E-mail is the future!!

I was going through some old papers today and came across a letter from the assistant dean of students at Eastman. It's an interesting look back to September 1995. Here are some excerpts.

"It is my pleasure to announce that a deal has recently been negotiated on behalf of the student body......For a nominal charge of $10 per academic year, an E-mail account will be issued for you...Currently, the charge for such a service is $145 per account per year...Your account will also provide text access to the Internet, ftp, gopher, news, Telnet and the World Wide Web...It is expected that E-mail will be one of the primary means of communication between members of the Eastman community within the next couple of years....There will also be classes available on the River Campus to train you in the use of your new account. If you want to take these classes, you must sign up...as soon as possible."

I tried it. At the time it was just too much trouble. Seems like a different world. My computer at the time used the 5 inch floppy discs and had a dot matrix printer. I finally got an email account in the Summer of 2006. (Correction - make that summer 2007) It didn't do me much good since I hardly knew anyone else that had an email address. My 14.4 dial-up modem on the new computer was pretty great, though.

PASIC etc...

I saw and heard some great things at PASIC. I really enjoyed Keiko Abe's Saturday concert (in addition to her Thursday performances). John Riley's clinic was great. Tom Burritt played an awesome new piece by Thom Hasenpflug and I finally got to see Kai Stensgaard play.

Percussion Construction launched my new signature line of mallets. I'm really happy with how they turned out. They sold well and the people that tried them out at the booth seemed to like them. A new Percussion Construction website should be up in a couple of weeks so you can have a look at them.

I also found out that my good friend John Parks will be giving a solo recital at Carnegie Hall on May 4th of next year. He'll be playing my piece Vertical River on that recital and I'll be there to stand up and wave to the audience after the last note.

I also managed to get sick at PASIC, but I 'm back up and running now. Just a couple of days of teaching, a few rehearsals for Hansel und Gretel, and Thanksgiving will be here. We have some friends coming into town for a vegetarian thanksgiving and some early shopping on Friday morning. Probably won't buy much. It's just fun to go to the Waffle House at 4:00 am and then get in line with the people that really are buying lots of stuff. You can meet some very excited (and very crazy) people that way. I can't wait!

and I'm back

Things have been busy at UCA and I've been playing a lot of orchestral gigs lately. HMS Pinafore, then a few tunes with the Arkansas Symphony, today some Firebird with the Pine Bluff Symphony and Tuesday night a little Beethoven 4 with the Conway Symphony Orchestra. Then only a week until PASIC. My new marimba solo should be available at the Percussion Construction booth (don't forget to stop by the Malletech booth to pick up your very own copies of Vertical River and Anubis). Also, another special surprise will be waiting for you at Percussion Construction. More on that soon.

Ok. Off to the show.

Soho the Dog: Eight sentences about classical music I'd be happy never to read again

Well, at least someone has been posting to his blog. Me? I'll squeeze in a real post soon. In the meantime, this guy has some things for you to think about.


Soho the Dog: Eight sentences about classical music I'd be happy never to read again

Pinafore

I had 5 hours of rehearsal yesterday and another 3 today. More rehearsals to come during the week and then 6 performances of HMS Pinafore. It is part of the new season at Wildwood Park. Last years schedule is still on the site-new schedule soon, I would think.

When I was asked to play the show I intially thought I didn't have time. Then I thought, when will I ever have the chance to play Pinafore again. Never?.....Hardly ever! So, I took it.

The only problem is, I can't stop thinking of Sideshow Bob. For those of you that don't know what I mean, just watch this clip...

Arrested Development - Season 3

In the past 24 hours I've watched the first 7 episodes of Arrested Development's final season. The DVDs came out on Tuesday, but I didn't get them until yesterday. I didn't see any of season 3 on TV becuase FOX bounced the show around the schedule so much it was nearly impossible to catch it.

So far...GENIUS!!!

I can't believe how good it is. It is so funny, so brilliant, so quick, and the script so tight that you can't look away for even a second. The cast is incredible and so is Ron Howard's narration. Plus, the smaller roles are cast perfectly. Everyone from Henry Winkler to Charlize Theron, Scott Baio to James Lipton.....and let's hope Liza Minnelli makes it back in the last six episodes.

If you don't already have them, you really owe it to yourself to get all three seasons on DVD. Don't rent them or "NetFlix" them. You'll want to own them.

Seriously.....it's spectacularly good!

Precipice - Modern Marimba

My good friend Nate Bartlett has a new CD of works for solo marimba. It just came out and I haven't had a chance to hear it yet, but I've heard him play most of the pieces live and I'm 100% sure that it's incredible.

Check it out!

