Since being home, I have had a good amount of free time. I’ve been practicing a good bit, working some and subbed in a gig and a rehearsal for the Nova Contemporary Jazz Orchestra. I have some Finale projects that had been put on hold that I probably should now be getting to. There’s no excuse now! Here is a video of “Architect Flagmen” that I combined with the good audio on my music page.

After a 16.5 hour drive from Minnesota, I’ve arrived back in Denton for my final semester. There were exciting events after the new year. I rehearsed once more with the Nova Contemporary Jazz Orchestra and had a rehearsal and performance with the Stan Bann Big Band. I also took a trip with Siri to Chicago. I walked around DePaul a little bit and met with Bob Lark to say hello and introduce myself. Siri and I caught a show at the Second City, which was hilarious. There wasn’t enough time in the trip to see any music, but perhaps next time, there will be.

I heard this band a few weeks ago on 89.3 The Current in Minnesota, and just picked up their self titled album, Fleet Foxes. This was the song I heard. The album is fantastic and the freshest thing I’ve heard since I can remember.

“White Winter Hymnal” by Fleet Foxes.

I’ve been thinking about who the most important people in my musical life have been.

I recently visited my home of Minnesota and spent some time with my high school trumpet teacher Brad Shermock. I began taking lessons with him during my junior year of high school. It was through him that I first learned about the UNT Jazz Program. He did his undergrad there in the late 80s and early 90s and played 2nd trumpet on the album The Translucent Two by the UNT Two O’Clock Lab band. He stressed trumpet fundamentals and we rarely (if ever) worked explicitly on playing in the jazz styles. Regardless, he made sure to warn me that UNT is an easy school to go to, but a hard school to stay at.

We hung out for about 4 hours, and I could’ve hung out for 4 more, but I was meeting some friends in St. Paul. Talking with him during my trips home usually encourages and re-energizes me about music. I’m ready for my sixth and final year at UNT, after which I’ll receive my Master’s in Jazz Composition.

So Brad is one mentor in my life, the second is Phil Holm. I think I’ll collect my thoughts and write about him soon.

Today marks the first time I have listened to Prince’s eponymous album. I’m really enjoying it. I had heard Prince’s original version of “I Feel For You,” but hadn’t heard anything else from this record.

A brief Wikipedia expedition has revealed that Prince was recorded and released at nearly the same time as Michael Jackson’s Off The Wall. The bassline in “I Wanna Be Your Lover” by Prince reminded me of that of “Off The Wall” and I subsequently checked on those facts.

Prince played most of the instruments on this album. The production is very tight, subsequently. Every so often, there is a musical curveball, which I like. The early syncopation of the main riff of “Bambi” (1, &2, 3) caught me off guard. The track as a whole is more rock than the funk/disco inspired first half of the album, which is a good change of pace.

There is a strong presence of the IV-iii-ii progression, which I am fond of and have used sometimes in my own pop music.

I will certainly be giving this album repeated listens. Minnesota music is something that I have been increasingly interested in in recent years.