Comments (0) Two tracks I can’t get enough of right now:
Claudia Quintet – Keramag, from Royal Toast
I love the melody that first shows up at 1 minute 1 second that the vibes and piano play together. It gets moved around and displaced throughout the entire song.
Christian Scott – American’t, from Yesterday You Said Tomorrow
For me, this one is all about the guitar part 32 seconds into it.
So here I am, almost 3 months into working exclusively as a musician and teacher.
It feels as though my workdays have become compressed; lessons can’t start until kids get out of school, and gigs and rehearsals are almost always at night, plus most gigs are squeezed onto the Fridays and Saturdays of the week. In this way, I kind of have an early night schedule now, which is kind of funny. The trick, as I’ve told several of my friends, is turning that downtime during the day into something productive, which I’m still learning to do. So far I think I’ve been doing okay.
I also feel like I’ve learned a bit about the business and non-musical side of playing saxophone over the last 3 months. I’m really lucky to be playing in 3 bands with a member that has taken it upon themselves to handle those aspects, and in all 3 cases I’m really impressed with what they do. Right now I’m just trying to watch them and pick up what I can.
Something I’ve been thinking about more and more is how important it is to believe in the value of your music. It may seem obvious, but I have to condition myself to see the music I play as something of real value and importance, and a service worth paying for.
Of course, that mindset can be taken to an extreme, and of course I want to share my music with as many friends and family as possible (without milking them for money all the time), but I think I do need to get more into that mindset of music performance as a job, a job I enjoy and am lucky to have, but a job nonetheless. And, by the same token, I always should work toward doing that job in a professional way and at as high a level as I can.
See you out and about soon!
-Art
My New Year’s Resolutions. They’re fairly general, and although I make them and quickly break them every year, this time around feels different; I think they will stick, at least for a little longer than normal!
1. Take it easy – sleep more, drink less.
2. Practice – every day, if possible.
3. Get out more – see more music (especially that one), go to the museum, aquarium, movies, etc.
4. Lay off the computer – except for email, calendar, and website. Lay off the social networking and make the effort to reach out to people more rather than just peek at their profile and see what they’re doing.
5. Bring my horn to sessions – I’ve gone back and forth on jam sessions/sit-ins for a long time, and now I’ve switched again. Yes, they always have the potential to spiral out of control, and the music suffers in those cases, but they can also help solidify connections with other musicians, and (sometimes) be really fun!
Even if I don’t end up strictly adhering to these, I think January is always a good time to reevaluate things and take a look at some self-improvement; it’s better than fooling yourself into thinking that everything is going how you want it to and you don’t have to change anything about yourself.
Wish me luck!
- Art
I remember the first time Birch Pereira told me about this scene. I had never seen Flight of the Conchords before, and this was the scene he described to me to convince me to watch the show; not because it was hilarious (it is), but because it really illustrates all the problems you have to deal with as a musician. It seems funny to me now to look at Flight of the Conchords as a deep and profound take on the plight of the modern-day musician, but this scene still sticks with me.
I’m getting closer to trying to play and teach music full time. Mid-January is when I’m aiming to make the jump, and I know it will be here more quickly than I expect. That’s probably why I’m taking on as much as I am now; I’m trying to get some momentum so that I can hit the ground running when the time comes. Will I still have to find other non-musical work to get by? Possibly, but as long as I have to time to write and play, I believe I’ll be happy, and hopefully I can make the necessary financial and lifestyle adjustments when the time comes.
It’s still months away, but I think about it all the time…
Last week was one the busiest playing weeks I’ve had in a long time. It’s not often that I have many weekday/midweek performances, so it was kind of a new experience for me. This is also on the heels of a couple of sub gigs I’ve recently done, so I’ve been thinking a bit about playing music and playing with different people.
- So many great musicians! There’s always that amazing player in town that you haven’t met, or that person you’ve seen around but haven’t listened to and then they blow you away.
- Interacting with a lot of different musician friends makes me a better saxophonist. Sometimes when playing in a band, you get really comfortable just doing what you’re already good at, so it was great to be challenged to play in a different way to fit whatever setting I was in.
- I can see now the huge difference time can make on a band and the way musicians play together. The level of music-making that comes from people that play together all the time and have done so for a while is super high.
- On the other hand, there were many moments where I really felt like there was some awesome music going on with people I had either just met or didn’t know very well, so I guess it just depends.
I made many of these same points in my previous sideman post, but recent events brought them back to the forefront so I thought I would share them again. That’s what a blog is for, right?
- Art
Highlights from my recent trip to visit my sister in Chicago:
- Wiener Circle
Man these people are mean! If you make it through your order and get a chance to stay and watch the massive hating and trash-talking they give their customers, though, it’s hilarious. Late night it’s a madhouse.
- Chicago-style hot dogs
I’m okay with the whole no ketchup thing, and I’m definitely on board with the tomatoes and onions thing. The celery salt and dill relish thing took me by surprise at first, but I was digging it by the end.
- Lake Michigan
It’s huge! In Seattle we’re used to seeing the peninsula and other land masses when we look out across the Sound, but when you look across Lake Michigan it’s like being on the coast; it stretches all the way to the horizon. The city is right on the water too, so you have a very cool juxtaposition of sandy beach next to the city.
- Elly’s
Apparently this is like the Denny’s of Chicago to locals, but my sister likes it, and I do too. Hawaiian omelette for the win.
