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
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Saturday, January 28, 2006
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.
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
Guardian Unlimited | Arts features | The phoenix
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
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)
(click to play)
Saturday, January 21, 2006
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!
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!
Monday, January 16, 2006
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
The Video Game Revolution: The Arcade | PBS
Sunday, January 15, 2006
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
Read it fast! The New York Times will want your money for it pretty soon.
Continental Shift - New York Times
Saturday, January 14, 2006
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.
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.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
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
Turning the Pages™, the British Library
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
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
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
Monday, January 02, 2006
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
Check out my new flickr.com photo albums
HERE
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