Fall Concerts and December Recital

Opening for a Jazz Quintet

I performed at a small, very friendly café in Chico a few weeks ago, called Tender Loving Coffee, where I played nine songs before Joe Mazzaferro and his Sacramento-based jazz band performed right after. My first goal, which I started thinking about weeks before the show, was to get through all nine songs without "stumbling" or letting my nerves get to me. I say this mainly because this was a ticketed event, a sit-down-and-face-the-performer kind of show, and not just background music. I knew this the moment Joshua Hegg booked the gig, so I had already made a mental note of this.

The show seemed to be a hit with the people at the café, both with me as well as the incredibly talented jazz band that played after. Oddly enough, much of my own success at this particular show is owed to a YouTube video I watched the day before the performance, which offered tips on how to avoid being nervous when there's a huddle of on-lookers staring at your hands in plain sight, without the comfort and security of darkness (which you have when you're in a big concert hall). One of the tips included something I hadn't thought of before: you should actually expect mistakes, instead of expecting perfection. You should then over-prepare like crazy, and get the songs into your muscle memory as much as you can. This way, if you do happen to make a mistake, you shrug it off like it's no big deal and you keep playing. When you approach it this way, most people won't even notice (especially when you're playin your own work). This expectation of imperfection helps to keep the performer calm if any mishap does occur, whereas someone who expects perfection can get frazzled or frustrated after even a tiny mistake. So, as it turned out, I made very, very few--if any--mistakes at all. It's all about the little things, I guess (and thank god for YouTube!)

My encouragement to anyone to see Joe Mazzaferro, by the way, is in no way just a "polite gesture" that I'm merely dropping out of some formality that comes with being a musician. It's a genuine recommendation--they were fantastic, and exceeded my expectations by far. The musicians were skilled, confident, versatile and incredibly good. All five of them (a trumpeter, a sax player, a keyboard player, a drummer and an upright bass player) performed solos regularly. Even though I had the option of heading home after my performance, I stayed to the very end because of how

impressed I was with this band.


Chico Interfaith Council's Camp Fire Memorial

The Chico Interfaith Council is run by community members who are adherents to the Baha'i Faith (a religion that, as many know, I used to be a part of). The short version of that story, of course, is that I am no longer religious and haven't been for a long time. The Baha'is already know this, but they regularly borrow me because they know I don't mind performing at their services. There were a lot of win-wins at this one because I got to perform with Caleb Hermle, the cellist who has worked with me on several other occasions. We played Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and Pachabel's "Canon in D" at the Chico City Plaza, on the one-year anniversary of the Camp Fire. The Baha'is organized several other performances/activities (a choir, a moment of silence, and a release of birds into the air).

I think this ended up being really therapeutic for the people who came, even though it seemed uncomfortable at times (the sun was right in our faces, and we were sweating, complete with long sleeves in the hot sun--and yes, it was warm, in November). I feel like we pulled through beautifully though--bright sun or not, when you're a professional, you're a professional.


"Oh, I'll be Fine--It's Still a Month Away!"

The above quote is a common saying I hear from some students, and it's just as frightening as it looks... in fact, with some of the really young ones (6-ish years old) they don't even realize that a month is only four weeks. I had to remind quite a few of these procrastinators that a month was not a long time, because they were slacking on their practice and under a dangerous misapprehension that they had "all the time in the world" before the recital, because they had a "whole month" to go. Luckily, I've been able to instill enough urgency in them that they're finally putting in the time to get ready.

In any case, the next student recital will be at Apollo Music & Arts (pictured) on December 6th, 2019, at 6:30pm, and will feature about 15 performers. I'm especially excited about the six intermediate/advanced players, who will be showing off their mad skills with exceptionally difficult pieces (Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C sharp being one of them).


The First 2020 Show (So Far)

Unless I book another performance before February 22nd, the first show of that year will be at Wine Time. I've played there quite a few times and one of the tings I love about that venue is the perfect acoustics. Unless it gets exceptionally chatty in the restaurant (which can happen if the patrons end up having enough wine :P ) I usually don't even need my PA speaker.

If I really wanted to (and had the time) I could approach this from a more philosophical angle, and ask the question, "Why should I do all these live performances in the first place?" But for the sake of being concise, and getting to the point, my aim for now is really just to get used to it. I spend most of my time teaching, which is something that many musicians do because it's a relatively easy way (and a more immediate way) to make a living. The gigs, for me, are designed to help prepare my for a more daring venue, which includes the idea of possibly going on a tour.

The interesting part about this is that I really don't have much of an idea as to whether I would enjoy touring, because -- like any other similar situation -- I've never actually done it. I imagine I would enjoy it because of the experiences of traveling to multiple places, many of which I will never have visited before, but I know there are also certain pitfalls that go with it. So, to sum this up, let's just say that the only way to find out is to actually do it :D

So, the more gigs the merrier. Aside from the heavy lifting, I have to say that I really do enjoy it so far.