MacBook White Unibody Unboxing (Oct 2009)

Unboxing the all new White MacBook Specs: 13,3 '' 2.26 GHz 250 GB HD 2 GB DDR3 Ram Geforce 9400M (256 DDR3 Ram)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLRAGxAuI9Y&hl=en

Adventures in Music 04

www.boingboing.net



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRYKJCT1uhk&hl=en

The Many Incredible Benefits Of Learning Chording Techniques On The Piano - Part One

Do you know the incredible benefits that come to you by learning chording techniques on the piano?

There are many -- way more than just 10. But due to space limitations, I'll just list 10 out of hundreds:

1. By learning chording techniques, you are at least quadrupling your chances of creating exciting new sounds on the piano -- sounds that most other piano players have no idea how to create. That's because arranging using chord techniques is open-ended -- there's no end to the styles and applications you can eventually learn and apply.

2. Learning chording techniques in NO WAY interferes with your ability to sight-read music. Some ill-informed people think it does, but not so! Ask any great jazz musician from Dave Brubeck to Andre Previn to Oscar Peterson to Chuck Corea to.... They ALL read music prolifically, yet choose to apply chording techniques to song after song, creating many of the great classic tunes we all know, like "Take Five", etc, etc.

Knowing chords and being able to apply techniques to those chords actually HELPS YOU TO SIGHT-READ FASTER, because instead of just seeing groups of random notes on the sheet music, you can see chord patterns forming and dissolving into yet another chord, another chord progression!

3. Knowing chords and applying chording techniques allows you to become a first-rate accompanist for singers and other musicians, should you want to do that. You will be able to "wrap the chords" around the singer to support them, rather than be in competition by playing the melody from the sheet music. You'll be able to create fills and counter-melodies and a host of other devices that can make you the most desired accompanist in your area.

4. By knowing chords and chording patterns you will automatically open the door to opportunities to play at places you never could if you only "play music as written". When people hear you play, they will immediately sense that "this person knows what they are doing", which can very well bring invitations to play in fraternal clubs, churches, community centers, and even weddings and funerals. I have had students of retirement age who have fulfilled their lifelong dream to play in public, even if in a small venue. I recall a CPA in Washington State who took lessons from me by cassette for a couple years and got good enough to play at a local restaurant-pub on weekends. He didn't need the money, but just LOVED the opportunity to play for folks and have them sing along.

5. Being able to apply chords to song after song means you NEVER HAVE TO PLAY A SONG THE SAME WAY TWICE! When people see me play, they often ask me to play the song again -- but are often surprised when I play it again, since I create new chord progressions and fills and improvisations each time -- so it never sounds the same.

There's a classic story about Erroll Garner, the great pianist and composer of the classic song "Misty". A lady came up to him after a concert and raved about how he played "Misty", and asked him to play it again the same way. His reply was "I can't remember how I played it last time -- but I'll play it again anyway", which greatly surprised the lady.

This article will be continued next week.

Duane Shinn is the author of over 500 music books and music educational materials such as DVD's, CD's, musical games for kids, chord charts, musical software, and piano lesson instructional courses for adults. His book-CD-DVD course titled "How To Play Chord Piano In Ten Days!" has sold over 100,000 copies around the world. He holds advanced degrees from Southern Oregon University and was the founder of Piano University in Southern Oregon. He is the author of the popular free 101-week online e-mail newsletter titled "Amazing Secrets Of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions" with over 70,000 current subscribers.

When Doctors Rule the World

In 2005, Sami Timimi, a pediatric psychiatrist, suggested in the British Medical Journal that British and American psychiatrists are inappropriately imposing the West's views of mental illness and child rearing on the rest of the world. Mounting evidence of the role played by powerful drug companies in shaping modern medicine makes Timimi's views then, and in subsequent publications, compelling reading.

Timimi is eerily well situated to comment on the imperialistic aspects of American psychiatry. Born to an Iraqi father and an English mother, he lived in Iraq until the age of fourteen, when his family relocated to England. There, as a child from another world, he experienced extreme cultural confusion. He recalls the efforts of well-intentioned social service professionals to impose upon him a view of child development that seemed utterly foreign.

Years later, in his training to become a psychiatrist, he found the profession's lack of ability to engage with difference in stark contrast to the cultural tolerance and openness of his upbringing. He describes psychiatry, which prescribes a rigid code of conduct for new recruits, as nothing less than a dictatorship.

"My wish," Timimi writes, "is to question the assumptions, the universals, the constructs, the clinical applications and all those things that make up my job as a child and adolescent psychiatrist... as a profession we must be able to appreciate the relative nature of the belief systems we use in our work (and therefore hopefully be able to make positive use of other belief systems)" (Pathological, p. 14). Deconstructing accepted mental health wisdom, he explores its meanings as well as the global consequences of imposing it on humans regardless of culture.

Timimi is also critical of the top-down attitude many practitioners assume toward their clients. Which do patients find more effective, he asks, the hierarchical, authoritarian approach or the horizontal, egalitarian, side-by-side therapeutic relationship?

