Tuesday, October 02, 2007

The difference between a Blues musician and a Jazz musician

Q: What is the difference between a Blues musician and a Jazz musician?

A: A Blues musician plays 3 chords in front of 1000 people. A Jazz musician plays 1000 chords in front of 3 people.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Pearls Before Breakfast

Joshua Bell is one of the world's greatest violinists. His instrument of choice is a multimillion-dollar Stradivarius. If he played it for spare change, incognito, outside a bustling Metro stop in Washington, would anyone notice? Click here to find out.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Ouch, and True

Forwarded by violinist Marcy Vaj:

Dave runs into Bob on the street in Manhattan. "Bob! I haven't seen you in years! What have you been up to?"

Bob says, "Well, when we last worked together, I was playing tenor and soprano."
Dave says, "Yeah I remember that."
Bob says, "Well, I started writing for that band."
Dave says, "Really? I never heard about that."
Bob says, "Yeah, and then I published a bunch of the charts for student bands."
Dave says, "Really? I never heard about that."
Bob says, "Yeah, and it worked out pretty well, and I started getting commissions."
Dave says, "Really? I never heard about that."
Bob says, "Yeah, and then I started writing for the Kenton and Herman bands."
Dave says, "Really? I never heard about that."
Bob says, "Yeah, it worked out pretty well. Then I got in touch with some Hollywood guys, and I started writing for pop records."
Dave says, "Really? I never heard about that."
Bob says, "That went pretty well, and I actually got nominated for a Grammy for writing."
Dave says, "Really? I never heard about that."
Bob says, "That went pretty well, and I started writing for movie soundtracks."
Dave says, "Really? I never heard about that."
Bob says, "Yeah, and I got nominated for an Oscar for my writing on a feature film."
Dave says, "Really? I never heard about that."
Bob says, "Yeah, it was pretty cool. Once I got nominated, the writing work really started pouring in."
Dave says, "Really? I never heard about that."
Bob says, "Yeah - amazing. Pop groups, studio sessions, commercials, new bands, diva singers, everything."
Dave says, "Really? That's amazing. I never heard about that."
Bob says, "Well, but the problem was, I really let my sax chops slide."
Dave says, "Really?"
Bob says, "In fact, I'm in town to receive another writing award, and I just sat in this morning at a jam session down in the Village."
Dave says, "Really?"
Bob says, "Yeah, and it didn't go too well - I've been away from the horn for quite a while."
Dave says, "Really."
Bob says, "So, I took a couple of solos, and they weren't very good."
Dave says, "Yeah, I heard about that."

Friday, January 26, 2007

Listen to Old Piano Rolls on your computer

Also from Howard Levitsky:

http://www.trachtman.org/rollscans

A good friend of mine has posted on his website MIDI files of player piano rolls he has optically scanned and converted, using software he developed. It's an enormous project, also involving recutting rolls that would otherwise be lost to age and damage. He's got close to 2000 titles so far, carefully indexed and sortable in many ways. (Only the titles in public domain are publically downloadable.) I've attached 4 of them: Gershwin playing "Swanee", Zez Confrey playing his "Kitten on the Keys" and two other songs played by the famous 2-piano team Arden and Ohman. They'll play on Quicktime or any other MIDI-playing application.

My friend, BTW, is an MIT-trained engineer... And one of the Good Guys. This project is a hobby and he's made the results available to all.

Japanese Fiddler on the Roof

Click here for Japanese Fiddler on the Roof

From NYC keyboardist/conductor Howard Levitsky:
"...rehearsal footage of a Japanese production of FIDDLER. I always wondered what it sounded like in Japanese."

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Here's to The Ladies Who Lunch

THE LADIES WHO LUNCH
—Stephen Sondheim

(spoken) I’d like to propose a toast.

Here’s to the ladies who lunch -
Everybody laugh.
Lounging in their caftans
And planning a brunch
On their own behalf.
Off to the gym,
Then to a fitting,
Claiming they’re fat.
And looking grim,
‘Cause they’ve been sitting
Choosing a hat.
Does anyone still wear a hat?
I’ll drink to that.
And here’s to the girls who play smart -
Aren’t they a gas?
Rushing to their classes
In optical art,
Wishing it would pass.
Another long exhausting day,
Another thousand dollars,
A matinee, a Pinter play,
Perhaps a piece of Mahler’s.
I’ll drink to that.
And one for Mahler!
And here’s to the girls who play wife -
Aren’t they too much?
Keeping house but clutching
A copy of "Life"
Just to keep in touch.
The ones who follow the rules,
And meet themselves at the schools,
Too busy to know that they’re fools.
Aren’t they a gem?
I’ll drink to them!
Let us all drink to them!
And here’s to the girls who just watch -
Aren’t they the best?
When they get depressed,
It’s a bottle of Scotch,
Plus a little jest.
Another chance to disapprove,
Another brilliant zinger,
Another reason not to move,
Another vodka stinger.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!
I’ll drink to that.
So here’s to the girls on the go -
Everybody tries.
Look into their eyes,
And you’ll see what they know:
Everybody dies.
A toast to that invincible bunch,
The dinosaurs surviving the crunch.
Let’s hear it for the ladies who lunch -
Everybody rise!
Rise!
Rise! Rise! Rise! Rise! Rise! Rise! Rise!
Rise!

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Monday, January 01, 2007

Follow-up from John Forster

Hi Friends -

Between President Ford and Saddam Hussein, NPR has been dealing with the late and the late-breaking. However, this morning's dearth of death gave our little story its window. If you're interested, the link below takes you to the song. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6705929

Wishing you all a wonderful and peaceful New Year,
John