Gerry Mulligan and Paul Desmond with the Dave Brubeck Trio: Monday YouTube Fix

Every time I stumble onto a clip like this I try to wrap my head around being able to watch things like this, a performance from close to 45 years ago, on my phone while sitting in my pajamas.  The internet sure is a wonderful thing.

Gerry Mulligan is one of my musical heroes.  Not that the rest of the guys in this clip aren't legends, but Gerry has always spoken loudly to me.  The effortless flow to his phrasing.  A tone that seems to sing all on its own.  The first time I heard an album featuring both him and Chet Baker it changed me.  I don't think Paul Desmond or Dave Brubeck need any introduction.

This is live performance is from November 4, 1972 in Berlin.  The full personnel:

Gerry Mulligan - bari sax
Paul Desmond - alto sax
Dave Brubeck - piano
Jack Six - bass
Alan Dawson - drums

Enjoy!

Dave Brubeck Trio spec.Guest Paul Desmond & Gerry Mulligan 1972 1. Blues For Newport 2. All The Things You Are 3. For All We Know 4. Line For Lyons 5. Blessed Are The Poor (The Sermon On The Mount) 6. Mexican Jumping Bean 7. Sign Off 8. Someday My Prince Will Come 9.

Dealing With The 10%

90% of the music business makes it very easy to be kind to them. Those who can always be kind to the other 10% tend to work a lot.

— Andrew Hitz (@HitzTuba) April 4, 2015

The problem is that sometimes it is the 10% that makes the decisions.  Also, we are frequently judged by the 90% on how we deal with the 10%.  

Playing your tail off plus being kind to everyone all the time almost always equals employed.

A Call to Action by Marty Hackleman

"You've got to start thinking outside the box. When you have a problem (with your playing) really admit it and address it. You have to be honest about it. You are only as strong as the weakest link in your playing."

-Marty Hackleman

That's how you end up playing your instrument as well as Marty Hackleman plays his.

The Schagerl Brass Festival: Monday YouTube Fix

I stumbled onto this video which is not in English and doesn't list the players or what they are playing but it features a number of members of Mnozil Brass, Gábor Tarkövi (Principal Trumpet - Berlin Philharmonic), and many others!

It is a long video with some of the finest brass playing you will ever hear.  It opens with a performance of Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" that will blow you away.

Enjoy!

Days of Brass - The Schagerl Brass Festival 2008 A-2008, 113 min.

Maya Angelou on Freelancing

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.” — Maya Angelou

— Daily Zen (@dailyzen) April 14, 2015

With an attitude like that, I think Maya would make a great freelance musician.

Warren Deck on the Little Things

Warren Deck: “The difference between a good player and a great player is not a couple of big things. It’s often 100 little things.”

— Andrew Hitz (@HitzTuba) April 10, 2015

Yes one thousand times over! The difference between someone who advances at an audition and someone who doesn't is almost never missed notes or missed rhythms.  It is 100 little things that make the music simply sound "right."

Excruciating attention to detail is the key to success in the music business.

Tom Wilson on Johnny Carson: Monday YouTube Fix

I firmly believe that more comedians should do their standup with a Sousaphone in tow.  Tom Wilson (otherwise known as Biff from from the Back to the Future movies) did some Sousaphone standup on Carson and it is pretty darn funny.

Enjoy!

I recorded this years ago on VHS, and had the pleasure of sharing it with Tom Wilson, who told me he had never seen a recording of it before, almost 20 years later.

More Advice from John Wooden on Thorough Practicing

"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"

-John Wooden

I can't get enough of John Wooden quotes.  He was a wise man and gifted communicator.  His quotes are so insightful into learning music that you'd swear that he was a master music teacher.

But alas, he just taught basketball.

Do It Right The First Time

“Short cuts make long delays.”

-J.R.R. Tolkien

In the practice room, you will save an awful lot of time by practicing something slowly and correctly the first time.  Whenever we learn a passage with a wrong note or wrong rhythm, it takes a lot longer to unlearn the mistake than it ever would have taken to learn it right in the first place.

The ability to have the in the moment intelligence to know that practicing something slowly and correctly is always the correct path rather than seeking instant gratification is what separates great practicers from everyone else.

Short cuts never pay off in the practice room.

Frederick Fennell with the US Navy Band: Monday YouTube Fix

A small portion of this video of Lincolnshire Posy made the rounds on Facebook a couple of weeks ago but the whole thing is even better.  Frederick Fennell is of course one of the greatest band conductors of all time.  The amount of information he is communicating to the US Navy Band in this clip is stunning.  His stick, his facial expressions, his shoulders, his hands, everything.

This clip is a master class for all conductors on how to convey a clear idea of how you want a piece to go to an ensemble.

Enjoy!

0:00 Lisbon 1:33 Horkstow Grange 4:14 Rufford Park Poachers 7:58 The Brisk Young Sailor 9:29 Lord Melbourne 12:28 Lost Lady Found From the two-disc "Lincolnshire Posy" educational DVD set, released in 2011.