January 30, 2010
Hello, good morning, and welcome to the Saturday Morning News Post!
This week it really is all about me…
Discipline and the Schedule
There’s nothing quite like starting your week with a clenched fist and the word “ffffffuuck!!” And so it was that I began my 2nd week of disciplined scheduling when I awoke on Monday to find I had slept in,… by several hours. Like a driver having fallen asleep at the wheel, my eyes opened in shock to see everything had gone off the rails. Completely underwhelmed with myself, I quietly wondered whether or not Monday was even worth bothering with or,… perhaps better I just go to the liquor store now for some Crown Royal, tuck myself in, and call it a day. more…
January 23, 2010
Hello, good morning, and welcome to the Saturday Morning News Post!
As of last Tuesday I’m back in Montreal, and it feels pretty damn good to be in my own place again!
Don’t get me wrong, I love going home and spending time with family and friends of course, there’s nothing better really, but it’s all about balance. I can be a people person but then I like to get away from it all and just be on my own, getting down to business. And when it comes to business, Montreal is like my personal office: friends and family don’t call me in the office, there are few distractions, chores can wait, and my task is simply to work.
That said, too much time alone in the office comes with it’s own challenges. Sometimes you could use that extra person around, the one who looks at you in disbelief and says “Dude, what the fuck are you doing?” Any self-employed, work-at-home person out there knows exactly what I’m talking about here.
Like, for example, when you more…
January 16, 2010
Hello, good morning, and welcome to the Saturday Morning News Post!
It is in fact Friday evening as I write this SMNP, from the Patricia Hotel (Vancouver) where CBC Radio will soon host their musical event in honour of the late great Jelly Roll Morton who graced this same venue back in 1919 for over a year.
All the musicians involved were at the CBC studios yesterday to rehearse (and some fine musicians there were, including Bruno Hubert, Brass Roots and the great Henry Butler), then we all had a sound check at The Patricia Hotel this morning. Following that, my trio went back to CBC studios to rehearse some more after lunch, then I came back to The Patricia to play for CBC’s pre-show live radio broadcast (with Ndidi Onukwulu, a very talented singer in town who I just met yesterday), and now here I am, hanging out in the hotel lobby, blogging, while the other musicians drink beer and have a good time. You see? You see what I do for the SMNP?
As for the 8 hours a day thing, well, more…
January 9, 2010
Hello, good morning, and welcome to the Saturday Morning News Post!
First off, thanks to everyone who made it out to The Cellar last weekend for my “Party Like It’s 1929!” trio show. The band had a blast, the crowd was great, and I came one step closer to familiarity with this older style of jazz,… and that’s a win-win folks.
But just in case you missed it, we’ll be playing in Vancouver one more time (and featuring my CBC commissioned suite for Jelly Roll Morton) at a CBC Radio event (picture below) on Jan. 15th.
Click here for details.
So here we are. 2010 already. I think that was the most stealth decade ever that just blew by. The 20th Century was full of legendary decades, even the “Big 80’s” and the “Gay 90’s” more…
January 2, 2010
Hello, good morning, Happy New Year! and welcome to the Saturday Morning News Post!
Readers, I’m exhausted. It’s currently 3am and I’ve just finished the Jelly Roll Morton Suite,… Holy Hell that was a lot of work. That wasn’t no ordinary jazz composition, that was basicly a 5-part, through-composed suite. But, it had to be done tonight before my rehearsal with the band tomorrow.
I think my pianist is finally going to snap when he sees my piano parts. (pictured right)
Why so complicated James? you ask. I don’t know, this unusual instrumentation (clarinet, piano, drums) is just really piano-centric and if I didn’t write it all out then,… then, it might not sound the way I want it to damnit!
Anyways, I had a real interesting blog post planned for you this week but more…