Le Cirque.

Yesterday was Restaurant Week stop #3.  Le Cirque.  I went here last night with the same friend I went with last year.  It appears to be becoming somewhat of a tradition for us.  We both love it so much.

So on the menu... we both wanted the soft cooked egg, which was accompanied with veal sweetbreads, and other delectable little items, but they were all out of it, which was a bit disappointing.  So instead, Marc got the cauliflower soup, and I got the pasta with butternut squash and ricotta.  Mine was good, but seemed almost like a glorified mac and cheese.  But as Marc put it, he "could never get that texture out of mac and cheese."  He definitely won the point for the appetizer.

Main course, I got the Berkshire pork belly (of course, why wouldn't you get pork belly, as long as its on the menu), and Marc got the braised beef.  I definitely won that round... pork belly is just... so... good.  Perfectly crisp top layer, with a succulent and tender base.

Last, for dessert, Marc let me pick both.  So we got a chocolate fondant, and one of my favorite desserts, a vanilla creme brulee.  Both were impeccable.

Usually I can't help but spend a lot more time writing about food, but I'm feeling like I need to get to sleep early tonight... long day tomorrow.  So, with that, I bid adieu.  Goodnight!

Here we go, Day 170: https://ia700800.us.archive.org/11/items/Improv13112/1_31_122_46Pm.mp3

... and where they were before we were...

Okay, so a realization for today is, not only that my parents are real people, and that I can see where they were coming from in all that they did while raising me, in, not just of context of me, but of them...
...
but also that whatever you might start from... well, that's just the start.  And things change and evolve, and now is not the end.  If it began that way, hmm, well, maybe now it's this way.  And tomorrow, we can't know.

... so it is.

Just listen... that's how.

Here we go, Day 169: https://ia600804.us.archive.org/1/items/Improv12012_947/1_30_128_14Pm.mp3

Ebb and flow.

So, my friend, Jesse, does hour long improvs each week and posts them.  I listened to this past week's, and realized something.  Or at least discovered that I had come to a new milestone in my journey.

When I started all of this, the first several improvs were all over the place.  Nothing was tidy, nothing was uniform... it was like looking into a pile of scraps.  Everything was indiscernible.  I didn't like that it made no sense.  Music, even free improv, needs to have some sort of semblance.  So I spent the next many days and weeks trying to pull things back into some kind of structure.

Seeking structure served several purposes.  First, it meant that things would find relationships to one another, and therefore make more sense from beginning to end.  Secondly, structure should imply some sort of direction, which I was lacking terribly.  I could feel that it wasn't there, and it bothered me a lot.  Finally, structure would help me construct a beginning, middle, and end.  There were at least two posts that I tried to create a sonata form, and however you liked or did not like them, I felt like they were "complete," and that made me comfortable.

Now, the detriment of seeking structure.  I didn't (and still don't) know enough about progressions to really be able to structure any improvisation very effectively.  And I think it in fact turned out to make me think too much.  Things got tentative and stodgy, and I would find myself revolving around the same chords or same motives without being able to develop them.  I was so committed to retaining a consistent idea that I couldn't move.  It made for some terribly boring output.  That being said, I think it was an incredibly important step to walk through.  And I know that there will by many times when I still need to keep all of this in mind.

Anyway, getting back to Jesse's improv.  So, I don't give myself a time restriction on any of my improvs.  But if you think about an hour, and how much music fills an hour... it's a really long time.  One hour of music generally fills an entire concert, and that's with breaks for clapping, intermission, and whatnot in between pieces.  One solid hour of playing is like running a marathon.  The reason I mention this is because it would be absolutely impossible to stick with a single idea for this long.

So, as I listened to Jesse's stuff, I noticed that there were wild variances between ideas.  They were all in the same "piece," but completely different from moment to moment.  Somehow, though, it worked, and flowed.  And it made me realize that I didn't need to feel locked in to the same motives or patterns for things to fit... maybe they would just find themselves again in some other form.  Or maybe not!  And that doesn't make it bad.  And that italicized thing was the revelation I think I needed to feel lately.

So today, I let things flow.  They went where they were going to go.  And what's funny is that when I listen back, they connect much more easily than anything I might have forced before. 

Here we go, Day 168: https://ia700807.us.archive.org/27/items/Improv12912/1_29_128_44Pm.mp3

Pacific time helps.

Gettin' it on here with -20 minutes to spare.

You're hearing this even before I do!

