50 Days into my experiment, and I’m doing alright.  Not every day has been a fantastic “performance,”  but just having the work in the back of my mind has forced my to be a little more creative than usual.  This in itself is worth making this thing happen.

This is the closest thing yet to keeping a diary, and for someone like me who is not a writer, it’s hard.  Feels like homework sometimes.  However, the act of writing every day (more or less) actually does help improve that craft.  By no means do I claim that I’m a good or interesting writer.  Far from it, actually, but I have noticed some improvements.  I’m particularly trying to get better at describing music in words.  Can you do it?  Does the quote “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture” mean that words fall short of describing the emotional impact that music has on your soul?  Let me ask you this…when was the last time you got the shivers from a poem? A Symphony? An Ellie Goulding song? A Book?

So today, as I’m playing with my students again, I’ll try to describe what they’re playing as accurately as possible.  The result will be my post for tomorrow.

46:  Nothing important.  A few notes for Jenine.

47:  Had a really nice brunch gig with a guitarist named Jake Reichbart.  It was in Chelsea, Michigan, which is the home of “Jiffy,” the company that makes the awesome corn bread mix.  Cute little town, nice food, nice gig.  Sunday brunch gigs are some of my favorites, actually.

48:  Class with my students.  Had a great breakthrough with one trumpet player.  I made him play a solo in quarter notes only.  This differed from the way he played before because there was NO SENSE OF BEAT AT ALL!  He actually manipulated the chords, AND played with rhythm.  It was great!

49:  Went to a rehearsal with Leo Rhea’s big band at the Birmingham Unitarian Church.  Even though I conduct the OU Big Band a lot, it’s sometimes more fun for me to actually PLAY in the band.  We read a few nice charts including Nestico’s “Ya Gotta Try…Harder,” and a Pat Metheny tune called “See The World.”  Oh also, Rob McConnell’s arrangement of “Just Friends” which has a killer bone/bass soli line.  Band!

Day 44:  Played a nice gig with Diego Rivera and Chris Buzzelli at Vinology in Ann Arbor.  Vincent Jonna is the booking guy at this restaurant, and he’s been really cool about having me there and back again every month.  In fact, this particular gig, he booked me again as soon as I walked in the door!  Crazy!

Both guys sounded beautiful, and it was nice of Diego to invite his family and friends out to hear us.  Hope we can do this more often.

Day 45:  My students gave a performance for the “Meeting of Minds” conference hosted by Dean Robby Stewart.  My part of the performance consisted of announcing them and describing the jazz program a little.  It’s been really great to see the development of a few of the guys.  In small steps, I’m seeing that they are grasping the nuances of improvising, following harmonic progressions, and developing ideas.  This is the part that makes teaching really fun.