the adventures of a high school jazz geek.
From the category archives:
Last night I had the privilege of meeting bass player Kaveh Rastegar and drummer Jaydon Bean (as well as my teacher, Mark Nilan Jr.) at the Watermark on Main in Ventura. Let me tell you, it was quite the experience just watching the three musicians set up in such a tiny venue — a small [...]
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I was at a neighbor’s house Sunday night for a light get-together and a hearty barbecue — the same neighbor, Richard, who was the first to toss some jazz classics in my direction. Throughout the night, several names were thrown about and excitedly discussed — Toots Thielemans, George Benson, and Rod Piazza, to name a [...]
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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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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 [...]
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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 [...]
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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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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 [...]
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Back in the jazz room at West Ranch High School I’m lucky enough to have these three things: a trendy Yamaha keyboard (a similar one to the Motif model), a jazz band-exclusive standup Yamaha piano (unfortunately, the choir has already claimed the baby grand), and the fifth-edition Real Book 1 & 2. But the keyboard’s [...]
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This week, NPR Jazz is asking bloggers like me to list five albums I’d use to introduce someone to today’s jazz. This is incredible because (a) I love today’s jazz, and (b) this is justification that I’m not crazy for running a blog about jazz — there’s more like me out there! Even though I’m [...]
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