Self Evaluation

Now that the tour is over with the Gail Storm Blues Band, I really need to concentrate on salvaging the practice routine I have tried to embark upon but have failed miserably at keeping consistent.

Thus far, I haven't achieved a single thing. Not a good admission considering that I'm a full time musician, and I am keeping my practice log in a public domain. But, if anything, I think it helps to illustrate the point that musicians lead very busy lives and the stereotype of partying all day and night can basically be thrown out of the window. The past couple of months have been so busy for me with gigs, prep for the tour I just came home from, household responsibilities, fatherhood, trying to book gigs for my quartet, learning music for other artists' projects, and what have you, that practice time to improve my diminished skills has been difficult if not nearly impossible to find.

So, in any case, I will jump back onto the wagon and try again...starting TODAY!

Swing Back Home

What a trip/tour! The gigs I had down here with the Gail Storm Band was nothing short of killin'! Without fail, we brought down the house in every venue we have played at, and every last owner wants us back...and soon!

The past year with Gail has shown me that if anything, we have all the ingredients of being a very successful group because we apparently have that "something" that touches people. That is a rare thing for a band to have, and I don't think it's entirely the music in our case. I believe that "something" is the chemistry between us and how much fun we have playing together. It's something that everybody comments on.

So anyway, this will be a very short blog because we (my wife Renee and I) are only minutes away from needing to check out of this hotel before we get charged extra. We had a lot of fun down here. The south certainly swings! But now it's time to swing back home and hit the groove of our normal day to day situation. But one thing I know is that we'll be back!

On The Road

I have forgotten how tiring it can be doing gigs on the road. The past few days I have been on the road with the Gail Storm Blues Band down in the south. My wife Renee was able to join me and we have turned it into a working vacation of sorts.

Right this moment I'm in our hotel room in Hendersonville, North Carolina getting ready for the gig the band has in Asheville. This area is gorgeous, as it's in the Blue Ridge Mountains! Unfortunately, with scheduling the way it is, Renee and I haven't had any time at all to check out what's around.

We had an interesting gig last night at the Brown Street Club in Greenville, South Carolina. We definitely turned the place out! The owner had never hired a band from New York before and judging by how much he, his staff, and venue patrons were raving about us, there's no doubt that he'll be having us back when we swing down here again in about 6 months or so.

Gail hired a local drummer name Kris Hyatt to play with us because her regular drummer Bernice couldn't make it down here. Kris was great and definitely represented Greenville well...he handled all of Gail's weird cues like he had been playing with her for a few years!

The only negative thing is that I don't think it was cool that the Brown Street Club didn't take care of dinner for us. I felt that was rude considering that every other place in or out of the state of New York that we have ever played at gives us a meal, and also because: A) they had people driving Ferraris coming into the place and B) the place was packed!

Tonight we will be at Tessa's Jazz and Blues Club in Asheville, North Carolina. After how well we performed last night, I'm really looking forward to tonight's performance. Which reminds me, I have to get going so that I can get ready for this gig!

Sleeping Angel

It's real difficult trying to type with just one hand, but my other one is supporting a sleeping angel. My 9 month old daughter has decided that it"s nap time on daddy!

What a nice little moment!

I feel like telling her to get all the sleep she can, because us Latimers are ALWAYS on a schedule and ALWAYS on the run, and she'll wish that she could get some sleep when she's older. But for now, I think I'll just sit here alone with her, in silence, and just enjoy this moment.

Practice Log - 4/7/09 | Part II

This entry is for the practice session that I did on 4/7/09 late at night. I went straight to bed afterwards and so didn't get to make the entry then.


Vocabulary:

1. Bebop Pivot Points in all 12 keys. Pivots on 5 and 4 in cycle of 4ths with 2 beat - 1 beat - o beat rest in between keys. 8th notes and then 16th notes with metronome @ 100pbm
   15 min
2. worked on ii-V7-I's (all 12 keys) out of Aebersold volume 3. Did tritone substitutions and diminished relations over them as well.
   20 min

Improv:

1. Took a simple song with ii-V7-I's in it ("Ladybird" from Aebersold volume 36) and applied what I did during my practice time with ii-V7-I's earlier.
   40 min

Transcription:

1. started working on the head on alto sax solo on "Mel's Minor" by Dick Oats. Completed the head and the first chorus.
   1hr

Practice Log - 4/7/09 | Part I

This is, unfortunately, the first time I have actually had the time to practice in about a month. It took me this long to try and figure out a new daily schedule for myself because some things have shifted in my day to day operations.

