Tag: musician
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Identity and Representation
Little over a month ago I ran into a former student at a performance. As we caught up with one another, he mentioned conversations or topics we had explored a few times years ago. We discussed the idea of what it feels like when you feel like you don’t really, fully, belong where you are.…
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The Westerlies Tiny Desk Concert
I love having time to just listen to something new to me. I also love checking out familiar groups with new projects. One of the groups I like to follow is The Westerlies. I came across their NPR Tiny Desk Concerts performance from 2016. And I loved it! It’s a refreshing and inventive program, with…
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Color and Classical Music In December
Sometimes I look out into the audience when I perform music. I don’t mean to take an subconscious pole of the demographics of the audience, but it’s hard not to notice. The picture above isn’t what I usually see, in fact the picture below is more of the reality of I tend to notice. Often…
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Prince and 4 Square
I’m Getting Old and We Lost An Icon This week I spent time stretching before going out to do recess duty with middle school kids. Why do you ask, well that’s simple I tried playing “four square” with my students. Anyhow, it’s clear I don’t move like I used to…I’ve been limping since Tuesday. Today…
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Music and Spaces
Recently I played a concert in concert recital hall. The space was very intimate and the concert was around mid-day. At first I thought this was an odd time for a chamber music concert featuring the Stravinsky Octet and a few other works for the era. Odd until I listened to the New York Times…
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Song Exploder Podcast
A few days ago I found a new podcast to add to my rotation. And apparently, I love this podcast! Song Exploder is hosted by Hrishikesh Hriway and it’s super interesting if you are into deconstructing modern songs. I downloaded 3 episodes which included artist I admire and listen to often. I was blown away with…
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Quick Warm Up
Having a quick warm-up at my disposal has been a very useful to me. Somedays I have 40 minutes to get my face ready for a day of playing. Unfortunately too often I get only 10-15 minutes to play in the morning. And that’s it! So when my private student informed me that they didn’t have…
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Planets from my house part 6
My night started off with thoughts of jazz and beer. Brother Thelonious is great for both. Eventually I stayed up long enough to keep up with my latest hobby… Looking up. My kid calls Jupiter “daddy’s planet”, which lets me know the level of my geek is strong. This may potentially be the last time…
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Clark Terry RIP
One of my favorite moments as a trumpet student was listening to Clark Terry warm up back stage before a performance. He is also responsible for helping to shape my view of music and becoming a musician. In a master class his quote to the class about improvisation was “first you must imitate, then you…
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Best Seat In The Housemates
Generally, if you are on a stage performing, you are a fan of what you are performing. Either you like the act of sharing something with folk on a stage or you feel strongly about that specific artistic expression. I’m convinced every performer feels one of those mentioned before and I’m certain that I take…
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