I can't get the link to the Albany Records site to work from here, so use the link below to go to Nate's news page and click the link there.

nathaniel bartlett: news

School is here

Have you ever wondered what it might sound like if you put Dave Matthews, Lisa Loeb and Outkast in a blender? Wonder no more. This guy has the answer for you in his great cover of Hey Ya!

Oh, and if you said to yourself "Putting those folks in a blender sounds like a great idea", shame on you.




Classes start today at UCA and I'm ready to go. We are settled in the new house, I've practically finished the new piece I've been working on, I have all of the percussion ensemble music programmed, all four percussion ensemble concerts already scheduled, a newly remodeled office, and a great percussion studio. I even bought some new clothes! Looks to be a great year. And...don't worry Parksie, the posts will flow more regularly now. I've even got a few "make-up" posts coming with exciting pics of my summer activities. Stay tuned.

Imagining The Tenth Dimension

OK, so you've watched that video about the size of things I posted a few days ago? Good. Now, watch this. If you miss something...rewind. When you're done your brain may feel a little sore, but Star Trek will make a lot more sense.

Imagining The Tenth Dimension

Thanks to Ektopia.com and CollisionDetection.net

Powers of 10

Want to feel small? Watch this. Don't worry. You'll feel big again when it's over.

Why do you stay up so late?

A poem by Marvin Bell with animation by Ernesto Lavandera. Beautiful!


Why do you stay up so late?

Tikhon Khrennikov and Dimitri Shostakovich

A great piece in The Guardian about Soviet artists, and Shostakovich in particular, under Stalin's rule. Based on an interview with Tikhon Khrennikov, head of the union of soviet composers, it also includes a brief interview with Shostakovich's widow.

It includes this classic example of Shostakovich being "sorry".

"I thank you comrade chairman ... I thought I had succeeded in developing a personal idiom that adhered to the wise demands of the Soviet people ... I now see I was mistaken and have underestimated my need for artistic correction. I acknowledge the rightness of the party's judgment. I shall work on the musical depiction of the heroic Soviet peoples, from the correct ideological standpoint. Equipped with the guidance of the Central Committee, I shall renew my efforts to create really good songs for collective singing."

So, was Khrennikov an enemy or a friend? He says he helped the composers and implies that someone else in his position would have been much worse for them. Still, it's seems obvious that he enjoyed the power that came with his post. The world is a complicated place, I suppose.

Here's the link.
Guardian Unlimited Arts | Arts features | The secret rebel

New House

We're finally in the new place. For those of you that just can't wait any longer, here are some pics of our new backyard.

Giant Steps by Michal Levy

I've seen this somewhere before, but I can't remember where. Anyway, now it's available at the link below. Really cool stuff.


Giant Steps by Michal Levy

Clifford Brown

A nice remembrance of Clifford Brown in the Guardian.
Guardian Unlimited Arts | | Byron of the jazz trumpet

Rollins said of him: "Clifford was a profound influence on my personal life. He showed me that it was possible to live a good, clean life and still be a good jazz musician." Roach described him as "one of the rare complete individuals ever born ... a sweet, beautiful [person]".

Clifford Brown - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Wii Video Feature. Gameworld Network.

OK, if you're not excited about the Nintendo Wii, you need to get excited.If you don't know what I'm talking about, you should probably head over to Nintendo.com and do some research. You can also click on the link below to see a lot of video filmed at E3 that show both the games and how the controller works. Check out Metroid, Tennis and Mario, and don't forget to check out the music demos. The orchestra and drumming games don't look like a lot of fun over the long term, but they do demonstrate the sensitivity of the controller system.

Enjoy the videos and then get in line behind me for your very own Wii.

Wii Video Feature. Gameworld Network.

Net Neutrality

If you've seen those misleading commercials with the roadsigns on television, and you don't know why they are misleading, watch this ad. It's not as slick or dramatic, and the voice over isn't as frightening, but it does at least explain why "net neutrality" is important.

Extroverted like me. By Seth Stevenson

Slate.com has an interesting article on shyness/social anxiety and Paxil.

Extroverted like me. By Seth Stevenson

Bonnaroo (and Elvis Costello)

The Bonnaroo Music Festival is right next door in Tennessee, and here I sit in Arkansas. The good news is that you can see a lot of it online at bonnaroo.com. The quality of the stream is really quite good. I saw Ben Folds and Oysterhead (with Stewart Copeland) yesterday and I just finished watching Elvis Costello with Allen Toussaint. It was incredible. I really liked their version of "That's How You Got Killed Last Time".

