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BUSY BEAVER Minutes ago I completed revisions on "Get In," a sprawling work for flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, horn, and alto saxophone. Pictured below is the first page of 28 pages of my thirteen minute piece. I've been working on this for many months in at least eight different countries. "Get In" is dense, confused, and maybe the closest to genius I've come yet. Schubert would be proud. 
I had'n bin wryt'n cuz I bin 2 busy. In May I spent a well needed two weeks in Texas, then flew to Europe for the summer. Europe is big and lots of fun. I attended the Grand Tour jazz festival in Terni, Italy, then hung out in Florence for two weeks. Big thanks to Joy, Bernardo, and the King of Italy, Nicholas Myers. Next was Slovenia, which is hands down the best country America's never heard of. I played a jazz festival in Bled with my main man Lenart Krečič. I drank in moderation. I hung out with Lenart's dad, who's an extremely cool, extremely intelligent, extremely hardcore Roman Catholic. Big shout-outs to Lenart, Matija, Matevž, Domen, Ćevapčići, and Gašper. I promise to come back soon. At one point two angels named Matthias and Janneke scooped me up in their car and proceeded to drive me all over Europe. To Germany, to Austria, to Belgium, to the Netherlands. (Matthias and Janneke: these angels, God bless them! Also thank you Germany for the Hefeweizen. Thank you Belgium for dark, over-potent monastery beer. Thank you Holland for Amsterdam. Thank you Austria for Mozart.) When I left Europe, I flew to New York for one week to make a record with the great Kenny Werner. Speaking of sprawling works for mixed jazz and classical ensembles—Kenny's written a suite for full wind symphony, choir, and jazz trio. It's pretty incredible. I was privileged to play lead alto and soprano saxophones in the wind symphony. The album features Kenny, Judi Silvano and Joe Lovano. It will be released on Half Note Records by the end of the year. I have a record of my own. It's called "HAPPY EVERY DAY"; it's in post-production. Why just this morning I received the liner notes and master takes by mail. I'm so excited about this project. The music is great, the photography is great, the artwork is great. Much more on this soon. A few months ago I mentioned a project I was recently a part of. Well, the artist was vibraphonist Stefon Harris and the project was a commission for the Imani Winds. I was Stefon's compositional assistant for his piece, "The Anatomy of a Box: A Sonic Painting in Wood, Metal and Wind." Stefon is a consummate master, and working with him was quite an experience. The piece premieres in Iowa City later this month. (more info) I'm in Canada at the moment. In two weeks I fly to Chengdu to see my girlfriend of three years. My little Liu Liu is there, in China, waiting for me. So I've been learning Mandarin for her. I'll finish Book Two in the New Practical Chinese Reader series this week. And the characters? I can write about 1000 from memory on a good day. But still. Wish me luck—I'll need it. -murrayjames 09/11/09 |