Tuesday, December 23, 2008

ABD Film Premiere

I haven't been posting much lately because I've just been working non-stop on the score for At Best Derivative, and not doing much else. ABD is a feature farce comedy, a self-conscious homage to spoofs such as the Naked Gun and Hot Shots, locally cast and produced on a micro budget. I'm very proud of the music I've written, and I have a lot left to write! (This pic on the right is from a scene I just finished.)

Anyway, the first (and so far, only) screening will be on Friday, March 6, at 7:00 PM, in the main theater of the Tempe Center for the Arts. Advanced tickets are available as of today, and can be bought online at the Friar's Lantern website for $11 (with PayPal) or at theTCA website for $13 (or $18 on the day of the show.) Get 'em while they're hot.

Parents, FYI: At Best Derivative contains ridiculously excessive swearing, probably too much to overlook, enough that your kids will ask, "Why are you letting me watch this?"

Monday, October 13, 2008

Two Shout-Outs

First, my friend Toby's band Kayodot just played Phoenix on their current US tour, and it was great to see him, Mia, my good buddy Terran, and the rest of the band. They sound better than ever, and if they're coming to your city (their schedule is on their myspace page), I urge you to consider going to their show (and bringing earplugs). You'll be supporting some true artists in the nearly impossible dream of performing music that no one expects to hear.

I don't know how to describe their music at all anymore, and certainly not without stringing a lot of words together. "Metal chamber music dreamscapes" is the best I've come up with so far. I was astounded by the show they played here.

Second, I've been listening to my good friend Michael Daves' solo record for a SOLID MONTH on my commute- I've probably heard it fifty times now- and let me tell you, this man is a legend in his own youth. I'm serious. His singing on this record took me a few listens to get used to- it's very evocative, but hard to understand the words at first- but once I'd heard it a few times, I couldn't imagine it sounding any other way. He makes the old time/bluegrass tradition sound new all over again, in our time, and it's beautiful.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

ABD Trailer

We've finished the trailer for At Best Derivative. The music I wrote for it ended up being mixed fairly low, so turn the volume up if you want to hear it.





And here's the audio track in its full glory (not that it means much without the video):


Be patient- there are a few seconds of silence at the beginning.

Friday, September 19, 2008

New on Spiritrax

I did some songs for Spiritrax six months ago that only just got online now. Listening back now, they didn't sound so great and I had to remix them, which is good- it means I've gotten better in the last six months. Anyway, they should sound acceptable now.


My latest installment in the upcoming complete karaoke Messiah.

Rock band with renaissance orchestra. Big huge sound for Easter etc.

This is the most common klezmer melody to this Passover hymn.

And this is the older, more well-known melody, in an orchestral setting.

Reggae-style.

Jazz trio, a la Moondance.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Rakatá!

So I've been playing trombone with a new band for two or three weeks now- a local latin pop band called Rakatá. The two percussionist/singers who run it really know their stuff. They do pop songs with a latin flavor (Colombian, Brazilian, salsa, merengue, timba, etc.), and traditional latin songs with a more soulful crossover sound. If you've heard modern pop music from Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil- it's that kind of thing. Phoenix is full of salsa bands, but these guys are doing something unique here, as far as I know. Very fun, very danceable, and a great situation for a trombonist.

I haven't been able to invite people out to the gigs yet because I'm not a member of the band- they just hire me when they can afford an extra person- and so far I haven't known about the gigs until a few days before- but I definitely recommend seeing them (for you Phoenix folks). They (we?) play every Tuesday at the Asia de Cuba (in the Hotel Mondrian in Scottsdale), every Friday at Trader Vic's (by the Valley Ho in Scottsdale), and I think they have a Saturday gig starting soon, somewhere on the west side.

Here's their myspace page, if you're interested.

Monday, August 18, 2008

At Best, Derivative


I'm scoring my first independent feature film! Woo-hoo!

