Carl Horton

Prog-head Revisited

I was a teenage Prog-head. Doesn’t have quite the ring of Dead-head, but that’s what I was. I loved Progressive Rock- Genesis, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and most of all Yes.

http://www.yesworld.com/

These guys (almost always guys)  would mash up compound time signatures, modal improvisation, bleepo swooshy synthesizer sounds (I loved those!), and classical music posturing, all into the standard rock ensemble format. Vocals, guitars, bass, drums, & keys.  A few dashes of lute, pipe organ, or some such “legit” instrument, and voila!-

Prog Rock.

My dear friend Christine and I trekked any and everywhere to see these bands. I swear the members of Yes knew our names by the end of Summer ’75. Cobo Hall, Detroit, Pine Knob Theatre, Michigan Palace, these were some of our haunts.

http://www.motorcitymusicarchives.com/michiganpalace.html

So here’s the thing. The iPod revolution has hit me hard. I’ve loaded into my iPod hours of music that I haven’t listened to in decades, relistening to music that I loved as a kid and… man, some of it is so embarassing that I turn red just thinking about it.  I won’t even pretend that my not mentioning any of those particular names is anything other than what it actually is; pure embarassment. On the other hand, I proudly will mention that as a kid I loved The Beatles, Harry Chapin, Jimi Hendrix, ELP, Cat Stevens, Patrick Moraz, Harry Nillson, and, yes, Yes. Yes were pretty killer musicians. Okay there were a few excesses- multi-necked guitars, multi-disk concept albums, multi-keyboards.  And the clothes-  dangerously high platform shoes, spandex, sequined capes. But hey, if you grew up in the 70s, what did you look like? http://www.plaidstallions.com/fashion.html Not a pretty sight is it? And admit it, if you had had the dough and the nerve, look out Ziggy Stardust. But I digress.

 

Yes kicked off their North American tour in Hamilton on November 4, 2008. There were a couple of ringers in the band so extra pre tour rehearsal days were booked downtown. I made my way to their rehearsal space hoping to listen outside the door for a bit, but started to feel a little conspicuous and uncomfortable- a middle-aged, briefcase bearing man standing by himself in the hallway.  So I moved on, thinking  that maybe I would catch a glimpse of one of my idols over at Jackson Square, maybe one of them might be sitting in the foodcourt, eating a Gordita Crunch or something.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM-pN6yiDWA

 Which suddenly made me feel uncomfortable for the band. I mean, really… In their heyday these guys were selling out arenas like Madison Square Gardens multiple nights in a row. Millions of albums sold, and here they were opening their North American 40^th Anniversary Tour in Hamilton, Ontario. Now, I am NOT  knocking our fair city or the band. It’s just our size and location suggests that Yes was not exactly diving in the deep end; more like sticking a toe in the water, testing it out before really commiting. So with these fears that they may be mere shells of their former selves…I snuck into their final  rehearsal on stage at Hamilton Place. Their actual show date coincided with the U.S. presidential election and I had to pick one or the other and Obama won, and then Obama won. Okay, there were a few Spinal Tap moments during the rehearsal,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qomBWvdu_lo&feature=PlayList&p=13478F4D1C72C3D6&playnext=1&index=16

 

like trying to figure out a peculiar chord voicing “Isn’t it sort of an E minor thingy with an A bass, like?” or watching them huddle around to decipher a section of the “Yes Songbook:Complete!” purchased by the crew at a local music store because no one in the band could remember how some parts went. And really, 40 plus years of pretty complicated arrangements? Who could remember all that?

But what most struck me was this- These guys were working. And they were working hard. Days of rehearsal to perform some music that they’ve played for decades, and some music that they haven’t  played for decades. On stage they were commiting, really digging in, stopping and starting to clean up ragged bits, spontaneously dumping a pre-recorded part in order to play it live. These guys did not “phone it in” but were working really hard and playing really, really well. No eye rolling, bored sighs, weight-of-the-world/I’m-better-than-this attitudes. The original members, all well in to their 60s, have been to the mountain top, so to speak. And here they were in Hamilton, pushing that Prog-Rock back up the hill, once again.

 

A Most Memorable Moment

Now that the dust of the festive season has finally settled and I’m far removed from scurrying gig to gig, I can declare a winner in the “Most Memorable Moment” category- American Thanksgiving Dinner and Concert at Stewart Memorial Church.

