I’ve discovered one of the more intriguing sectors of the Google world in the lab portion of their website.
Google Sets automatically creates sets from a few given examples. For instance, I can enter turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce and get the results
A fairly consistent hit for Thanksgiving fare. This obviously has educational impact in that it can be used to discover members of a set with which you may not be familiar.
There is not as much information regarding double bass as I would like; I have not yet read how Google Sets creates its sets, but I can assume it is related to searches from unique IP addresses.
Experiement, it’s a fun way to pass the internet time. (During your short practice breaks)
Most of you should know by now that http://youtube.com/ is the resource for jazz performance videos. The most vexing issue surrounding youtube it refusal to allow users to download video. I can tell you that I am presently watching Erroll Garner perform “All the Things You Are” on my brand new 5g Video Ipod thanks to the following steps:
01| If you are not already, you need to be using Firefox. It is free and a favorite browser of practically every serious computer user I know. Download it from the link provided.
03| Download and install the Videora Ipod Converter. There is a full version of Videora that provides options for better quality/higher res, but it requires multiple steps to convert video for Ipod. Videora Ipod Converter will take the .flv file saved by the extension and convert it to a suitable format for Ipod.
04| Import the mpeg 4 (or other compatible format) file into Itunes from the File Menu.
I had been waiting quite a while for Poncho to come to Orlando, since long before the season was announced. It is exciting to see the Orchestra branching out to reach a broader audience. (I should disclose at this point that I once worked in the offices of the Phil; it was my first post-college job.)
I have been excited about the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra‘s attempts at appealing to the very large hispanic population by bringing in perhaps the most formidible figure in latin music extant. My father-in-law hipped me to Sanchez a couple years ago and I have eaten up his album, Latin Soul, since. Fusing music is always an experiment, a foray into uncharted territory. Sometimes the results are mezmerizing and groundbreaking. Sometimes, they fall far short of stellar.
Last night was the latter.
The first half was a short jaunt through light classical fare. I recall Rimsky-Korsakov, I believe. At intermission, the hydraulic pit was raised to reveal a latin band setup on the thrust. Poncho was accomanied by keys, timbales, assorted percussion/bongos, trumpet, trombone, EUB (a Tony Banda prototype for Azola) and alto/tenor sax.
The Sanchez band was superb. I couldn’t anticipate the level of energy and execution the band offered the polarized audience. The Orlando Phil had not seen the type of rowdy crowd present at the concert last night and it was obvious at those whith less discretion were not comfortable sitting next to the “patrons of the arts.” This same dichotomy was amply present onstage as the orchestra showed a tangible disinterest in the music. This became painfully apparent as the lights on the orchestra were dimmes and the Sanchez band played to raucous numbers sans strings (and winds and brass…you get the point). Several members of the orchestra practically fell asleep, leaning on their arms as they waited for their next chance to play.
What might have been most disappointing was the percentage of the extremely small crowd (less than half a house, much greater than the <400 people at the matinee) which left well before the conclusion of the concert. This did not detract from the sublime performance presented by Sanchez and his band. My wife lamented that the band could not play a club date while they were in town, one where a more rowdy crowd would be appreciated.
I recently discovered the fact that the Philadelphia Orchestra does an excellent job of chronicling its overseas tours on the internet. I spent soume time browsing and found:
001.The Tour Mainpage|This was actually the last thing I discovered. It provides links to each tour’s front page. The two most notable to me were the Asia tour and the recent European tour.
002.European Tour Blog|This is an excellent blog and is of particular note to bassist as Mr. Hal Robinson is one of the contributers. It could definitely use more frequent updates throughout the tour, but gives an excellent glimpse into Orchestral Life on the road.
003.The Asia Tour Photo Page|This excellentpage really made me quite emotional. I spent some time behind the scenes of an Orchestra, as the Development Coordinator for the Orlando Philharmonic and really miss the whole experience. Though I’m majoring in jazz performance, I’m doing work in the USF Symphony Orchestra and really enjoy the feeling of being a part of something much larger than you that an orchestra provides. We’ll see where it leads…
I just ran across this flash animation of an architect’s vision of John Coltrane’s Giant Steps. I have always been fascinated by interdisciplinary art and what music inspires in artists of other mediums. You can find the original here.
