Sometime back in November my buddy Dave (also shown in the photo with Kathryn below) and I got together for a little jam session at BYU. Dave had just bought a new synthesizer that he was anxious to test out and I had been itching to get my hands working again. So, this was the result. A lot of what you'll see was one continuous jam, where we would morph from one groove into another and just try to read each other's minds, (at one point Dave's mind said "let's play a funky rendition of 'Choose the Right'"). The playing isn't the most meticulous on either of our parts, but I think we each got some good licks in.
This time I had figured out how to condense the microphone to avoid clipping, but had forgotten to do it when we started playing. As a result, the audio is really bad, but not so bad that you can't hear what we're playing so I've decided to post it anyways.
There's two parts, I'm only going to post the first one for now. Again, this blogger video thing isn't allowing me to upload videos that are over a couple of minutes. Is that a rule or do I need to do something special to get it to work? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Comments: For some strange reason I had a really hard time getting into a groove on this occasion. I think I had not played in a while and was worried how I would sound. Not to mention I was again on a drumset that I wasn't comfortable with and I'm sure my hands were cold. By the time we got to the end I things were sounding better. Lucky for you, I cut out most of the stuff that I didn't like.
Some of the things that I'm happy with are: 1) Dave is getting much better at following hemiola's and such, so I was able to take some more liberties with the all the time shifting mumbo jumbo that I'm so fond of. 2) There actually some pretty sick licks in there. I'm sometimes impressed with my own ability to incorporate the diddle rudiments (paradiddles, etc.) and roll right off the snare and toms. 3) I can tell that I was starting to think more about creating a melody with my fills and solos (some of the time) and things are flowing better. You'll see in upcoming videos that this skill has really improved and has transformed my playing in a lot of ways.
As I finished up my first year at ALA last year, the opportunity presented itself to move to another school in Draper, UT. As much as I hated to leave the students in Spanish Fork, a combination of emotional and professional factors made the decision inevitable. So with some trepidation I made my move to Juan Diego Catholic High School in Draper, UT. Here's a picture:
In all honesty, I was blown away by how professional, organized, and Christian the place is. Everything about the school has been a good experience. The faculty and administration is organized and helpful. The facilities are wonderful. The students are motivated and accepting. It's a very classy environment. It is hard to find negative things to say about it, so I won't even try.
My responsibilities include two middle school percussion classes, one high school percussion class, high school orchestra, and four 6th grade band classes which the band director and I team teach. I also run the drum line in the fall, and the steel drum band in the winter. It is the first year that the school has ever had an orchestra and I believe we're off to a good start. Next year we will begin offering strings in the middle school as well. I've moved up to South Jordan to avoid the commute, and I'm hoping that this is a place that I can stay for a while.
So sometime last summer I played for a friend of mine's piano studio recital. She taught a jazz piano course at BYU and wanted to give her students an opportunity to perform with professional musicians (that's us in case you were wondering). They each prepared a jazz standard to perform, and we talked about some of the basic principles of communication in a rhythm section. At the end we performed a song for them and after everyone had left we stayed around to play a few on our own.
That I can remember, the three of us had never played together before. The incredible Kathryn Merriam obviously is playing piano and Chad Bacon is on bass. The other two are much more accomplished jazz musicians than I am and it was fun to play with them. In fact, if you want to hear a great jazz recording check out "No More Blues" on Kathryn's website. She's as good of a singer as she is a pianist. It was fun to play together for the first time and to try to get used to the musical personality that each of them had. It was a particularly interesting experience for me, because 1) I was playing on BYU's drum set rather than my own, 2) There were no amps so the volume had to be kept under control, and 3) I had just finished my first year of teaching and had not really had time to gig or practice at all. It was really interesting to me though, that having spent so much time teaching music and approaching it from the pedagogy side, I had really improved....a lot. My chops weren't nearly where they should have been, but my mind was much more involved as an artist. That might be hard to understand for some, but to me it was very significant. I've heard many musicians say that sometimes the best thing you can do to improve is to just walk away. Insightful.