Stewart Memorial was founded by former slaves who had made their way to Hamilton and freedom via the Underground Railroad.

www.virtualmuseum.ca/pm.php?id=exhibit_home&fl=0&lg=English&ex=00000236

I had been to Stewart Memorial once before when I was scouting for a gospel choir to sing background vocals on the music track for an ad campaign I was working on. The track needed a large, full-voiced vocal ensemble to pull off the part. Someone mentioned “a black church in downtown Hamilton” so I went to check it out one Sunday morning.  Well, of course there was a choir; a totally respectable group of 11 or 12. A few enthusiastic teens, the usual 2 or 3 mumblers, and a core of older women, the unbreakable backbone of every church choir, I think. They were all gamely working their way through a pretty traditional hymn arrangement.  It sounded really good but not at all what I had in mind.  I mean, what was I expecting?

ca.youtube.com/watch?v=etGrFu6dyAE

I swear, sometimes the depths of my shallowness can be breathtaking.

Anyway, fast forward to October 2008. Jesse O’Brien (a great pianist who floors me every time I hear him) emailed to ask if I was interested in a freebie gig backing up a singer for a church. It didn’t sound too promising but you never know where things might lead.  A woman named Evie called and explained that Stewart Memorial had been holding an American Thanksgiving Dinner and Concert every year since the Emancipation Proclamation. Thanksgiving was chosen because it offered the best opportunity for the reunion of family and friends who were once separated by slavery. Evie explained that  this year, in honour of Barack Obama’s election 3 weeks prior, they were planning extra music performances and meal seatings.

She said I would be fed Thanksgiving dinner. Now, usually when someone says they’ll feed me in lieu of proper pay I get a mental image of myself wearing a clapboard sign, circa 1933, that says “Will work for food”. At that point in the negotiations I usually get pretty snarky. But having retained my American citizenship, and having always made a point of celebrating American Thanksgiving, the evening sounded kind of fun. And knowing that it was Abraham Lincoln who proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday, I started getting pretty excited about playing at Stewart Memorial Church. I’ve been fascinated with Lincoln since the first grade, and the fascination continues. Even after my kids made me take down the framed portraits of “that creepy looking guy”, aka Lincoln, that had hung in our family room throughout their early childhood. I’m not kidding.

www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/al16.html

Now a little bit of background. The United States had been celebrating Thanksgiving since the pilgrims landed, but it was Abraham Lincoln who proclaimed it a national holiday in 1863, the height of the American Civil War. Here are excerpts from that proclamation-

“I do therefore invite my fellow citizens…those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving… And I recommend…humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers…to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it…to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.”

These are the words of a tall, gangly lawyer, former state legislator and member of congress for Illinois who was elected president, Abraham Lincoln. 145 years later we have… a tall, gangly lawyer, former state legislator and member of congress for Illinois who was elected president, Barack Obama. Like most Canadians (Yes, I am Canadian too, but only the good half) I was happy to see Obama win and, may I crow, I’m still collecting on bets made on the “point spread”. If I had only said 350 or more electoral votes, I could have retired a wealthy man. 

Now for the cherry on top. I asked Evie, the woman from the church, who I’d be accompanying on piano that evening. She said her niece, Colina Phillips. I told Evie that, coincidentally, I knew Colina. She’s a great singer and a fine person. Colina is a veteran of the Toronto jingle factories and recording industry and we had often talked about getting together to blow through some jazz tunes. Here was the ideal opportunity. Colina and I had a quick phone conversation about what tunes we’d do. Then she said those words that are music to a jazzer’s ears. “I don’t want to rehearse. I’d like to just hit it that night, if you’re okay with that”. Yes I am.  And Thanksgiving night Colina was amazing. In the sanctuary of Stewart Memorial Church Colina glided and soared through up tempo swing tunes, gently restrained ballads, and generously shared her love of music with me and a very appreciative audience. Standing ovation.

A church in Hamilton, founded by former African-American slaves, celebrating Thanksgiving just days after Obama, the first African- American elected to the office of Lincoln, author of the Thanksgiving Day and Emancipation proclamations.

After the show I picked up my dinner in the packed social hall downstairs, said my goodbyes and headed home thankful for being allowed to play a tiny part in a very, very big moment.