"At Best Derivative" is a comedy/farce about a gang of would-be criminals who are planning to sell the movie rights to a crime they have yet to commit. It's the first full-length feature by director Ryan Pierson, and the cast and crew are all local Arizona folks. They've been working on it for over a year, and it's now officially in post-production. We're hoping to be able to release it this fall, maybe in October. Anyway, I'm totally psyched to have the opportunity to score a feature film. But no music to show you yet- just this poster, their myspace page and their imdb page.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

The Mating Game

Two weeks ago, I composed music for the romantic comedy "The Mating Game", the Phoenix Independent Film Makers Group's entry in the IFP-Phoenix 48-hr film challenge. Friday at 7:00 PM we were given a prop (a spatula), a line ("How did that get in there?"), and a genre (we got comedy). Our completed 3-minute film was due Sunday evening at 7:00 PM. There were 30 or so teams that participated- the screening this Thursday involved more spatula-related homicides than most of my evenings out.

I didn't get to score to picture, just to the script, because of the time contraint, but I think the music ended up working fairly well anyway, and it was fun to do. Here's the 5-minute "director's cut":

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Sextet Concert Last Month

A month ago, I got to present a concert of original music as part of the Jazz in the Hills series, in Fountain Hills, AZ. The musicians were Mike Krill on saxophones, Denny Monce on trumpet, myself on trombone, Dave Henning on piano, Tim Paree on bass, and Andy Ziker on drums, who all learned a lot of my tunes in a very short time. I've posted a few of them here, on the left, just below my gig calendar. I really want to record cleaner, tighter versions, but for now, enjoy! The first four are originals- Mo' Better Blues is the theme from the movie of the same name, composed by Bill Lee.

Why did it take me a month to get these up here? Well, I've had a long month. If you're a friend of mine (and I doubt many other people ever read this), then you probably already know what's been going on for me- if you don't, just ask. If you're an enemy, I'm not telling.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Corporate Affair

Last Sunday, I was accepted into Corporate Affair, a very special function band here in Phoenix. It's run by Michael Pollack, who, aside from being a drummer, is a successful businessman and local philanthropist. (I'm also in his debt for starting my favorite (and the only) local discount movie theater.) The band is dedicated to helping raise funds for local causes and non-profits, and keeps very busy playing benefits, charity events, and city functions. It's a full-out show band, with background singers, a dedicated percussionist, and now a full horn section ('cause it ain't full unless there's a bone in there!) I'll be adding their dates to my calendar- we're basically off for the summer after a July 4th gig, but then have a regular schedule all winter long. Anyway, I'm psyched, for the music, the new folks to know, and (as my friend Tyrone of K2 always said) the cha-ching.

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Not accepted to Richard Bellis program

Yup- got word from ASCAP a few days ago that I wasn't one of the lucky few accepted into their July film scoring workshop in L.A. Oh well- I'll just have to find some other fun way to get out of Phoenix at some point. Cruise ship job maybe?

Concert June 27

I've been writing up a book of a lot of jazz tunes I've written, and I've been thinking about finding a way to play them, putting a group together or something. My friend Dave Henning and the guys in his band have been super-supportive of this, and they called me last week to offer me some space for my music on a concert they'd been asked to do. So on June 27, the Jazz in the Hills series will present the Dave Henning Quartet, plus me and trumpeter Denny Monce, playing a whole concert of mostly my music. It's really generous of them and I'm totally psyched. Hoping to get all the arrangements for them done during the next week...

The gig is in the Fountain Hills Community Theatre, which- maybe takes place in a restaurant called the Appian Way? I'm not quite sure, but here's the listing on their schedule.

Friday, May 16, 2008

More Practicing

Last week I tried to coordinate a session to record a few of my jazz tunes that have been sitting around forever. The session ended up not happening- the people I called couldn't find common time, at least not yet- but in the five days before I found out it wasn't going to happen, I started practicing a lot- first by being more consistent about playing at the community college in the morning before work, and then for the last two days, after work as well, usually about 40 minutes each. I guess when I imagined recording myself, I immediately heard things I wanted to change in my playing- plus I had to learn all these tunes I had written so long ago. Anyway, it's been a heavy schedule sometimes, and if I want to keep it going I'll probably have to lessen my other commitments- but it's felt really good too. The disheartening feeling of having to relearn the horn every time I pick it up is finally disappearing. My a.m. routine is the Schlossberg daily drills book, sight-reading, and etudes for technique, and my p.m. routine is Caruso excercises, learning jazz tunes, and working on improvising.

