turning the corner ever so slowly

there's this great quote by mark twain, appropriate for today. "when i was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant i could hardly stand to have the old man around.  but when i got to be twenty-one, i was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years."

this came with some cupcakes jenn brought over yesterday

i have self-consciously followed my own comprehension and execution and appreciation for music as i have matured.  i remember how i felt when i was in vocational school & undergraduate years.  i thought the act of performing was an incredible feeling and knew that i needed to put work into my craft (but not at the expense of my social life and taco john's work schedule).  i had definitely bitten off more than i could chew and was constantly being asked to revise my approach to personal discipline.  i was into slick rick, jodeci, bobby mcferrin, take 6, the yellowjackets, paul desmond, and early joshua redman.

my graduate school days and early years out in the world were about being impressive.  i wanted to know more tunes than anyone, have better chops than all the other players, be familiar with all of the latest records.  i'm not an aggressive person (rather insecure, actually) but was always sizing up people inside my head.  i still half-assed the practice sessions, but had a better idea of what i wanted to work on.  i was into john zorn, chris potter, electric miles, sting, and acted like i was digging some blue note stuff.

since i've been at isu, i have wrestled and finally come to grips with the idea that it's okay for me to like the music i like.  melody, clever reharms, interesting rhythmic hooks, nice beats, creative interpretations and reconfigurations of sound.  i don't care about technique, but put all of my money on tone (just ask my students).  i'm into playing the ideas that are actually in my head, not regurgitating licks i've been living with for years.  i want to be honest and sincere in my playing, careful to not interrupt that music that surrounds us.  i try to compositionally.  i'm currently into dolly parton, jim black, bjork, the bad plus, brad mehldau, django bates, brian blade, charles lloyd, and kenny wheeler.

i look forward to getting older (but could live without the extra grey hairs i'm accumulating), anxious to see how i'll develop and mature.  that's the beauty of this life.

in high school, one of my favorite teachers was mr. hughes. he was energetic, quick-witted and extremely intelligent.  he told me about these t-shirts that were selling like hot cakes in san diego during the mid '80s, referencing a famous first baseman who was having some publicized promiscuity issues. they read "steve garvey's not my padre"