Timeline.

I wonder what it was that brought me from there to here.

Here we go, Day 352: https://ia700806.us.archive.org/4/items/Improv73112/20120731171038.mp3

Reminders.

I need to give myself the reminders that I give my students.  I know all of you other teachers out there feel the same.

Here we go, Day 351: https://ia600702.us.archive.org/1/items/Improv73012/20120730141845.mp3

No complaining.

I have nothing to complain about, and everything to be thankful for.

Here we go, Day 350: https://ia700804.us.archive.org/31/items/Improv272912/20120729141242.mp3

River rain.

Today, I got caught on the White River during a rainstorm.  There was no immediate danger... no thunder or lightning or strong winds.  There were perhaps sixteen of us floating at different spots along the way, and we were quite spread out.  I was with Seb, and when the rain began to fall, it came gently at first, in heavy, full drops that plopped right into the water.  Each drop produced a medium sized bubble on the surface of the river that lasted for an instant before popping.  It was like a choreography, the evenness and rhythm to which they danced.

After a minute or two, the tempo changed, and the drops became dense and percussive.  For all of the cold and goosebumps that we felt, it was a beautiful sight.  The river a street of mercury that shimmered with black and white kaleidoscope all around us.

Here we go, Day 349: https://ia600809.us.archive.org/25/items/Improv72812/20120728195445.mp3

Wael.

Tonight was Wael Farouk's concert at Lyra.  It was inspiring to say the least.  The first thing I did when I got back?  Went to practice for a couple hours.

Of course, I did my improv first.  Definitely has elements of both Petrushka and the Dante Sonata.  Both had been on Wael's program.  It's interesting how you cannot deny the immediate influence.

Here we go, Day 348: https://ia600703.us.archive.org/8/items/Improv72712/20120727215053.mp3

Maya.

Today's improv was truly improvised.  I didn't know it was going to happen until it was already happening.  In the middle of a lesson with Maya (8), we started goofing around, and this came out.  It wasn't until midway through that I realized I should be recording it.  So, today's improv is four hands: Primo - Maya, Secondo - Mary.

Very Bartokian, if you ask me.

Here we go, Day 347: https://ia800307.us.archive.org/27/items/Improv72612/20120726145231.mp3

Altitude.

Something about the hard, deep sleep that I get here.  It makes my dreams so real and vivid.  Some things that I didn't know would creep up on me, or at least not in the way to make me ask questions. Perhaps the thin air of the mountains?

Here we go, Day 346: https://ia700807.us.archive.org/8/items/Improv72512/20120725152438.mp3

Two sleeps.

At the halfway point... we're all exhausted, and the end is not yet in sight.  The saving grace is the beautiful progress that has been made, and the promise of more to come. 

Here we go, Day 345: https://ia700806.us.archive.org/10/items/Improv72412/20120724083540.mp3

Risk.

Taking the prepared risk.  That's something I'd like to be a part of more often.  Tonight: definitely a special one.

Here we go, Day 344: https://ia800304.us.archive.org/33/items/Improv72312/20120723083941.mp3

In love.

In a place where I literally only eat, sleep (very little), and teach and play music, I'm happy to say that, despite the grueling schedule, I'm still in love.  More and more every day.  I'm continuously astonished by music and its meaning, and the value that it has for us.  And isn't being in love just the best thing ever?

Here we go, Day 343: https://ia700802.us.archive.org/5/items/Improv72212/20120722152407.mp3

Still alive.

One week down.  Still alive.

And... 24 days to go.  Or am I going for exactly 365 days?  Didn't think that one through too well.  It is a leap year, as well.

Here we go, Day 342: https://ia600703.us.archive.org/33/items/Improv72112/20120721211159.mp3

Bedtime.

To sleep before midnight.  This must be some kind of record.

Here we go, Day 341: https://ia600307.us.archive.org/12/items/Improv72012/20120720163357.mp3

Time warp.

It's amazing to see these kids transform.  Yesterday, a fourteen-year-old intermediate violist, after 8 hours of playing, says to her practice coach, "Wait... the hour's over already?"

I start to feel the same way, here.  Even after five hours of teaching, I'm still surprised how the time flies when I get to the sixth lesson.

Here we go, Day 340: https://ia600309.us.archive.org/18/items/Improv71912/20120719204014.mp3

Forget.