More Musicals!

Since we finished the Little Mermaid at work, I've been working steadily on South Pacific for local theater Desert Stages, and also for Stage Stars. It's been all my work so far, but since it's Friday evening now, the show is due on Sunday night, and I still have three main numbers to go plus reprises and stuff, my boss and I will both be at work tomorrow morning, and he'll do one or two of these last numbers.

I wish I knew how long it took me, but I haven't been keeping track. I've been working on it for either 2 or 3 weeks, but I'm not sure which.

Sorry I can't post samples of the music, but it's not really my property- I'm just hired to create it for other people who actually own it. When the CD hits Amazon, I'll link to samples there.

PS Never mind- Stage Stars doesn't seem to have samples to listen to on their Amazon page. This is the Amazon page for the Stage Stars album of Damn Yankees that I worked on nine months ago- no samples.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Funny picture


This is the gig I played Friday night with the "Sonoran Serenade" big band at a golf course in Carefree, AZ. I thought it was a funny picture.

Part Two: 21st century trombone

So then, in the same weekend, I was lucky enough to go to a concert by saxophonist Kenny Garrett. Garrett is 44, played in some big bands early on, but has made a long career leading small groups. At different times, his playing and compositions are playful, funky, spiritual, and often draw on various world cultures. I've known many saxophone players who consider him one of their favorite players. Anyway, on Sunday he played a concert in Chandler, AZ as one of the headlining artists for the Chandler jazz festival. Let me see if I can describe why this show was so inspirational:

The show's MC introduced the band as "a swinging good time", but when they hit it was like stepping into a trendy shoe store in NYC- very modern house rhythm, very ambient, evolving slowly through textures. The organist played cloud-like morphing synth pads, drums and bass slammed out the house beat, and Garrett played his saxophone sparingly, and only through effects pedals, using wah and distortion to get an evocative, electric sound. Garrett also played his sax through a keyboard synth, distorting the sound even farther beyond recognition. They still played some songs with heads and solos, but the emphasis was on continuously evolving texture, subtle rhythmic play, and relentless modern groove, not on blowing hard and fast through chord changes. Garrett also had a Rhodes onstage, and he would often put down his saxophone and join the rhythm section, picking out repeating rhythmic figures that would be picked up by the band and take the feel in a new direction.

Anyway, after a weekend of being sad that the 20th century was gone, this made me psyched for the 21st. I was just so inspired to see his approach- that his band was as danceable as any dance music- that his solos weren't about "showing off" or even playing choruses, but were more directly evocative, often like vocal cries- that there's still room for creativity about form and texture- and that there doesn't have to be anything old-fashioned about jazz. It was really a good model for me, and really inspired me to keep playing and to put together my own band. Of course, it's hard enough to do what's been done before; doing something that's never been done before, like Garrett is doing, probably requires exceptionally talented and creative musicians- but it's an exciting goal. I gotta go buy some pedals...

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Part One: 20th century trombone

Two weekends ago I had two experiences that really showed me what it means to be a trombonist today. My write-up of them is LONG, so if you don't have the attention to read it all, the conclusion is: I'm sad the 20th century is gone, but I'm hopeful about the 21st. This is part One.


