Groove Therapy with Alphonso Johnson

September 29, 2009

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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Today’s Real Book Picks

September 24, 2009

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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Real Book Love

September 23, 2009

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 got [...]

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Jazz Now: What’s it Like Today?

September 20, 2009

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 not [...]

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The Beatles, Jazz Style

September 16, 2009

Out of all of sites that I’ve been using to update myself on today’s jazz world, the one that I constantly return to is NPR’s Jazz & Blues Page. Not only do they keep updating, but their writers and speakers all share this dedication and genuine love for music — which is one of the [...]

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Talking With Seis Cuerdas

September 10, 2009

If you still haven’t checked out Seis Cuerdas, here’s a little glimpse of their “Flamenco for a new generation” via Youtube:

This is La Posada from their 2006 album, Solo Guitarras. To check out more of their songs & albums, visit the Seis Cuerdas store or look up Seis Cuerdas on iTunes. I’m currently addicted to the [...]

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Seis Cuerdas @ Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica

September 7, 2009

You’re pretty much guaranteed to hear music (and if you’re lucky, great music) if you head to the Third Street Promenade at Santa Monica (or any outdoor shopping street like this, really). And that’s really what I enjoy about this shopping center: window shopping, sipping some Starbucks, and listening to some great street performers. But [...]

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Of Combos, Doghouses, and Pink Casts.

September 5, 2009

So now that my computer’s finished its anti-internet rebellion, I can finally show you some of the new jazz that the West Ranch High School Studio A Jazz Band played in the past few weeks. Our lineup included How High the Moon, Out of the Doghouse, and Ride the Nightbeast. Here we’re performing the second tune [...]

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Upcoming Jazz Festivals!

August 27, 2009

Now that our jazz band’s gotten settled in and the music’s been passed out (like Ellington’s In a Sentimental Mood and a Gordon Goodwin commission, Principal of the Thing), we’re left with a few more things to do, including: (a) rehearsing quite a bit, and (b) arranging a local trip to some awesome jazz concert [...]

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Ray Brown

August 26, 2009

I realized the other day that even though I’ve been playing in a jazz rhythm section for over two years, the three other instruments of this section (bass, drums, guitar) are probably the ones that I’m the most unfamiliar with. So I consulted our jazz band’s current bass player, Brandon Canada, for a good bass [...]

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