all over the map

i spent the last 2 days literally all over the country because of a family emergency. things are definitely all over the place right now.

i just started teaching at csuf, the classes are good and the students are more enthusiastic than i remember. its going to be very interesting teaching entry level dictation and eartraining while also preparing older ones for student teaching. in many ways its similar to working with 5-12 grade students at viewpoint.

scott is getting married saturday. i couldn't be more happy for him. i think he and sophie started dating soon after he joined the pbe. she brings out all the best in him. guys like us sure get the better end of the deal. he is a great friend, confidant and calm head to listen to my plans of world domination. the wedding is going to be very cool. our bass player's other band, "kid and nic show" is also playing the reception. it cannot get any better.

i'm also very fortunate to have talked (too briefly) two the leaders of two great bands in at mr. t's. the arroyo arts collective asked me to put together a music festival to end this years discovery home tour. the first two guys i called were roderick cumming (cat hair ensemble) and timothy sellars (artichoke). i'm a great fan of what they are doing artistically and musically. they each have a unique stage show and their lyrics and music have something you can sink your teeth into. i cannot really do them justice at 11pm tonight, but more to come on these great bands soon....

change is stressful, so far this week has been insane.
thank god for deb (and scooter, dolly, javi, peepers and chachi) they are my foundation. without them none of this would matter.

because we are dead

because they are dead is officially dead.... at least the name. all the emails and comments i received made me realize that calling the smaller group by a different name was a mistake. maybe i thought i was being cool and thought people would like us better with a non-sequitur title. some jokes should probably never leave rehearsal. another problem is that the paul bailey ensemble name has always carried a little too much baggage, the name is so ars antiqua. to me it conjures up pictures of philip glass, steve reich, and michael nyman's ensembles. on the other hand since most people have no idea who those guys are so maybe it doesn't matter. i'm not really comfortable with naming anything after myself but at least the title is clear, you know what you get and who get it from.

anyway in conclusion... mistake admitted, coverup adverted, back to it.

upcoming shows of the smaller, cooler, properly names paul bailey ensemble

wed sept 14th, biola university 12 noon

thurs sept 15th, mr. t's bowl, 9pm

sun sept 25th, mr. t's bowl, 9pm

sun nov 20th arroyo arts collective fall music tour
lineup to be announced soon, mr. t's bowl, 7pm

its all about distribution

over the weekend the la times music critic marc swed takes a tour of the counties major orchestras and makes the point that they all have one thing in common, they play inspired performances and engage their audience in interesting pre and post concert dialogue. swed also downplays the "old wine and in new bottles" marketing rhetoric and "music man" gimmicks of "specially programmed pda's", single's nights and video game concerts that orchestral managers are using these days to sell tickets. after sampling the best most of their performances, he points out there is no easy formula for success. "...big is not necessarily better. Fresh is better. Engaged is better. Rapport between orchestra and audience is better. Leading is better than following."

maybe the problem isn't just poor marketing and uninspired playing? much has been said about this summers less than inspired movie season, but what would happen if hollywood programmed movies like many orchestras? we probably would have been fed revivals of jaws, jurassic park, and star wars all summer (oh look how well that is selling) and would have to watch another new directors cut again of "classic films" (inspired performance). even if a night featured one of my favorite films, i'm pretty sure i wouldn't want to fight the traffic and parking when i could stay at home and watch the dvd. the current audience that is left to attend orchestra concerts reminds me of my baseball friends who obsess over their trading cards and statistics of their hero's who have long since retired.

the real problem is all about content. how many new compositions are performed each year that are as strong artistically as chinatown or the godfather, or as contemporary and fresh as miranda july's me you and everyone you know. the film industry has its own problems and have its share of trash, but there are still many more diamonds in the rough that come out every couple of months. the most anticipated new work coming out this fall is john adam's new opera dr. atomic which you can only see in san francisco. how long till anybody else can see it? will it ever have other performances? when you compare the promise of the current technology and with the reality of the classical musical world. its all about exposure. how many of these great "inspired" performances has anybody seen? how many people have seen a philip glass opera? the inability of arts organizations and composers to create easily accessible video recordings of their performances is probably the main reason the tradition is dying.

technology is now all about distribution. the new generation of file sharing programs like bitcomet and azureus make it easy share anything that can be digitally encoded online (books, radio, music, tv and movies). although most of the press focus on piracy, the free flow and dissemination of ideas is the true revolution. artists are bypassing traditional outlets like of newspapers, bookstores, tv, and radio to promote and share their creations online. blogs and podcasts have made it available for musicians and composers to discuss their creative process and send it directly to their audience.