Here we go, Day 167: https://ia600803.us.archive.org/15/items/Improv12812/1_28_126_22Pm.mp3

Some wounds.

So, if you're a classical musician, and someone puts a jazz chart in front of you, it's basically like trying to read braille.  It is my number one cause of furrowed brow.

Just to reiterate, classical musicians are terrified of improvisation.  Then, if you put a chart in front of them, not only is it a bunch of worms thrown on the page, but then they feel like they will get it wrong, because there is a "right way" to do it, and since there's "music," they feel expected to understand what it says to do.

Well, I have NEVER understood what to do with a jazz chart.  In college, when I took theory, we learned about chord symbols and things like that, and I was really good at it.  I never had to study, and essentially went to class only about half of the time.  (Yes, I was one of those students who would rather be practicing than be in class.)  I even tested out of all of theory and ear-training for my master's degree.  Then, when I was given a jazz chart for the first time, I didn't recognize any of the chord symbols I had learned.  No I - IV - V - I.  No little arabic numerals on the side of the romans to differentiate inversion.  None of that.  There were letters.  Like, C F and G.  Or something like G little triangle.  What is a little triangle???  And then if I looked at someone else's chart, it would be F- or Fsus.  What?

So today, with a little grain of determination, I printed off a few scores from my friend who's last record I've listened a lot to, and sat down to figure things out.  Now, the nice part is that these were pretty much full scores, not lead sheets, which I haven't ventured to try yet.  So I could see a clear bass line and melody line, which made the first step a little easier.  I just played the parts as written, and yeah, that sounded like the tune on his recording.  So then I went for the next step, which was to try to deal with those chord symbols.  Okay... letters.  E-.  What the hell is E-?  F#-.  What is dash?  Obviously Gmaj is G Major.  Okay, okay... getting this.  Only because I already know the song, though.  Okay, so dash must be minor.  And then the obvious difference between Gmaj and Gmaj7 would be the added 7th, but yar... doesn't this plain Gmaj have a 7th in the melody?  Okay, ignore.  (From that point on, I played all the chords with 7ths.  Oh, but now I'm wondering if that differentiates a dominant 7?  Lord.)  Okay, okay... getting somewhere.  Then, what the heck is D/F#???  In classical terms, a slash would be __ of the __, so like a II/V would be the two chord of the dominant.  I gather, by the written notation that D/F# might mean a D chord, first inversion.  Right?  I don't know.  Anyway, thank God that covers all the chords in the song.  Otherwise it might have been impossible for me to wade through.  Anybody bored by this?

So the point is, that I spent my Friday evening trying to understand a different notation.  Whether I got it right or not is a separate discussion.  But what I DID realize is that once I got through this obstacle, I was able to play through the tune pretty well.  At one point, I just played the chord progression, and didn't really pay attention to the melody, and that worked, too.  And I was a little bit shocked.  I was a little bit shocked that I could play this fairly fluently, and was quite comfortable improvising on top of the harmonies.  Sure, they were the same harmonies over and over again, but I could do it!  And I wasn't so tentative.  I felt quite free.

And I also realized that jazz chord symbols are a lot more straight forward than I thought.  I always believed that it was more or less like figured bass, and all that mathematic calculating had to happen on the instant.  But the jazz symbols are way easier.  Kind of a relief, but dang!!  Why didn't anyone just say that before?  I've been afraid of NOTHING!  On the flip side, I still don't know what all these symbols mean, and I wonder if they are standardized, or if I'm going to be equally confused with the next person's chart.

Tonight: improvisation of Michael Bates' tune, Some Wounds.  I did some free improvs, too, which were actually pretty interesting after listening to one of Jesse Stacken's hour long piano improvs.  But I thought I'd put something a little different on for tonight.

Here we go, Day 166: https://ia600804.us.archive.org/20/items/Improv12712/1_27_129_43Pm.mp3

Bates, I'm really sorry if I slaughtered your piece.  It really is lovely... I spent over an hour playing it.  So even if this version is terrible, at least you know that you were an integral part of my process tonight.  Maybe even a turning point.

Mean something.

I've spent a good hour and half drawing sketches of people.  It's been pretty fun, but after 45 sketches in two days, I feel like I'm running out of ideas.  Oh well... taking one for the team.

Anyway, today I said to my student about a fortissimo he had played, prescribed by Beethoven, "Yeah, it was loud.  But it didn't mean anything."  I asked if he knew what I meant, and he did.  I'm glad that he has the sensibility to understand that.