The Times of Our Lives

The Geritol Follies http://www.geritolfollies.ca/ just got back from a couple of shows at the Stephen Leacock Theatre in Keswick, Ontario. Interesting stage setup- it puts the performers almost at eye level with a lot of the audience and the thrust stage http://theater.about.com/od/actorsinformation/ss/theaters_5.htm makes entrances and exits challenging for such a large scale show. We were debuting The Follies’ new production,

The Times of Our Lives. Judging by the enthusiastic reception of the audience, it’s a hit! Here’s the basic premise- 

Frances, is an older women- attractive, full of life, and, sadly, a widow. She’s lonely and does her best to keep active. She joins a local theatre group, meets a guy and falls in love. They decide to marry.

Annie is a younger woman- attractive, full of life, and, sadly, a little straight-laced…and she doesn’t yet know that her grandmother is going to get married again. That’s where the show begins and the fun starts. For a preview article by Gary Smith,

click here-
http://www.thespec.com/Entertainment/article/367532

As Annie and Frances try to come to terms with each other’s expectations, the Follies cast of 100 tell their story through singing, dancing, and comedy. For instance, Annie asks Frances to tell her about this new guy, and the cast sings that classic Rodgers & Hart tune, Bewitched. http://www.nodanw.com/biographies/rodgers_hart.htm

Frances confesses that she didn’t always go to her Ladies Auxiliary Meeting on Thursday nights. It was always a Ladies Night, but…that’s when 10 Follies men dancers come strutting on stage to Hot Stuff, dressed (somewhat) as Chippendales. http://www.chippendales.com/

You get the idea. This show is moving, exciting, beautiful, inspiring, but mostly, it’s a LOT OF FUN.

Our next stop is Kitchener’s Centre in the Square, a beautiful theatre, on May 15

 http://www.centre-square.com  and, in September, Stage West Dinner Theatre in Mississauga. http://www.stagewest.com/

But you can see it right here at the Follies’ homebase, Hamilton Place. That’s where The Times of Our Lives is playing May 28, 29, and 30 for 4 shows. You can call 905 528-8095 or go to 

http://www.ticketmaster.ca/artist/1195966

 

Okay, I have to say it- You’ll have the times of your lives at

The Times of Our Lives.

Jazz at the Corktown (totally NOT toronto)

It seems every other American town of 25,000+ population has a club or bar that supports a big band night. Often it’s a gaggle of old timers reliving their salad days for an audience of old timers reliving their salad days. Even then, you’ll often hear a head-turning solo or outside chord voicings, and you can’t help but smile. More often it’s a mix of younger and older players chugging through a variety of younger and older charts. But it’s with a single, age-neutral purpose- to make that big sound you rarely hear outside of educational institutions- Big Band. Ocassionally the music strays toward good old fashioned swing just to placate the few dancers, but you can see the musicians du jour, or I guess du nuit, impatiently eyeing the next chart coming up that’s a little more challenging, like a Thad Jones/Mel Lewis number.

The other night I ventured out with my friend Jim McKeracher to check out Jazz at the Corktown with Darcy Hepner and his big band. Let me cut to the chase. Here in Hamilton we have a big band du nuit that is stacked with great players and remarkable soloists. I’ll name just a few, with apologies to the rest.

Trumpeter Jason Logue, who’s every swing through the chord changes somehow tops his last for solid intuitive ideas. Pianist Adrian Farrugia, a commanding and exciting soloist who can also comp with great ears and sensitivity. Mike Stuart, a big classic tenor sax sound, brilliant phrasing, and a truckload of joy in his playing.

I had to give my head a shake. A classic bar in an historic part of a real city with a real soul (uh, CBC? Totally not Toronto), listening to outstanding musicians play through Thad Jones/Mel Lewis charts. Mike Stuart said on the break “I’ve listened to and read about this band my whole life. But to sit and read through these actual charts, it’s tough, but what a gas!” 

Some rough edges? You bet. You can’t expect to get all these great players together for a full rehearsal. All the same, it was inspiring to watch this band charge through some tough material and experience some exciting moments along the way. I’ve heard some big bands that were so perfect and antiseptic you wouldn’t hesitate to brush your teeth with them. No thanks. I’ll take the real thing, please. And the real thing is right here in good old Hamilton.

Darcy Hepner is a deceptively calm, serene guy. Don’t be fooled. He’s full of energy and ideas. In his playing and equally as important, in the projects he keeps coming up with that we all end up benefiting from. So, needless to say, get to the Corktown next Wednesday night and every Wednesday night you can.

Looking Forward

September rolls in and it gets so busy I feel like I could just pick my feet up off the ground and events would just carry me along.