And what about the costs and benefits that Western cultural values have brought youth and communities? When we British (and Americans) promote independence, autonomy, self-determination, separation, individuation, and self-expression from infancy onward, he argues, we drive a wedge between children and their families. We also sever each nuclear family from kin, as if it were expected to survive without assistance.

Such Western values intensify isolation and alienation while robbing children of clear-cut adult role models. But in our time, interdependence has become a watchword. Dependability and community increasingly count for more than autonomy and independence. When society treats kinship as being of paramount importance, a broad cultural framework organizes individual, family, and community experience.

Traditional Western psychiatry serves many power hierarchies and functions as a cultural defense mechanism, an imperialistic tool that both denies difference and inflicts on other countries the social miseries associated with our own: juvenile delinquency, alcohol and drug abuse, sexually risky behaviors, and ever proliferating diagnoses of mental health problems in our youngsters.

One-size-fits-all assumptions about child rearing and pathology, Timimi notes, invite us to impose invalid interpretive frameworks on other people. When we do so we worsen common problems and simultaneously keep ourselves from learning from alternative viewpoints. Practitioners need to become more sensitive to the different cultural meanings of mental illnesses and the different culturally specific ways of treating them.

Western culture, Timimi argues in a second book, Naughty Boys, actually breeds antisocial behavior by refusing to tolerate it in the very young. Adults demand that children function independently very early on. In contrast, Muslim parents traditionally approach children with acceptance, soothing them, avoiding shocks to their systems, and voicing limited expectations until the child is about seven years old.

Aboriginal parents accommodate childish behaviors for even longer, impart cultural values (the importance of sharing food, for example) by role modeling, and greet aggression in a low-key manner. In many non-Western cultures, undesirable behaviors are viewed as a social, communal problem rather than as evidence of pathology.

The label of attention deficit /hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has stakeholders in the West, Timimi suggests. It lets mental health professionals cast themselves as experts and disempowers clients. It also-surprise, surprise-enriches pharmaceutical companies. And finally, it conveys social discomfort with the natural behaviors of childhood and especially those of boys.

The answer? Psychiatrists "should support parents in finding effective ways to enforce discipline in their children using their own parental value system providing we are happy with the level of security and love for that child in their family," Timimi writes. "How much of what we do as child mental health practitioners has become a colonial exercise, that of prescribing for children, families and allied institutions ways of acting that are based on the best interests of capitalist society and not necessarily the best interests of our clients? The West's values may be good for adventure loving middle-class, white males who like having individual gratification, freedom and minimal responsibility, but [are they] good for children?" (pp. 213, 219).

Timimi insists that, in working to help people with their problems, doctors must remain mindful of context at all times. His deeply humane, provocative books-must reading for mental health providers and their patients-should help us create a richer dialogue between the members of our societies and between the constituent nations of the world.

Discussed in this article: Sami Timimi's article in volume 331 of the British Medical Journal (July 2, 2005), entitled "Effect of Globalisation on Children's Mental Health"; Timimi, Pathological Child Psychiatry and the Medicalization of Childhood (New York: Brunner-Routledge, 2002); Timimi, Naughty Boys: Anti-Social Behavior, ADHD, and the Role of Culture (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005); and Timimi and Begum Maitra, Critical Voices in Child and Adolescent Mental Health (London: Free Association Books, 2006).

This article was written by Marcia E. Brubeck, who sees adults and children in her Hartford, Connecticut, private practice. You can learn more about me at http://www.MarciaBrubeck.com

Take Five - Dave Brubeck Quartet

Classic jazz number



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQLM0k0i1Zw&hl=en

Classic Jazz-Take Five

Michael's recorder performance



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16yZI6Lr1ok&hl=en

Douglas Niedt - " Take Five "

Interpretation & arr. by Douglas Niedt Music by Paul Desmond This is a Jazz classic but Douglas turned it into classical version. Please comment, debate, argue. Let's find out what you think!!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmzMIvW_HX4&hl=en

What is Jazz Music?

There are many forms of music in the world which are quite popular with its numerous fans. Of these you will find that Jazz music has a wide following of fans ranging from the ordinary folk to that of celebrities. The beginnings of Jazz music can be found in the African American communities in the Southern US in the early 20th century. From its inception you will find that this style of music has incorporated into its genre a number of elements from 19th and 20th century popular American music.

The African roots can be heard from the elements of polyrhythms, swung notes, blue notes, improvisation and syncopation. You will find from historical references that Jazz used to be a West Coast slang term and around about 1915 it was used to refer to music which was sung and heard in Chicago. During these early days this form of music was spelled as "jass" instead of the more familiar spelling of Jazz.

While the main form of this music is known as Jazz music you can today find a number of variations and sub genres which are quite popular in the world as well. For instance you have the derivatives of this style in the form of krautrock, Rock'n'roll, drum and bass, ska, reggae and Rhythm and blues. Some of the subgenres that you will find in the Jazz style of music include Asian American jazz, mini-jazz, swing, vocal jazz, Avant-garde jazz, Big band, Bebop, Afro-jazz and many others.