It was 2:14am when I sunk my weary head down, deep down, into the comforting loft of my pillow.  The dark of the country engulfed me, and outside, the rain fell gently onto soft mounds of earth.  Dreams began almost instantly.  And it wasn't until this moment that I remembered... I had not written a post yet for this blog.

Curses.

Well, I'm getting this one in early.  The first improv is yesterday's.  So at least I've still not missed a day of that.

Here we go, Day 338 (very Rzewski material, after listening to Akiko practice the Winnsboro Cottonmill Blues): https://ia600801.us.archive.org/8/items/Improv71812/20120718163627.mp3

and Day 339: https://ia700800.us.archive.org/7/items/Improv71712/20120717083935.mp3

Hokie Pokie.

Teaching today was so wonderful.  I know I'll be sick of the students' pieces by the end of these three weeks, but today made me so happy to be here, and so happy to be doing what I'm doing.  And that's what it's all about.  (You put your left leg in, you put your left leg out, you put your left leg in, and you shake it all about.)

Can you tell that as pleased as I am, I'm also starting to lose it?

Here we go, Day 337: https://ia700708.us.archive.org/20/items/Improv71612/20120716083858.mp3

Reckoning.

I reckon these next several days of improvisation will be somehow telling.  Either empty, scatterbrained, and anxious... or maybe a whole new dimension will present itself... the brain freed from the confines of thought.

Here we go, Day 336: https://ia700709.us.archive.org/4/items/Improv71512/20120715113049.mp3

21 days.

Almost forgot I had to do this today.  I wish I had the mind to write about what I had thought about earlier... the rhythm of our bodies.  How rhythms are just a part of our physiology.  But... unfortunately... the next 21 days shall prove to be an even bigger challenge to get these improvs taken care of each day.  Let's see how I fare.

Here we go, Day 335: https://ia801407.us.archive.org/14/items/Improv71412/20120714134829.mp3

Arrival.

After the long drive and a few errands around town, we unpacked our belongings for the three weeks ahead, and settled back into our chairs for a few hours of scheduling.  Only to find that the internet, which we needed badly, was down.  Hence the morning after blog post.  Improv is from yesterday, though!

Here we go, Day 334: https://ia800308.us.archive.org/4/items/Improv71312/20120713113216.mp3

Packing.

Taking this quick moment to write today's post, in the midst of packing for three weeks of nervous-wreckdom.  A welcome moment, I might add.

Here we go, Day 333: https://ia700403.us.archive.org/18/items/Improv71212/20120712161412.mp3

Contrast.

Hard to believe that just a week ago I was basking in the relaxed glory of upstate New York.  Not so, tonight.  More like wallowing in the stressful mind-numbingness of Excel.

Here we go, Day 332: https://ia600403.us.archive.org/17/items/Improv71112/20120711144901.mp3

Forgo.

Just like I promised, I'm going to have to forgo any floral writing on this post.  Can't wait for the day when I get to write for real.

Here we go, Day 331: https://ia800500.us.archive.org/7/items/Improv71012/20120710160146.mp3

Responsibilities.

Unfortunately, several time-sucking responsibilities are upon me, and will prevent me from writing very much for the next several days.  Likely, you won't get a good post out of me for the next three and a half weeks or so.  Yup.  Sorry about that.  The improvs, though... they'll keep coming as long as I can help it.  :)

Here we go, Day 330: https://ia600701.us.archive.org/24/items/Improv7912/20120709172336.mp3

Fruits.

The fruits of summer are upon us.

The last week or so of improvs... kind of into it.

Here we go, Day 329: https://ia601408.us.archive.org/10/items/Improv7812/20120708133706.mp3

Puddles.

Sometimes I can't believe how charmed my life is.  And I don't mean to brag.  I'm just amazed at all of the blessings that have dropped from the sky like rain, and made little puddles of happiness and luck all around me.

Here we go, Day 328: https://ia600806.us.archive.org/8/items/Improv7712/20120707172324.mp3

Upstate.

I can't help but look at properties upstate after spending an exquisite few days there, with the best of friends, cooking dinners for one another, the company of a sweet pooch, and a pool in which to laze about on sunny afternoons.  Late night card games; coffee in the morning, sitting in wooden rocking chairs on the open-air porch; lightning bugs illuminating their presence in the midnight fog.  Farmer's market bliss, earning the delicate taste of once-a-year squash blossoms, and wild, black raspberries.

Here we go, Day 327: https://ia800308.us.archive.org/33/items/Improv7512_197/20120706181358.mp3

Good in bad.

