July Update

So it’s been a long while since I’ve really had anything to write here – I’ve been busy moving in to and setting up my new place in Cambridge, and I’ve been quite busy making ends meet and making good on all of my obligations.  There hasn’t been much time for the type of quasi-indulgent-self-reflection that blog writing takes, but today I have a lazy afternoon all to myself.

Music in July has been a very positive thing – I’ve been playing all over town, and I have a lot of great projects coming in the future.  I’ve continued to play with the Roma Band, which is always an interesting cultural experience (and excellent ear and endurance training), and I’ve continued to play on and off again with the Beantown Swing Orchestra.  Special thanks goes to all the folks that came to the Joe Moffett duo gig on July 12th, and to Ben Stepner for recording it for all to hear over the web.  Hopefully the trio work we did with James will get a much-needed update in the next few weeks.

August promises to be a really productive month: I have several interesting gigs coming up: tonight I’m playing with Gleason’s Twins in J.P., and next week – on Thursday (August 6th) – I’m playing at the Regattabar with the Nick Grondin group.  Both groups should be an interesting, entertaining experience.  Next week, I’m playing Schubert’s 8th symphony in western MA as a ringer in a youth symphony.  I’ve had to work on honing my alto clef chops, and it’s reminding me how much I enjoyed practicing classical trombone techniques.

I’m also planning a new project with Kathy Olson, a killer bari sax player (and my sweetie), in which we’ll play music inspired by the classic Gerry Mulligan and Bob Brookmeyer quartet.  We play at La Luna Cafe on August 21st, and another gig is on the horizon.  I’ll post music from that project as soon as it gets recorded.

This site will change some in August, as well.  As you’ve probably already noticed, I’ve started to use Twitter as a way to bridge in-between major blog posts – I like it because it’s easy and fun and a very low commitment on my time.  Also expect a major rehaul of the “media” page – in a few weeks it will be much easier to use, and divided more clearly into specific projects.  I want to get some of my more straight-ahead jazz work on the page as well as some classical trombone examples.  I’ve also been working on a few posts which will see the light of day in the next week or so.  I’ve been recording solo trombone improvisations, and a post with my thoughts on the project will appear soon (with recorded examples), as well as a post about the great Lawrence Brown which I’ve been struggling to complete since late June.

And lastly: thanks to all the people who have checked stuff out on the site – my old post on Mississippi John Hurt seems to be the most popular, which is cool with me, and I really appreciate everyone who has listened to the music and come to the gigs.