On Saturday, I went to Charlie Small's monthly invite-only trombone group (usually 8-12 of the better local trombonists), which mainly plays Charlie's arrangements of classical works. I've been many times, and I knew that Charlie used to be a trombonist with a TV station in New York, but didn't really know what he'd done. On Saturday, he was asked to tell his life story as a trombonist, which follows:

Charlie grew up in New York City, a Jewish kid on the lower East side in the 1930's. At night, he listen to the radio and hear live broadcasts of dance bands from around the country, often with beautiful trombone solos, so when his parents asked him to learn an instrument, he chose the trombone. He played well enough in high school to get a gig with a local dance orchestra that payed him $125/week, which at the time was a decent salary. Through that gig, he was asked to sub with trombonist Tommy Dorsey's band when they played a New York theater. The gig was sold out, and Charlie read the Dorsey book well enough that they offered him the chair, which he accepted as soon as he graduated high school.

Charlie made lots of money playing with the Dorsey band, but he didn't enjoy being on the road, so after a few years of touring he returned to New York. A local contractor quickly put him to work as a substitute trombonist with the NBC New York television orchestra, and after a short time he was hired as a permanent musician. At that time, each broadcasting TV station in major cities had an staff orchestra to record music for all the shows produced there. He would arrive each morning to find a schedule of recording sessions for the day- a mystery show one day, a drama the next day, etc.

Charlie stayed at NBC for most of his career, until broadcasting stations began making producers rent their own sound stage and hire their own musicians, which made recording musicians into freelancers. In his last working years, he made a living playing trombone in Broadway shows. He retired to Phoenix, and now leads this very informal monthly group.

I was really, really depressed by hearing his story. I think this is because some part of me wanted to take him as a role model- after all, he's been successful as a trombonist in a way I often imagined being, when I was in college, and in the years after, as I tried to figure out what I could possibly do with my musical ambitions. I was depressed because almost no part of his career could exist today. There are no trombone solos on popular radio. No one can make a living gigging one night a week with a dance band- if they can find such a gig at all- and certainly, young players don't "just stumble into" such a band. Big bands are a small niche market, few rock bands tour with horn sections, and there certainly aren't any trombonist/bandleaders like Dorsey that sell out major venues. Sample libraries have replaced most recording work, and what's left is much more geographically focused and competitive, with movie and TV scores being recorded almost exclusively in Los Angeles (or overseas). Even Broadway shows now use mainly pre-recorded music.

And there's a professionalism that comes from experience, from steady work and regular opportunities, and I don't think that professionalism can be imitated or learned any other way. I was envious that Charlie got that, as a trombonist, in a way that I never will- and mainly I was just sad that I had missed the 20th century.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Trip to L.A.


I forgot to mention- last weekend I visited my good friend Syd and his partner Jon in L.A. It was pretty awesome- we walked on the beach,
saw the LA Phil play Shostakovich 7 in the new Frank Gehry concert hall,


and watched Pump up the Volume.



What more could I possibly ask for?

Well, Syd got back in touch with a professional composer he had met years ago (friends of friends etc.) named Andy Belling, who invited us over to visit. Andy showed us his home studio, and we talked for a long time. He answered all of my questions about the business and was very supportive, encouraging me to build up a portfolio by scoring independent and student work here in Phoenix. He also played us some excerpts from his new Broadway musical, Merry-Go-Round, which he orchestrated and co-wrote and will be directing as well, and which opens in New York in less than a year.

It was my first personal contact with a working film composer and it was pretty exciting. I really appreciate him making time to hang out with us. Thanks Andy!

Saturday, March 29, 2008

ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop

Last night I mailed in my application to the 2008 ASCAP Film and Television Scoring Workshop with Richard Bellis. It sounds like a serious film scoring camp- 3 or 4 weeks in LA, 40 hours a week, being coached by great filmmakers, sound editors, composers, and orchestrators, getting your work recorded by a live orchestra of pros- all paid for by ASCAP. They're very clear that they don't want hobbyists- only people who are pursuing film scoring as a profession. Anyway, it would be really exciting and I have my fingers crossed.

I actually just read Bellis' new book, The Emerging Film Composer. It's very good, and maybe the only book on film composing I've ever read with a sense of humor.