From this form of Jazz you can find there are a number of Fusion jazz genres. These fusion forms of Jazz will include No Wave, Progressive Rock, Bluegrass, Humppa, Jazz Fusion, Acid Jazz, Calypso Jazz and many others. Regardless of these numerous styles you will also be able to hear the strains of the original Jazz music playing in the background. In the Jazz form of music there are a number of instruments which can be heard providing intriguing sounds and rhythms to the words of the songs.

The instruments you will hear in the numerous songs of Jazz are Bass guitar, banjo, saxophone, trumpet, clarinet, guitar, tuba, vibraphone, double bass, drums, piano, trombone and the flute. With the aid of these instruments you will be able to hear many well known singers bringing Jazz music to life in a number of different ways. You will have heard songs which have been performed by great singers like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Dave Brubeck, Jessica Williams and Wynton Marsalis to name but a few well known Jazz performers.

In addition to these musical personages you can also find celebrities like Norah Jones, Jamie Cullum, Diana Krall, Kurt Elling, and Cassandra Wilson who have shown how traditional jazz can be combined with pop music and rock music to from a musical style which is highly popular with fans from across the world.

The author loves to read, write and, yes, listen to music. You can find more information on Jazz music and various artists at this link: http://www.musicsack.net/category/jazz/.

" Don,t ever Leave me" Carmen Mcrae,,,,,

Carmen McRae always had a nice voice (if not on the impossible level of an Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughan) but it was her behind-the-beat phrasing and ironic interpretations of lyrics that made her most memorable. She studied piano early on and had her first important job singing with Benny Carter's big band (1944) but it would be another decade before her career really had much momentum. McRae married and divorced Kenny Clarke in the 1940s, worked with Count Basie (briefly) and Mercer Ellington (1946-47), and became the intermission singer and pianist at several New York clubs. In 1954 she began to record as a leader and by then she had absorbed the influences of Billie Holiday and bebop into her own style. McRae would record pretty steadily up to 1989 and, although her voice was higher in the 1950s and her phrasing would be even more laidback in later years, her general style and approach did not change much through the decades. Championed in the 1950s by Ralph Gleason, Carmen McRae was fairly popular throughout her career. Among her most interesting recording projects were participating in Dave Brubeck's the Real Ambassadors with Louis Armstrong, cutting an album of live duets with Betty Carter, being accompanied by Dave Brubeck and George Shearing, and closing her career with brilliant tributes to Thelonious Monk and Sarah Vaughan. Carmen McRae, who refused to quit smoking, was forced to retire in 1991 due to emphysema. She recorded for many labels including ...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We2HGPD-F2s&hl=en

High Altitude Tips For Backpackers

My first high altitude experience was going to the top of Mount Shasta (14,179 feet) in California. My head was pounding like someone was knocking on a door, and this continued for hours. After I made it to the summit and began to descend, the pain went away. This is a clue to the primary treatment for any altitude related problems: go lower.

High Altitude Illnesses

Here are the three most common illnesses caused by altitude:

AMS or acute mountain sickness: Common when going above 10,000 feet (3000 meters) without proper acclimatization. Symptoms include headache, nausea, weakness, shortness of breath, vomiting, and problems sleeping.

HAPE or high altitude pulmonary edema: Rare below 8,500 feet (2,500 meters) More common with younger (under 18) hikers and persons who have had the problem before. Symptoms develop 24 to 60 hours after arrival at high altitude, and include coughing, shortness of breath, weakness, headache, rapid heart rate, and progress to constant coughing, bloody sputum, fever and chest congestion. Crackling sound in chest, resting pulse rate of 110 respirations per minute, and respirations over 16 per minute are early signs of HAPE. Death is usually within 12 hours after coma starts.

CE or cerebral edema: Less common than AMS or HAPE, but more dangerous. Rare below 11,500 feet (3,500 meters). Symptoms include increasingly severe headache, instability, mental confusion, hallucinations, loss of vision, facial muscle paralysis, loss of dexterity, restless sleep followed by coma and death.

High Altitude Tips

Many people have reported better performance or less altitude sickness when using Ginkgo Biloba. In Ecuador we drank "mate de coca" (tea of coca leaves) before going to 20,600 feet on Chimborazo. Coca leaves are nothing like the cocaine they are processed into, and have been used for centuries to help people function better at high altitude.

The other thing you can do to feel better when you are high in the mountains, is to breath more. Surprisingly, there doesn't seem to be a survival mechanism that makes us breath more deeply at altitude. We tend to continue our shallow-breathing habits. So consciously try to breath more.

Climbers who intend to travel at high altitude should ask a doctor about the latest recommendations for medicines to take. For backpackers and others who primarily pass through high altitude for short periods of time, aspirin will help most headaches. The primary treatment for all altitude problems is to go lower. Often a descent of just 2,000 feet will resolve any problems, but in general, just keep going lower until the problem is resolved.

Swelling of the fingers is common at high altitude as well. This requires no treatment, and will usually go away when you descend. Increased gas and flatulence is a problem at altitude as well. Eat fewer foods that cause gas to avoid this problem.

