You might say that I’m 6 weeks late in setting goals for the entire year. I am going to spin that and say that I just have gotten past the typical New Year’s resolution failure point and am going with something sustainable. Play “Happy Birthday” on Ukulele every day Band was probably the most important […]
I was quite serious about playing tuba in high school. Somewhere between video games, I actually practiced between a half-hour to an hour every day for almost four years. I can read both treble and bass clefs and various rhythms and time signatures. As part of my daily warmup routine, I played my major scales […]
When I am further along and in a more thoughtful mood, I’ll write a more complete post explaining why I decided to join a community wind ensemble and play tuba again. This post, however, is just a smattering of reactions from going to my first rehearsal in about 8 years. Overall, the experience was a lot […]
Thanksgiving has passed, and the holiday season is well underway. As is now American tradition, there’s outcry about how commercialized Christmas and other December holidays have become, but there are also the more heartwarming parts. There’s the tree decorating that I don’t do because I just go home a few days before Christmas. There’s the […]
It’s 8AM, and I don’t want to get up. I’m supposed to be at the Band Shak between 9 and 9:30, so I should leave and bike to Stanford by 8:45. It’ll take maybe 10 minutes to get ready, so I should be done with breakfast by 8:35. And I have oatmeal in the fridge, […]
During marching season in high school, band practice dictated how I dressed. On practice-free days, I could wear anything, but when we had after-school rehearsal, I always wore one of our white band t-shirts. The shirts were absolutely plain other than a small logo on the right chest, but that logo meant a lot to […]
After dinner last night, I grabbed my tuba and made the 10 minute walk to Dinkelspiel Auditorium (Dink) for rehearsal. I arrived a little late, but rehearsal hadn’t started yet, so I sat down next to the bass trombone and began unpacking. After chatting with Michael, the bass trombone player, and warming up some, we […]
This evening, I went to the Coho to listen to the jam session. Leland, a friend of mine, mentioned that his combo would be hosting, and it seemed like a good opportunity to both support him and get an assignment done. The combo included a trumpet, alto sax, tenor sax, bass, piano, and drums, so […]
Earlier this evening, I made the trip across campus to listen to the Stanford Jazz Orchestra perform with guest artist Jon Faddis. Having heard him play two days before in class, I already knew that he could play just like Dizzy, but I was anxious to hear him play in an ensemble. The first piece, […]
Concert Review 3 for the University Latin Jazz Ensembles Jazz performances tend to be cool, relaxed settings. Unlike orchestral performances, the performers will walk around, talk to and react toe ach other during sets, and occasionally even laugh. Even with the informal feel, the performers usually have an understood feeling of restraint to maintain the […]