Actually, I’ve been feeling a little overcome by a few events since my last post- the passing of a few friends, my kids growing up and away too fast, so much music, so little time- like I’m riding a very fast river of time. Once again, it’s like I could just pick my feet up off the ground and the current would just push me along.

http://www.isixsigma.com/forum/showmessage.asp?messageID=17065

Okay, enough musing.

The Follies are preparing for a swing through Ohio, debuting this year’s Christmas show. The Follies Christmas show will be at Hamilton Place December 5-7 for four performances. You can get info at www.geritolfollies.ca If you want tickets, get them soon because this is proving to be the Follies’ most popular show. I spend a good bit of time prepping for these shows prior to rehearsals so that means that in the heat of this past July I was sitting on the patio sunning, and scripting and arranging music for a Christmas show. Strange, that.

Classes are going well at Mohawk Music. Particularly interesting is my ensemble which is working on a piece we call Kolo Blues 1 & 8 . It uses a Serbian melody www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolo_(dance) over a 12 bar blues routine by jazz organist Brother Jack McDuff. http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Jack%20McDuff.html

This is definitely a Frankenstein-like piece, but the beauty of it is it plays well to the various strengths of the members of this ensemble and they sound great playing it.

What’s coming up? A crazy assortment of gigs from Hamilton Place to a hotel in Brantford, from a well-paying scoring gig to a pro bono ad campaign. I enjoy it all.

What am I most looking forward to? The Christmas season, when I can liberally and irritatingly quote from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol at every opportunity that presents itself and my family and friends can’t object for fear of looking Scroogey.

So, let the games begin-

To sum up, I love what I do and am very grateful to “have had the lightest licence of a child, yet been man enough to know its value.”

-Charles Dickens

http://www.stormfax.com/1dickens.htm

NYC

Just back from a couple of days in Manhattan. Always a sublime rush.

Highlights in chronological order-

1- the very cool hotel at 30 E. 30th St. http://www.thirtythirty-nyc.com

2- the 3 thuggy looking guys on the subway who, when the doors closed, yelled, "IT'S SHOWTIME, FOLKS!" and had my girls cowering, expecting gunfire and not a totally respectable doo-wop version of Under the Boardwalk.

I gave them 3 bucks, it was so good.

3- the corner bodega/deli short-order cooks who hate how non-New Yorkers (especially Canadians) order- “Oh, gosh, it all looks so good…Is the bacon really salty? I don’t know… Trevor, what are you going to have?” New Yorker (actual order)- “Sesame seed roll, no butter, egg white omelet, provolone on top. Quick. Thank you!”

http://www.lewrockwell.com/callahan/callahan138.html

4- walking down designer knock-off central, Canal St. and hearing the constant murmur “Prada, Gucci, Chanel” and how that chant magically and instantly disappears when I leave my 3 female companions.

5- leaving my 3 female companions to stroll around the Lower East Side, http://www.tenement.org/Virtual_Tour/index_virtual.html boyhood home to many of my idols- George & Ira Gershwin, The Marx Brothers, Irving Berlin, etc… while listening to scratchy old 78s, ironically, on my ipod.

6- discovering that the amazing Eddie Gomez http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obDxgY6T10Q&mode=related&search

will be playing with the Larry Willis Quintet at Jazz Standard http://www.jazzstandard.net/red/index.html just two blocks from our hotel in about 2 hours.

7- listening to this incredible quintet and adding one more reason to my already long list of reasons why I could never share a bandstand with the likes of these guys- I can’t keep a straight face that long. I have terrible “game-face”.

8- checking out the Annex’s antique and fleamarkets Sunday morning alongside Manhattan’s Sunday morning eccentrics. (Hear in the Hammer we can only afford to call them crazies)

http://www.hellskitchenfleamarket.com/index.html

9- the trip out of the city and up through the beautiful, green Poconos back to my big comfy house surrounded by trees, knowing that I’m actually living a New Yorker’s dream.

Instant Karma?

In this post I’m not going to reveal the names of others involved because the issue involved is of a highly sensitive and embarrassing nature- New Age music.

Okay, I confess. I played on a few New Age albums. It was just a few times and I’m not proud of it but I’m not ashamed of it. In fact, I think I’m stronger for having done it.

For those who may not know what New Age music is, it’s sort of relaxation/meditation (medication?) music that goes nowhere fast. Think of the sound of a babbling brook in the background with over-echoed piano plinks in the foreground, and you pretty much got a New Age hit right there. Suffice it to say, New Age never got a lot of respect, although its proponents claimed New Age was a link to the “Eternal”, the “Karmic”, the “Godhead.”  Whatever.