Anyway, I'm praying that I have no further interuptions because I need to sharpen my playing back up and then exceed the level that I had achieved a few years ago.

Both my alto and soprano saxes are in terrible need of an overhaul. But, my soprano is in a little better shape, so I will use that to practice longtones and harmonics.

Warm Up:

1. harmonics on soprano sax with tuner + metronome @ 60 bpm
   10 min
2. longtone exercise from "Top Tones" book, with tuner + metronome @ 60bpm
   10 min
   

Technique:

1. Major scales in thirds (up, down, up-down, down-up variations) 6 keys ( C, F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db). 16th notes with metronome @ 100bpm
   15 min
2. Bebop Pivot Points in all 12 keys. Pivots on 5 and 4 in cycle of 4ths with 2 beat - 1 beat - o beat rest in between keys. 8th notes and then 16th notes with metronome @ 100pbm
   15 min

"Crunch" Time

Well, here I am up early in the morning and this time it isn't because I have stayed up all night and didn't bother going to bed, which is usually the case. Today is the day I try to start doing something about this extra weight that I've been carrying around for the past 6 or 7 years.

Given how dense my daily schedule normally is, and the fact that I have a 9 month old daughter who has apparently inherited my restlessness, it has been next to impossible to try and figure out how to set aside some time to get any exercise in. After nearly 2 months of trying, I have finally figured it out.

Currently, I weigh about 270 lbs. At 6'3" that is obviously too heavy for someone my height. The only good thing is that I actually don't look sloppy or even all THAT heavy (fat). I'm told by those around me that I look 15-20lbs lighter than my actual weight. I actually would agree with that.

In any case, my fantasy/ultimate goal would be to get in around my college weight when I had first started to lift weights and had gained 20lbs of muscle. At that time I was 205lbs. However, realistically I don't think my age, genetics, or my body will allow me to get down to that size ever again. My more "realistic" goal is to try and get down to somewhere between 210 - 215lbs. Again, trying to be realistic, I calculate that it will take at least a year to achieve that if I can average around 5lbs of weight lose a month.

My eating habits have been a bit better of late, but I still need to improve in this area as well. Fortunately, I have gotten used to whole wheat and rye bread from the last time I tried to loose some weight. I don't eat much in the way of deserts, so nothing here to cut. I do, however, have to watch what I drink - there is definitely too much soda and other sugar filled drinks in my diet.

I feel pretty motivate, but certainly have some reasons to do this:

• my mother is diabetic and it runs in my family
• I'm wearing pants with a size 42 waist and lately even those are starting to fit a little snug
• I have bad knees and maybe this will help alleviate some of the stress on them
• I want to be healthy so I can be around to see my daughter grow up
• I want to look good on stage

So, with all that said, it's time for me to get to work!

Lets Hear it for Claritin D12!

Yes, it's finally April! Yes, Spring is here! Yes, warm weather at last! Yes, thank goodness I can finally be joined with my allergies...not!

As a wind instrument player, it sure is frustrating to have to deal with allergies. It messes up absolutely everything: tone, breathing, projection, you name it!

When I was very young, I can remember my allergies were real bad and I learned to just sort of suffer through it. As I got older, a few things happened to help build my lungs up and make my allergies more tolerable. First, I started playing the sax. Then, when I was in 8th grade, I was recruited onto the track team.

My allergies didn't make those things easy at first, but I soon grew strong enough to be able to adapt and still perform well under even those debilitating conditions. Even now, my allergies can get so bad sometimes that I get winded just walking from my front door to my mailbox, which is a distance of only about 40 feet. However, there is one thing that is different for me now than it was when I was a kid...Claritin D12!

It's a wonder drug for me because now, not only can I play my instrument even when there is a lot of pollen out there, I can do other stuff I enjoy like (believe it or not) yard work, or just going to the park with my wife and my daughter. Jeez, did that just sound like a commercial or what! You hear that you folks at Claritin? I want my endorsement contract so that I can afford to go on tour! Yeah, lets hear it for Claritin D12!

Anyway, I just felt like writing all of that because, when I woke up this morning and I couldn't breathe, I immediately went for my Claritin and then felt inspired to write this little blog. Weird, I know, but isn't the point of the whole blog thing to let people in on your thoughts?