Winter Break!

Happy Holidays!

What a relief to be on break! After a rather hectic semester teaching, I can finally look forward to some decompression time. We are heading to the Mayan Riviera for part of the break, and if I'm sneaky, I'll toss a riq or tar in my luggage to practice on the beach. I have a tough time sitting on the beach doing nothing. We'll see what happens.

My previous blog may have mentioned it, but I managed to total my Brendan White bodhran in an unfortunate accident. I really don't want to talk about it, but I'm looking forward to breaking in my new drum courtesy of Brendan and his goats. If I can work out getting over to Ireland this summer, I want to win this.

Tonight, Christmas Eve, we are having dinner with the ever-talented Eric Shiveley and hope to do some playing. If we can throw a few tunes together, we may just go and play at the local homeless shelter for Christmas.

As for playing- I've recently done just a bit- a Medano Creek Jazz Trio stuff, some bar playing, and then a performance with Tracy at ASC's winter commencement. Otherwise, it looks a bit sparse for the next few weeks, with the exception of playing for a soundtrack for a documentary on Martinique.

February 22 is the Day of Percussion at Adams State College. In addition to hosting the always fantastic Valerie Naranjo, we'll also feature my ensembles, as well as the great folks over at Ft. Lewis College. Contact me for more info!

By the way, the best sound maracas EVER can be purchased from Trey at California Percussion. His joropo maracas are amazing. Why buy really good maracas? Why not?

Merry Christmas!!

J-

Another day to reflect... Thanksgiving.

Greetings,

It's been a long while since I last updated but it is clearly not the result of a lack of things to talk about. Since my last post, the jazz ensembles gave two great performances, the steel drum bands performed three great performances, and the percussion ensemble has been doing great things each and every performance.

On my end, it seems I've been playing a lot and definitely looking forward to more chamber music experiences. Tracy and I have played in just about every imaginable situation- from pre-school to high school to Bongo Billy's in Salida to recital halls. We are playing for commencement ceremonies in a couple of weeks which means a large, restless audience. Makes for a weird performance experience for sure!

PASIC was inspiring, and in addition to being elected to the Colorado PAS chapter board, I've been asked to be a member of the PAS Drum Set Committee, as well as the Interactive Drumming Committee. It's always great to catch up with old friends, mentors, teachers, and make new connections. I had coffee with John Parks from FSU after having seen his symphonic lab. That guy can take over a room with his energy. Wow.

Locally, I've given up the Executive Director position with ALMA and am happily situated on their board. I've gotten the community steel drum band off and running, and look forward to the high school honor group going as well. I still make my usual trek to Texas where I am trying to book the rock band a fun trip for the summer, as well as make the "Latin" ensemble sound good.

I've also found myself doing a lot of recording for various artists, including a popular group in Colorado, The Mitguards. They are a sweet couple with a really great bass player. I'm looking forward to hearing the final product. Of course, it's always great to work with Don Richmond. I learn a lot from him with each session- he's really dialed into the Americana/Southwest sound and I'm grateful for his musicianship and ability to create a wonderful environment for creativity.

On the subject of directing ensembles, it's great to see the students growing leaps and bounds and knowing I am preparing them to be successful after college. In the jazz ensemble, the students are learning to play with correct style, articulation, and most importantly, learning how to improvise well. For many teachers, in the rush to put on programs, teaching tends to be less geared towards growing the individual and instead, making sure the program doesn't fold. It was my goal to spend every day teaching and ensuring the students become better musicians for their sake. There have been growing pains for students with this different philosophy, but I firmly believe perseverance will pay off.

The percussion students are growing dramatically too. I have a very creative group of musicians in my studio, as well as the 30 students in the steel drum band. How grateful I am to have so many smart, dedicated students who are really into playing music. It's such a joy to see their faces when the crowd goes ballistic over their performances. It's great to see the students make the connection between the hard work and the pay off of a great performance. Ahh... this is why I teach.