There's still time to get in on the action. Go to the website and follow the links to the live broadcasts. Sadly, the performances by Radiohead and Sonic Youth will not be online. After it's over they will also have an archive of some of the performances.

By the way, mp3.com is currrently streaming the new Costello/Toussaint album. It's worth the time to check it out. If you miss the streams, just go pick it up.

Sorry to hear about your blindness

A drug company has the ability to keep people from going blind very inexpensively. To them, that's a problem.

Not my usual type of post, but it's good to be reminded that this sort of thing goes on all the time. That's the problem.


Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Drugs firm blocks cheap blindness cure:

"Prof Rosenfeld said the real issue was drug company profits. 'This truly is a wonder drug,' he said. 'This shows both how good they [the drug companies] are and on the flip side, how greedy they are.' He would like to see governments fund clinical trials of drugs such as Avastin in the public interest."



Drug companies. They say they are a business and they have to make a profit. Agreed. But, they are a different kind of business than most.

For example...

Let's change one letter and talk about a drum company.

When you buy a drumset, the difference between a mid-priced set and a high-end set can be thousands of dollars. It doesn't cost that much more to make the high priced set, and many of the parts are the same. Depending on the player, the lower priced set might even sound better. It is about "price point" and creating an image for the product. In the end, you are probably paying too much for that high-end set. That's fine if you want to do that. But, the drum company doesn't stop you from buying the cheap set, and if you can't afford the expensive set...you won't go blind!

Unethical conduct can't be excused because of a "need" for more profit.

Another record crash

A somewhat depressing piece of news. Thanks to more affordable recording equipment and software, as well as the internet, recording industry support isn't as necessary as it once was. Still, a little respect would be nice.
Another record crash

Gyorgy Ligeti, Central-European Composer of Bleakness and Humor, Dies at 83 - New York Times

Gyorgy Ligeti, Central-European Composer of Bleakness and Humor, Dies at 83 - New York Times: "Gyorgy Ligeti, the Central European composer whose music was among the most innovative of the last half of the 20th century — sometimes eerie, sometimes humorous usually fantastical and always polished — died yesterday in Vienna. He was 83.


His family confirmed his death but declined to divulge the cause, saying only that he had been ill for several years.

Mr. Ligeti produced much of his pioneering music against the backdrop of a Europe in turmoil. Born into a Hungarian-Jewish family, he survived the Holocaust but lost his father and brother in it. With the war's end he felt Soviet repression and fled when liberal revolution was smashed. "

Happy Birthday Shelly

Today is Shelly Manne's birthday. The link below takes you to DrummerWorld.com. Lots of pics. Scroll to the bottom and go to page 2 for a bio.

Drummerworld: Shelly Manne

Sting and his lute

I can't say I'm not worried about this, but it just might work. It seems that Sting has decided to release an album of songs by the English lutenist/composer John Dowland. I'm a big Sting fan, and while I'm not expecting any historically acccurate performance practice, it will certainly be worth a listen. We'll know for sure when it's released in October. Now all we need is Paul O'Dette Plays The Police.

Guardian Unlimited Arts | Arts news | Gift of a lute makes Sting party like it's 1599

Mozart mp3s at theguardian.co.uk

Back up for air again. Still trying to buy a house, but the office is almost back up and running with a new paint job, furniture, and audio visual equipment.

Check out the link below. The Guardian is offering (probably for a limitied time) free downloads of some of Mozart's most popular works. Get them while you can.


Guardian Unlimited Arts | | Arts commercial mostly mozart barbican

Parksie's Wedding and Atlanta Visit

OK. We've been trying to buy a new house and do a total revamp in my office. Both tasks have almost been accomplished, but in order not to jinx them I'll wait to post photos after they have been completed.

Also, in the middle of all that, I'm on the road. Liana and I headed down to the Parksie wedding in Tallahassee. I got to see a lot of great friends there. John (of course) and also Andy Harnsberger, Payton MacDonald, Eric Hollenbeck and many others.

Here's a pic of me with John and Eva















Here's a pic of me and Liana at the reception


















Then we headed up to Atlanta to see the folks. Monday was taken up with a trip to the Ikea store here in the ATL and a visit to the grandparents house. the Ikea trip turned into a big family affair with me, Liana, my mom, Liana's mom and Liana's sister. In case you are wondering, we did indeed pick up some hip, affordable and easy to assemble furniture. Then Tuesday we headed out to see my dad. Yesterday and today has been spent at my friend Myron's house close to downtown. Here we are in his backyard.
















I also had to visit to the Apple Store at Lenox Square for some Powerbook tech support. Here's a pic of me with a real live Mac Genius.



















And...
here's me and Liana in the back yard.

















Tomorrrow..........X-MEN!!!!!