Another thing to remember is that the higher you go, the worse your ability to digest food gets. Try to stick to easy-to-digest foods like simple carbohydrates while you are above 10,000 feet.

Dehydration can cause headaches and other symptoms similar to high altitude illnesses. Often water supplies are rare or inconvenient at altitude (setting up the stove to melt snow repeatedly). Add to that the fact that you won't feel as dehydrated in the cooler air, and it is easy to forget to drink enough. At least start fully hydrated before going high up, and have your water bottles full.

Copyright Steve Gillman. There is more on dealing with altitude in the ebook "Ultralight Backpacking Secrets (And Wilderness Survival Tips)". get it FREE, as well as photos, gear recommendations, and a new wilderness survival section, at: http://www.The-Ultralight-Site.com

Famous Drummer - Nicko Mcbrain

Mention Nicko McBrain and what immediately comes to mind is the drummer of British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Nicko was born Michael Henry McBrain on June 5, 1954 in Hackney, East London, England. His moniker was derived from his nickname Nicky, based on his most loved stuffed toy named Nicholas The Bear. Keyboardist Billy Day introduced him as the Italian drummer Neeko during a meeting with a CBS Records manager, and since then, he has used it as stage name. McBrains musical influences came from his father, who loved trad-jazz, and the legendary drummer Joe Morello, with the Dave Brubeck jazz band. As a child, he used to pick up a pair of knives and start hitting the gas cooker, pretending he were Joe Morello. He finally got his proper drum kit when he was age twelve.

McBrains first band was called The 18th Fairfield Walk, a group that did covers of Beatles and Otis Redding singles. He then joined Wells Street Blues Band, but he ended up leaving. Before Iron Maiden, McBrain also played drums on guitarist/keyboardist Pat Travers albums. He joined the English rock band Streetwalkers from 1975 to 1976, and they were able to produce good albums, but there were no hit singles then. In the early 1980s, he made appearances with the three-piece band McKitty, and it was in the bands gig in Belgium that McBrain got to know Iron Maiden bassist and founder Steve Harris. He became a part of the famous French hard rock band Trust, and in Iron Maidens Number of the Beast world tour in 1982, Trust lent help to the band when McBrain dressed up to scare the audience before challenging Eddie, Iron Maidens mascot. McBrain stood in for drummer Clive Burr one night, and in December 1982, McBrain officially joined Iron Maiden after Burr left due to personal and tour schedule problems. He was just in time for the recording of the 1983 album Piece of Mind, regarded by many as one of the greatest Iron Maiden albums ever. He has been with Iron Maiden ever since, and has become known as Mad McBrain to Iron Maiden fans, for his incredibly entertaining stage personality, sometimes leaping shirtless from his drum stool to lead the cheers for the band.

McBrain is known for being able to play a variety of styles when drumming. What distinguished him from other drummers is that he does not use a double bass pedal, but rather uses a fast technique using a single pedal.

McBrain also wrote a few songs for the band. His first is on the single New Frontier, which came from their 2003 album, Dance of Death. He also claims to have written a single for A Matter of Life and Death, but it was unfortunately not included in the release.

McBrain uses Premier maple classic drums, Paiste cymbals, Remo drumheads, Vic Firth Signature Sticks, DW 5000 Accelerator pedal and a DW 5000 Hi-hat stand. He used to be a long-time endorser of Sonor drums but switched brands in the early 1990s.

Drew Mers is a consultant to Empire Rehearsal Studios, which rents aspiring bands, musicians and drummers music rehearsal studios in Long Island City, Queens, New York - about 10 minutes from midtown Manhattan and consultant to City Closet Storage, one of the largest New York self storage companies.

Across the Pacific "Skype Jam" - By Mike Greenwood and James Jeffery

Hi everyone! I've always enjoyed playing funk, improvising and having fun with jamming. In this video I collaborated with UCLA Ethnomusicology Major; Mike Greenwood. As you will see in the video, he's a fantastic keyboard player. He's won numerous awards including "best soloist" at the Reno Jazz festival and was a finalist for the Dave Brubeck Jazz Fellowship After seeing him play back in 2009 i've always wanted to jam with the guy. Although I have been back and forth from Los Angeles recently, we struggled to organize anything due to time restrictions. So, thanks to technology and the internet, we managed to get together and make this video. Check out Mike's youtube account here: www.youtube.com We hope you enjoy it! PS - Mike's camera sucks. He's saving up for a new one (hopefully) James



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSp3yX1gHzk&hl=en

Take Five - Paul Desmond (take one since that's not finished

Diatonic Seydel Harmonica in C and Audix Fireball V with an AKG wireless system Recorded early in the morning right out of my bed



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzS4hjRKRO0&hl=en

Dave Brubeck - Far More Blue

Moore's Law: Computers will get exponentially faster Murphy's Law: Anything that can go wrong will Roscott's Law: The faster the computer, the faster it can go wrong. Ughh...well, my other laptop that I just got working again now refuses to charge, leaving me once again without most of my music, and without a computer with a (working) Windows Movie Maker. This has led me to check out alternative programs to make my videos in. The current program that I'm using is called VideoSpin. If you notice any change in quality from the usual videos, please let me know. That aside, I'm just uploading some more from Dave Brubeck's: Time Further Out.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snFKf08ziNE&hl=en

George Benson playing "Take Five"

George Benson's insane performance.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0KOzrMUt10&hl=en

Take Five George Benson

Some smooth jazz tunes



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BagZpQy33A8&hl=en

Keith Jarrett - The Jazz Piano Prodigy

Keith Jarrett was born in Allentown in Pennsylvania on the 8th of May, 1945. A prodigy at a very young age, he had his first public appearance when he was six years old. He had lots of support to the extent that he was offered a chance to study and learn composition with Nadia Boulanger, the revered French piano teacher, in Paris.

