Goal: I want to build a web site that

Huh. That first line was something Livejournal auto-saved as a draft from god-knows-when. I'm dying to know what would have come next!

Anyway, I'm back on my old, dusty blog (last post was 2009) because I will have some things to get off my chest in the near future. I am a little afraid of what posts you ( Read more... )

Bands that inform and influence what I want to write for my theoretical band.

Brecker Brothers
Weather Report
Soulive
Medeski, Martin and Wood
Aphex Twin
Squarepusher

band name ideas:
The Begotten
The Mad Begatter
The Freaktet
Slinkytown
Terrible Mess

I am thinking seriously about starting my own band. We'd play (and cover) songs I write (and arrange), and others in the band can contribute too. Mainly, we'll play in the funk/hiphop/fusion style, but that's just kind of a starting point. I don't want to play straight jazz, or any other style just 'straight'. Even the funk/fusion/hip hop stuff is ( Read more... )

Man, jazz is just where it's at. I don't know what keeps me from diving in head first except for the extreme difficulty in making money. Fuck money! Why does that shit have to rule our lives?!

Wow. This 3-day weekend is really showing me how much time I spent with Kim. Basically all of it. I really need to get out and hang with friends. Company is always welcome where I am too ( Read more... )

Yeah, after 4 years and 3 months, Kim and I broke up last Sunday. We had been seriously considering it for a week or so, and sort of mutually agreed that it was for the best. It really, really hurts, and I miss her SO much. But we weren't happy together, and the things I didn't like about her weren't things that I would ask her to change - we're ( Read more... )

bleeding hell.

Listening back to my graduate composition recital. First half was classical compositions that I wrote (but didn't play), and the second half was jazz tunes that I wrote and played with 3 other musicians. I'm most happy with the jazz half, performance wise. But my intonation on trombone is really bad here and there, which is surprising and ( Read more... )

I really liked Portland. Kim and I were really close to moving up, but we ultimately decided to stay, for a few reasons. For me, I wasn't looking forward to starting over in a new music scene, with virtually no contacts or 'street cred.' In SJ I'm finally getting a decent gig here and there. I also wasn't looking forward to living so far from Tom ( Read more... )

So, I have a question for you LJ friends of mine.

What makes a good melody?Can you think of a band, musician, songwriter, or composer whose music is really melodic? What do you like about their melodies? What are the qualities of a good melody? And what are the qualities of a not-so-good melody? It doesn't matter if you're a musician or not, I ( Read more... )