The Year in Review

It has been about a year since I started this blog...and it seems like it has been almost that long since my last post. Sorry about that, busy times! I think that tomorrow will bring an update that will explain the delay in updates here on the blog.

School is over for the semester. It was a great year at UCA. We had So Percussion in to perform Reich's Drumming with the percussion ensemble. John Beck, John Parks, Nathaniel Bartlett and Mark Ford also were on campus for concerts, clinics and masterclasses. I saw some great concerts this year at UCA, including James Brown. He was amazing and I'm so glad I had the chance to see him.

I had two grad students graduate this year. Both got excellent assistantships and will be part of two of the best percussion programs in the country. One is heading to the University of Oklahoma and the other is off to Florida State University. Two new grads and a lot of great transfer students and freshman will be coming in to UCA next fall. It's shaping up to be a great year.

Look for a big update soon (with pics).

Karel Husa at UCA

Last week the composer Karel Husa stopped by UCA for a three day residency. The percussion quartet played Three Dance Sketches on a chamber music concert. It is a powerful piece, and quite difficult. We were lucky enough to have a chance to rehearse the piece with Husa. He is an amazing man, and working with him really helped to bring the piece to life for all of us. Below are a few pics of the rehearsals.

Mark Ford at UCA

Last week we had Mark Ford in as a guest clinician at UCA. He worked with the percussion quartet and presented a clinic/performance for me and my students. He also performed his new piece (which I think is called Kingdom Lore Fanfare). He did a wonderful job coaching the quartet and my students got a lot out of his clinic. A few pics are below.

Idaho Day of Percussion

The weekend after the ECU Day of Percussion, I once again hit the road. This time it was the Idaho Day of Percussion. James Harrison, the president of Idaho PAS, did an incredible job of hosting the event. The attendance was just short of 200 people and the clinicians were all great. Special thanks to my friend Thom Hasenpflug who came in from Idaho State University to play Vertical River with me. Here's a pic of everyone. I may have more pics soon. Thanks to David Garibaldi for forwarding this one to me.



left to right: Blake Tyson - Marimba and Percussion, David Garibaldi - Drum Set, James Harrison - Host and Drum Set, Ben Pursley - Djembe, Michael Huestis - Marching percussion, Thom Hasenpflug - Special Guest Vibraphonist!

ECU Day of Percussion

The weekend after the UCA Percussion Festival, I headed out to Oklahoma for the East Central University Day of Percussion. A good time was had by all. I especially enjoyed Gregg Bissonette's Stewart Copeland Medley. There may be more pics of the events soon, but for now, here's a shot of the clinicians that day.



















left to right...the Bravura Percussion Trio, Gregg Bissonette, me, John Kizilarmut, and Ben Finley (the host).

UCA Percussion Festival - Day 4

After a long absence from post I am happy to present photos from Day 4 of the UCA Percussion Festival. It was all about John Parks and his incredible orchestral skills

First he talked about the tambourine



































Then he diagrammed the different sound possibilities of cymbal crashes















and crashed some cymbals















...and then showed us how to catch a fly ball to center field with a pair of Zildjian 18" Orchestral cymbals



More soon....

UCA Percussion Festival - Day 3

Welcome to Day 3 of the UCA Percussion Festival. Here's a quick run down of the highlights. Click the photos to enlarge them.

First up was Nathaniel Bartlett with a clinic on the behind the scenes magic of marimba and computer generated sounds
















Then John Parks showed us who was boss when it comes to playing the snare drum
















After that, John Beck presented a great clinic covering timpani and cymbal playing

















Then we did some In the Pocket

















and a timpani concerto

















We also did Stained Glass, Rhythmitis, Vertical River, Bicksa and the Suite for Drumset and Percussion Ensemble by Dave Mancini. That last one featured Dr. John Parks on the drumset. Yes, it was amazing!


Then off to the lobby to sign some autographs
































After a nice dinner at the Oak Street Bistro, the clinicians headed back to my place to just hang out for a while.

















But that wasn't all. There was a top secret Day 4 of the festival for UCA students only. Newly declassified pictures coming soon...

UCA Percussion Festival - Day 2

After a late night on Thursday, we started day 2 of the festival with an early morning rehearsal of Bicksa by Thom Hasenpflug.
click pics to enlarge
Later, we rehearsed the Concerto for Timpani and Percussion Ensemble with John Beck, and then had a quick rehearsal of Rhythmitis (see below).


Nathaniel Bartlett arrived and began the long set up for that evening's recital. Then we headed upstairs or a historical presentation by JB.


Nate Bartlett put on an incredible concert that night. No photos of that. Don't worry, you'll see him in Saturday's pics.