I had been hired to fly to Milwaukee to finish up overdubs on a New Age CD. I hated flying, but that was where the label was based, so there was no choice.

This particular label was owned and operated by a group of people who hailed from a particular North European country known for its cold, stark climate and its even colder and starker inhabitants.

On arrival in Milwaukee I was introduced to the project’s co-producer. Let’s call him Svend. Things went pretty smoothly in the studio once everyone got used to each other’s working styles and we all got used to the fact that Svend was from another planet, apparently.

We were working on the start of a track that had a delicate oboe line and I think some wind FX when Svend asked what I thought could be added. I had been playing around with a new hard-disk system that provided instant access to thousands of sounds and quickly dialed up this monstrous sounding stereo sample of a helicopter landing. Everybody got very quiet and looked at Svend. He said, “Where do you hear that, exactly?” Then everybody looked at me. I said, “I don’t know where exactly, but usually in wars and stuff.”

This cracked everybody up, except Svend.

Looking back, it seems that almost instantly Svend was driving me to the airport for my dreaded return flight to Toronto. I think it was actually the next day, though. He paid me and thanked me for my contribution to the “music freedoms” or something like that. No one could understand him half the time.

I was about an hour early, so I killed some time in this really cool used bookstore in the Milwaukee airport and almost missed my flight. Running through the terminal I dug out my boarding pass and flashed it at the gate. The attendants waved me down the ramp and said, “Hurry, it’s just about to taxi out.” I made it and nervously settled into my seat. As the plane rolled out to position I noticed a lot of cowboy hats and plaid shirts and thought “Huh, must be a convention or something.” The pilot welcomed everyone aboard and ended with “It’ll be about 10:00 when we arrive in Nashville.” NASHVILLE?

The flight attendant tried to calm me as I stuttered “To-ron-to, I’m go-ing t-too To-ron-to!”

The airline was great in making the connections for getting me to Toronto that day. I went from Milwaukee to Nashville, TN, to Dallas, TX, to Charlotte N.C., to NYC, to Toronto. Each stop I ran into the terminal, made a phone call home just to see it on my phone bill at the end of the month, and bought a newspaper for the flight. Each plane I boarded the flight attendants said, “Oh, so you’re Mr. Horton”, while they glanced at each other with a smirk, trying very politely to not laugh out loud at the obvious sad-sack standing in front of them. “We’d like to offer you a first class meal and free drinks for this flight”, they said on all five flights. Many hours, meals and drinks later my final flight landed in Toronto. I didn’t land till quite a while later.

I still can’t help but wonder if my little journey would have occurred had I not made a helicopter joke at a New Ager’s expense.

The Mouse That Roared

The next time you’re at a chain restaurant for someone’s birthday and the wait staff all gather round your table to do that particular chain restaurant’s birthday song, (you know, the doofus quasi-cheer with a lot of clapping parts and mildly bored faces “Ooah, ooah! It’s your birthday!” clap clap clap) remember this- it’s not some sort of homey tradition or endearing display of esprit de corps. It’s most likely a corporate directive to not, repeat, NOT  sing Happy Birthday.

Happy Birthday, written in 1893, is still under copyright and is not a cheap purchase. That’s why you rarely hear Happy Birthday completely sung in a movie or on TV- it’s too expensive to use and too dangerous to try to sneak in.

Happy Birthday owes its long copyright life to, among a few other bizarre factors, the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act of U.S. Congress, 1998. Bono was a copyright holder of many titles including I Got You Babe. Of I Got You Babe he said “I was just trying to sound like Dylan.” Hum it in your head, it’s hilarious!

Till the Bono Act the limited duration monopoly that defines copyright was the creator’s lifetime plus 50 years. It probably would have stayed at 50 if “Steamboat Willie” wasn’t about to fall into the Public Domain. That’s right. Mickey Mouse, Disney’s corporate logo, mascot, and number one star was about to become the property of everyone in the world, not just Disney. There were a lot of other lobbyists for sure, but Disney had the most at stake.

Like Sonny Bono and Disney I hold copyrights. And I’d like to see them retain as much value as possible. But the complete flipside to this way of thinking is the Internet’s premise that “Information needs to be free.” That we will all profit from the free exchange of information, ideas and even the free exchange of artistically creative works. On a philosophical level I agree. However, I think it’s essential for there to be a system of monetary incentive for people to continue to create music. And I do like getting credit for the music I write, and I do like the concept of my kids still cashing cheques earned by their old man’s music long after I’m gone.