He admitted once that what ticked on his interest in the jazz was a Dave Brubeck performance that he attended. He took to jazz when he was a teenager and soon started becoming good at it. As he played more of jazz, he had the strong urge to join the local jazz scene.

After he graduated from school, he shifted base to Boston, Massachusetts. It was here that he did a stint at the Berklee College of Music. He also had a gig playing cocktail piano while studying at Berklee. Upon finishing his tour, he went to New York and where he had a regular gig in a club - Village Vanguard. What followed was his association with many groups. One of the first groups on that list is The Jazz Messengers. He met his future long time collaborator Jack DeJohnette while playing for another group Charles Lloyd Quartet.

The group recorded one of the most important jazz recordings of the 60's - their 1966 album Forest Flower. He was leader in a trio with Paul Motian and Charlie Haden and He made his debut recording as leader the following year Life Between The Exit Signs which was followed by another in 1968 - Restoration Ruin. It was one of the most impressive in the list of works that he is known for. Restoration Ruin was unique mainly because he did everything except play the piano including playing every single other instrument and the vocals in the album which was anything but jazz. It was by any definition folk rock hence different from most of the work that he has recorded so far. The trio had one last release - a live album titles Somewhere Before.

The next stint that Keith had was with Miles Davis playing with the legend in the Davis group. After Miles saw Keith play, he was so impressed that he invited him to play along with the group. When he joined the group, the playing of the Contempo electric organ and Rhodes electric piano was shared by him and band mate Chick Corea. After Chick Corea left the band, he handled both the instruments at times playing both at the same time.

Playing an electric instrument was not an option that he preferred to exercise. Despite this, he stuck with the band out of a stronger wish to play with Miles Davis and also with Jack DeJohnette who was a part of the group at the time. His long time association with Miles Davis resulted in him playing with the genius on five of his releases including The Cellar Door sessions recorded live at the Washington DC nightclub, Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live at the Fillmore East, The Cellar Door and Live-Evil which consisted of edited recording of live performances at The Cellar Door.

More extensive recording from live performances there were put together as The Complete Cellar Door Sessions. Another similar series of compositions had Miles and Keith sharing company - The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions - which was recorded for a documentary on boxing champ Jack Johnson.

The Haden - Motain - Jarrett continued to play for six years from 1971 to 1976. They had Dewey Redman on the saxophone after which they became the American Quartet. They had sidemen play with them at times on guitar and percussion. One common feature of the original trio members was that they were multi instrumentalists. You'd hear each one playing different instruments on their recordings and live shows.

Jarrett's versatility went as far as the saxophone and percussion in addition to the piano, Redman as far as a Chinese double reed instrument musette and the remaining two members on various forms of percussion. They group experimented with their sound a lot. Hayden devised a way to play the acoustic bass producing from it new percussive and plucked sounds. He played it through a wah-wah pedal on the track Mortgage On My Soul.

Jarrett achieved a lot more with groups like the European Quartet and his solo piano outings. His solo piano concerts had him leaving the audience at suspense. The extreme point of this habit was when he didn't play for minutes while the audience got restless. Then someone shouted "D Flat" after which he immediately created an improvisation in D Flat.

A free email newsletter on exciting piano chords and chord progressions from Duane Shinn is available free at "Piano Tips"

In Your Own Sweet Way (Improvisation)

Dave's new solo CD, Introspect, has just been released. It can be purchased through Dave's website: davidthompsonjazz.com, where Paypal and credit cards are accepted.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fut7I7slTVw&hl=en

Paul Desmond - Take Five

"Take Five" by Paul Desmond October 17, 2009 "Konzert zur Kirchweih" Written for the "Dave Brubeck Quartet" by saxophonist Paul Desmond in 1959, "Take Five" is one of the most famous standards in jazz now. This version had to fit a rather "classical" concert. So we combined a clear alto sound with slower tempo. Marimbaphone: Andreas Fuß Saxophone: Sascha Panknin Christuskirche, Neumarkt, Bavaria, Germany



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGr6Uio7Czs&hl=en

Great Success Tip - A U-niversal And U-seful Truth For U To Keep In Mind

"Born an original" is one of the topics I'm more passionate about. That's because I'm afraid people don't really appreciate that fact. They "know it" at the intellectual level, but they don't "get it" at the gut level. They don't grasp the full meaning of it.