Speaking of Saturday, here's a sneak peek. John, Nate, me and JB rehearsing In the Pocket on Saturday morning before the big event started up.

and...John and I were able to squeeze in a quick 10 minute rehearsal of Vertical River.


COMING SOON....pics from Saturday's Extravaganza!

Drumming at UCA

OK. A lot to cover since the last real post, and many pictues to share from the UCA Percussion Festival, the ECU Day of Percussion and the Idaho Day of Percussion. To avoid overload, I'll limit today's post to the first event of the UCA Percussion Festival....DRUMMING!
click on the pics to make them bigger

















The students at UCA spent 3 days rehearsing with So Percussion to prepare for the performance.


















So decided to open the concert with Music for Pieces of Wood. They asked John Beck, who was already in town for the festival, to be "the rock". This is a shot of the rehearsal.


















Here's a group shot of everyone that performed in Drumming (plus me and John Beck, but minus the vocalists, who mysteriously vanished before the photo was taken).


















I really like this picture I took at dinner after the performance. From left to right...Doug, unidentified order taker, Christy, Adam, Neal, Liana (and Jason's arm).

In Oklahoma

I'm sitting just across the hall from a rehearsal room where Gregg Bissonette is rehearsing with the ECU Jazz Band. He's here for the same reason I am...the East Central University Day of Percussion. Tomorrow is the big day, with clinics and concerts, including Gregg playing with the jazz band tomorrow night.

Speaking of Days of Percussion, the UCA Percussion Festival was great. So Percussion, my students (plus Jennifer, Jennifer and Liana) gave an incredible performance of Drumming. The concert by Nathaniel Bartlett was amazing, and the clinics and performances by John Parks, John Beck and the UCA Percussion Ensemble were really excellent. Special thanks to those of you that stopped by to enjoy the show.

It's hard to believe that it has been more than a week since the festival started. I'll get some pictures posted when I return.

Right now, I'm going to go watch Gregg rehearse with the band.

They don't make the Grammy's like they used to

Check out this truly amazing clip from 1985. When I was 15, this was pretty much all I needed to be happy. I was a HUGE Thomas Dolby fan (still am). If you've only heard She Blinded me with Science you are really missing out. Check out One of our Submarines, Windpower, or Europa and the Pirate Twins. They're all from the same era. You can actually find a few Dolby videos on youtube.com

Anyway, enjoy this crazy mash-up (from before there were "mash-ups"). Oh, and cut them all some slack (especially Dolby). It was the 80's, after all. And, yes, the ending is bizarre.

Voltaire's still got it

"I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it."
- Voltaire

Sex Pistols turn down Hall of Fame honor - Yahoo! News

I think that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should be even "punkier" and induct them anyway.


Sex Pistols turn down Hall of Fame honor - Yahoo! News: "http://www.thefilthandthefury.co.uk"

Excerpt in Danger???

A "new" version of Porgy and Bess?

Symphony gives Gershwin last word on 'Porgy and Bess' - Sunday, 02/19/06: "But get this: It turns out that Gershwin, during rehearsals for the New York premiere at Broadway's Alvin Theatre, made extensive cuts and additions to his 700-page score. Since the composer died only two years later, in 1937, that edited but unpublished version represents, in effect, his final word on the subject."

I wonder if he said "You know what? That xylophone part just doesn't work very well...let's take it out."

Suddenly my life gets a lot easier.

In the meantime, we had better all go practice our alternate stickings. And don't forget the version that starts on E. (if you're not a percussionist, just ignore that last part)

Fab Four

More magic of youtube.com

I have loved The Beatles since I "discovered" them back in 6th grade. I really enjoy these early clips. Remember, we can probably hear them much better than they can hear themselves due to the constant wall of screams hitting them in the face.

Anyway, these clips make me feel quite happy. I hope they don't get taken down anytime soon.

Monk

Another great clip from youtube.com. Thelonious (not my cat, the piano player) and friends showing you how it is done.

Great shot of Monk's hands on the solo. Got to love the pinky ring!

What_College_Now

Here's an insightful article by my friend Ted Rounds. It's full of good advice for those of you that are about to audition for admission to a college music program. It's also good information for those going on to graduate study.

What_College_Now

Music Review - Alarm Will Sound - New York Times

Alarm Will Sound just received a great review in the NYT. And special congrats to my fellow Payton MacDonald Ensemble(scroll down) member Courtney Orlando for her "extraordinary" playing. Very exciting!

Music Review - Alarm Will Sound - By Allan Kozinn - The New York Times - New York Times: "And now Alarm Will Sound is about as close to being a rock band as a chamber orchestra can be. It is the Kronos Quartet writ large.

