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OK, here we go…. Last week I posted a link on my Facebook page for the Up-Beat Girls Jazz camp, which is taking place August 8-12 at Jazz Night School. I have recently become affiliated with JNS and want to promote this camp, which I think is a cool idea. Shortly after I posted the link, a male musician, whom I like and respect, posed a question in the comments field: “Why an all girls jazz camp?” Although I quickly pointed out that I could…
Fear appears to be an ongoing theme in the lives of many creative people, or so it would seem judging from what I see out on the blogosphere. On any given day, I come across multiple posts on this topic. I’ve certainly written about it myself a time or two. (Here and here.) For as much as we go on and on about it, fear remains a curious challenge for most of us. We are perpetually trembling. SO, WHAT ARE WE SO AFRAID OF ANYWAY?…
The premise for Jazz Canvas is simple: A swingin’ jazz trio, a guest performer and a visual artist share the stage for a two-hour performance. Throughout the course of the show, the band does its thing and the artist creates a painting in response to the music being played. Both the music and the painting are immediate in nature. It is the ultimate improvisational interplay of mediums. Jazz Canvas is the brainchild of drummer Terry Marsh and artist Leigh Knowles Metteer. After presenting a few…
I recently sat down and wrote a letter to my muse, kindly asking her to please return. At some point in the spring, she wandered off. It seems I wasn’t paying enough attention to her. My mind was so engrossed in just trying to survive the last few months of my teaching gig that I didn’t notice she was gone right away. That is, until I needed her. It took a little work to coax her back. She rightly wanted to know, “What’s in it…
"Our Creative Lives" is a new blog series dedicated to the examination of the creative experience. Throughout my own evolution as a writer and a vocalist, I’ve often been curious about how other artists think and feel about what they do. I am interested in everything from the inner workings of the creative psyche to the day-to-day challenges of working our craft, whatever it may be. Each month, I’ll throw out a topic, put in my two cents to get the ball rolling and then…
As a writer, it is sometimes very difficult to capture the riveting loveliness of an experience and translate it into mere words. This is the dilemma that I am confronted with now as I attempt to write about a very enchanting band that I had the pleasure of hearing last night at Bake’s Place. I am talking about Ben Thomas and his magical group Tangabrazo. As the name suggests, Tangabrazo plays tango music or, more specifically, the three main styles of tango dance music: tango,…
Last night, the Garfield High Jazz Band played its annual “Farewell to Seniors” concert. My son Emmett is among the 20 musicians who are graduating from high school (tomorrow night-yikes) and leaving this amazing program. As I sat in the Quincy Jones Performing Arts Center, I was flooded with an odd mix of melancholy, pride and satisfaction. It almost feels like waking up from a beautiful dream. As I write this today, I seem to…
You just never know. Every now and then, life gives you a much-needed boost from an unexpected source. This recently happened to me. Around the holidays, a generous soul gave me a pass to 8 Limbs Yoga, a beautiful studio here in Seattle. Thusly, I’ve spent the past few months rediscovering the joys and benefits of yoga. I used to practice a long time ago in a past life. However, I don’t recall feeling the same zeal for it then that I am feeling now.…
First of all, I apologize for the unintended gap since the last post. Unfortunately, I was recently slammed with the mother of all sinus infections and for a brief period, everything came to a screeching halt. The body is like that sometimes; it demands that we stop everything and tend to it and rightly so. This was the sickest I’ve been in well over a decade. After over two weeks of misery and a course of Amoxicillin, I’m just now climbing out. Although I’m still…
I spent the weekend trying to write a new post for this blog. My plan was to kick off a new series about the creative process, starting on the topic of inspiration. Although I’d riffed on the subject in my journal for a week or more, when I sat down to write this weekend, I couldn’t seem to get there. All my thoughts were on Japan. As I read the news stories and watched the horrifying video clips, I knew that anything I had to…