Even though it doesn't look like it, there were more than 2 people in the audience. I can't remember if we played this tune at the beginning or the end of the recital, but it was meant to be a demonstration of how players communicate to each other. I was still new and unexperienced with the laptop and had no external mic, so the quality isn't superb, but its enough to get an idea of what we sounded like. This is the famous Wayne Shorter tune called Footprints. Take a listen.
Comments: There's a lot of stuff in here that I would love to keep out of the public eye, but as an exercise in being more transparent I have left it unedited. One thing that bothers me is my inability to get away from the main groove. I cringe every time I hear that blasted bass drum on beat one. Sometimes as I listen I feel the groove stagnate, and I just wish that I had changed it up. Throw in a fill, change the texture, stop playing altogether! Just DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT!
In contrast however, watching this clip made me feel very good about where I was heading. For the first time that I can remember I was making a conscious effort to contribute as an artist, rather than just being a medium through which the composer could get his message to an audience. I also loved some of the different sounds I was discovering on the kit, and I really liked the double time feel that I threw in now and again. Overall it wasn't a bad take, all things considered.
Track 2: Blue Monk
This is the first student to perform at the recital. As you can see the environment was pretty casual. You'll hear me and Kathryn both giving some directions as we went along.
Comments: While I'm not crazy about most of my solo ideas, or the overall time feel, this one is relatively painless for me to watch. I even get a little kick out of some of the subtle 'Jedisms' that every so often present themselves in my brushwork.
Track 3: Wave
After everyone had left, we were having so much fun that we stayed to play a couple more tunes. This is a personal favorite of mine, a famous Jobim standard called Wave.
Comments: So this is a track that for the most part I actually enjoy. I enjoy Kathryn and Chad's playing much more than my own, but there is still a lot of good things happening. You can tell that I was exploring a little with my right hand push/pull technique as some call it. It was cool the first time, and then got old. There is a balance issue in this one that really troubles me, but I keep telling myself that it was just because of the placement of the microphone and that I wouldn't in good conscience actually play that loud. Let's hope that's true. Other than that, no major complaints. Great playing Kathryn and Chad!
When I first purchased my laptop, I was so excited to use it that I had it shipped to Evanston, WY where I was teaching at a week long music camp. These clips were all taken the same day, which I believe was one of the last days of the camp. Musically speaking, there isn't anything extraordinary on my part, I mostly just wanted to test out the recording capabilities in different situations. Regardless, I think its enough to get an idea of what the gig is like.
The camp hosts a handful of ensembles ranging from orchestras and jazz bands to celtic and folk ensembles. Players include 7th and 8th graders as well as faculty members. I teach percussion techniques classes, world percussion, funk band, and this year a bossa nova guitar class. I also help with the band, orchestra, and jazz band since percussion students are small in number. In this clip you'll hear Shannon Roberts (University of Utah, Woodscross HS) and Mike Giles (Iowa State University). I believe that the first two tunes are arrangements of Shannon's, and the third his own composition. Enjoy!
Comments:
In high school I was notorious for having terrible posture when I played drums or piano. After the first year of college I changed my ways, as well as my set up, and started to play with good posture. I like having a slightly better view of the rest of the players, and found that it increases my reach a bit. For some reason this week I had reverted back to the slouching method in an attempt to get closer to the drums be a little less 'formal' for lack of a better word. I wanted to connect more with the music being made as opposed to the music that was written. Kind of a letter of the law/spirit of the law sort of thing. I think it helped, but after that week I went back to sitting up straight. More than anything else, it keeps my back from hurting after each gig.
Though it makes me slightly uncomfortable to make this resolution public, the desire to improve as a musician and the need to free up space on my laptop has compelled me to start updating my blog on a more regular basis. And while I feel apprehensive about the whole endeavor ( just typing the words "my blog" made me feel a little self-conscious) I know that there are at least a few people out there who would like to see what I've been up to.
Since I recently purchased my new laptop (is 4 months still recent?) I've spent an increasing amount of time filming myself practicing, performing, and jamming with friends. As I edit these clips and sift out the unavoidable garbage, I'll try to post the rest for your viewing pleasure. For the most part, I hope to use this as a means of personal assessment, and as I look back in a few months hopefully there will be some substantial progress. At any rate, there will be lots to see. Feel free to let me know what you think along the way.