- Chicago Jazz Festival
FREE! Plus, beer was sold inside Millenium Park where it was held and you could walk around no problem. Gerald Clayton’s trio was super tight and I was hoping to catch some of Maurice Brown but ran out of time.
- BYOB restaurants
A genius idea that I would LOVE to see in Seattle more often.
- Wrigleyville/Wrigley Field
The street of bars and pubs runs right into the Field at the end of it, and there’s cubs gear EVERYWHERE. Everyone has something related to the hometeam on, even moreso than at a Sounders game. I liked that. And the field: obviously, it’s a classic ballpark, but it also is a great place to watch a game. All the bigger concession stands are below the seats, so once you get upstairs, the seats extend almost all the way to the edge of the park. It kind of made it feel more open.
- Chicago-style pizza
Yes, Chicago-style is thicker, and they do layer toppings, but no one told me about the crust! Buttery and flaky deliciousness in a deep dish pan.
- Kingston Mine
Blues club in Lincoln Park. No cover w/student ID = equals really fun party with college kids going crazy dancing to blues music. And, of course, the music kicked ass. These guys seemed to me to be the real deal. Unfortunately the jam session portion had ended by the time I got there.
CHICAGO IN GENERAL
I had a great trip to Chicago. Some of that may have been because it was my first visit, but I definitely plan on going back and exploring more. SO MANY PARKS, and big ones too. The whole city feels very open, and the people are friendly while still being straightforward and honest.
Until next time!
- Art
Some new things adding a bit of organization to my life:
This Sunday I start teaching again. I’m really looking forward to it, and I’m motivated to be a better teacher this time around.
I wasn’t awful before, just disorganized, constantly scribbling things out for my kids on staff paper or making copies out of the various books I had. Now I want to have a solid curriculum, a better plan with goals and markers I can use for students to actually mark progress. We’ll see how it goes.
Teaching also affects the way I look at my own playing, which would be good for me right now. (And it ensures that I will be in a practice room all day, another good thing).
I started swimming laps a couple of times a week. I swam in 7th and 8th grade, but that was it. I enjoy it though; maybe I get some sort of Zen thing out of it, being isolated from the rest of the world, just focused on yourself and your breathing, and it feels good to exercise again (it’s been a little while). Who knows, maybe that will help my playing too.
I think what I really hope to get out of adding this stuff is a bit of direction, or at least some more productivity. I’m pretty sure most of the time I’m not feeling great it’s because I don’t feel like I’m doing anything of value, to other people or to myself, so hopefully these will help. Time will tell!
- Art
Above: an old favorite from dogsitting not too long ago
I’m in a funk, and not the good kind.
Some tunes that have been helping me when I’m feeling down lately:
Homebase NYC – Sleep (featuring Coco O.)
Band of Horses – No One’s Gonna Love You
Gretchen Parlato – Weak
Above: A friendly moth from Lopez Island. Just for fun.
Hardcoretet is packaging the new recordings and video footage for release as well as writing and rehearsing new material for the next round of performances.
The Polyrhythmics debut album will be released next week, with some fun festival work coming up this Spring/Summer.
Theoretics still has strong momentum from the album release a couple of months ago, and plans are in the works for possibly another music video and new material in the near future.
So some exciting things on the horizon! Always work to do though…
I’ve been writing and trying to complete the same Hardcoretet music for quite a while, and it’s starting to get frustrating. I’m practicing more, but the routine is still pretty inconsistent. And I need to go to more shows. I find myself in this 3-band cocoon where I play shows with them but don’t often get out and check out other music, as though I’m isolated from all of the other awesome bands and communities out there.
That’s just complainer-mode though; I’m lucky to be involved in such rewarding projects, and super lucky to have loved ones that are smart, funny, encouraging, and generally a joy to be around. I know that if everything went to hell I would still have great friends, which is comforting.
I think I’m on the edge of something, but I’m not sure what’s to come. I guess we’ll see.
-Art
This past weekend the group Slumgum came to Seattle as part of their album release tour. Slumgum is a quartet that plays a blend of free and composed elements that give them a really individual sound, sometimes delicate and other times in your face, sometimes long waves of sounds and other times precise rhythms, sometimes loose improvisations and other times intricate composed melodies. The result is a style that is a lot of things all at once, and a really creative band that works as a team to bring a creative experience to the listener without losing interest or energy. They’re awesome.
My old roommate and friend Jon Armstrong, who graciously offered up his residence to all of us in Hardcoretet when we played with Slumgum in L.A. a while back, is the saxophonist in Slumgum, and it was wonderful to get the chance to catch up with him as well as talk to Trevor, Dave, and Rory a little bit about the band. As it always happens with these kinds of conversations, I end up going Chris Farley on myself (“stupid, STUPID!”) 5 minutes after or the next day thinking of what I should have said or asked and wondering why the heck I said whatever it was I said. And, of course, there was so much more I wanted to cover, but I guess I also didn’t want to corner them in an hour-long music conversation; another time, I suppose.
That’s it for now. I’m planning on changing up the blogging a bit here. Past posts have been fairly long, which has set up kind of a self-imposed pressure to only write if I can write extensively, and those longer posts can often be intimidating reading as well. I’m hoping that with shorter entries from here on out, I can write more often and with more variety, and you will enjoy the site a little more too.
Stay tuned!
Art
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