Ugo Betti did when he wrote "When I say 'I', I mean a thing absolutely unique, not to be confused with any other."

Not only were you born an original, but if we take into consideration and add to the package your habits, and tastes, and idiosyncrasies, and adventures, and experiences, and talents-skills-&-abilities, and ... etc., we uncover a unique individual. You are THE ONLY YOU, the one and only, not just presently, but since the dawn of time.

Out of the billions of people* that have come and gone, there is not and has never been, another you. And there never will be, even if we could travel in time to the year 50,000. That makes you, and me, and each of us, SPECIAL. Unique, and special. That's what Wally Amos wrote in Watermelon Magic: "Each of us is unique and special. No two sets of fingerprints are the same. So enjoy and appreciate your uniqueness. You are a priceless collector's item."

That's what you are; a collector's item, an original masterpiece, NOT a paint-by-number reproduction, not a "copy." So please, I implore you, don't die a copy, and don't live like one in the interval.

Trust me on this one, I know it's hard to march to your own music, do your own thing your own way, but you must do your very best to do so! It's your assignment here on planet Earth. As Zig Ziglar wrote, "You are the only one who can use your talents and abilities; it is an awesome responsibility."

On this topic, e.e. Cummings wrote, "To be nobody but yourself-in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else-means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight,and never stop fighting.

In Julius Caesar, Marc Antony urged his contemporaries to "Keep your friends close to you. Keep your enemies even closer." For me, the worst enemy I have is the cookie-cutter, the tool used to make everything the same. As an author, a network marketer, and an internet marketer in a very competitive market, that same-old, same-old would spell "disaster." And as a person, that would spell "boring." I just can't have that.

So, like Marc Antony, I keep my worst enemy really close. I have a cookie-cutter hanging from the ceiling over my worktable-when I write, it's dangling in front of me, inches from my face. When I go out to places where I'll interact with people, I take it with me, carrying it in my pocket so it's always near. It is a constant reminder to not be like everybody else, but to be ME. To not conform, to not think, talk, shop or buy like everyone else. I love that question posed in a Jewish folk song; "If I am like someone else, who will be like me?"

Ralph Waldo Emerson sure agreed with this when he wrote; "Insist on yourself; never imitate. Your own gift you can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another, you have only an extemporaneous half-expression."

My reader friend, let me reiterate something Useful for U to keep in mind. It is a Universal truth on which all the biologists and psychologists agree Unanimously, and say to U in Unison: U, my friend, are Unique in the Universe! It's a fact. Therefore, Uniqueness and originality are the order of the day, and Uniformity is out! U are not a Unidimensional being, but a multi-faceted one, with many Usable skills and talents. So Unite those gifts with your many creative thoughts and Use all U've got to come up with something special and unUsual. And U've got plenty. There's no need for U to Usurp other people's ideas, or try to emUlate them. Just be U!

I'd like to make a recommendation, if I may. I'll use "we, us, our" so it's not just for the reader, but for myself as well. Let our lives not be a painting-by-numbers, but let it be an Irises by Van Gogh, or maybe the label of a soup can by Andy Warhol. It doesn't really matter, as long as it's U-nique. Let our lives not be like generic elevator "musak," but let's make sure it's more like Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, Mozart's Die Zauberflote, Pachelbel's Canon in D, Dave Brubeck's Take Five, or The Who's Baba O'Riley,

Let's create something that is U-nique. Let our passage on earth be a masterpiece so that when we leave here to go to the next realm, we can look back at our life and see an exquisite canvas in a big beautiful ornate frame and say "Wow! Would you look at that! That was ME! That was MY life! I did that. I painted that. Wasn't I something?"

[* Since 40,000 BC-the dawn of modern man-an estimated 58 billion people have come and gone, according to a study by the Netherlands-based International Statistical Institute.]

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Dave Brubeck - Things Ain't What They Used To Be - 1970 part 2

Part 1: www.youtube.com Dave Brubeck - Piano Gerry Mulligan - Baritone Sax Jack Six - Bass Alan Dawson - Drums



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSqCkDgI8Ds&hl=en

JOÃO CARLOS MARTINS em Nova York com DAVE BRUBECK - Parte 1

Um vídeo histórico de dois gênios da música dos séculos XX e XXI. "150 ANOS DE HISTÓRIA." O concerto do dia 2 de outubro de 2009, que aconteceu no Avery Fischer Hall do Lincoln Center em Nova York, com a Orquestra Bachiana Filarmônica executando as Bachianas Brasileiras nº 4 (Prelúdio) e nº 7 de Heitor Villa Lobos, com a presença Dave Brubeck interpretando Brandemburg Gate, de sua autoria e em homenagem a Bach, sob a regência de João Carlos Martins, tem aspectos muito interessantes a serem lembrados. Há 50 anos falecia Heitor Villa Lobos, o maior compositor da história do Brasil. Há 50 anos o legendário Dave Brubeck revolucionava a história do jazz com o lançamento do histórico álbum Time Out. Há 50 anos o jovem pianista João Carlos Martins estreava nos Estados Unidos chamando a atenção de toda a crítica internacional. Estas três histórias se encontram através da escrita de um dos maiores críticos da metade do século XX, Ross Permenter, do The New York Times, que em certa feita dizia da homenagem que grandes artistas faziam em tributo ao genial compositor brasileiro Heitor Villa Lobos após sua morte. Nesta mesma época descrevia como Dave Brubeck estava naquele verão tomando conta do cenário musical da Big Apple. E logo a seguir, em uma crítica se referia a João Carlos Martins como um raro talento vindo da América do Sul, cuja técnica lançava fogos de artifício em todas as direções. O patrono deste encontro histórico é o maior compositor de todos os tempos Johann Sebastian ...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbUJNeiIunk&hl=en

