Tag: midnight in moscow

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Weekly Roundup 9/29/15

Reading: Work Hard, Be Nice started- good and quick read and very inspiring for educators and parents alike.

Arranging: New charts for Satellites coming (as soon as we pick new songs)

Practicing: Annie Laurie, and looking into things I might prepare for a doctoral audition (EEP).

Rehearsing: Metro rehearsed Sunday night with killer trombonist/repair technician John Maddox auditioning for second trombone. He sounded great! So did Nick last week! It’s going to be a tough decision. We’ll meet again this weekend to try out a different candidate.

Midnight in Moscow meets tomorrow to go over some new songs as well.

Performing: No current performances.

Listening: Lots of news and podcasts, actually, and sometimes a little classical. Not feeling too adventurous.

Teaching: Big into theory and concepts this week and driving home those essential ear training skills.

Relaxing: X-Files. Dana Scully is my queen.

i-dont-care

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Weekly Roundup 9/15/15

Reading: Work Hard, Be Nice is now waiting for me on my bookshelf!

Arranging: All arrangements are now edited for the Satellites to be bigger and easier to read! Next step, buy more printer ink.

Practicing: Annie Laurie in high gear. Hoping to read through it with Metro Brass at our Oct 4th rehearsal.

Rehearsing: Midnight in Moscow tomorrow to read new tunes and organize our books. Metro on Sunday night- our first meeting after little break- and we’re hoping to audition a new trombonist!

Performing: No performances this week.

Listening: Lots of news and podcasts, actually, and sometimes a little classical. Not feeling too adventurous.

Teaching: It might be a good time to do a ‘volume workshop’ with some students- work on projection and accuracy at double f and air flow and consistency at double p.

Relaxing: Reliving all the drama of the X-Files. Going camping at Wild River SP this weekend. Enjoying the last days of summer, and they have been beautiful.

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Weekly Roundup 8/25/15

Reading: nothing on the shelf.

Arranging: A few edits (and one major revision) for Satellites charts.

Practicing: Time to start really digging into Annie Laurie, which I’ll perform with Metro Brass as accompaniment sometime in our next performance season. This means hoping my work revitalizing my multiple tonguing skills and quick slide work has paid off!

Rehearsing: Satellites core group got together on Sunday to revise and finalize our charts. We’ll have full band rehearsal this coming Sunday for our gig on the 5th!

Performing: Midnight in Moscow Aug 26th at Driftwood Char Bar, 7pm. The Satellites Sept 5 at 11pm, Icehouse.

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(look at that sweet branding!)

Listening: I’m painting another room in my house, and it feels like an 80s pop playlist kind of activity.

Teaching: End of summer preparation for lots of students- getting those chops back for band camp and rehearsals and auditions. For some marching band folks, I’m offering ‘crash courses’ on how to effectively memorize music.

Relaxing: HOLY COW the State Fair starts this week. I’ll be there on Saturday. Then a beach day, then some kayaking- gotta make that summer last.

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Weekly Roundup 8/18/15

Reading: nothing on the shelf.

Arranging: A few edits for Satellites charts.

Practicing: Time to start really digging into Annie Laurie, which I’ll perform with Metro Brass as accompaniment sometime in our next performance season. This means hoping my work revitalizing my multiple tonguing skills and quick slide work has paid off!

Rehearsing: Nothing this week.

Performing: Midnight in Moscow Aug 26th at Driftwood Char Bar, 7pm. The Satellites Sept 5 at 11pm, Icehouse.

Listening: Nothing super new on the list.

Teaching: End of summer preparation for lots of students- getting those chops back for band camp and rehearsals and auditions.

Relaxing: A weekend at the cabin + comic books.

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Weekly Roundup 8/11/15

I was on a road trip through Big Sky Country last week- got to see moose, bison, pronghorns, elk, and lots and lots of beautiful mountains and flora. Now it’s back to work and gearing up for fall lessons!

Reading: nothing on the shelf.

Arranging: A few edits for Satellites charts.

Practicing: Rebuild time after a week off. This means a few days of long tones and lip slurs, and lots of tunes in 12 keys with the Intonation Helper before I’m ready to jump back into my technical work. Buzz buzz buzz, sing sing sing.

Rehearsing: Satellites on Sunday- gearing up for next month’s gigs!

Performing: Midnight in Moscow Aug 26th at Driftwood Char Bar, 7pm.

Listening: Doing research for Midnight’s new gig book. We’re streamlining and looking for new tunes to add to our repertoire. This means listening to lots of Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five and Preservation Hall! Not bad.

Teaching: End of summer preparation for lots of students- getting those chops back for band camp and rehearsals.

Relaxing: Tomorrow night the Perseid meteor shower peaks! Get out of the city and find some dark sky to enjoy the show.

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Weekly Roundup 7/28/15

Last Tuesday was my birthday, so I took the week off from weekly roundups. And now we’re back! Except for next week. I’ll be out of town. 🙂

Reading:  Finished: Practicing: A Musician’s Return to Music by Glenn Kurtz. Currently reading: nothing!

