Subscribe to Mr. B's Blog via email!

If you would like to receive an email whenever there is a new blog post, scroll down the left side of the window to where it says "Subscribe via email" and enter your email address. There will be a short process to follow, but when you are done, you will receive new posts in your in box. Pretty cool, eh?

Websites for Great Music Listening

If you know me, you know that I hold a pretty dim view of illegal downloads. Being in the music business from the education side of things, I believe it's important to teach my students that artists and songwriters should get paid for what they do. That being said, there are a number of websites that give you the opportunity to listen to great music via streaming. In other words, it's like listening to a radio instead of owning a CD--you can listen to the music, but you can't download it. Here are some of my favorites:

Palmetto Records is a great jazz record company. They have a jukebox-type player on their front page that has full length tunes from their catalog.

NextBop is a blog about contemporary jazz by artists like Ben Allison, Christian Scott, and Medeski Martin and Wood. Click on the "radio" tab to hear a stream of today's jazz with a decidedly rock influence. You can also click on individual artists to just hear their tracks. I recommend Darcy James Argue and his hip big band, Secret Society.

My favorite rock music station is WXRT 93.1FM Chicago. I've been listening to them since the 1980s when I was discovering Elvis Costello, Prince, and the Talking Heads. One of the bands that they helped to put on the map was REM. You can hear a live stream of their incredible album, Fables of the Reconstruction, here. It's one of the only albums I love enough to own on both vinyl and CD.

National Public Radio (NPR) has a ridiculous amount of web content for music lovers. They have blogs, archived concerts, new music samplers, interviews, and get-to-know-the-music pages for every style imaginable from classical to rock to jazz to world music. I'm currently listening to Bassekou Kouyate, a performer from the African country of Mali.

So check these out. Let me know if you have other sites you enjoy, and I'll post them here.

Hey, have you practiced lately?

(BTW--I was on this ill-fated boat cruise in Boston while on a mission trip with the high schoolers from our church. Ask me about it sometime.)

Dissertation Update

Today is a landmark day for me--I sent my first draft of the last chapter of my dissertation to my advisor. I realize that I will have pages and pages of rewrites to do over the next few months as he dissects it and then a second reader has a shot at it. It still feels good, though, to get to this stage. I am hoping that this will keep me on track for a late fall defense and a completion of the degree by winter break. I'm crossing my fingers...

Last Day of School

Well, it's all over for the year. My grades are in, instruments are off to the repair shop, and the uniforms are being drycleaned. I've filed all the music and straightened up the band room, so it's time to join my students and go on summer vacation. I'm looking forward to finishing my dissertation on comprehensive musicianship, doing summer curriculum revision, and going to Maine with my daughter and our church's senior high mission trip.

I'll be updating the blog from time to time when something interesting hits me, so stop by every few weeks or so. And of course, don't forget to practice! We don't want to start the year with the dreaded summer chops!

See you in August!

Memorial Day, 2010

This year's commemoration of Memorial Day started off like any other. The Warrior Marching Band gathered at school to get instruments and run through our patriotic medley and the national anthem. We drove down to Jewett Park where the Big Band Sound of Deerfield was entertaining the crowd that was gathering around our town's war memorial. The American Legion members were on the stage, looking proud in their Legion hats and ties, and scouts of every age were in small clumps, holding flags and buzzing with excitement.

As in the past, there were a few short speeches about why we pause to reflect on this day, about how men and women throughout the ages made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our freedom. All was going well until a couple of raindrops started to fall. As we lined up in parade formation next to the First Presbyterian Church of Deerfield, it started to rain more steadily. By the time we stepped off, we were getting drenched. When we arrived at the cemetery for the reading of Deerfield's war dead (a list that goes back to the War of 1812), it was coming down in buckets, and there were ominous rumbles of thunder off to the west. Undeterred, senior buglers Ryan Kaplan and Harrison Middaugh played "Taps" after the rifle volleys were sounded. It was a poignant moment as always.

As we lined up ready to head north on Waukegan Road, a Deerfield police officer wisely cancelled the rest of the parade and put everyone up on the sidewalk to walk back into town. We sloshed back through deep puddles, hopped on the now steamy buses, and went back to school. Everyone was excited to see Logan's convertible, which of course had the top down. Instead of putting the uniforms into piles to send to the dry cleaners, we hung everything out to dry. It will delay the process, but I don't think any of the marchers will every forget this parade.

I was very glad to see that nobody complained about getting drenched. As I reminded them afterwards, our veterans have suffered through days of rain in the jungle, bitter cold in the mountains, and sandstorms in the desert, all while under constant threat of enemy fire. It was certainly no problem for us to get a little wet as we remembered the brave men and women who served and died that we might be free.

Pomp and Circumstance, Jazz Style

This time of year, the Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble are busy prepping for commencement, so we've been playing a lot of "Pomp and Circumstance." It's an interesting march--Edward Elgar never intended it to be specifically for graduations, but at some point during the last century, it became synonomous with caps and gowns and long speeches. Just in case you think you can't have a little fun with it, here is a big band jazz version by Woody Herman and his Thundering Herd.

Jazz Band Free Listening

Over the last two weeks, the students in the Jazz Band have each brought in a track to share with the class. We heard an incredible variety of music from classic hard bop, modal, and bossa nova to modern electronica and South Asian hybrids. Here's a list of what we've been listening to:

“MacArthur Park,” M.F. Horn, Vols. 4-5: Live at Jimmy's – Maynard Ferguson
“Girl from Ipanema,” Getz/Gilberto – Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto

“Portrait of Tracy,” Jaco Pastorius – Jaco Pastorius

“Pursuance,” A Love Supreme – John Coltrane

“Looking Out, Looking In,” Apti – Rudresh Mahanthappa

“Memai” – S&PS

“Squib Cakes,” Back to Oakland – Tower of Power

“Global Citizen,” Not for Nothin’ – Dave Holland

“Claire de Lune,” Beyond Standard – Hiromi

“My Favorite Things,” My Favorite Things – John Coltrane

“El Cojo,” Secret Dream – Chévere

“The Suspension Bridge at Iguazu Falls,” TNT – Tortoise

“Seven Steps to Heaven,” Seven Steps to Heaven – Miles Davis