“Busy, Busy, Busy”
Posted on | August 20, 2009 | No Comments
“‘Busy, busy, busy’ is what a Bokononist whispers “whenever [he] thinks about how complicated and unpredictable the machinery of life really is.” – Vonnegut, Cat’s Cradle
That’s a good one for musicians and artists to think about, especially with the inevitable constant rotation between weeks (like this one for me) when I barely have enough time to eat meals and weeks when all my students are on vacation and there are no gigs! Phew. Here’s some of what I’ve been doing recently – I suppose it’s egotistical of me to post a somewhat boring list but I suspect some of it will be of interest, and I promise the first in my upcoming series of posts on early jazz heroes is only a week away!
We just finished up a nice weekend of recording at Type Foundry with the Sextet, the results of which we will be releasing as a new album in the winter sometime. It was really great to be back in that studio, with engineer Jason Powers, who is very easy to work with and gets great sounds. We’re all really looking forward to mixing that in September, and hope to have it out by Jan. or Feb.
I was in Seattle all last week, rehearsing with the Kora Band and playing with Chad McCullough and Mark Zaleski – all of it was very fun and musically productive – I have been enjoying my frequent trips to Seattle, it brings things nicely into focus sometimes to be in a different environment while working on music, especially composition.
Speaking of which, I’ve just finished up a piece called “28 Days Without Rain…” which was the first thing I heard the announcer say on KUOW, the Seattle NPR station, when I arrived there last week. They set some sort of record I believe. Anyway, this was was written for a concert this Friday by the Seattle Jazz Composers Ensemble, a new medium-sized group up there headed up by Michael Owcharuk. More info on that here. I’m excited to hear this one, it features an unusual instrumentation including tuba and horn. Actually it’s the instrumentation from the original “Birth of the Cool” material, which will also be performed on the gig. Be sure to check that one out on Friday at Lucid if you’re in Seattle. I won’t be there but will be eagerly awaiting the recording!
And finally, my sextet is playing twice this week, once at my Jazz Bakery @ DiPrima series tonight, and once at the Vancouver Wine and Jazz Festival on Saturday. I’m really looking forward to both – the festival will be a great opportunity and the DiPrima garden will be extra pleasent in the mid-80 degree sun we are finally getting some more of here! I’ll post some of the audio from those gigs next week. More soon!
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