So with this little break for Turkey Day, I'm able to get caught up on paperwork, but also plan ahead. My donor for the steel drum band continues to support me so I want to work on a large event for him in the spring. I'll be participating in the North American Frame Drum Association in March, so I'm back to digging into frame drumming. The local immigrant resource center purchased a Guatemalan marimba and is housing it with us. I am now researching a bit more of this so we can add it to our repertoire. Our valley has a tight-knit Guatemalan community and different departments from the college spend a lot of time in Guatemala. I'd love to take the next trip and interact in the schools in Guatemala. I see this as a serious possibility in the not so distant future.

Additionally, I'm teaching a cross-discipline course with a group of dedicated professors on Pakistan in the spring so I'm looking forward to hitting the books and research something new. And since Tracy and I will be doing some kayaking and relaxing on the Mayan Riviera in a few weeks, I'll have something to do while laying on the beach! I wonder if she'll let me bring my bendir? Moroccan music on the beaches of Mexico?

Happy Holidays!!

A day off to look back and forth.

On my first day off since mid August, I'm able to catch my breath before pushing on. Working my way backwards, I played at Milagro's last night with the reconstituted Tripping Upstairs, and also played with Eric Shiveley. Prior to that gig, Tracy and I did a tour up through the Arkansas River Valley of the Rocky Mountains playing some interesting gigs and doing a bit of recruiting. Packing for a tour such as this means selecting repertoire that fits into a Subaru. Needless to say, no marimba.

This semester, I started teaching the jazz ensembles, have over 30 in my steel drum program, and have a gig coming up next Friday! Once that jazz concert is over, it'll feel relatively less stressful in rehearsals... getting the first performance out of the way is a really big deal.

I've managed to squeeze a set in with the San Juan Symphony, have been to Ft. Worth and back, played a bit here and there, performed with Tracy on her recital, have been turning our drumline into a more polished group, and during the first week, played a really fun gig with Eric Shiveley. He brought some old band mates down from Denver and we did some of Eric's tunes, some Halden Wofford and the Hi-Beams, and then some standard covers (Johnny Cash, etc).

I just got a copy of the final product from Matt Schildt's latest album. Great stuff. Once it's online, I'll put up a post. You know, when you drum on an album, listen to each mix, and really get into the details, it's sometimes hard to listen objectively. Not the case here. Just a really good, diverse album.

Things should mellow out by the end of next week and the final push through the semester will be underway. As it starts to turn cold here in the mountains, I start looking for sweaters to wear, the UGG house shoes come out, and Gabriel's hair starts to look crazy.

Bring on winter vacation!!

Home.

It's great to be off the road and able to contemplate the remainder of the summer. Climbing back into some sort of reasonable fitness begins tomorrow just over the border in New Mexico, followed by movie night in my backyard, followed by a 9 year anniversary (whoa) back over the border at Ojo Caliente. Tracy mentioned our anniversaries feel more like the square root of the actual year. Once I was reminded of how one calculates such things, I agreed.

So I am in the composing phase of the previously mentioned CD project. I'm starting with cells and progressions and once I like a few, I'll record them. Speaking of, I think I deserve an endorsement contract from these guys. I've sold enough to believe I've missed my calling and, well, here I go again... this thing is practically idiot-proof and has great quality.

Place your orders now for our CD... in a year or two, or three, I'll mail it to you.

Durango- contacts in the oddest places... and bike races

We've been in and around Durango, CO for a few days and playing gigs on only the rarest of occasions. So last night, I was hanging out in the beer garden at the local VFW, conveniently situated next to the city park where our concert was (and where I wrecked my car a couple of years back....err) where I met a great couple. The first was the stage manager for the Music in the Mountains Festival. His wife works at Ft. Lewis College as a web designer/publicist/etc in the music department and is involved in the festival as well. They're putting me in touch with the artistic director- a connection I wouldn't have made, were the daughter of the VFW post commander not hanging out in the beer garden with her husband... thanks!

Today was another day off from our tour so I meandered downtown to find lunch and a place to read. Things worked out perfectly, for I walked into Carver's Brewing Co. and was able to sit at the bar, eat, watch stage six of a different type of tour- the Tour de France, and read my book during the lengthy commercial breaks. First of all, the book I'm reading is great- Faces of Salsa: A Spoken History of the Music, by Leonardo Padura Fuentes, kindly translated by Stephen J. Clark. The book has short interviews with the most important names in the salsa movement of the middle 20th century through the book's publication date. The history of "salsa" music is just as misconstrued as jazz or any other musical phenomenon. Texts attempting to provide a generic history of music offer an incomplete picture. First person accounts relating to the time and place seem to provide more insight, and it's up to the reader to piece the information together and develop his or her own view of the history (in my humble opinion).