A Brief Introduction to Jazz Improvisation - Part 1

Many talented musicians seem to go pale when someone asks them to leave the music for a few moments and fill in those 4 bars with a bit of jazz improvisation. Some see it as a strange and uncharted land, full of weird things like Modes and Tritonal Substitutions. Don't Panic! Although jazz theory can get become 'involved', a great deal of 'good sounding stuff' can be played or sung with understanding of just a few basic starting points. I have tried to distil some of these for you in this brief 'Impro-Info-Pack', which I hope you will find useful and enjoyable. After all, jazz improvisation should be satisfying and fun for all involved (that includes the audience!).

Encyclopaedia definition of Jazz:

"Jazz is an original American musical art form originating around the start of the 20th century in New Orleans, rooted in Western music technique and theory and marked by the profound cultural contributions of African Americans. It is characterized by blue notes, syncopation, swing, call and response, polyrhythms, and improvisation. Jazz has been described as "America's Classical Music," and started in saloons throughout the nation."

1. Have confidence!

Standing up to 'do a solo' can be daunting to say the least, especially when there's an audience in front of you! However, standing up, not flinching on 'duff' notes and projecting your solo to the listener will give them a sense that you are playing for them - a musical 'gift' if you like. It adds to your enjoyment and confidence.

If you make a mistake - maybe a wrong note - use it! Slide confidently up to a 'right' note, for example! Don't be afraid of making mistakes, as they are a very good way to learn new ideas

2. Know What You Want to Play

I once attended a jazz class held by an ace pianist. The problem was that all the improvisations he did seemed to be 'pre-programmed' in his fingers. There were set arpeggios, runs, twiddles... and it was nice but all rather mechanistic.

Improvising should be having an idea and then expressing it - communicating it - in the 'language of music'. But, we need to have the idea before even beginning to try and make it into music! We need to have an input of ideas that sound good to us.

Listen

...to music...All types of music from Bach to Beatles, Van Halen to Van Morrison! Most of all, listen to the jazz/blues 'Greats' - folk like:

Louis Armstrong,

Sarah Vaughan,

Nina Simone,

Sonny Rollins,

Ella Fitzgerald,

Peggy Lee,

Bill Evans

Stan Getz,

Dizzy Gillespie

Duke Ellington

Ray Charles

Dave Brubeck

Chet Baker

Art Farmer

Freddy Hubbard

Stan Kenton

Herbie Hancock

Cannonball Adderley

Art Tatum

Billy Holiday

Monte Alexander

Louis Jordan

Glen Miller

Errol Garner

Frank Sinatra

Oscar Peterson

Dinah Washington

Gerry Mulligan

Miles Davis

Fats Waller

Stephane Grappelli

Zoot Sims

Charles Mingus

Count Basie

Billy Holiday

Ray Ellington

...to name but a few!!!

Sing Along

Whether in your room, in the shower or walking down the street (careful - not too loud!), sing the melody line that you've heard and copy the player's/singer's phrasing. Whistle it, tap the rhythm, go to sleep with it going round your head and wake up with it still going round in the morning (although this can get annoying!). The more you can 'hear' and reproduce others' ideas, the more you'll be able to use them in your jazz solos, tailoring them to what you personally would like to hear. This process happens at a subconscious level too - an effective way to learn a language is by copying others.

So, Know what you want to play by listening to loads of varied music - not only jazz, it could be any genre!!

This series is continued in Part 2...

Olly J Wedgwood, jazz pianist and singer, leads The Jazz Soul Boogie Band - a professional UK function band performing live jazz, soul and dance music entertainment for wedding receptions, corporate events and parties. See http://www.jazzsoulboogieband.com for more information, audio and video.

Dave Brubeck Quartett - Take Five (Take 5)

Dave Brubeck Quartett - Take Five, on Jazz Casual 1961



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tt8d-V_jhs&hl=en

Nick, cast your fate to the wind!

