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The Aebersold wrap-up will be here shortly, but I have to relate a more pressing issue:
I arrived home from the workshops and immediately set upon the most urgent task: sorting through two weeks of mail. I separated the letters, cards, and invitations from the magazines and bills (no letters from collections agencies) and left to pick my wife up from the airport.
The day got away from us and I didn’t get a chance to sort through the rest. What a shock my wife got when she saw this:
Yep, that’s me on the cover of Wired Magazine! I had forgotten that they asked subscribers to submit their pictures for customized covers several months ago. The email I received in response led me to believe I did not make the cut-off and would not be getting a customized cover, so the thought completely slipped my mind. I don’t even want to handle this one; I may go buy one off the newsstand to keep mine in good shape.
I’m in David Baker‘s theory class right now. Baker is the chair of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Department of Jazz Studies. Just check out the first paragraph of his IU bio:
David Baker studied with J.J. Johnson, Janos Starker, and George Russell. He has been honored with nominations for the Pulitzer Prize and the Grammy Award. Mr. Baker has received the Down Beat Magazine’s New Star Award, Lifetime Achievement Award, Jazz Education Hall of Fame Award, the National Association of Jazz Educators Hall of Fame Award, and the National Endowment for the Arts American Jazz Masters Award.
 Baker is tough and demanding, but one of the sweetest people you’ve ever met. If you don’t get him on the phone, there’s a good chance you won’t be getting in touch with him. He’s an extremely active teacher who has better things to do than sit a computer all day (I know what you’re thinking…). He and his wife, Lida, are the royal family of the camps. It is such an honor to get to spend time with them. I told Dr. Baker last night that, even though my chops (and ears) aren’t up to his theory class, I am getting so much from it and will be taking it home to shed. My Sony MD recorder is sitting beside me, capturing every story and moment. This is one of the great treasures of the workshops.
The house was packed for Moody, but let up ever so slightly for subsequent sets. I’ve been trying to get a shot like this all week.
 This week’s Wednesday night concert at Masterson’s features the incomparable James Moody. Also playing are drummer Jonathan Higgins, guitarist Dave Stryker, and Organist Bobby Floyd. You should be here right now.
Moody conducted a saxophone masterclass today and will be hosting a flute masterclass on Thursday. We are honored to have such a living legend here with us for the week.
Only at Aebersold!
1…If you know Jamey Aebersold, you know he likes to take pictures. He tells me he uses the SnP method of photography – Shoot and Pray. He gets some good shots that are featured throughout the buildings this week. Unfortunately, he snagged one of a visible stunned me and had it placed prominently on the bulletin board in the lobby of the school of music.
It’s been a running deal to place captions below it. I believe the one here is “INCONTHEIVABLE!” Let me know if you have any good captions.
2…At least one camper has come to me and said “you’re the guy with the blog, right?” If you are reading this and attending the Aebersold workshops, come up to me and let me know. It’s very gratifying to meet readers (long time or new) in real life. I’m the guy in the picture above, say hello.
I only have internet in the dining hall and can’t post regularly. I do have a doozy of a story to tell when I get it up and running again.
Congratulations to Jason Heath for being the latest addition to the International Society of Bassists’ (ISB’s) Board of Directors. Jason’s appointment shows the foresight (perhaps by this point it’s just common sense) the ISB has in including an www component in its highest level. Jason says it best:
I am still amazed at how sitting at a laptop in your kitchen and typing furiously into the wee hours of the morning can give one more credibility than all the hours, days, weeks, months, and years spent practicing prior to that point.
I ran into Chris Fitzgerald in the hall today and he commented on the amusement my posting brought him. I came into this very determined to post consistently, but quickly lost momentum. It’s kinda like watching DJA liveblog BoaC and seeing the fatigue set in, but mine’s not nearly as entertaining. Well, I promise to do my best to be a bit more consistent. I’ve already posted a couple times today. Don’t hold me to it, though.
 I haven’t encountered any other livebloggers yet, but I did catch a post by Thomas Howard chronicling his experiences. It is so great to see people with backgrounds in rock, pop, and classical music coming to these workshops and making great headway as jazz musicians. I’m awful with names; when Thomas posted at Talkbass to let me know he wrote this post, I had to check his myspace for pictures to recognize who he was. We had several conversations while he was here and I really enjoyed the bit of time I had to get to know him.
This thing really is a brotherhood.
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