I'm also glad that I have students that remind me to take my own advice, just by playing for me.  Those shared realizations are special ones, even if the realizations come from and go to different places.

Here we go, Day 165: https://ia600803.us.archive.org/30/items/Improv12612/1_26_129_05Pm.mp3

Roles.

Last night I went out to a jazz show, and listened pretty intently to the roles of the different instruments within their group.  It is, I think, pretty darn different to the way that classical chamber music works.

Okay, so there are some similarities that I will acknowledge, but let's just look at the particular instruments and their roles.  (Just so you know, I didn't even see a trio last night... I saw some bigger ensembles, but we'll examine trios as an example.)  So a piano trio in classical is traditionally violin, cello and piano, right?  Okay.  And then in jazz, it's piano, bass and drums.  In that order.  So in classical, there's usually a point where each of the instruments gets the chance to be the "soloist."  But in general, I'd say that the pianist's job is to fill out the landscape of the piece... provide the backdrop, so to speak, while the violin and the cello get many more of the dialogues.  (Remember, I'm speaking generally.  Of course there are lots of exceptions, and with trios in particular, these roles are a lot more balanced.)  I feel like in the jazz piano trio, the pianist is not supposed to do landscape.  The pianist is supposed to do a lot of "lines."  Maybe the drums do the landscape... and the bass ties things together.  Is this so?  I might be completely off base, but this is my impression.  And it's really quite hard to jump from one distinct role into the other.  My classical sensibilities are not really used to (in an ensemble, anyway) being front and center, but rather blending and supporting.  So I guess I just need to get used to switching gears.

Okay.  So now, without passing judgement or making commentary on what I saw, I'm kind of annoyed that a lot of the piano "lines" that I've heard recently (again, not just last night,) are not really very meaningful.  I mean, it's pretty easy to just play some upward arpeggios really fast, out of time.  I can do that.  But they just don't serve any purpose.  Or maybe they do, but I'm too dumb to get it.  Can someone explain?  Is all that it is a collection of scales vomited all over the keyboard?  No consideration as to what purpose it serves artistically, or even emotionally?

I've probably just offended some people.  And that is certainly not my intent.  But I want to know.  What, why is it that this is considered "groove?"  Maybe I'm extrapolating the wrong data here, but I have to consider it, because I hear this kind of thing a lot.  Please!  Offer your insight.  I want to know what I'm missing.

And now, on to a less charged topic of conversation, Restaurant Week Spot #2: Perilla.  So I went here last year for restaurant week, and it was completely awesome, then, too, which is why I decided to go back.  So, my first course was a sunchoke salad with lots of microgreens that were hard to eat elegantly, but were absolutely tasty.  (They did not fit nicely into my mouth.  I kept having to suck in the ends after they made long, slimy streaks of dressing across my chin and cheeks.)  Second course was braised goat, and why wouldn't you get the goat, especially when the other offerings are chicken and pasta?  I think not.  The goat was definitely the highlight of my meal.  Tender and succulent, paired with a very tasty quinoa, dollop of sour cream, some cilantro and mint, dried apricot and raisins, middle eastern spices, and the thing that in my opinion made the dish stand out, roasted hazelnuts.  It's pretty rare when you enjoy the end of your dish more than the beginning, but somehow my final bite was a well-balanced collection of each of the dish's flavors, and I let out a satisfactory "Mmmm!!!" as the hearty last unctuousness disappeared behind my lips.  Delicious!!  I ended my meal with a vanilla bean bread pudding that was accompanied with a house-made butterscotch ice cream.  I was slightly worried that it might be dry, but it did not disappoint.  Maybe even one of the best desserts I've had in recent memory.  My tasting partner had a butternut soup to start, which was very lovely.  He had the goat as well, because according to both of us, "We don't want to share."  And we figured that it was what we each had gravitated toward in a big way.  It was the right decision.  His dessert was a trio of very delicate sorbets, which were very nice, but in his words, "They're not that!" with a hard point toward my bread pudding.  If you have the chance, go here.  It is unpretentious, creative, and delicious eats in a relaxed, and very comfortable setting.  Have I sold you?  Next stop, Le Cirque.  If I get my way, my date will be wearing a cape.

Here we go, Day 164: https://ia600802.us.archive.org/9/items/Improv12512/1_25_123_05Pm.mp3

Oh, and for the improv.  It was a difficult choice.  Go with the one that is a bit different than my normal style, or go for one that is in the usual realm, but kind of beautiful?  Well... it's always this tough choice, isn't it?  And after all of the harsh questions I've posed today, I'm even more sheepish.

