Hello, good morning, and welcome to the Saturday Morning News Post!

Well readers, there it goes: 2011. It was an awkward number really, didn’t roll off the tongue. Now that it’s over,… I’m not sure what to think, except “Fuck, man! That went by fast!” Let’s see. Looking back, I had my head down for the 1st 8 months just trying to finish my degree at McGill, and then the last 4 months saw my head down again, this time trying to finish two recordings and a new record label.

Speaking of McGill University, the other week I stepped outside to get my mail and found I FINALLY GOT MY MASTERS DIPLOMA! Now, because I wasn’t at the convocation to accept it officially, I didn’t do the cap and gown thing. Actually, I did the slippers and bathrobe thing (which seemed oddly appropriate for accepting my Masters Degree in Jazz) but in my head Pomp & Circumstance was booming loud and proud as I walked in slow-motion in the morning sunlight past imaginary applauding neighbours, tail-wagging dogs, and singing birds flying a makeshift crown of branches onto my head. It was beautiful.

So now that I officially have my piece of paper and nobody can take it away from me, let me tell you what I REALLY think about McGill…

It was great.

Really, it was.

Gordon Foote and Ron Di Lauro were fantastic resources for big band music, and Gordon in particular taught me so much about big band directing. Joe Sullivan was great for hands on, get-your-hands-dirty arranging,… “Just do it, and then I’ll tell you what you fucked up later” is what I imagine Joe’s mantra would be. Kevin Dean was the man for insight into the whole “teaching jazz” world; his jazz pedagogy course taught me (among many other things) that it’s REAL easy to be a critic, however, in the interest of continuing the art form, jazz education does play an important role, and teaching creativity alongside basic fundamentals?… thems are tough waters to navigate. Andre White was a player’s player, and was the guy everyone looked to for a reminder that, Oh yeah, we’ve gotta get our heads out of our asses and just play! Last but not least, Jan Jarczyk knows everything there is to know about music composition, a deep well of information and insight.

I know what you’re saying… “Come on Danderfer! Stop kissing everyone’s ass and tell us what it was really like!”

Listen people, like any music school, it’s a resource. It is there for you to benefit from as much, or as little, as you like. If I have one complaint to make, it’s this: The hands-off teaching approach can (for some) lead to a lack of structure, which can lead to under-utilizing the excellent faculty.

That said, I wouldn’t want an overly structured method either because I loved the freedom they allowed me to work on my own direction. Basically, I just needed someone to tell me what I’m about to tell all you future McGill jazz composition grad students (and I know you’re all reading this)…

- Research the faculty and their recordings before you show up to your 1st day of school. Do this so you can hit the ground running and learn what you want to learn, who you want to learn it from.

- Don’t do what I did and piece this stuff together once you’re already there because things move fast and before you know it you’ll have one semester left to try and make the most of the opportunity.

I did get a lot out of it, I just feel that I could’ve gotten even more from the experience had I been prepared.

Moving on.

Also recently received in the mail was a letter from the Canada Council for the Arts explaining that they would not be funding my recording of The Hummingbird Brigade. Naturally, I completely respect their decision, and so all I can say is WHY YOU GOTTA DO ME LIKE THAT CANADA COUNCIL!? I’m sure the best man/woman won, and I DEFY YOU TO SHOW ME A PROJECT MORE IMPORTANT, MORE SOULFUL AND INSPIRING, MORE ESSENTIAL TO THE HEART OF THIS GREAT NATION THAN THE HUMMINGBIRD BRIGADE congratulations to all the recipients!

Thankfully, I never bank on receiving a grant. That would be foolish. So it’s on to plan B… I just need every one of my 9 SMNP readers to donate $2,000 by Springtime. Great. Thanks!

And finally, my New Year’s resolution: TO BE FAB!

And by that I mean, to follow (at least some of) FAB.com’s tips on productivity. Click on the link below to see for yourself…

21 We\'re Learning at FAB.com

Thanks for reading and HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! PS I’ll be away next week.

Readers, I wrote a couple of smart-ass Christmas related SMNPs but in the end… the Christmas spirit won me over yet again.

So regardless of whatever the hell you do or don’t celebrate,… HAPPY HOLIDAYS! I hope that each and every one of my SMNP readers is enjoying something over the Winter holidays, and may you have someone to share it with!

Best of the season for everyone at the SMNP headquarters,… in other words ME.

Readers, the question most asked of me seems to be this: Why?

Why play clarinet? Why did I live in China for those couple of years? Why am I learning how to sing? Why simultaneously release an electrojazz album and a traditional jazz album? In fact,…why release albums anymore? EVER?

And most recently, as I tell people about my new record label REIGNING PARADE. People’s reaction is again… WHY?

So here’s the answer…

Because. I. Want. To.

That’s it. Pretty simple really. Only for me, nothing is simple because I think too much about everything. Therefore, these things that I want to do roll around in my mind like wet towels in the dryer. Heavy and seemingly useless in their current state, I keep trying to reason why these ideas, these things that I want to do should be pursued. Most often though, I don’t come up with a reason. Not for years. Until eventually I wake up one morning and say to myself…

HOLY SHIT DANDERFER. YOU’VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT DOING THIS FOR YEARS, LITERALLY YEARS. THERE’S NO GOOD REASON TO DO IT EXCEPT THAT YOU’RE JUST SO FUCKING TIRED OF THINKING ABOUT DOING IT.

And then I do it.

Same thing with starting my own label. I mean, yes, I want to have creative control over how my music is presented, and I felt it was important for me to take full responsibility for getting it out there to people. That’s part of it, but really, I just wanted to start a record label, I wanted an “umbrella company” under which to present my music. I just wanted it. And so what if it turns out to be a stupid idea, at least I can say to myself “You tried it dummy, you tried it.”, and then give my myself a tough love pat on the back for giving it a shot.

