Since I last blogged on Friday I have: gone to AJAM rehearsal and met the two new musicians who are doubling the size of our group; shadowed Randy at a recording session for David Valdez; practiced a bunch; composed a song for the quintet; gone to P Crest rehearsal and given Charlie Brown a lesson; and sat in with the Mel Brown Septet at Jimmy Mak's. A productive few days, and a lot to write about. It's late so I'm going to address a few things in bullet list fashion.

First, I'll address Nichole's question about the Ballade. It is the op. 23 no. 1, in g minor. Attached is an Arthur Rubinstein recording.

The bass player at the recording session was from Vancouver, and KILLING! A young guy, like 30, but one of the best time feels I've ever heard live. Also the tenor sax player was flown in from New York, and he was quite good. The pianist, Dan Gayner, is another young guy who was just in NY for about 8 months and then came back to Portland to have a baby. He used to study with Randy in high school. After the session he was showing me some rudiments he learned from Barry Harris, perhaps the greatest living bebop pianist. (see second attachment) The material they were playing was all from Lawrence Williams, a deceased Portland drummer and composer who apparently was bipolar. I can't say that I learned a lot about the mechanics of the recording equipment - Randy had his hands full as it was, plus he couldn't go unplugging things while they were playing - but I learned a lot about the etiquette and format of a professional recording session like that, from the engineer's perspective. I also got to watch the way the players interacted in the group, and hear them play.

The song I composed for the quintet is called "Pegasus." (Also written for the back of our literary magazine, on Erica's request.) I haven't decided yet whether I want to keep it as a lead sheet (just chords + melody), or write out a specific arrangement for the horns. I think I'll have Noah play the head after a piano intro, and Andrew take the first solo. Duncan and Spencer will know what to do. It's a waltz, pretty simple, with a two against three rhyhmic figure on the bridge. It took me all morning to write - composing is always startlingly time-consuming.

Sitting in at Jimmy Mak's was certainly a learning experience. The Septet does this thing where they play continuously, deciding on the spot which song to play next and improvising transitions. I sat in for about five songs and it took all my musical alertness to keep from screwing things up and to figure out what was happening. The worst part: the first song they asked me to solo on was "Bolivia," a Cedar Walton tune. I had sight-read it before but not learned it, and it's one of the hardest standards I've ever encountered. They also took it burning fast. I sounded pitiful. Fortunately, they let me stay up for several more tunes and I redeemed myself somewhat. The last song we played was "Summertime," which I knew (albeit in a different key), and they also took that very fast and had me solo, but I handled it a little better that time. Hoo! It was an adrenalin rush. If I start going there more frequently I'll learn a lot.

Audio/Video: 

01 Ballade No. 1, Op. 23 In G Minor.mp3

05 Moose The Mooche 1.mp3