11/25/2011
My favorite Drummer Paul Motian dies at 80.
Drummer Paul Motian passed away on Tuesday. A sad day.
His work has been a huge influence on me, from his days in the Bill Evans trio to his many recordings as band leader of the Paul Motian Trio.
The record that changed so much about how I personally think about music was Paul Motian's Trio record "Monk In Motian". I am a huge Thelonious Monk fan and spotted this record when it was first released in 1988. As a guitarist I was obviously blown away by Bill Frisell as well as saxophonist Joe Lovano, but it was really what Motian was doing on the drums that intrigued me the most. I think I was almost through my first listening of Monk In Motian before I realized there was no Bass player. He used a deep tuning on his kick drum and it always covered the bass part. You always heard the melody and song form in his playing even when it was more abstract. Just a very musical player.
I really heard his playing as a very complete painting that set the foundation for Lovano and Frisell to further abstract and color upon. One of the great ones! RIP Paul Motian.
Here is the link to the New York Times article. 
Paul Motian, Jazz Drummer, Is Dead at 80
By BEN RATLIFF
Published: November 22, 2011
Mr. Motian, a drummer, bandleader, and composer of grace and abstraction, was one of the most influential jazz musicians of the last 50 years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/23/arts/music/paul-motian-jazz-drummer-is-dead-at-80.html
11/15/2011
08/04/2011
The Heckler (By Seth Godin)
Just got this from Seth Godin's daily news letter. Ignore the hater, especially the hater that lives in each of us. Shut up and do something!
The heckler
How dare you.
You should be ashamed of yourself.
Is this the best you can do?
I've written about the lizard brain and my friend Steve talks about the voice of the resistance.
It occurs to me, though, that most of us have to hassle with the heckler.
The heckler keeps a running critique going, amplifying its tone and anger as it goes on endlessly about all the things we shouldn't do, all the things we're not doing enough, and most of all, at our lack of entitlement to do much of anything new or important.
The heckler cannot be eliminated. It's been around since the beginning of our species, and we're hard wired to have it.
What can be done, though, is alter how the rest of the brain reacts or responds to the heckling.
If you engage with the heckler, if you qualify yourself, justify yourself or worst of all, rationalize yourself, the heckler will pounce, turning a small wedge into a giant hole. Like a standup comedian, it's almost impossible to outwit or shut down a dedicated heckler.
But there is a strategy that works. Acknowledge and move on.
When the heckler announces that you're incompetent, unqualified or hardly ready to step forward, think, "oh." And then proceed.
You give it no purchase. No opportunity to escalate. Each jibe is met with "noted."
Over time, the heckler gets quieter, because it just isn't worth the effort.
05/27/2011
05/03/2011
04/20/2011
04/07/2011
Balanchine Black and White week at Kennedy Center.
Went to The Kennedy Center last night for one of the three programs being performed by the New York City Ballet this week for Balanchine Black and White Week. Awesome!
An amazing night of dance set to great works by composers Corelli, Vivaldi, Webern and Stravinsky. The New York City Ballet never disappoints. NYC Ballet is performing so many great works this week with the NYC Ballet Orchestra for Balanchine Black and White Week. I only wish I was not traveling this week so that I might see all three programs. There are still some tickets left at good prices. Check it out!
04/02/2011
03/17/2011
A few special photos from Norway & Belgium
Just got back from a great trip to Oslo and Mons Belgium. Despite falling and cracking a rib in Oslo and not sleeping for four days I had a fantastic time. Here are some pictures of some things I did not expect and one picture of the greatest beer known to man! Or this man anyway. Oh, and the Gigs went great too. I forgot why I was there.
Every airport should have one of these.
Fine Art.
A Nice view of Oslo from my room
Mons Belgium
The Greatest beer ever! I only had two small glasses but WOW it was good!
03/03/2011
Free tunes from The Sullied's new CD
Get two free downloads from The Sullied's new CD. Free download Available at this link
Free Download , or sign up for it on The Sullied's official website. http://thesullied.com
01/04/2011
12/31/2010
12/25/2010
12/24/2010
12/02/2010
The Average Age of a Top-Touring Artist: 46...
Some very interesting research done on age and the state of touring acts posted on Digital Music News by Paul Presnikoff. I would be very interested to see the age average of ticket buyers for some of these acts such as Kings of Leon. I'll bet the audience is older than the band.
The Average Age of a Top-Touring Artist: 46...
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Is it any wonder that younger fans are leaving the building? The latest figures show a mass exodus of 12-to-24 concertgoers, thanks partly to recessionary effects. But even in good times, $100+ seats are tough to stomach, and the biggest grosses often belong to older artists.
How old? We did a canvas of the top 50 grossing tours of 2009, using Pollstar data, and researched the age of every front-line performer. So, the Jonas Brothers - ranked 9th with a gross of $96.6 million that year - came in at ages 18, 21, and 23, while Simon & Garfunkel - 50th at $25.8 million - clocked 69 years each.
And the average age? 46... and getting older! And just for kicks, the average ticket price on the top 50-grossing shows? $76.44.
Indeed, the largest-grossing acts are typically closer to a Garfunkel than a Jonas. The list of over-performers included U2 (the top-grossing band that year, late 40s/early 50s), Metallica (late 40s), Cher (64), No Doubt (now in their 40s), Bob Dylan (69), and Kiss (hitting 60s). On the other end, some youth was coming from tours like American Idol 2009 and Miley Cyrus (18).
Here's a breakdown of who was performing on stage...
Average age of a top-touring artist, 2009. Based on the top 50 grossing worldwide tour ranking as calculated by Pollstar.
The Pollstar ranking is here.
And, here's the breakdown of every artist's age.
11/30/2010
11/28/2010
Warren Buffet tells how to increase your income by 50%? This Week on ABC.
Warren Buffet says; Want to increase your income by 50%? Work on your communication skills. Buffet says improving your writing and public speaking skills can increase your income by 50% over your life time. Sounds like good advice.
11/17/2010
11/07/2010
Of Mouse and Matt. (WTF is wrong with me?)
Sometimes I take a silly idea and just run with it. WTF is wrong with me?
