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?"