Along the same lines, today I directed my first film shoot. Of course, by “directed” I mean I talked to videographer/VFX specialist Sam Nixon, and interviewer Guy MacPherson for 10 minutes beforehand about what I was hoping to capture. And by “film” I mean video interviews of the guys in my trio: Miles Black and Joe Poole. Basically, the film will be about 10 minutes and will go into some depth as to how we approached the music on the album (to be released February 1st), the inspiration behind the music, etc., etc.

Why? Because I wanted to. And soon, I will be able to put a couple of wet towels to rest.

Thanks to Sam and Guy for their work today, and to Miles and Joe for being such good sports.

And thank you for reading, have a great week everybody!

©jamesdanderfer2011

Readers, pop your popcorn, pour yourself a litre or two of soda, sit back and enjoy the Danderfilms!

Newly uploaded to YouTube, you can watch my trio here playing another tune of mine entitled “Lies and Kisses”.

After that, you can watch a short example of my film scoring here. The film was entirely created by my talented sister Megan Danderfer for her final animation project at Sheridan College in 2005. She enlisted me for the music and I in turn enlisted Chris Gestrin to assist in putting it to film.

That’s all for now, I gotta get back to organizing a solid sales pitch for a possible investor in the trio album (set for release on February 1st). And yes, it is a bit ridiculous that a clarinetist has to come up with a sales pitch but,… what are you gonna do?

Thanks for reading! Have a great week and enjoy the videos!

Hello, good morning, and welcome to the Saturday Morning News Post!

Readers, there just isn’t enough information on the internet. So in the hopes of giving you something to do with all your spare time I’ve put another new video of my trio (shot by Andrew Lavigne) up on a little-known website called YouTube. And by “new” I mean a year and a half old. (In order to keep things fresh I need to wait 8 months between iMovie sessions so I can completely forget how it works.)

And a note to the Apple Computer company, if you’re reading, I was disappointed to see that iMovie doesn’t have a “jazz-face reducer” tool yet, nor does it have a “forehead vein relaxer” tool. I had to turn the colour down to almost black and white just to keep this thing rated PG. COME ON!

Anyways, if you watch the video, you’ll just have to believe that I was enjoying myself. That’s my happy face,… I know it looks a lot like my serious face. It’s subtle. I’m a subtle kinda guy.

Click here to watch the video.

Moving on. Good news for anyone who likes this music and hates paying cover charge. My trio will be performing at O’Douls bar and restaurant (1300 Robson Street) on December 1st and 2nd (that’s a THURSDAY AND FRIDAY) from 8-11.

Since 1996, O’Douls has been a classy yet comfortable place to enjoy live jazz in Vancouver. With local trios performing 3 nights a week and solo pianists 4 nights a week, it has been a consistent venue of quality in the city. The future of O’Douls as a live music venue however, is uncertain at the moment with renovations and other changes coming up in the next few months. The recession has been difficult for most businesses but I sure hope they’re able to keep live music going over there.

With that said, come and join us for some great music on December 1st and 2nd.

Thanks for reading, enjoy the video. Special thanks to Andrew Lavigne for his fine film work. Have a great week!

Hello, good morning, and welcome to the Saturday Morning News Post!

Readers, I’ve been talking about my upcoming record label and upcoming new releases for so long that everyone is beyond the point of caring.

I realize this. But you see, the S.S. Danderfer is a big ship which can’t turn on a dime. You gotta turn that ship’s wheel and just sit back, get comfy, find a good book, mix some drinks, and wait,… until one day you wake up and BOOM, Danderfer’s off in a new direction.

And to help get me sailing in the right direction I knew I had to have the right people on board. So when it came time for the logo design I aimed high and approached Industrial Brand Creative.

Why Industrial Brand? In the words of Tina Turner, they are..

“simply the best,
better than all the rest,
better than anyone,
anyone I ever met.”

But they’re also out there in the city, supporting many creative things/groups/people. The first time I met the company co-founder Mark Busse he started talking to me about my (at the time) recent release, “Accelerated Development” as though he had actually listened to it. Turns out HE HAD BOUGHT MY ALBUM which makes him a part of the elite team of 9 people who did. Once I was able to choke back my tears of joy, I learned that Mark has made a career out of celebrating and encouraging creativity in all forms and Industrial Brand embodies this principle in all of their branding and design work (find other examples of IB’s work here).

Needless to say, I was thrilled to have the team working on my logo. With Topguns Matt SamyciaWood and Tyler Wilman quarterbacking the operation we began, and in the process I learned a few things:

1. Communicating what a logo should communicate is a very tricky business. Sam and Tyler had to collect lots of abstract information and then put it into a melting pot. Info ranging from the name I’ve chosen, descriptions of the product, the target audience, and a list competitors, to emotions, imagery, ideals, 1-5 year projections, etc.

3. Trust the professionals. Once you’ve found people you feel you can trust, and you’ve given them all the info you have to give, then you have to let them do their work. I feel strongly about my work, they feel strongly about theirs. And so, don’t be surprised if an objection is occasionally met with “We really believe in this (…and we’re sticking to it).“

In the end, I’m very glad they did stick to their guns. Great job guys!

And of course, being the Social Media whore protégé that I am, REIGNING PARADE already has a facebook page that you can ‘like’ here. Once you’ve joined the facebook page you’ll receive the latest information regarding new releases, starting with a double release in January! More news to follow.

Thanks for reading and have a great week! Special thanks once again to the team at Industrial Brand!

©2011