luckily for us we don't have to wait around anymore for the orchestra to heal itself. technology has made it possible for us to to bypass "limited channels of classical music presentation" and make our own path.

back to school

the last couple weeks i have been gearing up for my return to teaching, although this year is much different. class starts in 2 weeks and usually time of the year is all stress. part of it is worrying about the simple things, did they screw up my schedule? how many of my best students will have conflicts with my ensembles, is the music room going to be hosting math classes again?

well... this fall none of that will happen. i do have a small amount of stress for classes i'll be teaching at csuf, but really i don't feel like i'm in for the usual fall drama. right now my biggest problem is getting keys to my classrooms and office. ( i'll take that anyday, although how hard can it be to get keys made) also my schedule has turned into a real nice one; 4 classes, two days a week that range from freshman ear training to a mix of music education classes and supervision of some student teachers. i've signed up for the commute to work program and will be taking the goldline and metrolink trains to school. its going to be great giving up driving 350 miles a week.

for the first time in 11 years it will be strange not working with any ensembles. i know i'll miss working with the kids. i feel really fortunate to have been able to teach from the beginning to the end. (5-12) it was always a great to have that mix in your day; 5th graders who come in with so much energy, middle schoolers with their detached and awkwardness to high school seniors who are starting to get excited for their college years.

its hard to think that i might not ever teach those ages again. the conflicts that arise with composing and performing don't mix well with secondary schools. if it couldn't work out at a private school like viewpoint, i'm not sure if it would work anywhere else. when i started out teaching at 25 i never envisioned my life as it is now. i thought teaching kids was going to be my career. over time i realized i needed performing and composing in my life, i couldn't just give it up that easily. i'm happy with all the years i spent teaching younger kids and feel lucky for the time i had. its been a strange journey and i'm looking forward to the next step.

mr. t's bowl 080705

sunday was family day at mr. t's bowl. the day started with a group/spouse/girlfriend dinner at our local thai dinner spot before the sound check. we don't get to hang enough, so anytime we all can get together is real special.

one of the great benefits of playing in a club is that all you have to worry about is the soundcheck. i didn't have to worry about selling tickets, icing the beer, setting up chairs, etc... damn its so easy just to show up and plug in. sunday afternoon we decided to mic the clarinet, trombone and vibes because on friday night i realized that the pa system would make it impossible for scott to be heard. so we used the string mics and they worked pretty well. i need a better device to attach to the mic to the clarinet, but scott's life was so much better. he didn't have to push and we ended up taking down a few parts because of the amplification. i still have to work on a simple micing solution for the vibes. most stage mics aren't really designed for that. i know that some people are kinda freaked when we are all "electric", we do lose many of the great overtones in an acoustic performance, but the main reason we mic the group is that when the volume level gets really high we don't want the vibes and winds (and strings) to disappear. having the ability to get to that high energy level (through electricity) is the whole point of having an amplified keyboard, electric and bass guitars.

the show was a blast. as i walked off the stage the clubs owner had a six-pack of corona's w/limes in her hand. "could we play another set... please!" damn, i wish we had more music. but the hour we played was almost too much to learn this summer. we really had no idea how playing in a club would turn out. until then i was very stressed, and i think it rubbed off on everybody else. its easy to feel like the bad news bears coming into a new situation, but we had a good turnout of many friends and family. playing at the t's was so much fun. the vibe much different than the concert hall and it reminded me of playing in jazz and blues bands.
it also doesn't suck that you can sit back and order a drink during the show. i don't even mind if you run for a refill. most importantly, we are going to play there again soon, i just need to work out the details. for now, i'm content to develop the at a single club like mrt's before taking the show around town.

enjoy the show mp3's

palimpsest (new version)

cheap admiration

seven (eric hendrickson)

sweater song (weezer/bailey)

on a side note yesterday was recovery, sleep and lesson plans (school starts in two weeks). as a special reward i had been wanting to go to the renowned pie and burger in pasadena. i was enjoying myself having lunch and catching up on the local alternative news. i even had a "la" moment and noticed john c. reilly (he is the best thing in magnolia, one my favorite but hugely flawed guilty pleasures) having lunch with his kids on the way out. that moment ended quickly when i hit a trash bin on the way out of the parking lot. anybody know a good body shop?