So I'm sitting in a bar in a town known for cycling, listening to commentary by Bob Roll, a guy the bartender knows personally, and watching the race with other people who actually understand the who,what, where, and why of bike racing. The experience brought back a flood of memories from my racing days- mostly the emotions I no longer access now that I've stopped competitive racing. As I sat there watching the race in my new character of anti-social tour person, always walking around alone and enjoying the time off, I was able to reflect on racing and what experiences were important to me. The following thoughts came to mind:

-Experiencing the feeling of being on the front of the race, feeling the energy of 99 other racers on your wheel, while leading through the wind provides an odd sort of adrenaline rush.
-The feeling of being near the back, coming out of turns, focusing on staying on the wheel in front of you without an ounce of energy spent on what's happening at the front... just trying to prevent a gap between you and the next wheel without blowing up.
-Balancing boredom with steady nerves and intensity.
-Attempting to read the feedback your body is giving (feed me, give me water, spin higher rpms, shift gears, loosen the shoes, take off the arm warmers, stop trying to kill me)
-Trying to stay patient when someone jumps off the front and you are forced to decide whether to follow the move, let someone else chase, or both.
-Always wondering if the move heading up the road is decisive or a waste of energy.
-Setting out for glory on your own before the final climb.
-Making ad hoc teammates in breaks, chase groups, or the lantern rouge (the dropped members of the field).
-Wondering if your teammates will ever repay you for the work you've done for them in a race.
-Hoping you grab your bottle in the feed zone, and if not, can you steal one at the end of the feed.
-Realizing the odds are 1 in 100 to win the race- there's always one winner and a lot of losers but always trying to keep that feeling alive that today can be your day.
-Trying to let go of the impending feeling of demise while on a 45+ mph descent in a pack of nervous riders.
-Avoiding fist fights while riding all out in the peloton when the bumping begins, especially along the barriers during crits.
-Always wondering if your legs/heart/lungs/brain can hold out for the finish line.
-Trying to select the best wheel to sit on for as long as possible.
-At the start of a race, wondering why everyone doesn't want to race bikes, only to question your own sanity for deciding to get into racing in the first place once the suffering begins.

I suppose these emotions may serve as metaphors for life, but during races, they become immediate- very present and very real. As a guy that pretty much just rides a fixed-gear around town instead of expensive road bikes with super light wheels and components (although, they are still in the garage), these emotions are rare, and do not translate well to a music career... or my music career. I've competed in music- concerto competitions, auditions, etc, but to me, the feelings are different, and I'm glad they are.

Back to the book...

J-

Santa Fe- good food, relaxation, music, and a documentary you cannot miss

Yes, this is a great town. Take some time in your life and visit Santa Fe. Enjoy the cuisine, the music, the art, the architecture, and the people. I was sitting at a restaurant with a friend from Plano, TX who was absolutely enjoying the people watching- much more interesting than the Dallas suburbs!

I spent the day off from playing with the band by reading geeky drum magazines and practicing my Mediterrasian Tambourine. Last time I was here in the land of green chile, adobes, and hemp clothing, I met up with Glen Velez to play frame drums and the Mediterrasian Tambourine.

As I footed it to the plaza from my hotel to choose a dining experience for lunch, I found myself walking at a mellower pace than usual, singing melodies in my head inspired by the fresh air, blue sky, and cool architectural designs in everything- doorways, cement work, fencing, etc, etc. Slowing down once in a while can only be healthy. Playing hybrid tambourines is also good for the soul... in case you were wondering. Only Santa Fe can remind me of these things.

This evening, Randy, our guitarist, flew in from Dallas. We grabbed dinner and went down to WilLe's Blues Club to catch the great local band, Nosotros. They rocked and had the dance floor packed. Maybe Tracy can eventually get me salsa dancing...

It's odd hanging out with great musicians like Randy Ro, Lane McCray (mentioned in a previous post), and others while watching a great band. It makes you think about who may be in your audience on any given night. I remember playing a gig in Palm Springs years ago and a gentleman came up afterwards and told me stories about playing in Sinatra's band... whoa.

