the adventures of a high school jazz geek.
From the category archives:
Being a teenage musician in a place like Los Angeles has got its perks. I’ve got access to the Hollywood Bowl, the Baked Potato, the Monterey Jazz Festival, and the California Institute of the Arts — not to mention access to thousands of musicians associated with LA-based music organizations. Nevertheless, it’s still exciting to meet [...]
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I was just finishing a post about my experience so far with the combo that I’m currently in, but I’m going to be telling you about my day instead. You see, I had an audition this morning with the SCSBOA honor jazz band program. I’ve done auditions before, but only classical ones — auditions with [...]
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Now that winter break’s on its last legs, it’s time to look forward to a fresh new semester and a fresh new year. Here are some of my resolutions for 2010:
1. Read.
After setting down The Great Gatsby today, I realized that I haven’t picked up many jazz biographies since I started getting involved with jazz [...]
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Being involved in many music programs as a high school student has its perks, but sometimes I find myself diving head first into weekends like these:
1. Saturday, 7:30 am: The SAT.
There’s nothing much to say about this one except for the fact that it pretty much rendered me useless for the rest of the day.
2. [...]
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I recently sent in a self-recording for an All-California Jazz Band audition (check it out at CBDA.org) — it was the first time I’d ever done a recording for anything to do with jazz. Like any good musician, I waited until the weekend before the audition tapes were due to begin recording — because recording [...]
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For Gordon Goodwin, it was probably just another solo. But for me, I couldn’t fully grasp it — I was sitting on the same bench as him, watching him improvise on the keys of the old upright Yamaha that I play every morning. I was balancing myself on the edge of the bench so I [...]
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This past Sunday I got a chance to visit the Performing and Visual Arts College Fair sponsored by NACAC at the Ackerman Union at UCLA. I’ve been to college fairs before, but this one was focused around schools that offered exceptional arts programs — everything from hardcore conservatories like New England Conservatory and Juilliard to [...]
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When you think music, what do you think of? You might think of the LA Phil — I’m probably thinking about the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. The point is, music is huge — and although I might pick favorites, I’m not about to miss out on any of it. That’s why I went to West [...]
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Thanks to my current jazz teacher (Mark Nilan, pictured in the far right), I was able to sneak into a “Groove Therapy” jazz workshop held by USC/CalArts professor Alphonso Johnson this past Friday. Though it took rushing out of school at noon and getting lost on the USC campus, it was pretty amazing sitting in [...]
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If you haven’t got the slightest idea what I’m talking about, check out yesterday’s post to see what’s been happening with the West Ranch High School jazz band.
Today we opened the Real Book to Erroll Garner’s Misty:
It’s one of those romantic sitting-in-a-bar-contemplating-life tunes. This recording’s got a bit of a classical touch with the whole [...]
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