I worked on the application every night this week, updating my resume, writing a nice cover letter, putting together a CD of orchestral excerpts (all stuff you've seen here before), etc. I have no idea how many composers apply each year, or how experienced they tend to be, so it's hard to know what my chances are- but even just putting together the application was fun and inspirational. Anyway, wish me luck!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Latest musical

Spent last week at work stocking up Spiritrax for Easter. No vocals yet, but some of you probably know the Ode to Joy and the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

Started today on our latest musical for Stage Stars, The Little Mermaid- yes, the Disney one, with music is by Alan Menken. I actually saw this in the movie theater when it came out and loved it- a 12-year-old romantic, and not the only one in the theater, I'm sure.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Michael Daves in the Times

For those who, like me, know and love guitarist Michael Daves:

Check out this article from the Friday New York Times about bluegrass in NYC. After being profiled in one section of the article, Michael pops up later at someone else's jam session, at which, "Mr. Daves appeared to be the most proficient player in the room, by a comfortable margin."

Long time no post

I got in the habit of only posting when I had a new audio sample for you to listen to- and I guess I haven't had anything new in the last month. But it's been so long, I thought I'd let you know what I've been up to.

At work, we did the burlesque musical "Sugar Babies" for a community theater in Pennsylvania, and we just finished "Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat" for a children's theater in Fresno. Productiontrax and Spiritrax are rolling right along. Still teaching a few lessons after work, but not a lot, which is nice.

I've been practicing trombone a little, going to jam sessions, having some fun. Delphine Cortez and Dennis Rowland (both well-established singers in Phoenix) have been kind enough to let me sit in with their bands, and both of them inspire me to keep practicing. But no new gigs yet.

I've started working on some big band arrangements of my vocal tunes.

I've been spending a lot of free time reading about musicians, too. I'm almost done with The Gentle Giant, Yusef Lateef's autobiography, and also almost done with Jazzwomen, a book of interviews with women jazz musicians. I hope that my life makes as much sense looking back on it as theirs do.

I finally went to a meeting of local indie filmmakers and announced myself as a composer, and I'm sure if I pursued some of the filmmakers they'd be happy to have me score their films, but I haven't. I guess I'm afraid to commit to another big project, though I know I want to get into scoring sooner or later.

Guess that's it. Hopefully I'll actually have something for y'all to listen to soon.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

No Dragonfly for now

I guess we'll be back at Dragonfly sometime soon- but for now I have Fridays free. Anybody know of a good Friday jam session?

Thursday, January 17, 2008

New Vocals at Spiritrax

Vocals have been recorded for two more Spiritrax ditties:

Do You Hear What I Hear
In case you're missing Christmas as much as I am.

Were You There
Blatantly gory lyrics like this make me see Christianity as a superstitious cult that tells horror stories to children. But it was fun doing all the rain and thunder.

Monday, January 14, 2008

More Gigs!

I guess we've been a hit at the Dragonfly. The owner wants us to start playing Thursdays as well- I don't know if Thursday will be another night at the Tempe location, or if it'll be at their Mesa location. And we got a visit the other day from Bart Salzman from Jazz in AZ, who said he liked us and wanted to book us at the Chandler Jazz Festival! I'm looking forward to being busier.

[PS Looks like Thursdays will be in Mesa, and not starting just yet. Until then I'll probably be playing with Dennis Rowland's band on Thursdays at the Kazimierz in Scottsdale.]

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

The New Privas

Privas' regular keyboardist, Dave Henning, coaches lacrosse in the spring, and has a game every Friday night, and our regular bassist, Harald Weinkum, is on tour for the next six weeks, so our drummer Nick found another bass player, a recent Phoenix transplant named Toby Curtright, I've been playing keyboard, and that's the trio. We're at Dragonfly on Mill Ave. and 4th every Friday night, 7:00-11:00 PM.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Is Christmas finally over, forever?

I spent most of the last three months filling up Spiritrax with Christmas carols, and I'm SO GLAD "the holidays" are finally behind me for a little while at least. Most of them don't have guide vocals yet, but I thought I'd mention them anyway, since a lot of people would know them. You can now see all my tracks at Spiritrax by clicking the Spiritrax link in the "Recordings" box on the left.

 

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