But I guess the big question of the day is: what's your role?  To me, to you, to the people around you?  In what context?  Who or what defined your roles?  And are you satisfied?

same same.

... it's that time again!!!

Okay, so I'm going to break my rule a little bit.  The main post of tonight is going to be from yesterday!  But rest assured, I will also post the concurrent post from today as well.  Same idea.  Just yesterday's was better, is all.

Here we go, Day 163: https://ia600809.us.archive.org/17/items/Improv12412/1_23_127_59Pm.mp3

and then, the actual Day 163: https://ia601409.us.archive.org/32/items/Improv212412/1_24_127_45Pm.mp3

Doodles.

and whooooosh!!!

I don't even know which one I'm picking here.  I'm just grabbing one!

I got some crazy sudden idea that I should doodle people's pictures in exchange for a facebook "like," and so far, people have wanted them.  It's made my night a little bit busy.  I might should have thought this over, but at the same time, it's kind of fun. :)  So if you want your picture personally doodled by me, "like" Lyra!!  I'll do yours, too, but you have to message me for it.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lyra-Summer-Music-Workshop/141652299199627

For the record, there were some voice improvs today.  

Here we go, Day 162: https://ia700804.us.archive.org/5/items/Improv12312/1_23_127_53Pm.mp3

Secret menu.

It's a feeling of great pride mixed with great responsibility when you sit down at a restaurant, and everyone at your table says, "Why don't you go ahead, and just order for all of us.  It seems like you'll know what's best to get."  And, so, charged with this task, I got two things that I knew would be amazing and were not listed on the menu (that's how I knew even MORE that they would be amazing... they're on the secret menu), and then one thing that looked good, but I didn't know what it was.  Everything was fantastic, and to top it off, the place was BYOB.  New York is great for that.

So then we found ourselves at one of my favorite bars, entering the 4th quarter of the Giants/49ers game.  I am not ashamed to say that I do not follow football, yet I found myself a victim of crowd mentality when I involuntarily started clapping as the bar flies cheered a good play.  What is that?  I do it at concerts, too, even when I don't really like what I've heard.  What is it, and how can I use it?

Here we go, Day 161: https://ia700805.us.archive.org/14/items/Improv12212/1_22_126_21Pm.mp3

Vocabulary.

I had about fifteen extra minutes tonight to actually "practice" some improvisation.  This consisted mainly of running through three different dorian scales and arpeggios, and then playing a few lines with them.  Then I did my recorded improv for the day.  Then I played some Brahms. 

It's funny that, even though Brahms is one of the hardest composers for me, it seemed 200 times easier after I did those improv exercises.  It was like being in a foreign country for a few weeks by myself, and then meeting up with an english-speaking friend.  Have you ever done that?  It's like, "Fwewwww!! Now I can relax, and say all the things that I've been wanting to say, but couldn't express."  Kind of a cool feeling.  And of course I have always loved traveling, but after a while, it can be a little bit lonely and isolating to be in a place for a long time without understanding what's being said all around you.

They say that when you learn a new word, you have to use it at least three times in context before you can really integrate it into your vocabulary.  I wonder if that's the same with musical language....

Here we go, Day 160: https://ia600809.us.archive.org/4/items/Improv12112/1_21_129_16Pm.mp3

Brahms.

Today, as always, I wished I'd had a bit more time to play.


Here we go, Day 159: http://ia600802.us.archive.org/10/items/Improv12012/Zoom00041.mp3

Notice the "struggle" expression.

Pencil shavings.

I'm not going to tell anyone what to do, but for the love of all that is holy, do not listen to today's improv.  Thanks.  The one and only reason it exists in public is because of a stupid sense of duty that I have to post something every day, lest I break an obligation to myself.  Good God, I could not pull it together today.

