Hi all!
Lots to catch up on here. I got the chance to do a few local music and radio shows last month with some of my favorite musicians in town:
Tim Kennedy band on KNKX: Tim has gotten pretty regular mention on this site for good reason, he has been a significant positive influence on me since I started playing music professionally. In addition, I’ve listened to 88.5 since I was a boy, sometimes recording jazz overnight onto cassette tapes, so this show had an added personal importance.
Polyrhythmics on Artzone with Nancy Guppy: I performed on Artzone with Theoretics several years ago, but never put up the footage. Artzone is a program that’s really valuable to Seattle arts and culture, in my opinion. I first started playing closer attention to it when there was a really endearing segment with Nancy and Bill Frisell.
In addition, Theoretics were chosen to a part of Playback, the Seattle Public Library’s program that promotes and supports local music and artists. There are a lot of great bands involved, so check it out!
All of these organizations, as well as ones I’ve talked about in the past like Seattle Art Museum and KEXP, are doing really essential work in nurturing local music. I’m thankful to be working with them occasionally and, in turn, want to support them as best as I can!
I finished the My Life with Earth Wind and Fire, the autobiography of Maurice White, and found it to be beautiful; White was a passionate musician with a vision, and the trajectory of his life made for a moving story.
I’m now reading Straight Life: the autobiography of Art Pepper. I would venture to say it is much darker than White’s autobiography, and there are many tragic parts of Pepper’s life that the book covers, but it is just as moving. The things that were done to Pepper and the things he did to himself and others are hard to read about at times, and the book has changed the way I look at the musicians and music of the 50’s and 60’s.
That’s it for now, hopefully more to come soon!