As I attempt to mellow out for the night, I am listening to a set list for an upcoming gig I have with Eric Shiveley. He's a wonderful songwriter, musician, producer, videographer, writer, documentarian, and chihuahua enthusiast that I have the pleasure of knowing. We met a couple of years ago when he hired me to play drums for a video shoot he was doing for his award-winning documentary, Everyone But You. This movie rocks- find it, watch it, love it. He's an amazing talent and quite hysterical. Self depricating? Yes. A true artist? Yes. Check out some of his music, while you're at it.

Dallas to Clovis to Santa Fe and a New Marimba

Greetings,

As I sit in my hotel room in Santa Fe, enjoying the weather and feeling mellow from the margarita imbibed upon arrival, I am happy to report we landed the new marimba mentioned in previous posts. This instrument will be a wonderful addition to our instrument inventory and great for the studio. I am pleased... and relieved.

As for the tour, the trip has been relatively uneventful. We traveled west from the Metroplex of Dallas/Fort Worth and into the great cattle feed lot/oil country of West Texas. To my surprise, countless zero-emission, non-fossil fuel burning windmills pepper the landscape between Lubbock, Texas, and Clovis, New Mexico. On our route, we stopped in the appropriately named town of Mule Shoe, the birth town of one of our singers. Taking photos with the town mule statue was mandatory.

After a particularly rough sound check, we played a show in Clovis, turned in, and departed for Albuquerque this morning. According to the Tom Tom, we were 1/3 of a mile from our next gig when a very sweet older woman tried drinking her tea while driving. The end result was a collision- her car drilling our rental van. After a long wait for Albuquerque's finest to arrive and make a report, we coordinated a ride for those on the gig, and then August, Shonda and I continued on to Santa Fe, checked into our respective rooms, and immediately went to The Cowgirl for some Southwestern cuisine and margaritas... ah... Santa Fe.... I think I have to work tomorrow, but at this moment, nothing really matters.

Back in Texas...

Greetings Everyone!

Due to the cost of gasoline, an unintended aspect of travel includes free upgrades on rental cars. Turns out, economy/compacts are now popular, and mid-size cars are crap. My particular "upgrade" is a driving blind spot with AC unable to contend with the oppressive heat and humidity the Dallas/Ft. Worth area is experiencing. Texas, Texas, Texas...

We are locked in rehearsal mode for the next couple of days before setting out on what should be a decent tour. I say decent because it will take us through New Mexico and Colorado, with extended stays in Santa Fe and Durango. Who can complain about that? Well, I'll let you know- surely we'll have guilty parties.


Thoughts from today's rehearsal:

-I should find a psychologist/sociologist willing to split research on morale and the under-staffed percussion section.
-Playing drum set with a concert band is like trying to drive a tractor trailer on ice.
-I think I've played every piece ever written for the wind ensemble/ concert band... and if not, I might as well have- it's all running together....
-Pop tunes from last summer's Middle East/East Africa tour suck a year later. Although, we now have the guy from this group fronting our band. He doesn't suck. La Bouche was huge in Europe and evidently, did well here too. Even I know this song...

I'll write more as the tour progresses, assuming wifi stays free and plentiful. Less drama from last year's tour is guaranteed (no mortars/rockets/camels/biblical ruins/African villages/humvees/black hawks/and sweaty rides in C-130's)

Summer.... ahhh... ehhh???

It's summer. The season I craved since last summer wrapped up and the school year took hold. So why is it I wake every morning with a to do list longer than what I feel during the semester?

Despite my calendar looking sparse, I've had a lot going on. Besides the typical work on the house/yard/etc tasks, I've performed a few times locally, including with the "newest ensemble in town," The Jadid Ensemble- a group accompanying Middle Eastern dance... good stuff. Even presenting a music class for 75 wily little children at the local library took more work and planning than we would have liked... fortunately, Tracy is an early ed specialist... I just want to drum.

Getting the Alamosa Live Music Association's summer concert series together equals finding money. I scored a $2500 grant last night thanks to the tourism board, and with a little luck, I'll score big time with the Colorado Council on the Arts today...