And on to other things now, Restaurant Week has begun, and my day one was quite good: Dovetail.  My prix fixe: butternut squash soup (had pleasantly crunchy little pumpernickel cubes, and apricots, pumpkin seeds, and then some mousse-like "thing" with cloves and nutmeg), then duck confit, which was good, but in my fully honest opinion could have had a little bit more of the accoutrements, and slightly less of the confit, so that every bite could've been a "well-built" one.  Finally, a semi-sweet chocolate i-don't-know-what-you-call-it soft square thing... more or less ganache, with orange bits and sauce, and a little dollop of cinnamon ice cream (which I LOVE).  All in all, a beautiful meal.  My tasting partner had the complimentary choices, which were a braised lamb app (very tasty indeed, probably my favorite of the entire spread), hangar steak with some amazing mushrooms (steak was just okay), and a passion fruit sorbet with passion fruit molded mousse thing, topped with little black sesame meringues.  There was also a smear of "pencil" on that plate, which, upon realizing what I was tasting, caused me to burst out in unbridled laughter.  Yup.  I love restaurant week.  4 more reservations to go.

In fact, it was such an unexpectedly bizarre flavor, I kind of wish I could taste it again.

Here we go, Day 158: https://ia700808.us.archive.org/8/items/Improv11912/1_19_129_59Pm.mp3

Rites.

Like yesterday, I have "actual" work that I need to do yet, it's almost midnight, and I still haven't had dinner.  So again, I'll keep the writing to a minimum.

Today I really tried pretty hard to improvise stuff that was outside of my comfort zone.  It's hard to do that... to push oneself out of a cozy little spot, but I'm just not satisfied with the stagnant present.  I know there's no getting away from me, and the music I make is always going to have shared threads, but let's just see if I can evolve this a little bit.  Awkward stages fully expected.  Discomfort fully realized.

Here we go, Day 157: https://ia902604.us.archive.org/20/items/Improv11812/1_18_128_33Pm.mp3

By the way, did anyone notice the Stravinsky quotes?

Sustenance.

Lots to write, but it's pretty late, and sleep must be had.  For real, this time.  I still haven't had dinner yet, either.  I don't know exactly when this happened, but at some point, food=fuel.  And when I've got a lot of work that I want to get to, it's purely a matter of what can I eat fast, that will sustain me for the longest amount of time before I need to eat again?  It's in those moments when you might catch me standing at the kitchen counter with a cold strip of steak in one paw and a dry piece of bread in the other.  A lone banana peel looms, strewn carelessly on the edge of the sink, a strand of its fiber climbing onto the faucet handle.  With a sense of soft fog lifting, I feel the sugars making their way back to their plasmic homes.

... aaand it's time to get some actual food before my heady writerness starts taking over.

I might also add quickly the enormous gratitude that I feel towards the people that have been helping me along this journey.  Because it does seem like being lost in the wilderness at times, and it's always nice to be offered a helping hand in those moments.  Really.  Many, many thanks.

Here we go, Day 156: https://ia600805.us.archive.org/28/items/Improv11712/1_17_129_15Pm.mp3

Witnesses.

Ooooof!!  Lots to learn, lots to learn.

So today I had that trio session I mentioned yesterday, closely followed by another session with Akiko on koto.  Man.

First of all, rhodes is pretty much one of the coolest instruments ever, and I loved playing it.  The SUSTAIN, man!!  Maybe my favorite part aside from the timbre, which is pretty awesome.  I am currently looking to pick up a rhodes.  If you've got one, I'd be totally willing to take it off your hands.

Then, today was the first time I've played with drums.  Never played any classical with them either.  That was probably a very good thing for me, because I have a tendency to meander a lot with my improvs.  And I think I've been needing someone to keep me a bit in check in that area.  This helped.

Okay.  Finally, I can't post any of the trio stuff on here.  The guys sounded really great, but I sounded super duper boring!  I hate that!  And I don't mean the normal boring that I usually post, but even MORE boring than usual!  I hate going back to a recording and hearing something I really don't like coming from my own self.  It really, REALLY peeves me.  It happens all the time, and I get over it, but this time there were WITNESSES!  You know what one does with witnesses?  I'll give you a guess, but make it quick... I've got to pay a visit to some friends.

So I do a terrible mafioso impersonation.  Not my fault.  It's all in the delivery, and as everyone knows, it's very difficult to convey tone in the written word.

Anyway, the koto stuff was actually pretty cool!!  One of the things I liked a lot was that the sounds blended really well, and at times even I have trouble discerning which were koto and which were piano.  Yet the instruments still retained their individual characteristics.  I also like that the sound isn't just "asian," despite the origins and tuning of the koto (though, yes, you will hear some of that flavor).  Plus, how many people can say they've improvised with koto?  Like, ten total.  That's it. 

Here we go, Day 155: https://ia700807.us.archive.org/17/items/Improv11612/1_16_125_59Pm.mp3

Fish out of water.