Arranging: Clear of arranging duties for a few weeks.

Practicing: Range extension. I’ve added quite a few partials to my daily lip slurs and gone down into the trigger and pedal register, looking for solidity and reliability of sound.

Rehearsing: No rehearsals scheduled.

Performing: Midnight in Moscow August 8th at Mekong Little Night Market. Time TBD. I have a new performance calendar! Bookmark it, subscribe to do, do what you gotta do- see you at the gig.

Listening: Needing a little break from organized sound, as happens occasionally.

Teaching: Good routine development and attention to detail. A mistake is not a problem- until you repeatedly practice it.

Relaxing: Watching Nature365 videos, going to the beach to take advantage of the hot days while we have them, riding bike all manner of places.

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Weekly Roundup 7/14/15

Reading: Practicing: A Musician’s Return to Music by Glenn Kurtz.

Arranging: One final proof of Satellites charts before we start rehearsals!

Practicing: Alternating lip trill work with multiple tonguing. I have some tricky runs in the arrangement of Rolling Thunder that Metro Brass is doing at the Hudson Bandshell.

Rehearsing: Metro Brass on the 19th

Performing: Metro Brass July 23rd at the Hudson Bandshell. I have a new performance calendar! Bookmark it, subscribe to do, do what you gotta do- see you at the gig.

Listening: Just biding my time until the 17th, when the new Tame Impala record comes out.

Teaching: Rochuts in tenor clef. Get on it. Miracle high range fixer.

Relaxing: A really busy, but really fun weekend: Mingo Fishtrap at the Dakota Friday night, The Princess Bride was the movie in Windom Park on Saturday night, Open Streets NE Sunday!

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Weekly Roundup 7/7/15

Reading: Some basics on musical acoustics (so confusing!), and picking up Practicing: A Musician’s Return to Music by Glenn Kurtz this week.

Arranging: n/a

Practicing: Alternating lip trill work with multiple tonguing. I have some tricky runs in the arrangement of Rolling Thunder that Metro Brass is doing at the Hudson Bandshell!

Rehearsing: Nice little breather from rehearsals until the 19th.

Performing: Midnight in Moscow, July 12th at Centennial Lakes in Edina. Metro Brass July 23rd at the Hudson Bandshell. I have a new performance calendar! Bookmark it, subscribe to do, do what you gotta do- see you at the gig.

Listening: My brain’s been in a little rut lately, not wanting to process many things, and when that happens I like instrumental things- in particular, soundscape-like music or minimalist works. Dawn of Midi, John Luther Adams, Brad Mehldau.

Teaching: My friend and colleague Brad’s excellent Keys By Degrees worksheet (see my studio resources for a PDF). An excellent way to train your fingers or your slide to follow your ear, and not worry about memorizing key signatures!

Relaxing: Camping up in Northern Wisconsin last weekend. So necessary.

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Weekly Roundup 6/30/15

Reading: This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J Levitin. (still reading…almost done!)

Arranging: n/a

Practicing: Lots of new, hard music for Metro Brass!

Rehearsing: Metro read a GREAT arrangement of the Jurassic Park theme on Sunday night. Dang hard too- probably because it was arranged by a trombone player!

Performing: Midnight in Moscow, July 1st at Driftwood Char Bar, and July 12th at Centennial Lakes in Edina. I have a new performance calendar! Bookmark it, subscribe to do, do what you gotta do- see you at the gig.

Listening:

(required listening for all students)

Teaching: So many students on vacation! Come back to me, students!

Relaxing: Kayaking, hiking, enjoying this gorgeous summer. Camping this weekend! SO excited.

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Weekly Roundup 6/23/15

Reading: This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J Levitin. (still reading)

Arranging: n/a

Practicing: A little uninspired to practice lately- the summer doldrums if you will. Usually when I feel this way I give myself a little space, or just sight-read etudes or solos I haven’t played in a while.

Rehearsing: Midnight in Moscow has three(!) upcoming gigs so we have a rehearsal Wednesday night to get ourselves into performance mode. We haven’t done a live show in over a year, so this will be fun!

Performing: Midnight in Moscow, June 27th at Hasley’s in Brainerd, July 1st at Driftwood Char Bar, and July 12th at Centennial Lakes in Edina. I have a new performance calendar! Bookmark it, subscribe to do, do what you gotta do- see you at the gig.

Listening: JD McPherson, Seun Kuti and Egypt 80, Modest Mouse- basically anyone who was at Rock The Garden this past weekend- and, on repeat, the new Tallest Man on Earth album (Dark Bird is Home) which is so painfully beautiful.

Teaching: So many students on vacation! Come back to me, students!

Relaxing: A family reunion in Chippewa Falls on Saturday, Rock the Garden on Sunday- I’m tired from all the relaxing.