Concert Checklist Buy your tickets! Make plans with friends. Listen! Attend the show. Buy Your Tickets Of course you’ve got to get your tickets to the show. And the bigger the act, the earlier you have to get them it…
Last week’s topic of having a life song triggered some great discussions with friends and family. Betcha Can’t Pick Just One One point that came up repeatedly was how difficult it is to pick a life song. As Jenn put…
What would it sound like? Name that life song. I posed this question to family members at a recent party. Spouse Anita had the great idea to put up a poster-sized piece of paper. She wrote everyone’s name across the…
My friend and fellow clarinetist, Craig Bunch, sent me a link to an inspiring jazz concert – The Legacy of the Benny Goodman Quartet, Jazz Night In America on NPR. The concert was narrated by author and activist, Wendell Pierce…
Feel Good Music For most of this week, I’ve been feeling off-center, off-kilter, just off. Like a rowboat cut free of the dock and without any oars to boot! This is not good. I’m someone who likes to have focus,…
Just. Listen. Conductor and bassist John Clayton, brother Jeff Clayton on alto and Jeff Hamilton, drummer are the trio who brought together this phenomenal band in 1985. I heard Jeff Clayton at Mt Hood Jazz Festival some years ago. Sweet.
What’s Your Favorite Movie? When I get asked that question, I either draw a blank or I blurt out a movie title based on the soundtrack! Witness this answer: The Incredibles! The soundtrack by Michael Giacchino is truly incredible (pun intended.)…
Here’s a scene – I am washing dishes and have the stereo blasting from the other room at pretty high volume so I can hear the music over the sound of running water and clinking dishes. I’m listening to the…
This year for the Spring recital, my students chose folk music that was significant for them culturally or otherwise. They transposed the music for their instrument and in many cases also wrote arrangements for two, three and four instruments. I’ve compiled…
Sometimes, in order to listen big, listen deep to music, we need to step back and first listen to the sounds of silence. This morning as I sat in silent meditation with about 6 other people, I became aware of…
I attended a performance of The Pianist of Willesden Lane recently at Portland Center Stage. It was one of the most touching and moving experiences I have had in the theatre. What made it so? Listening with an open heart.…
The Listening Library: Haven, Refuge, Home Memories from my undergraduate days at Indiana State University: hanging out in the Listening Library. When I wasn’t in a practice room (or playing pinochle in the lounge area), I was in the Listening…