Some time ago I spoke about my full time day gig at ThomasNet. At that point I was still getting the hang of everything. I was suddenly put in the html driver’s seat with license to throw the switch to send our newsletters to hundreds of thousands of subscribers. After some trial by fire, I feel pretty comfortable with everything – even last minute email blasts with lots of edit change requests. But this does not mean I am ready to say I’m an html expert on my resume by any stretch. I am a functioning newsletter production manager, but my html design skills are in need of an upgrade.…

Often I wonder if there is a way to predict and bring about- through preparation- a successful performance. But the older I get the more I feel it’s not possible. Why? Well, tell me truthfully whether you have had one of these experiences: 1. You were well rehearsed but played worse than you usually do2. You were well rehearsed but not spontaneous3. You didn’t practice at all and played great4. You did a lot of practicing and played very well and felt practicing paid off.5. You were not prepared at all and played like shit6. You were really looking forward to playing but then it was a disaster7. You were…

In my early years, I got heavy doses of Jimmy Raney, Bill Evans, Bob Brookmeyer, Cannonball Adderly, Pat Martino, Stan Getz and whatever records my brother Doug inherited from Dad. Doug put many albums on reel to reel tapes (the mp3s of yesteryear in terms of packin’ your favorites on one unit). Plus I heard my brother making recordings, jamming with himself and transcribing solos by Dad, Charlie Parker and Sonny Stitt. Sometimes half speed. When my brother left for Europe, that’s pretty much where my head was at in high school. I listened to the same records and it was all great but very traditional stuff. I would wear…

So continuing on with the story… As mentioned, it was quite upsetting to see all these things I grew up all of the sudden up for sale at the world’s larget online auction entity, Ebay. Attached are some of the details I was receiving from DJ, Joe Bourne in regards to the items being sold on Ebay: Summary This is a 12 by 11 1/2 inch photo album from the estate of Jimmy Raney, the renowned jazz guitarist. It contains 82 photographs, some color but most black and white, that were taken from birth to Raney’s senior years. It includes large pictures of some of the bands and groups he…

I guess there’s no way around the 24 hour day, unless human habitation on Mars is a closer reality than believed. Many of us in the blogosphere lead double lives. I’m no exception. I had many good years to myself to develop as an artist. I’d like to say between 1981 to about 1986 or so I was able to lead a bohemian lifestyle practicing for hours on end after school and my little part time jobs, eating Cheerios for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But by 1995-1996 I was feeling the pull of responsibility and that strange double edged comfort called the steady paycheck. Both of my parents passed away…

Finale’s layout and program logic can border on the extra-terrestrial, at least for me. Most of the musicians I know who have settled into Finale use have been set-up by other power users from across the great layman/expert divide. How do power users get this way? Not sure, but they would likely become engineers and understand Fortran if confronted with it, I’m sure. My friend and Finale expert, bassist Tom Hubbard is an example of this. He knows everything about everything. Just one of those type of guys. We did a barter agreement where I taught him some piano and harmony and he taught me Finale. I think he got…