bass bone heaven

guess it's been a few days since i wrote on this thing last...that's ok though because i haven't had anything interesting to talk about until today.

turns out i'm flying to new york over thanksgiving to have a lesson with one of the greatest bass trombone players alive today. his name is george flynn and he plays bass trombone with maria schneider's band. i'm pretty sure he plays many broadway shows (lion king maybe?) and studio jingle type dates. basically, he's doing what i dream of...living in new york, kicking ass on the bass trombone, and making a living doing it all. so a friend of mine, whom some may know, is maria's new york assistant and he told me that i have to go out and take a lesson with this guy, so, i built up the nerve, got his e-mail address, and asked for a lesson. he responded the same day and said he'd be happy to. i have to admit, i was a little shocked at how easy it was. those guys can be seem so intimidating (and let me tell you, i know alllll about intimidation), but yet, they're just regular guys who do awesome stuff with instruments. so, i'm super pumped for that opportunity, and also very thankful. i have a LOT of things to work on before that lesson.

i also had the chance to drive to minneapolis on monday and play with my trombone quartet for another bass bone hero of mine, john rojak. he teaches at julliard, subs with the ny phil, plays in the american brass quintet, was the bass trombonist on les miserables for 16? years, etc, etc, etc. you get the idea, he's awesome. he's also an extremely nice human being. we had the great fortune of hanging out with him all day and i wish i had a second brain to store everything i learned from him that day. half of that storage would be used to remember how amazing he sounded. i really need to keep practicing my long tones, among many other things.

in the non-music related world everything is ship-shape. my house is under construction everyday, but, atleast stuff is getting done. within a week or so they might be finished. we'll see.

lots of stuff is coming up, so i'll probably be writing more frequently within the next few weeks.

why is there a street cleaner outside my house at 1am?

g'nite