Spent most of the day listening to concerti, starting with Ravel and Prokofiev and ending with Saint Saen, of all composers.  Ravel’s G major concerto is still in my opinion the most perfect piano concerto ever written –  too many technical reasons to mention here but lets just underline the whole thing with the word balanced [...]

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Jimmy Webb, that cornerstone of American Songwriting who wrote many famous songs such as “By The Time I Get To Phoenix”, “Up Up and Way”, “Wichita Lineman” and countless others of which I would redirect you do his website, also topped off his career by writing a book on songwriting back in the late 90’s [...]

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photo credit: tnarik
Nothing in the writing department, but jazzing at the piano and wishing.  I’ve sort of lost any interest in writing a pure instrumental work anymore, and anything less than some sort of vocal form seems inexpressive and pointless.  God forbid I should even consider something intellectual.  I don’t know what to say [...]

Continue reading " Plugin Away "

I’ve been writing letters to old friends, telling them stories about my adventures – sailing and other life stories about them…memories.  So, needless to say, another non productive week…however
I find it interesting I am back with an interest in listening to commercial stuff – the alternative pop/rock of Tori…finding something of interest in production value [...]

Continue reading " Composing Status Update #78 "

It strikes me that the story of Taneiev and Rachmaninoff – Rachmaninoff being such a fluid off the sleeve pianist / composer, and Taneiev with his extreme and precise technical skills…how one endures and the other never makes a mark – ending up a battered alcoholic….similar to Glasanov. And yet Taneiev was so respected – by Tchaikovsky [...]

Continue reading " The Dangers of Intellect "

I found a few hours over the weekend to practice my improv chops a bit.  But what was interesting to me was actually doing a fair amount of listening, mostly to old pieces that I used to like to much, but then abandoned because either my own tastes became more sophisticated or the style of [...]

Continue reading " Retro "

Finalized the read of Adam’s memoirs last evening, what was the best chapter of his soliloquy on life, music, and the art of a good acid trip.  Chapter 15 was worth the read and the expense of the book, although I do not find his conclusions well grounded in fact.  He does, to his credit, give a [...]

Continue reading " That Last Chapter "

No improv last night as table tennis distractions abound.  Sqeezed in a bit of reading of John Adams, the last chapter.  He’s tried to explain away his failures which just makes him come off myopic in his own intellectual world.  The usual pattern is that he gives some historic timeline of events of how a [...]

Continue reading " Last Chapter "