So, if you've been listening to these improvs, you've probably noticed, like me, that a lot of them have a very similar style/sound.  It has occurred to me that I must think I do this type best, because if you were to hear the entire reel of improvs, you'd hear a lot more variety than what I post.  I probably don't put the other ones, because they're outside of my comfort zone, and I just can't deal with posting them publicly.  And maybe it's just plainly that I'm not as good at them.

But then I got to thinking... the ones I post are probably just super safe, and with the other ones that you don't hear, I take a lot more risks.  Sometimes the risks pay off.  But more often than not, I feel a little bit sketched out by them.  Maybe I should post the one I'm least confident about tonight over the very Mary one.  (Because to be sure, there's at least one of those in the group.)  Ooohooooohooooo... scary!

And tomorrow, even scarier... a session on rhodes!  Only my second session ever, and the first time I will have played rhodes.  I'm kind of hoping the guys can pull me out of my zone, but that will take a lot of willingness on my part, too!  I think, in some ways, that playing on a different instrument will force me to do things a little differently, because a lot of what I've done these past few months has to do with sonorities.  Now I'll be confronted with an entirely different box of sounds.  Let's see what happens!!

A few other observations for this lovely evening: RadioLab is great.  The Sporkful is fine entertainment.  My kefir grains are running rampant, please feel free to ask me for some.  Maybe I'm just discovering my "voice."  Comfort doesn't make for progress. 

Here we go, Day 154: https://ia600807.us.archive.org/9/items/Improv11512/1_15_128_39Pm.mp3
and Day 154, Part 2, because addiction is powerful: https://ia600803.us.archive.org/28/items/Improv211512/1_15_129_03Pm.mp3

Arm, leg, cello.

Read a great article this morning on the late Bernard Greenhouse, and his cello that will now be up for auction.  It was a good reminder of the potency that music has for musicians.  It's not like your average hobby.  For us, music is our breath.  If we lose our instrument, or something happens that we can't play anymore, it's like we've lost our ability to communicate.  Like someone has sewn our mouth shut.  I don't want to talk about it too much, because just the thought makes me squirm.  But really, for us, our instruments are pretty much synonymous with a major limb.

Anyway, I want, really WANT to write more tonight, but I've got to head out the door five minutes ago.

Here we go, Day 153: https://ia700806.us.archive.org/16/items/Improv11412/1_14_129_40Pm.mp3

Nick of time.

Getting this one in... just barely.

Here we go, Day 152: https://ia600800.us.archive.org/18/items/Improv11312/1_13_128_47Pm.mp3

Sticky.

Two things:

1) Honey and pianos don't mix well.

2) I am now out of honey.

Here we go, Day 151: https://ia600807.us.archive.org/20/items/Improv11212/1_12_127_27Pm.mp3

Raspberries.

There are those extra-sensory days when everything gets tickled.

I had a lot of work to do the past couple of days, but I've been on this kick lately of being completely consumed by Ravel's Ondine.  I just can't stop thinking about it, and all I want to do all day long is play it.  So even when I was eating lunch, or teaching, or emailing, I felt a magnetism to play Ondine.  Even after all these years of playing and practicing, playing and practicing, I still feel like a kid with a new toy when I get to play music. And believe it or not, I've been trying to wake up earlier just so I can have more time to work on it.  That's love, people.

So Ondine succeeded in sweeping me out to a sea of dreamy auditory and emotional bliss.

And then, I finally took my new (used) skateboard on its maiden voyage, which was super fun.  I hadn't been on one in about 15 years, and though I definitely lost some reckless abandon since then, I think it won't be long til I'm riding about town dropping off packages at the post office and so forth.  Then it started to rain gently.  So imagine me riding my skateboard up and down Riverside Park with the moon shining off the water, and a light smattering of raindrops feathering my hair and face on a quiet, empty evening.  Bliss.

And THEN, I was forced to borrow a few dollars and beckoned to notice the raspberries at Fairway.  And being a total sucker for pretty faces and raspberries, I went ahead and got 2 beautiful boxes.  Fresh raspberries for me are the quintessential favorite food.  I once was asked, "If you were to be offered $500 or a box of freshly picked raspberries, which would you pick?"  And I said, "Are the raspberries organic?"  Seriously, on my birthday, bring me a carton of raspberries and a bouquet of daffodils.  (They're like, the cheapest flowers out there in that season.)  You will be my favorite person for the rest of the year.  Bliss.