A nice family vacation to the Isle of Palms, SC seems like the distance past as I sit in my office picking audition music for the ASC Big Band, working on those "professional affiliation" things that are evidently very important to one's career in higher ed, and working on a large item purchase previously mentioned in an earlier blog- help if you have money to give away!

Speaking of money, I am once again fortunate to have donors helping with the creation of this momentum-building creature called the Rocky Mountain Pan Handlers. Here's a picture of the steel drum band at Black Swamp Percussion- scroll down a bit... click here.

Tonight, I'm going to check out the local taiko group, which should be good. Tomorrow, I am attending a workshop hosted by author Wayne Sheldrake regarding how to get a book published- you know... just in case I write one... or do I already have one??..??.. stay tuned.

My mother and sister are driving out across the apparently cursed midwest and up to the high country for a week's vacation with us. It should be a great time and a reason to get out and see the local area. Hopefully we won't have to visit this place....

I head out on tour in a couple weeks for Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado, and then the rest of the summer should be mine... I think...

Done and Done!

Greetings,

At last.... done. The semester is over, I won the national search (and just like that, I'm a "jazzer") for the vacant applied position, grades are submitted, and my summer is in front of me! Last night, Tracy and I played the art gallery closing, I have no commitments for commencement, and with the exception of a gig for a lunch crowd on Wednesday and a gig in Houston next weekend, my summer is free until late June! Yea!

PS- if you want to play in the summer steel drum band, let me know.

PPS- if you are a male singer that also plays guitar and want to audition for our Irish band, let me know!

Almost There!

It has truly been a whirlwind of a month... wait... it's now May. Either way, the month of April sent me out of town on gigs, my faculty recital, a student's performance as concerto competition winner with the wind ensemble, his junior recital, a gig with the Rocky Mountain Pan Handlers (my steel drum band at ASC), and the percussion ensemble concert/steel drum concert. In the middle of all of this, I taught, had rehearsals in Dallas, and oh yeah, this little job interview. The interview is still up in the air, but hopefully will bring good news to me and the department very soon!

My recital went very, very well.... I love my Marimba One and it seems like Leon Recital Hall was built for marimba recitals! I played some Bach, some new music, some standards, and closed with my first singing in recital, ever. Nebojsa Zivkovic's To the Gods of Rhythm is a hoot to perform and I did so on my new djembe from RBI-Drums (Thanks, Michael!). Singing a Serbian Orthodox chant in mixolydian while drumming was a new experience and this piece will probably make my recruiting tour rep.

It's interesting how the memorization of the Bach Cello Suite concerned me more than anything that took place in my previous blog entries. Getting into a Humvee in Iraq to travel to a FOB didn't phase me... memory blanks raised concern. The memorization held and the playing went great. Preparation is key. (mantra).

My students are playing great and it was never more evident than on their recent performances. I am very pleased with the direction of the studio, percussion group, the steel drums, and the student's individual preparations. Good stuff. This recent percussion ensemble concert also gave the students an opportunity to play folkloric Afro-Cuban rumba, with folkloric dancers. It was an excellent production and now I have to brainstorm for next year's dancers... I've done Egyptian, now Afro-Cuban... I need to find some dancers from Senegal... any ideas?

With the end of the semester arriving in a few days, I look forward to concentrating on my next recording project... it'll be works for marimba/percussion and flute(s) and will be written by me, performed by Tracy and I, and will have a specific marketing niche. More on that once we get it done!

The weather is turning sweet here and I cannot wait to get outdoors again... there are fourteeners all around me and they need to be climbed. I also have bikes that are seriously in need of riding. I had dinner last night with a couple clarinetists from the Academy Band and it reminded me of how easy the good 'ole days of barely working were (no offense to them- they are great... it's the job that is easy!). I haven't ridden my mountain bike since I moved here... I used to live on that thing... and my road bike... now it's just the fixed gear to get back and forth to school... anyway.... rambling.

Another semester down and frankly, it was a good year. I am looking forward to the next... especially if Monday brings good news....

