Moder music.

It was with great unease that I announced my first public show.

The choice was to either move forward, or stop.  Because, as music is a living, breathing creature, it can't just stay in one spot forever without withering away.

So my first show is on December 28, in Minneapolis, at Jazz Central; and in preparation, I held 3 private house concerts.  All were very different, but all were a much needed experience that I'm really grateful for.  And, in the vein of this whole project, I recorded everything.  The last night was by far my favorite set of music.  Evolution has seized me.  I'm excited to perform.

And here you go, if your curiosity lends itself. 

Here we go, post grad 6: https://soundcloud.com/mary-prescott-1/moder-music
and another: https://soundcloud.com/mary-prescott-1/pre-pre-post

Please excuse the chatter at the beginning.

Pickled beets.

It's been many, many months since I've visited you.  I'm not very good at being in touch, but I'll never forget our friendship.  I miss you, little blog.

In these busy, many months, I almost don't know what I can write about... there's too much.  I'll narrow it down to just a few jots.

I got my Steinway.

I'm still improvising.

My trepidation is starting to melt away.


I asked myself the other day, what direction I thought the music world was headed in these days.  With the revival of bluegrass and all things homemade, I'm pretty sure there's going to be a shift from a lot of the electronic stuff we've been hearing in the past few decades.  It won't disappear, but I anticipate a big split between a school where technology rules music, and a school that completely rejects technology and heads back to acoustics.  A parallel extension of that could be what I think of as neo-impressionism.  Define that as you would imagine.  I don't see a frightened grab at classical form, but of something more rustic or perhaps primitive.  And/or music freed by expression in rebellion of highly controlled, mathematically based composition.  I guess time will tell.  And everyone's always floating their own boat.  Who am I to say any of them have leaks?

Where do you think music is headed these days?

I forgot how tedious this writing thing can be...

Here we go, Post grad 5: https://ia801809.us.archive.org/10/items/20130529213317/20130529%20213317.mp3

Old new.

So it's a new year, and with that, the fulfillment of goals.  That was the title of the last entry, after all.  It's not good to make goals, and then abandon them, so.... 

One of these goals, I had alluded to many months ago, and the impetus of fulfillment was, in fact, catalyzed by trying to fulfill Sebastien's goal.  I went with him to look at pianos, and got a little carried away in the grands room.  Sigh.  It ended up being good, though, because, a month later, I bought a Steinway, and I couldn't be happier.  Finally, after three and a half years of being "grandless," I'll have one back in my space.  And not just ANY piano, but the iconic piano of the music world.  I didn't think I could have found something so lovely in my budget, but after lots of footwork and anxious nights, I was proven wrong.  Sometimes you just have to DO.  Rejoicing all around!

The other goal was sort of open-ended, but was just to go somewhere further with this little project.  And so, I met with Angela today, and we improvised together.  And though this has been done before, neither of us had ventured into multi-media improv.  Angela, a visual artist.  We did four pieces.  The first three were with me improvising on the piano, and her creating a piece based on what she heard.  For the last piece, I watched her create, and had more of a conversation with her.  There was a lot of side-conversation, and analysis, which I won't bore you with.  I'll just share results here!  I think I got them all in order.... ;-)  Sorry for the terrible photography.  They are much nicer in person.

Here we go, Post grad 4, Part 1?: https://ia801604.us.archive.org/34/items/Improv11013/20130110203758.mp3
Post grad 4, Part 2: https://ia601607.us.archive.org/20/items/Improv211013/20130110205138.mp3
Post grad 4, Part 3: https://ia801606.us.archive.org/17/items/Improv311013/20130110212937.mp3
Post grad 4, Part 4: https://ia601607.us.archive.org/15/items/Improv411013/20130110214755.mp3

Goals.

I'll be honest... after the year was up on this project, I lost a lot of direction, and found myself aimless in what I have been trying to do with my music.  For many of us artists and musicians, it's hard to keep up momentum, because the yard stick by which we measure our accomplishments is so hazy.  And also, it's difficult to come up with a concrete goal.  And not just the immediate goals, but the ultimate life goal.  Then, usually, the goal is something that doesn't actually exist in the present, but needs us to create it.  And it follows that we have to determine the value of that goal, and decide how much time we will devote to it; and rest assured that dividing resources between that goal and our day-to-day existence creates much conflict, both personally and professionally.  It's REALLY HARD.  And that's the objective perspective.  Throw ego and confidence into the equation, and then you've REALLY got a conundrum.

Anyway, I sat down the other day to discuss a "five year plan," and though there was nothing permanently decided, it was very clarifying for my own direction.  Some things came out of my mouth that were like little light bulbs flickering on.  (Cue triangle sound.)  I know the feeling of stagnance is always looming, and ready to cloud us in a grey fog, but for the moment, I have my little torch back.

Here we go, Post-grad improv 3: https://ia600304.us.archive.org/4/items/Improv12112_697/20121201153656.mp3

Legitimate.

I'm waiting, for some reason, for my improv to be legitimized by the outside world.  Well, maybe I'm holding my breath.  I shouldn't wait for anyone to say it's good or bad.  It's probably better, in fact, that I can't seem to find a way to categorize what I do.  No more holding... just doing.  Just.  Do.

I wish I had recorded my improv from today... then I'd have something to share.

Oh wait!  But I DO have something to post.  This one is from a few weeks ago.

Post-grad improv 2: https://ia600302.us.archive.org/17/items/Improv11712_933/20121107181205.mp3

Return.

It's been at least two months since I've come here.  It's a familiar sensation.

That's what we feel when we return to some place we haven't been in a while.  A nostalgic remembrance that resembles deja vu... slightly eerie as if you've slipped softly backwards into a cloudy memory.  In those moments, your body isn't sure what the time frame is anymore; and your physical confusion only adds to your psyche's displacement.  It's all very strange.

Sometimes, the mix of body/mind/meta memory is not a good one.  Interesting how lasting some impressions can be, and how strongly they can influence us years and years and years later.  Some of the things I've learned, I wish I could unlearn.  That same sentiment, though, from a different perspective, makes me take my role as a teacher and as a human much more seriously.  (Silver lining.)

Anyway, this may all sound cryptic and strange, and guess what.  Chances are, if I'm writing cryptically and strangely, you can bet I'm not going to clarify at all.  Ah, homecomings.  We don't ever really change, do we?

So here I am after two months of not blogging, and not really doing much improvising.  To be honest, I haven't been doing much playing at all.  Yesterday, I sat down at my lonely piano, and gave it some love, the results of which, I will post here.

Here we go, Post-grad Improv 1: https://ia902602.us.archive.org/33/items/Improv101612/20121016205254.mp3

Still learning.

You didn't all think I was going to be able to stay away for THAT long, did you?  Ha.  Well, there's no intention left for this little thing, but I did want to pop back and jot down a thought I had today.  I hadn't played at all the past couple of days, because my best friend from kindergarten came to visit over the weekend.  But she left this morning, and it gave me a moment to sit at the piano.  I didn't feel like anything written... so I slapped together a few notes for an improvisation.  It was perhaps the fourth or fifth improv I've ever done without recording.  And it's really crazy how different it is when the recorder is on or off.  I literally held back NOTHING, and the music came out so naturally and personally.  After a year of getting comfortable putting myself on the spot, I guess it STILL was not as comfortable as when I am in solitude.  There were no feelings of, "uhhh, what next?" or, "just make some noise! Fill that void!! FILL IT!"  And if I can say so myself, it was actually really good.

Still learning....