Una passeggiata notturna con Dave Brubeck per le strade di Piacenza ... nicola dave brubeck jazz piacenza



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaSKwJI_eqg&hl=en

cover for dave brubeck rondo by owen pedals

public domain



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23KHod2J0J8&hl=en

Winter Wonderland

Attempting to play Winter Wonderland as played by Dave Brubeck. Sorry for the poor quality. ... Winter Wonderland Piano Dave Brubeck



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWspI4PcNvs&hl=en

Musicina Blender - Take Drake

An interesting mix of jazz from Dave Brubeck and the voice of Nick Drake excellently mashed by Musicina Blender ... Musicina Blender borisb mashup nick drake dave brubeck



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G4AK_ugl20&hl=en

Take Five

Take Five by Dave Brubeck ... Piano Dave Brubeck Jazz Music



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuFcb7ie67o&hl=en

The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five (1961)

The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five (1961) Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Joe Morello and Gene Wright



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwNrmYRiX_o&hl=en

Three Essential Steps in the Journey - Let's Make This Simple

Inspired songwriting is birthed out of a journey. Almost like a butterfly coming out of its cocoon.

The metamorphosis of songwriting from

LEARNING ABOUT...

LEARNING TO DO...

LEARNING TO BE!

It is quite a journey, but is essential for developing your own unique voice.

Every Singer/Songwriter eventually must peel back the layers of "identity crisis," sometimes accumulated over time.

It is only then that we can write from inside the unique YOU - this is inspired songwriting.

After imitating your heroes, playing in cover bands and studying the greats, it can be difficult to sort out who YOU really are as a musician.

How do we imitate others for learning, but end up with a sound and voice that is uniquely our own? After all this isn't about just songwriting, but inspired songwriting.

As a kid, I remember trying to sing along with Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder and others. I would crank up the volume, stand in the window and act like I was crooning away to a large group of adoring fans.

There was no one there, of course, but I believed I really could sing.

Unlike many aspiring singers auditioning for "American Idol" today... I was only 6 years old. That was the start of me becoming a musician.

Eventually, I realized that instruments got my attention far more than the vocals. I soon didn't even notice the singer - I was too busy playing drums on pillows and "air guitar".

Today, I can work in a recording situation with a lot of versatility.

I might arrange and sing 4 - part vocals for a cappella doo-wap jingles, play keyboard bass parts along with drum parts I recorded earlier, then construct synth string and sample guitar parts to fill it out.

Actually, that is a very typical scenario for me. And don't forget, although I am a musician, my main axe is the vibraphone.

Why did I learn to do all this? Truth is...I didn't intend to, it just happened over time.

I've broken it down into three steps in the journey toward truly inspired songwriting.

FIRST STEP: LEARNING ABOUT

Looking back on it, it seems I always enjoyed learning about music. But my learning was shaped by listening.

I found my father's recordings of Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Dave Brubeck. This led to purchasing many more by Miles, Coltrane and pianist Bill Evans.

By the time I was 14, I could sing every note on many classic jazz recordings. Drum solos, bass lines, sax lines, 2 horn counterpoint... didn't matter. I listened for hours every day.

Little did I know, this was great ear training for all that I would get into later.

I had my first jazz quartet at 17. We played a mixture of jazz standards and I also began to write tunes for us to play.

Nobody told me I couldn't, so I just wrote what I liked.

In college, I majored in music and studied all the instruments. I also continued to work as a vibraphonist and drum set player in various settings, such as musical theater and club gigs.

From Bach to Basie , I was getting immersed in a full history of music and songwriting.

SECOND STEP: LEARNING TO DO

I couldn't predict the future then, especially at 18 yrs old. But, there were older musicians that helped guide me along the way.

They insisted my musical vocabulary be based on substance, not trends.

They knew that life as a professional musician demands that you play in situations outside your comfort zone. That inspired songwriting takes giving it your all.

Music theory, Music History, Composition, Ensembles, etc.. I dove in.

Somewhere along the journey, I began to slip out. Me.

My sound was forming and being nourished by everything I had been exposed to. I was becoming a musician.

I began to learn how to whisper on my instrument, or scream. I learned that 1 note can say more than 20. Ballads became more enjoyable than up-tempos.

And I enjoyed embellishing what the singer was doing, instead of waiting for her to finish.

The notes didn't change. The rhythms, time signatures, keys and scales are still there, but became only a guide.

My way of expressing myself became more personal with time.

Songs became old friends and my fellow musicians began to "talk" in musical conversations more revealing and expressive than words ever could be.

I was on the path of becoming a musician. Unlike athletes, musicians just get better with age, like good wine.

THIRD STEP: LEARNING TO BE

I can't really point to when it happened, how or why. Was it the 3000th gig, or the 1st one?

Was it the times everything came out effortlessly, or the years of playing with certain musicians whose styles annoyed the poop out of you?

What causes a musician to evolve over time, despite the situation, and what transitions you from doing to being?

It just happens. It just does IF you do your part and are fortunate enough to be given opportunities to experiment, fail, pick yourself up and keep trying. Keep going.

And...don't forget.

There will be some gigs and even seasons of your life when you won't always play on top of your game. There are peaks and valleys where you'll need a little grace and forgiveness from your fellow musicians.
The journey toward truly inspired songwriting takes courage, patience, and tenacity....but in the end?

You might find your songs soaring like a butterfly!

Paul Babelay is a vibraphonist/percussionist from Asheville, NC. For more great songwriting tips for beginners to veterans visit his website, http://www.yoursongwritingvibe.com

You can also check out his website http://www.thevibeguy.com