John Cale's score for 'Kiss,' the Andy Warhol film, drew on Mr. Cale's art-rock work, as well as on Indian music and Anglo-American folk traditions. Its highlight was a pair of extraordinary violin solos by Courtney Orlando and Caleb Burhans."

A good point about the "games"

Those NBC announcers (and others) just won't shut up about it. Lindsey Jacobellis didn't win a gold medal, but she's still better than you! Some day, if I have opened up a huge lead in the Marimba Olympics, and I try a behind the back double vertical stroke, and I get a mallet caught under the string, and I wind up coming in second place...I'll still be second in THE Marimba Olympics. Not so bad, huh?

(This is of course hypothetical, since I made the difficult decision to give up my amateur status years ago)

Anyway, the NYT editorial page makes a good point this morning.

You Go, Lindsey - New York Times: "'I was having fun,' she said. 'Snowboarding is fun. I was ahead. I wanted to share my enthusiasm with the crowd. I messed up. Oh, well, it happens.'"

"...Ms. Jacobellis had an amazing race, built a huge lead, got exuberant and went splat. What did she think these were — Games?"

All State Breath

I'm off to enjoy the Arkansas All State Band and Orchestra Festival in Hot Springs. When you go sometwhere like that, it's important to have nice fresh breath. You meet a lot of new people and you don't want their first impression of you to be linked with a horrific odor.

This year, I'll be going with the Crest Vanilla Mint, but next year I may have to step it up a notch. Breath Palette is making it possible to break away from the mint and cinnamon that has dominated our lives for so long. Look out for me at next year's All State. I think I'll go with "bitter chocolate"

Breath Palette

Marimba Madness

I've seen this clip before on archive.org, but youtube.com has made it much easier to access. Sit back, relax and enjoy Reg and his beautiful marimba orchestra (and one crazy bass player).

For those of you wondering why you feel a little dizzy watching this...the print is backwards, so left is right, right is left, high is low and low is high.

Funky Drummer

Check out Clyde Stubblefield with James Brown. The Godfather is givin' the drummer some!



If this link breaks, please let me know.
BT

War on Grease

I just saw this the the NYT. I always appreciate it when someone protests without ever seeing, reading or hearing what they have decided they are against.

In Small Town, 'Grease' Ignites a Culture War - New York Times: "One letter, from someone who had not seen the show but only heard about it, criticized 'immoral behavior veiled behind the excuse of acting out a play.'

Dr. Enderle watched a video of the play, ultimately agreeing that 'Grease' was unsuitable for the high school, despite his having approved it beforehand, without looking at the script. Hoping to avoid similar complaints in the future, he decided to ban the scheduled spring play, 'The Crucible' by Arthur Miller.

He called 'The Crucible' 'a fine play,' but said he dropped it to keep the school from being 'mired in controversy' all spring."

'That was me in my worst Joe McCarthy moment, to some,' Dr. Enderle said.

Mark Miller, a 26-year-old graduate student, said he was moved to complain after getting an e-mail message about the show from Terra Guittar, a member of his church. Her description of the pajama party scene offended him, he wrote, adding that one character should have worn a more modest nightgown. Mr. Miller did not see the play.
-------------------------

OK, here's the deal...I saw Grease when I was 8 years old, and then I saw it again and again. I loved it! I had the soundtrack album and listened to it A LOT for a loooong time. And Olivia Newton John helped me understand why girls were not as icky as I had thought. Despite these things I have NEVER smoked a cigarette, NEVER had an alcoholic drink (I did take some Nyquil once), NEVER danced my way through a high school carnival, NEVER drag raced anyone, etc... And, let's not forget the important "stay in school, kids!" message of Beauty School Dropout.

Please remember...if kids do bad things, Grease isn't the reason. And, for goodness sake, neither is The Crucible.

Invasion of Privacy?

I always feel a little dirty when I'm reading through Beethoven's letters. Even though they are now published in numerous wonderful translations and have been read by the general public for many years, I still think that LvB would not be completely comfortable with me pouring over the minutae of his daily life. It's fascinating, but those of us who do so should not pretend that we're better than the readers of the National Enquirer(well, not much better).

I mention Beethoven, because once again a "complete" box set has been released. This time it includes all of the outtakes, bad takes and mistakes of Miles Davis' Cellar Door Sessions.

Would Miles Davis want us listening to these recordings? In the Guardian, John L. Walters seems to think the answer in NO. That's probably true. Still, those who want to sit through the recordings might learn a thing or two (like why Miles didn't use these takes and why he didn't think people would pay money for them).
Link to article

Audio Developing in 1 hour or less.