Here we go, Day 150: https://ia600804.us.archive.org/0/items/Improv11112/1_11_128_58Pm.mp3

p.s. This is probably the closest thing to a pop song I've ever done.  Fair warning.

Lyra.

Guess what I've been doing ALL NIGHT?  That's right.  Sending out promo emails.  I would rather be writing my own biography.  Which I didn't do today either.  Because I've been sending out emails.

Generally I try to keep my different works somewhat segregated, even though they're ALL music related.  Today, I shall break my "rule," and shamelessly promote my workshop on my blog as well.

Uh huh!  You've seen it in your inbox, on my new (also shameless) twitter account, on your facebook news feed, and NOW, YOU'LL GET TO READ ALL ABOUT IT AGAIN HERE!!!!!  Woohooooooo!


"The best damn summer workshop a pianist or string player could ever hope for!!!"

That's the slogan I wanted, but Akiko said no.

Instead of copy/pasting my mass email info here, I'll be kind and just drop the website in.  www.lyrasummermusic.com

Also, our brand spankin', SHINY, and NEW 2012 Competition for pianists and string players in grades 7-12.  Read about that here: http://lyrasummermusic.com/2012_Competition.html

And now, for your listening pleasure, my whiskey and candle induced improvisation.

Here we go, Day 149: https://ia700808.us.archive.org/1/items/Improv11012/1_10_1210_01Pm.mp3

*dusts off hands*

Master procrastinator.

Not gonna do a long post tonight.  Instead, I'm going to attempt to update my biography.  Man, I hate doing that.  It's one of my most hated tasks.  Right after killing cockroaches, and waking up before 8am.  *Shudder.*

You know... on second thought, I could always do it tomorrow.

I was very confused as to which improv would go on today.  Do check it out, though. 

Here we go, Day 148: https://ia600801.us.archive.org/29/items/Improv1912/1_9_129_45Pm.mp3

A great place to watch the impossible mix with the insane.

Pavel Bratinka: It will still take some time before people will demand more. Freedom from fear or repression is not enough, because people are not sure what they are free for. And they are not sure what the words mean, because they haven’t seen political vocabulary at work in their world. So some people do what they shouldn’t do but justify it by claiming freedom of speech. They try to steal the words for selfish uses. It takes moral courage, moral stamina and a sense of purpose to prevent this. All of these things are still missing.

This is an excerpt from an interview I read today of Pavel Bratinka.  Not being much into politics, I really didn't know much about the Velvet Revolution, or the communist involvement of the Czech Republic.  But this article really was a very interesting one for me, on recommendation by Dad.  


Just pulling this one excerpt from the article causes me to reflect on a concept that is always in the back of my mind....  That there are some overarching "revolutions," we'll call them, whether they are happening on personal, social, political, or artistic levels... psychological, emotional, or intellectual levels... within any or all of those facets I sense there are things happening in the present that I could find involvement with, or figure out my best role in, if I could just jump out of time and look down on it all.  Like having 20/20 hindsight, but without the hind.  Sometimes if I think about this too much, it makes me a little bit frantic.  The opportunities are right here in front of my eyes if I could just open them.  But since I can't exactly do that, I have to trust that these things are there, and feel them with my other senses, things that really should be seen to understand.  It can be done, but I think it takes a lot of patience, intelligence, and stamina.  I'm not sure I'm explaining myself well.


Anyway, my problems are first world ones.  I'm not trying to compare any of my going ons with what any victim of totalitarianism is/was dealing with.  It just made me think about how hard it is to change or act when you have no imagination for what is possible.


Go read the article now.  http://www.the-american-interest.com/article.cfm?piece=1169

Here we go, Day 147: https://ia600807.us.archive.org/9/items/Improv1812/1_8_125_43Pm.mp3

Warm.

I must apologize.  Yesterday I got home with zero wits about me, and I was way too tired to pick a good improv from yesterday's arsenal.  I just threw one on here, and it's probably the worst of the group.  Kinda frustrating.  But in the spirit of putting anything and everything out there, maybe I can live with having some super mediocre stuff up there, too.  It's all me, after all.

Today I spent a good chunk of time drugging myself with iTunes U podcasts.  I started out with an hour and a half Philosophy for Beginners lecture from Oxford U, on recommendation from my brother-in-law.  So interesting.  And a very cool part of it is that you can apply so many of those questions to music, and music creation.  Maybe that's silly, but let me ask you:  did a piece (any piece, think of one specific for you,) exist before it was created, or only after?  How could it exist now if it didn't exist then?  What are the musical atoms that had to be put together to form the idea of the piece, and where did they come from?  And how are our concepts formed?  Lots of other questions here, but these are some fun ones to start out with.

