A while back, I got called to do a couple of sessions with an electronic music artist I had not previously heard of. They turned out to be really fun sessions, and he turned out to be a very interesting musician.
A short film was made about the making of that record.
Why Music Makes Our Brain Sing – NYTimes.com: “MUSIC is not tangible. You can’t eat it, drink it or mate with it. It doesn’t protect against the rain, wind or cold. It doesn’t vanquish predators or mend broken bones. And yet humans have always prized music — or well beyond prized, loved it.”
We are hiring a faculty member to teach music industry related internet technologies at Loyola University New Orleans.
Primary responsibilities include teaching in the areas of Internet technologies and web development within the context of Music Industry Studies. Must be able to teach usage of HTML 5, CSS, and PHP or other dynamic languages. Emphasis on marketing using social media and other platforms required. Secondary duties may include teaching in other areas of music industry technology including smartphone/tablet apps, new approaches to content delivery, and related areas of expertise, potential for the development of distance learning programs, work in a collaborative manner and fulfill various roles in college and university activities, serve as an academic advisor and mentor to students, assist with departmental websites and student workers, and other duties as assigned.
Other specifics can be found here: http://finance.loyno.edu/human-resources/faculty-employment-opportunities. The full consideration date is June 15, 2013 and the gig starts in August. If you or someone you know want to live in New Orleans and teach aspiring young musicians and entrepreneurs, in a setting with a good bunch of colleagues, please apply. I’d be happy to answer any questions as well.
I really have no intention of turning this into a political blog, but maybe that is what is happening.
2 cent cell phone fee riles governor; House ignores Jindal’s plea to kill bill | The Lens:
“‘There’s no question that it was an important statement that the speaker made with that vote about doing the right thing rather than how it’s going to be scored by some outside group,’ Robideaux said in an interview Wednesday.Jindal’s administration warned lawmakers that Americans for Tax Reform, a Washington, D.C.-based group headed by Grover Norquist, would flag it as a tax increase, lawmakers said.”
I agree with Rep. Robideaux. Who cares what Grover Norquist thinks. Do what is right for the people of Louisiana. Good job fellas.
I don’t usually do non-arts-related political posts here, but here comes one, so click away if that doesn’t interest you.
The thing that I haven’t heard any one say in the gun control debate is that the advances in military technology have negated the reason for the existence of the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment guaranteed that we (The People of the United States) could bear arms so that we would be able to defend ourselves against oppressive government. Like we did when we fought for our independence from Britain. This made perfect sense when the government-supported-military used the same weapons that citizens used.
This is no longer the case. Hand guns, or even assault rifles and machine guns, will do us no good against drones, B1 bombers, and F16s. We as individual citizens are technologically incapable of defending ourselves against our own military, therefore the argument that we must have the right to buy a gun over the internet or at a gun show without a background check because we need to be able to defend ourselves from the possibility of our government going bad is a fallacious argument.
What we need to do to defend ourselves from our government going bad is to quit electing self-serving, egotistical idiots who value a rating from a lobbying group more than the wishes of their constituents. We need to quit electing people who value staying in office more than doing the right thing.
A nice review from Derek Taylor in Dusted.
Dusted Reviews: Jeff Albert’s Instigation Quartet – The Tree on the Mound:
“By the time the four align on the first of Albert’s four ‘Instigation’ pieces (inexplicably out of numerical sequence and missing two in the order), everybody sounds as if they’re more comfortably on the same page. The last three tracks in particular find the group really hitting a galvanizing stride and crafting a series of bracing contrapuntal passages. ‘Instigation Quartet #6’ unfolds as a succession of duets, the first an explosive dialogue between Jordan and Abrams, the next a slow burn from Albert and Drake before moving on to an invigorating ensemble section and roof-raising solo by Jordan. Tenor and trombone converse and cavort in ornate arcs with a level of close confluence complemented by bass and drums. It’s a consensus that carries over into the closer, a collective leap through the indelible finger-snapping groove of Anderson’s ‘The Strut.’”
Since this is my blog, I will explain the inexplicable. The numbers on the IQ pieces are just a way to identify each one. I could have just as well called them Sue, John, Paul, George, and Ringo. They aren’t a suite meant to be played in order, just a collection of similar pieces. They are out of numerical order because that order made a better CD, and they aren’t all there because some of the recordings didn’t make the CD. Just like if they were five improvisations that had non-similar abstract names.
Interestingly, in an attempt to give the pieces names that created no baggage, expectations were still created. There may eventually be a longer post based on that dilemma.
The Tree on the Mound is the new CD by Jeff Albert’s Instigation Quartet featuring Kidd Jordan, Hamid Drake, and Joshua Abrams, released by the Paris based RogueArt Label.
Get more information on the label website. Ordering direct from the label will give the most support to the people who work hard and take risks to release good music. Order here, especially if you are in Europe.
The CD is also available in finer stores and online outlets like JazzLoft, Dusty Groove, Downtown Music Gallery, and Squidco among others.
Thanks for listening.
For any Orange County or Southern Cal friends:
I will be performing at the Inaugural ICIT Symposium at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts at UC Irvine on Friday March 1, 2013 at 8 pm. More info at http://music.arts.uci.edu/icit/symposium13/
We are nearing Mardi Gras. You should watch this short film by my friend John Worthington. It will help it makes sense…a little.
My article “Improvisation as Tool and Intention:Organizational Approaches in Laptop Orchestras and Their Effect on Personal Musical Practices” has just been published in Critical Studies in Improvisation/Études critiques en improvisation.” View the entire issue at http://www.criticalimprov.com/issue/view/142.
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