Have you ever had to get the pictures of your vacation developed so that you could have a look...while you are still on vacation? Then this is the the concert for you. Listen to some Mozart, and then pay more money and listen to it again.
Here's the link...
Guardian Unlimited | Arts news | Look sharp: chance to buy live CD straight after the concert

Cage on BBC

4'33" doesn't work very well as a joke, although many people don't seem to realize that. They can't quite be serious about it, but it's worth a look (and listen).

here it is...

The Stones

I watched the Rolling Stones Superbowl halftime show tonight. I thought it was great, although many at the party disagreed. I love that those guys are out there with no botox and no microdermabrasion (is that how you spell that?) still performing like they mean it after all these years. And here's to Charlie Watts! His technique sometimes puzzles me, and I admit I do a double take everytime I see those black dot heads. And he really loves crashing that china cymbal. But, by golly, he sounds pretty good. I also like that he never pushes too hard to try and match the intensity of what's going on in front of him. He lays back and keeps it real. Those guys are a pretty interesting team and I don't think I know enough about them. I think I'll try to find a good book about the band.

CSU Percussion Studio

I'm back from Colorado. Here's a pic of me with the CSU Percussion Studio. Also, on the left, is the honorable professor Eric Hollenbeck.

Thanks to everyone in the CSU Studio for being so kind and helpful to me while I was there.

In Colorado

I have a recital tonight at Colorado State University. I've been here a couple of days already and I've had a great time. Fort Collins is really beautiful and the students here are great. Eric Hollenbeck, my host, is also great. We've had a good time hanging out and talking about all things percussive.

I'll be back at UCA tomorrow. Then I'll start the month long preparations and publicity blitz for the 5th Annual UCA Percussion Festival. This year we have the So Percussion Quartet, John Beck, Nathaniel Bartlett, John Parks...and me. It will take place March 2-4, so clear your calendars. More info soon.

BT

Well, they've ruined another perfectly good song

Peter Gabriel hits 'Big Time' in wrestling world - Yahoo! News

What?

This really mystified me at first. After thinking about it I have decided that it must be a ploy. Make something so bad and embarrassing that people will forward it around the internet. As a result, David Hasselhoff gets A LOT of free publicity. And...as you have probably heard, there is no such thing as bad publicity.
Well, I'm doing my part. Enjoy!!!
UPDATE: Well placed sources tell me that this video actually dates from 2002.

Lorenzo da Ponte

The Guardian has a nice article about Lorenzo da Ponte. Read it and impress friends (and strangers) at the next "Happy Birthday, Mozart" concert you attend.
Guardian Unlimited | Arts features | The phoenix

Dance Revolution

In today's crazy mixed up world, it's good to know that there are still kids like this in the bandrooms across America.
(click to play)

David Byrne is getting angry

David Byrne Journal: 1.10.06: DRM

It looks like David Byrne has had it up to here. As you may know by now, I agree.

Media companies will never stop the pirates no matter what they do. The best way to minimize the impact of pirates is to be good to your customers. Instead, the media companies are treating all of their customers like pirates. They want DRM(digital rights management) software and broadcast flags and huge fines and whatever else it takes to make them feel safe. It's like they've huddled in their fort with Dave Matthews, Pink, the members of Velvet Revolver, Neil Diamond and hundreds of other recording artists. They are pushing the tables, chairs and refrigerators up against the door and hammering boards over the windows. The want us to believe that the rebel forces are trying to kidnap Dave and Neil and destroy their very souls.

Why do the rebels continue to attack? Because they know that Neil and Dave are actually being held against their will inside that fort. They must be rescued before their music dies forever.

OK, enough of that. But, if you make it easier to transfer an illegal copy of a song to an ipod than it is to transfer it from a CD that costs $18, the illegal copy will eventually prevail. If these companies want to continue to see their profits fall, then they should continue to load up CDs with secretive DRM software and push through laws that disable functions of our televisions, mp3 players and video players. People will soon realize that it's just not worth that much trouble to listen to Ricky Martin or watch Cheaper by the Dozen. Who knows...once we reach that breaking point people might actually take out their earbuds and talk to each other, play Monopoly with their family, or even join a babershop quartet. It seems the future looks bright after all.

In my life I have found that if you put your trust in people, most of them will act in a trustworthy manner. Until you feel that trust (and love) again, don't buy DRM protected CDs. David Byrne gives you a partial list. Neil Diamond is on there, and sadly Imogen Heap is as well. That's really too bad.

Sometimes, they just try to fool you, like those signs in front of houses that say "Protected by Command Security", when in fact there is no alarm. The band Chumba Wumba mentions that on this page of their website.