But, then I think of the lyrics for Happy Birthday. They will have generated about $4,000,000 more for its publishers from now until the time its copyright lapses in 2008.

You’ll have to sing them through in your head because I can’t afford to type them here.

Go figure.   

Keith Jarrett

I first heard Keith Jarrett on the recommendation of Patrick Moraz. Moraz had just replaced Rick Wakeman in the prog-rock band Yes and I was anxiously learning all I could about this relatively unknown keyboardist. Moraz said in an interview in Melody Maker magazine that one of his biggest influences was another (to me) unknown keyboardist, Keith Jarrett.

I tore down to Harmony House Records (Detroit, where we lived in 1976) and bought a double white album with Jarrett’s picture on the cover. Back home again I put the first disk on my parents hi-fi. The Koln Concert. Listening to a rather long piano intro, I patiently waited for the band to join in, or maybe some synths to start winding up. (This was 1976, after all)

…piano, piano, more piano…I grabbed the record jacket to look for a listing of band personnel, or a listing of keyboards used. No band, just Jarrett, no synths, just a slightly ratty sounding Steinway. To my horror, I realized that I had just purchased, and was actually listening to… a solo piano record. Let me make this long story a little shorter. Two months later I was lying flat on my back between the speakers listening to the Koln Concert for hours at a time. (Mr. Boldt, Grade 11 Geography, now you know where I was all those periods.) In fact, I just listened to The Koln Concert again today, 30 years later while digging in my garden. No voice, no drums, no synths, just a player and a piano.

I’m still fascinated with technology- wacky inventions, computers, synthesizers, bells and whistles- all kinds. It’s taken almost 30 years, but I’ve come to see that the piano, when it comes right down to it, is just a big machine. A very solid and refined one, but a machine, nonetheless. I often tell my electronic music students that if you scuffle your feet across a carpet and touch a PC there’s a good chance you’ll scramble it’s nimble but fragile little brains, rendering it useless for a while. I tell them, if you want truly advanced technology, buy a piano. It’s been refined for 300 years and won’t stop working because of a little static electricity.   

Keith Jarrett continues to be an outspoken proponent of acoustic music. Whether it’s digging ever deeper with his jazz standards trio, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io1o1Hwpo8Y&mode=related&search=

interpreting classical repertoire from Bach to Shostakovich, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL9aEdOT_6s&mode=related&search=

(the critics were smacking their lips waiting to rip Jarrett to shreds, only to eventually admit that he is a profound interpreter of this repertoire), or if he’s playing extended solo piano improvisations like The Koln Concert,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPqK1JJOFxw&mode=related&search=

Jarrett’s output is staggering. Confession- the 10 disk Sun-Bear Concerts were released in 1978. Jarrett has added to his body of work at such an astonishing rate that I’ve only gotten through 8 of the 10 disks. Embarrassing, but Jarrett can produce music faster than I’m able to even listen to, or absorb.

Prickly, joyous, morose, obtuse, heartbreaking…thrilling.    

A New Clutch

This’ll be a quick one. Haven’t posted in a while and I had such a wild day I have to write it down to get my head around it.

1-    Uploaded a bunch of movie clips for my electronic music class at Mohawk College to begin their final scoring assignment. (Some of these kids are GOOD writers!)

2-    Held class and walked them through how to access and begin scoring the clips on their computer work stations.

3-    Discussed the previous day’s master class with Bill Dillon. Bill, a great guitar player, has worked with everyone from Bob Dylan to Peter Gabriel to Nigel Kennedy. Oh, and he is a master.

4-    Led my ensemble in the afternoon.  This group has grown a lot since the fall when I first heard them and thought, “Okay, let’s get to work. Now”.

5-    Had a budget meeting at Hamilton Place concerning upcoming Follies shows.

6-    Then off to a meeting at the Sheraton to discuss producing weekly jazz shows there. More on that later.

7-    Attended the Sears Drama Festival at Sir John A. McDonald and saw some really great student theatre. (Way to go Jill!)

I’ve said it a million times by now, and I’ll say it again. I love all of the many gears I find myself in on any given day. The hard part is not any particular gear I happen to be in. The hard part is shifting between them.

I think I need a new clutch.