In Durango with the San Juan Symphony

I recently received a call to play with the San Juan Symphony- a professional orchestra in the Four Corners region and I was glad to oblige. The orchestra seems to exist thanks to what must be a massive endowment (but who knows). The pay is good enough, and it looks like over half the orchestra came in from points far beyond the four corners (Flagstaff, Boulder, Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, etc). They put me up in a hotel in Durango for the weekend and since I'm a fan of this town, including Steamworks Brewing Company, it's been nice on a few levels:

1. Playing with orchestras was my original goal in life. When I won my first "real" audition with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra and spent a few seasons playing with them, I realized, even if I were to win a major symphony gig, I'm not sure it would be that fulfilling... which leads me to #2.

2. In the second movement of Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances, I sit there for about 10 minutes before standing up, picking up my crash cymbals, feel my heart beat race to levels one feels with 200 meters to go in a bike race, hope I am in the right place, hope these two pieces of metal in my hands come together artistically in the way I've studied for years, and boom (or crash!) it's over and I sit back down. I can play a two hour gig with a rock band or a jazz group, jam hundreds, if not thousands of notes, and never feel an ounce of pressure.

3. There's a lot to be said about contributing to the performance of music with 100 others playing the works of great composers. You really can appreciate the importance of every sound and movement you make.

4. During my five years in California, I honestly must have played well over a thousand concerts. Since January, I believe I've played... including recording sessions.... maybe 10-15? I became desensitized from the process of performing and lost the connection to the composers and audiences from too many performances and I wasn't able to focus on growing as an artist. Of course I have a big gig coming up this Thursday, which leads me to #5.

5. My faculty recital preparations have worn me down. Chops are tired, my mind is cluttered, and I just want to play the music and move on. At first, I was hesitant to take this gig in Durango, for fear the time away from my marimba would hurt, but as I sit here in my hotel room, enjoying the fresh mountain air blowing in through the window and not feeling a care in the world, I know I made the right choice.

6. Back to #2... I am in the right place. Playing occasional orchestra gigs satisfies those earlier desires to do it for a living while allowing me to take on newer and more interesting challenges as a musician and educator. Playing with an orchestra recharges the creative energies as a "legit" musician which is very important personally and professionally.

I am off to find lunch, take a walk by the river and watch the kayakers and rafters work their way by. Next time I'm here, I'm bringing my bike. Maybe I'll even see this guy.

(I'm still a big cycling fan and Durango is a Mecca... Bob Roll, one of my favorite old school racers is around here somewhere...)

A plea to musicians to teach...

After spending the better part of the day adjudicating a solo and ensemble festival, I urge anyone with the ability to play music at a better than proficient level to teach music. Even if it's once a year, volunteering at your local public school, teach the students at least one thing you know.

It can only make a positive impact.

Recording Bach in the Living Room

It's much easier to move recording gear than it is my 5.0 octave Marimba One. For that reason, I've brought a recording rig, some good mics, and a couple of stands to my living room to record the Bach Cello Suite in G Major. I'm recording straight to CD (not a hard drive) which means I must have clean takes of each movement and wow... there are a lot of notes. I know how I want to play the suite, have my stickings worked out, phrasing of each line, tempi, rubato, dynamics, and so forth, but the art of playing marimba simply means you are using muscle memory to hit bars you sometimes cannot directly see. Just a slight distraction or mental hesitation leads to a clammed note and a recording that's no good. Now, I've done countless recording sessions in my life- from large ensemble to chamber, to solo, to tracking drum parts separate from the other musicians. I know what goes into a recording. Don Richmond's studio has a quote attributed to Bono- something along the lines of albums are like sausage, they're a lot more enjoyable if you don't know what went into them. With this current project, I cannot punch in sections because I'm not using recording software (ProTools, Q-Base, Logic Pro, etc). Ugh.

So, aside from living with salmonella in our water (actually, they are chlorinating the system, so it's not the salmonella that keeps me from showering and drinking the local water, but the high doses of chlorine that will burn if used), and some weird allergic reaction to something I cannot trace, I'm trying to get my mind around perfect takes of entire movements. It took me 35 minutes of recording time to get the prelude... that little tune EVERYONE knows. It's all mental... every last bit of it.

I have a private student who is a biology professor and obviously very, very bright. Our lessons are a joy because she asks brilliant questions and makes drastic improvements from week to week. Recently, we discussed the mental hang-ups so many of us have with live performance. I started pulling book after book off of my shelf dedicated to this issue and was reminded as I explained, it's an on going process. A never ending process, perhaps.

