conga blue
I've been listening to this great CD by Poncho Sanchez (Conga Blue) lately and absolutely love it. If you like this sort of music and even if you don't, you'll not be disappointed by these cool Latin grooves.
Random note: For those of you who use Mapquest faithfully, I urge you to try Google's new location finder. It's super simple to use and downloads much faster than MQ.
Been busy here with the writing gig. Just as I finish up 2 assignments and begin to get worried that more work might not come my way (such is the life of a freelancer) I receive 2 emails and 1 call yesterday from folks wanting to talk business: a letter for a local realtor, possible brochure & letter work for a photographer, and potential marketing materials for an insurance company in Peoria. I love days like this!
My good mood remains because the weather is improving. Today it's supposed to be 72 degrees and sunny. If I get through my list of work tasks today I think I'll head outside and begin cleaning up the yard. Might be able to get an hour or so in before heading over to the store to teach some lessons. Supposedly I have a new student starting today, which will bring the grand total up to 3.
I also have to work in some practice time this evening. Got a gig coming up on Friday in Springfield doing a bunch of tunes I haven't played before. I'm looking forward to the gig--it's a CD release party for Sam Crain's new disc, "Bird' s Eye View." (Read more about it here.) The tunes are really great, but not all of them are simple. I'm transposing (for alto) from a C lead sheet which isn't usually a problem, unless the tune is up-tempo and accidentals are plastered all over the place. A couple of the tunes are like this, so I need to spend some extra time making sure I don't biff every other note. I've been playing along with the CD and that helps, but I might have to write some stuff out in my key. This is good for me, though...I've been slacking in the practicing department lately. It seems that with everything else going on I really have to make an effort to carve out practice time in my schedule, which I don't always take time to do.
It's times like this when I wish I were back in school--or at least wish I had worked harder when I was a student. Every time I stop and think about what I need to practice I begin to feel as if I should know this stuff already. Which is true in some instances, but in others not so much. After all, we're always learning and we can't ever know everything. Even the best musicians are always finding new ways to express themselves and discovering new ideas as they improvise.
I've added a section for gigs--look to the left if you haven't already. Thought this might be a more upfront way of keeping track of upcoming performances. Maybe someday I'll put up a music-specific website, but for now this'll have to do.
As always, thanks for reading!
Random note: For those of you who use Mapquest faithfully, I urge you to try Google's new location finder. It's super simple to use and downloads much faster than MQ.
Been busy here with the writing gig. Just as I finish up 2 assignments and begin to get worried that more work might not come my way (such is the life of a freelancer) I receive 2 emails and 1 call yesterday from folks wanting to talk business: a letter for a local realtor, possible brochure & letter work for a photographer, and potential marketing materials for an insurance company in Peoria. I love days like this!
My good mood remains because the weather is improving. Today it's supposed to be 72 degrees and sunny. If I get through my list of work tasks today I think I'll head outside and begin cleaning up the yard. Might be able to get an hour or so in before heading over to the store to teach some lessons. Supposedly I have a new student starting today, which will bring the grand total up to 3.
I also have to work in some practice time this evening. Got a gig coming up on Friday in Springfield doing a bunch of tunes I haven't played before. I'm looking forward to the gig--it's a CD release party for Sam Crain's new disc, "Bird' s Eye View." (Read more about it here.) The tunes are really great, but not all of them are simple. I'm transposing (for alto) from a C lead sheet which isn't usually a problem, unless the tune is up-tempo and accidentals are plastered all over the place. A couple of the tunes are like this, so I need to spend some extra time making sure I don't biff every other note. I've been playing along with the CD and that helps, but I might have to write some stuff out in my key. This is good for me, though...I've been slacking in the practicing department lately. It seems that with everything else going on I really have to make an effort to carve out practice time in my schedule, which I don't always take time to do.
It's times like this when I wish I were back in school--or at least wish I had worked harder when I was a student. Every time I stop and think about what I need to practice I begin to feel as if I should know this stuff already. Which is true in some instances, but in others not so much. After all, we're always learning and we can't ever know everything. Even the best musicians are always finding new ways to express themselves and discovering new ideas as they improvise.
I've added a section for gigs--look to the left if you haven't already. Thought this might be a more upfront way of keeping track of upcoming performances. Maybe someday I'll put up a music-specific website, but for now this'll have to do.
As always, thanks for reading!
posted by jazzmom | 7:07 AM
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