Greetings from the fast train running from Bordeaux to Charles Degaulle airport in France. I’ve just spent 5 memorable days in Paris and Bordeaux playing with a fantastic big band called the Paris Jazz Big Band (PJBB), and doing some masterclasses. The first part of the visit took place in Paris where I did an arranging workshop at the Paris Conservatory, did a playing masterclass at the Didier Lockwood school of music (just outside of Paris), and played a concert with the Paris Jazz Big Band. The last two days were spent in Bordeaux at a gathering of saxophonists called Festisax. The PJBB performed again there, and I did two workshops as well. One was for teachers of jazz saxophone, and the second was for young aspiring students of jazz. It seems that jazz and jazz education are alive and well in France these days.

The Paris Jazz Big Band was the delightful revelation of my trip to France. This fantastic big band, led by Pierre Bertrand and  Nicolas Folmer  is comprised of many of the best players from Paris. They have been working together now for 10 years, and they exhibit a strong personality all their own. Their original music, composed and arranged by the co-leaders is some of the best new big band music I have heard in a long time.  The band is jam-packed with great soloists, and a wonderful rhythm section. We played a few of my new arrangements from the forth-coming cd “Swing Out”, as well as a few of the PJBB’s original pieces. What a joy it was to play with these guys! They make a strong personal statement, and they are really nice folks as well. Keep an eye on this band. I predict great things for them down the road.

In preparation for our eminent move to Los Angeles we’ve been sorting through all our belongings in the house we’ve lived in for 14 years in Hastings on Hudson.  It’s been an interesting experience discovering how much “stuff” one collects over time, and how much of this stuff is not really needed. So we’ve been donating books, furniture, toys, and clothing to the Salvation Army and various other charitable organizations. I’ve donated large piles of music to Manhattan School of Music, New Rochelle High School, Purchase College, and Laguardia High School of the Performing Arts in NYC. Another pile is going to Interlochen Arts Academy. Over the years I’ve wound up with duplicate and triplicate copies of much of my big band music. It feels good to lay some of this music on the musical institutions I’ve been connected to over the years. Time to give back as a way of thanks for all the gifts I’ve received from these wonderful places.

I’ve been working on the curriculum for the courses I will be teaching at USC next fall. This has been an interesting and challenging task in so far as I am being asked to organize courses on improvisation, composition,  and jazz pedagogy in a way I have not experienced before. In very much the same way we’ve gone through the contents of our house, I have been going back over my many musical experiences and influences in search of a cohesive plan for teaching the courses at USC. My goal is to construct a well balanced curriculum for each course while also interjecting my own personal experiences into the mix. As a student at Hart School of Music I had the great pleasure to take classes with Jackie McLean. His courses were well thought out, very organized, and most importantly, filled with his personal reflections and experiences with so many of the great jazz artists. I hope I can do something similar. 

I have also been looking through several texts on improvisation and arranging for inspiration and ideas. Don Sebesky’s book “The Contemporary Arranger”, Gary Lindsay’s book on jazz arranging, Dave Leibman’s book on Chromaticism in Jazz, And  Randy Halberstadt’s Metaphors for the Musician, a book on some of the asthetics of jazz improvisation, have all been on my desk. They have all been quite inspiring in formulating a plan of attack.  These various Influences coupled with the years of my putting the 12 tones together will hopefully result in a worthy game plan. I look forward to the challenges that lie ahead. After years of improvising and composing I find that various shapes and devices occur without much thought, in a very impromptu, stream of conciencsness-type  way.  It has been helpful and revealing to articulate what it is I am doing in these realms as a means towards forming a sensible curriculum for the USC courses. 

Reading a book called American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic by Joseph J. Ellis.  His book talks about the years leading up to and following the American Revolution, and how the formation of our  nation developed over time. The formation of the government and the means of governing back then were very much an improvisatory process in terms of how things progressed.  In reading this book I was amazed at the paradox of how The United States, in their rebellion against the imperialistic maneuverings of Great Brittan, turned around and behaved in a like-minded way towards the Native American Indians. Equally suprising to me was the fact that the farmers from the southern colonies were selling the bulk of their produce to the British Army rather than supply the  Continental troops with the same food. It was all about getting the best price! Some things change and some things stay the same! It’s been interesting o get a second perspective on how the U.S. government was constructed in the early years as a means of having a greater understanding of the United State’s standing in the world today.

Right now I am working on the curriculum for USC, writing a piece for concert band and tenor sax, practicing the saxophone and piano, trying to write some new tunes, working on new ways to play on standards and the songs we play in the Yellowjackets and my own quartet and big band, and trying to read about other musician’s approaches to the above. Sometimes all this feels overwhelming! When that happens I try to remind myself that I can do a little at a time, and it is an ongoing project. If I chip away at these things every day to the best of my ability, in a focused, deliberate way, then it is enough. I’m thankful for the term “work in progress”, for it allows me some enjoyment in the process of becoming a better musician and human being.