@nextbop), and gets regular contributions from another 20-something jazz fan from San Antonio, named Anthony Dean-Harris (@retronius). Their stated mission is to “create a website with […]
The Jazz Session is an online show focusing on in-depth interviews with jazz musicians. The show is hosted by Jason Crane, a saxophone player, radio host, commentator and one of the finest interviewers in jazz today. His unique view of jazz from many different angles allows him to speak to the musicians with authority and […]
Recently I had two experiences that made me think about how fortunate I am to have a band that has been playing together for three years now. The first was an interview I did with Jason Crane for The Jazz Session, an online show focusing on in-depth interviews with jazz musicians. The second was seeing […]
I saw Chris Botti for the first time tonight at The Paramount Theater in Seattle. Thanks to my Twitter buddy Tim Lefebvre, who plays bass is Chris’ band (among others), I had KILLER 4th row center seats. Thanks Tim! The show was an eye-opening experience in many ways. I have heard all the talk about […]
As I mentioned in my last post, there’s been some negative talk about jazz musicians playing tribute shows to other jazz musicians recently. Journalist Phil Freeman discussed the idea in this Twitter conversation, jazz blogger Peter Hum took a little shot in this post, and trombonist Vincent Gardner wrote the most extensive piece on the […]
Watching the Grammy Awards tonight I was struck with one thought: they might call that the Music Industry, but that has nothing to do with what I do as a working musician. I have been a professional musician for 15 years, and it’s been my sole job for 9 of those years. But whatever that […]
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