And here's the David Byrne link again.

David Byrne Journal: 1.10.06: DRM

Oh...and if you want to be a pirate, be sure to follow the link below. (Don't worry, it's completely legal)

Avast! Welcome to PirateMod!

The Video Game Revolution: The Arcade | PBS

Did you spend as much time as I did in the arcades back in the 80's? If so, check out this page from, believe it or not, PBS. Take the "Name That Game" quiz and test your sonic memory. Ah...memories.

The Video Game Revolution: The Arcade | PBS

Continental Shift - New York Times

A great article on how the LA Phil is finding success with NEW music

Read it fast! The New York Times will want your money for it pretty soon.
Continental Shift - New York Times

Shostakovich...Genius or Hack

An interesting article from The Guardian about the "difference of opinion" on the works of Shostakovich.

I like the part where Pierre Boulez plays the role of "Grumpy Old Man No. 1".

Only six years ago, the composer and conductor Pierre Boulez, evidently frustrated by the continuing ubiquity of Shostakovich's music in concert halls and on CD, declared that popular interest in the Russian composer was "influenced by the autobiographical dimension of his music". A modish enthusiasm for him was bound to be short-lived, suggested Boulez, for the music itself was just "third-pressing Mahler" (an allusion to the process used to extract the cheapest and most tasteless kind of olive oil).

Come on, Pierre...can't you just be happy for him?

But...since Pierre started it, here are a few quotes about him.
(from the very interesting website for The PIERRE BOULEZ Project)

"Boulez's whole life has been nothing but bluff, invective, impertinence, and conceit. He's exercised a bad influence over an entire generation that's wasted its energies in following him" -- Henri Sauguet, from 1987 interview in Gai pied hebdo..

"Boulez, who is everything I don't want art to be... Boulez, who once said in an essay that he is not interested in how a piece sounds, only how it is made." -- Morton Feldman, "predeterminate/indeterminate"

"he has, at times, presented himself as little more than a Napoleon complex with a comb-over." -- Timothy Ouellette

"[Boulez] was a regular jack-in-the-box. He was also the most arrogant of all. I thought he wrote too fast, too carelessly, that he threw in too many notes." -- Rene Leibowitz, quoted in To Boulez and Beyond

"I'm not into Boulez, but that's kind of obvious." -- Jim O'Rourke, 1999 interview

"Conductor and composer Pierre Boulez was one of the most articulate members of the French postwar musical avant-garde, but now many music lovers believe his compositions are sonic sewage. Boulez played a role in driving contemporary music into a cul-de-sac." -- Frederick Stocken, New Statesman, March 20, 2000

"And to live in a world only with Boulez would be a sad existence." -- Georg Graewe

"You could say: 'Why not invent a completely new language of music that uses none of the existing ideas?' Well, Pierre Boulez said he would do that, and who listens to Pierre Boulez?" -- Richard Stallman

"Boulez's only concern is with power. He lost the leadership of the avant-guard more than ten years ago to Stockhausen. Now others have moved in. With the need for power, where was he to go? So he chose to be a conductor. He is a wonderful musician, a wonderful intelligence. It's a pity there is no humanity there. Does he have sex? I think not. When men have no sex, they go after power in this big, obsessive way." -- Lukas Foss, 1971?

Ouch!

We should get Lukas Foss and Pierre Boulez together and let them have a "Your Momma is So Ugly" contest. My money's on Foss.

Borrow Mozart's book from the British Library

Shostakovich Centennial or not, we can't escape the Mozart 250. So, check out this super cool interactive site that will let you leaf through Mozart's catalog of his works. The high speed version is highly recommended. Turn he pages, magnify the pages, read the notes. There are other books on the site as well, but for now Mozart's book is at the top of the page.

Turning the Pages™, the British Library

Happy Birthday, DSCH

It seems that everyone is celebrating Mozart's 250th birthday this year (in fact, I'm playing a "birthday" concert with the Arkansas Symphony this weekend). Mozart is fine, but if you are looking for a nice "round number" to celebrate, how about the 100th birthday of Dimitri Shostakovich. Although he didn't die until the 1970's, he is many ways more of a mystery to us than Mozart is.

Well, at least our friends over in England remembered to do more than send a card. For the next 6 weeks or so you will be able to hear all of the chamber music and every symphony that Shostakovich wrote (if you live in Manchester).

Guardian Unlimited | Arts news | City tunes up for epic celebration of Shostakovich centenary

Back up and running

Wow! Have I been sick. Things are looking up now and it's time to practice A LOT!

Check out my new flickr.com photo albums
HERE