The country helps me remember all those sounds of nature that go missing in the concrete jungle of New York City.  Those sounds that make me remember that my environment is living, and impacts me profoundly.  It's often not until you juxtapose your "city self" against your "non-city self" that you realize how difficult it is to stay focused on one task in NYC.  At least that's how I feel.  There's a constant whirring in the body... even when you're at rest, you're buzzing. 

Anyway, the shimmering rustle of the leaves was a welcome appetizer for the July 4th holiday.

Now, back in the city, I'm buckling down for a week of hard work before three weeks of even harder work.

The piano in the country house was severely out of tune, you will hear on days 325 and 326.  But I expected it, and tried to use it to my advantage.  I think it turned out pretty well.  Certainly some of the effects of Day 325 would not have worked on a better instrument.

Here we go, Day 324: https://ia600705.us.archive.org/30/items/Improv7312/20120703095931.mp3
and Day 325: https://ia800300.us.archive.org/28/items/Improv7412/20120704135345.mp3
and Day 326: https://ia601407.us.archive.org/9/items/Improv7512/20120705114115.mp3

Country.

And off to summerific paradise!  Packing is done, and the Fourth of July in the country awaits!  (Standby for posts... I've not yet decided if I'll be bringing my computer along.)

Here we go, Day 323: https://ia600501.us.archive.org/27/items/Improv7212/20120702204245.mp3

Ambient sound.

I was speaking yesterday with someone who works a bit with sound engineering, mixing, and so forth.  It made me think about the elements of recordings that I notice and don't.  And how important it has become to have a "clean" record.  I get it... it's like a neatly typed up paper or story.  You don't want to send something to the presses that has smudges or errors.

But...

... in listening to Art Tatum on my 1931 Victrola a few nights ago, my friends and I concluded that the sound from that gramophone was the sound of 1931.  What we heard was essentially untouched from that moment of Tatum sitting at his instrument.  The recording directly cut to the disc.  Any "mistakes" were preserved there, and yet, we don't listen to them... maybe we don't even hear them.  We hear masterwork.

Some of my favorite recordings are live, from inside a tavern, or on someone's front porch.  You hear the ambient sounds of glasses clinking, old men chuckling (you can see their large bellies bouncing up and down), maybe an "olé, olé" every now and then accompanied with a small crowd's palmas.  It's only with these recordings that you can really slip into the moment of that artist at that time.  The sounds are all descriptions of the environment, and you need nothing more to conjure the atmosphere.

You may have noticed, if you've listened to even only one of these improvs, that I don't attempt to mask the ambient noise.  First of all, there's no way that I possibly could.  Sometimes I turn off the ceiling fan so that it doesn't flick the sound of the music too much.  But other than that, in the summer you hear all the street noise, all the twang from a piano in too much humidity, my little cat whining, and the thin book of music I throw at her to get her to stop.  In the winter, you hear the pipes rattling, and a little more clarity from having the windows closed, plus the dryness in the air, which helps my particular piano settle into tune.

But secondly, I think it draws you into my space.  You're in my apartment.  You're hearing exactly what I hear, and you're hearing the moment.  Every one of the improvs has a slightly different sound quality, and you can feel what the day was by the elements of the backdrop.  In fact, listening to an improv from last August (I think it may have been Day 2,) brings me to the exact feeling I had as I recorded it, because of the density of the humid air that passed by outside, which in turn caused the sound waves to slow down slightly.  I know it's a little strange, but I think I might like all of these recordings more because of this.

Anyway, on to today's pre-park improv.

Here we go, Day 322: https://ia801407.us.archive.org/14/items/Improv7112/20120701184137.mp3

Gallery.

Something important that dawned on me tonight.  It's imperative that you believe that people enjoy your music.  Take that away, and every note becomes tentative and unsure.  Even if it's not.  Of course, being swollen with talent helps a lot, as in the case of Jason Moran, whom I saw perform tonight.  Pretty inspiring to see people play that don't revert to gimmicks and devices to make their music work.  These guys, Ralph Alessi, Moran, Drew Gress and Nasheet Waits played beautiful music.  Long lines, stillness at times, thoughtfulness, conversation... and not until the music really required it by virtue of nature did they explode into wild fortissimos.  Again, the kind of night that makes me remember why I live in this place.

Here we go, Day 321: https://ia600800.us.archive.org/31/items/Improv63012/20120630164357.mp3