I burnt my rice.  Too much damn philosophizing!

Here we go, Day 146: https://ia600808.us.archive.org/0/items/Improv1712/1_7_128_11Pm.mp3

Wherewithall.

It just occurred to me that I still have to do this thing.

Grarrrrrrrrr!

Here we go, Day 145: https://ia600806.us.archive.org/19/items/Improv1612/1_6_123_22Pm.mp3

Fwoop.

I completely just BLANKED on what I was going to write about.  But it is pretty late anyway, and I have a ton of work to do tomorrow morning before my paid work begins.  So let me just leave it at this.  And maybe I can come up with something clever to close with.  Don't hold your breath or anything, though.

Here we go, Day 144: https://ia600804.us.archive.org/28/items/Improv1512/1_5_128_15Pm.mp3

Fat.

It's hard to know, as a westerner, when one should be diving head first into the fat of an animal.

One of my distinct childhood memories, and I mean early on (2 or 3), is of grabbing a fistful of shiny gristle from a well-surveyed platter that had once been full of steak, and giving it a good suck.  Much to my toddling dismay, my hand was struck in revulsion, and I was promptly discouraged from ever enjoying the "lesser" of an animal's bounty.  Legend has it, I had somewhat of a palate for fats: fingerfuls of sour cream, butter, and whipped cream by the bowlful.  (I used to make it just to eat by itself.  True story.)

I once delicately placed, with chopsticks and all, an entire chunk of pure fat in my mouth that was intended to be a grill lubricant.  I was in Thailand, and I had never had what we were eating.  It wasn't gross to me, though I did get  a leery look from my table-mate.  I just didn't know, and was trying to be polite.  Oh well...

Tonight is more clear, though.  The ribbons of succulent, buttery, and yes, salty beauty on this particular prosciutto is not to be wasted.  I could savor it by the yard.  Anyone who trims it would be performing sacrilege.

Here we go, Day 143: https://ia600804.us.archive.org/5/items/Improv1412/1_4_127_48Pm.mp3

Don't even get me started on cheeses.  Love of fats and cheeses, pigs feet, etc. (bar foods of yore, really): definitely a legacy passed down from dear old dad.

Alas... Manhattan.

The nights get later and later, don't they??

I thought it was just the tilt of the earth in relation to the sun... the axis and all.

But in reality, the late hour still shows the same number, summer or not.

Besame mucho...

Here we go, Day 142: https://ia700803.us.archive.org/3/items/Improv1312/1_3_128_33Pm.mp3

A "theme" and variations.  I finally found/created one that is semi worth posting... a short, tasty little thing.

If I could see stars in Manhattan, I would be pretty excited to be up at this time, watching a meteor shower.  Alas... Manhattan.

Ondine.

One happiness for today: I finally worked all the way through Ondine, from beginning to end, for the first time.  Man, there are a lot of notes in that piece.  The biggest difficulty for me were the two measures where every half beat changes from 7 against 5 to 6 against 7 to 5 against 6, and so forth, with complicated arpeggiations of different chords, also at every half beat.  Drives me CRAZY!  I'm a terrible sight-reader to begin with, which only added to my frustration.

But, after a long while, I can finally do it!!  Every time I hear this piece, or play any part of it, I feel so privileged to be experiencing it.  What a masterpiece!


I haven't done this for a while, but I'm gonna put two improvs today.  These were the only two I did, but there's something about each of them that I really like.  I hope I can start expanding my language, though... if not today, maybe tomorrow.

Here we go, Day 141: https://ia600804.us.archive.org/2/items/Improv1212/1_2_126_27Pm.mp3
and Day 141, Part 2: https://ia700808.us.archive.org/34/items/Improv21212/1_2_126_33Pm.mp3

Altruism.

Do you ever stop to think about the experiences you are having in the moment you are having them?  And wonder why you are meeting certain people?

What is life about for you?  Surely it's not just the drudgery of day to day existence.

When I reflect on the impact that people have on me and on my life, I'm blown away with the importance and gravity of those connections.  It is amazing to me how altruistic humans are, and how we can do it with such selflessness.

Happy new year.

Here we go, Day 140: https://ia600809.us.archive.org/28/items/Improv1112/1_1_127_34Pm.mp3