I was at a wedding a fews year back of some musician friends in Palo Alto and as musician weddings go, there was a lot of alcohol and a lot of musicians. I was having a conversation with a trumpet player who retired from a D.C. military band as a principal player and was the first call guy in San Francisco at the time. He and I had gigged together a few times and I knew him well. He asked why I wasn't presently taking auditions and I mentioned the fact I wasn't ready and my nerves would kill me unless I totally had my excerpts together. He laughed and said- beta blockers... everyone takes them. EVERYONE. Of course, I am well aware of beta blockers- I was in college once and on the audition circuit but it's hard to fathom needing medicine to calm one's nerves for an audition or performance. It's just music. Oh well...

Some really bad nerve moments:
1. Every audition I've ever taken
2. Playing a Zivkovic piece on a shared Day of Percussion with She-E Wu sitting 5 feet from me
3. The past hour trying to get the minuets down on tape


The process can only get better with practice. Recording seems to help. Preparation is an even better antidote.

Bach, err, Back to work.

J-

On the road again...

Greetings!

As I lay in my hotel bed in an unremarkable casino in Reno, it occurred to me that I've been on the road for over a week and my mindset has begun to shift back to the old days of touring with the band.

I started this string of gigs in Alamosa, actually. Don Richmond had me track some drums for a singer/songwriter by the name of Chris Coady and I followed it up by tracking percussion and drums for a great friend, Matt Schildt's (the theory/composition professor at the college) next album. Getting into the studio is such an important experience for a musician. Hearing yourself on playback instantaneously and then having to make the determination what you want to re-track versus leave while balancing the amount of time you have (and the artist can afford) is not always easy. It's also interesting to play with other musicians (who already put down their parts) you may never actually meet. In the case of Matt's project, it's fun to interpret his musical ideas into grooves and fills and help him create this album. I'm not sure how to classify the style of the album, but I know I like it.

The next stop was Shreveport, Louisiana where we put the band back together for a gig at the Horseshoe Casino. It's interesting how you just don't forget tunes you've played hundreds of times, regardless of the time between gigs. We did some jazz combo before the actual show and wow can that suck the life out of you when literally no one is listening. The show went off well, the crowd was good, and fun was had.

I then set out for California to play with the old band. Odd how some things never change while the personnel is practically all new. Troy is on his way to Alaska and Matt may or may not stay. The rest of the percussion section is new and I'm not certain what to make of them... It's definitely a different vibe from the good 'ole days of Marshall, Troy, Vince, Matt, and I. Speaking of Vince, we hung out the other night with Holly and he seems to be doing well. WGI stuff with his school seems to be very consuming. Today, we play for a CBDNA convention at the University of Nevada. Tomorrow I return home.

As I said before, my mind has shifted back to being on the road for a living despite the fact I have an entirely new life in Colorado. Although I've found a bit of practice time for my recital, it's disappeared from my daily thought- same is true with the pending percussion ensemble/steel drum band concert. It seems as though time suspends when I'm on the road. It's time to get home and get back to real life.

Valerie Naranjo and a New Marimba Fundraiser

Greetings, all!

I've been fortunate to teach at a school that is the hometown of the fabulous NYC percussionist, Valerie Naranjo. She is a member of the Saturday Night Live Band, arranged the percussion score and played for The Lion King Broadway show, recorded numerous albums and film scores, toured with Philip Glass for more than a decade, won major awards on several continents, including breaking new ground for women gyil performers in Ghana, gigs more than anyone, and frankly, she's an incredible person. Since I've been here (a little over 2 years), Valerie has done residencies at the college and this year was another treat. Her husband, Barry joined us and not only only is he a phenomenal jazz/latin/salsa pianist, but a fine trombonist (his major in college at Manhattan), and great afro-cuban drummer!

Valerie helped kick off the fund raising project I've started for a new 5.0 octave concert marimba with a very successful women's drumming class, sponsored by Vic Firth, Zildjian, and the Alamosa Live Music Association (ALMA), as well as a concert sponsored by ALMA. I was fortunate to collaborate on the program by playing tar on a piece (the photo was taken at the rehearsal- I'm actually playing a Cooperman hadjira and she's playing my new M1), as well as a trio of traditional Ghanaian drumming/singing. She's incredibly inspiring and I am so grateful she's from Alamosa!!

And by the way, if you are reading this and want to contribute to the marimba fundraiser- please contact me!!!

J-

Screws and a Plate for Tracy's Christmas

As the previous post mentioned, we took an excursion to the midwest for the holidays, including my father's 60th birthday (way to go, Dad!). Tracy, Gabe and I set out a few days before Christmas, just ahead of a brewing snow storm that would eventually lengthen our trip with a closed interstate and an unexpected stay in the "Little Apple" of Manhattan, KS. We made it to my mother's farm on the eve of Christmas Eve, celebrated, opened gifts with extended family, and settled in for the night. The next morning (Christmas Eve), a few of us took an excursion into the woods on ATV's and on Tracy's inaugural trip driving an ATV, she concluded her ATV life experience with a serious accident, sending her to the ER. The fact she merely fractured her wrist was amazing, and if it weren't for the helmet, it would have been worse.

The 26th, they set her wrist and we extended our stay in St. Louis, while taking in more family time, the St. Louis Symphony for New Year's Eve, and a long overdue visit with a friend since elementary school.

Once we returned to the dry, cool, and elevated San Luis Valley, she started to experience serious pain in her wrist. A follow-up x-ray showed more fractures than originally suspected and a shifted position from the initial set.

Needless to say, Tracy had to have surgery to screw all of the bones back together with a large plate, and we are anxiously awaiting the next several weeks/months as she tries to regain mobility and play her flute again.

ATV's and flutists... yikes.

2008 already

Greetings all!

As I write this first entry of the new year, it is hard to believe my previous entry was made while still in Africa. There was still much to do in the desert before returning- more traveling, more gigs, cleaning and repairing of instruments and gear, preparations for the next band's rotation, and, of course, preparing to return home.

The return home was a whirlwind and took place during the first week of the fall semester. We arrived in Baltimore. Baltimore to Dallas. I spent the night in Dallas and then returned to Albuquerque the next day, was met by Tracy and we made our way back up to our home in southern Colorado on a Thursday evening. I slept the next two days, had a gig with our Irish band, Tripping Upstairs on Sunday, and taught class on Monday. The whole experience quickly faded as new and important activities consumed my life.

To begin with, my studio grew with the addition of some great freshmen, I secured funds for, purchased, rehearsed, and staged a performance with my new and full steel drum band at the college (tentatively called the Rocky Mountain Pan Handlers- I am curious if there's a higher (as in, elevation) steel drum band in the nation (or world... hmmm).

The fundraising began for a new concert grand marimba for the school, while I patiently... ok, impatiently waited for Marimba One to finish building my personal 5.0 octave instrument. I hosted a guest chamber ensemble at the school, taught a section of music literature, percussion methods, ensemble, lessons, and two sections of hand drumming, while making a wonderful connection with a fantastic instrument builder right here http://www.rbidrums.com/ in the valley.

There were occasional gigs here, in Texas, at Don Richmond's studio, and beyond. PASIC was a treat, our newest faculty member (director of bands) is a great guy and amazing musician, and a trip back to the northeast was met with fun family times and a great trip to the Cooperman factory in Vermont. This trip led me to hooking up with Glen Velez in Santa Fe where Tracy and I had a wonderful vacation before returning to the midwest for the holidays (more on this later).

The original intention of this blog was to keep track of my travels overseas, but I now see it as a vehicle to keep track of my percussion life in general, with the occasional reflection on other things non-percussion along the way. I am scheduled to give a faculty lecture on January 30th regarding my thoughts and reflections from the trip, but it is all so fuzzy to me...

One thing that did keep everything in perspective was catching a Denver news story of Air Force guys returning to Colorado in early January from one of the bases we performed at in Iraq. Their deployment schedule would have had them at the base while we were there, and as I watched the story with hair that had not been cut since September, 25 lbs of extra weight, and a mindset of educator, not drum set player traveling overseas, the thought of those still over there from before I got there is something worth contemplating.

Enough on this topic for a while.