livmusic interactive

Every year I try to find 2 weeks or so that I can take off from playing the trumpet. I find it healthy both mentally and physically to put the horn in the case and take a full vacation from playing: no buzzing, no morning routines, no range extensions, lip flexibilities, long tones, etc. Right now I am in just such a period. In fact, today marks two weeks since I last played a note on the trumpet. It is hard to believe isn’t it? An entire two week period and I am still buzz free! Maybe there should be some kind of 12 step program (Hi, my name is Craig and I play the trumpet…)

When I think of the amount of time I have spent over the course of my life doing the aforementioned fundamentals it kind of makes me shudder. I hope that was the best use of all of those thousands of hours. I guess I shouldn’t worry. After all, I have wasted more hours doing many other things that I know for sure weren’t worth it! At least my time doing various inane exercises has allowed me to fashion a career out of smashing my lips together in one way or another. That in itself is pretty extraordinary.

In a few more days I will be back to my tried and true routine of lip contortions. Until then, though, I happily remain buzz free.

Mornings on Key Biscayne, where I regularly ride my beloved Italian bicycle, are stunning. The sun rises over the ocean, casting long westwardly-grasping shadows across the ground and hues of orange and purple across the sky. There is generally a refreshing light breeze, and in summertime there is often a cloudburst or two (or many) drifting over the open waters beyond. It is a special thing to be out cruising on two wheels — almost soundless on the pavement — taking in these glorious surroundings.

But that is not what I did today.

No, today I went in the afternoon. I couldn’t go in the morning, so I missed all of that pleasant pretty stuff. Instead I rode like a pig on a spit across baking hot pavement into a blistering headwind with cars and trucks roaring by, spewing fumes and grime. There were no clouds; the relentless wind had blown them all away. The only shadow I could see was my own drifting across the pavement beneath me. I could swear it was sweating. As I was riding across this less-than-pleasant surrounding, I kept thinking about the Key in the morning. Specifically, I kept thinking about what it must have been like this very morning. I’m sure it must have been glorious. There is little doubt that would have been a better time to go for a ride. But I couldn’t go, so there is no need lamenting it. In fact, lamenting it should be the very last thing I do, because it is much more difficult to make yourself do things when they are difficult or less-than-pleasant than when everything is perfect and pristine. Today I reaped all of the important health benefits of riding a bike. I got the exercise, the bit of solitude, the indescribable joy of a self-powered mini-journey on two wheels. I earned these rewards on a day that I could have easily stayed at home. After all, it was hot and windy, and I have a long list of important things that must be dealt with (just ask the people that want me to do them!). I could have just skipped the ride and gone tomorrow morning, but in so doing, I would have missed the ride today and all of its inherent benefits. And if you want to get better at something, or simply benefit from it in whatever way, it will take your daily attention, even if it doesn’t fit easily into your schedule, or even if it isn’t as pleasant as it would have been otherwise. Get it done today, maybe tomorrow can be more perfect, more pristine. But today? Get it done. Whatever the conditions. We can’t really count on tomorrow, not until it turns into today. That is what I was thinking today as I clawed my way up the baking causeway. Now if I could somehow manage to do the same thing with every aspect of my life…

But if you happen to be in this neck of the woods with a bicycle, and if you find that you can be up and out in the early dawn cruising across the Rickenbacker Causeway to Virginia Key and beyond to Key Biscayne, then you will see: it really is beautiful in the morning. I go as often as I can.

You know you aren’t sleeping well when you are on your second cup of coffee and it’s not even 6am! On the flip side, that lack of sleep allows me to catch up on things and to do something that has been put off for far too long: write on this blog.

Life has been unusually crazed over the last few months. I have been very busy at school, but unlike past years, I decided to take on a good deal of playing around town. Was this a mistake? It’s difficult to tell. I made a little money, chewed up pretty much all of my personal time, enjoyed time with some old friends (and some new ones), and did manage to find some meaningful musical experiences in the midst of it all.

Most of the playing I have been doing is not really reading material — so I won’t bore you with details of gigdom — but I am currently wrapping up a run with the Miami City Ballet that has been noteworthy. We premiered a new ballet with music by Elvis Costello (yes, that Elvis Costello) and choreography by Twyla Tharp. It has been an interesting experience to say the least. Opening night was a pretty extraordinary event drawing out many of Miami’s elite, including Michael Tilson Thomas, music director of the San Francisco and New World Symphonies. Curious about what kind of ballet music Elvis Costello would write? So was I. That is one of the main reasons I signed on to play this season with the ballet. In the end, however, my curiosity was not rewarded with music of any noteworthy quality. The music for this ballet, Nightspot, is mundane at best, random and disorganized at worst. Make no mistake, you won’t be confusing this with Stravinsky’s ballet scores! I have to say, though, that discussing piccolo trumpet parts with Elvis Costello has to be one of the more surreal moments of my musical career. Now, if I had only managed to ask him why someone so unqualified would be given such a huge commission…

One other bright spot in the playing I have been doing lately has been getting to work with Boston Brass trumpet player and good friend, Jose Sibaja. Jose lives here in Miami, but is very often out on the road, so I don’t usually get to play with him. This time, though, we were lucky enough to catch him at home between tours and managed to get him to do some work around town. Having him there made sure the trumpet section was damn good (great pitch, great ears, incredible player. What’s not to like?) but most of all, it meant that we had perhaps a bit too much fun on the job. Why didn’t I ever have that much fun in any of my full time orchestra positions? Hmmm…

You remember that article (Going Home) where I talked about the joy of playing my old Bach and how it had at last relegated my Yamaha to it’s rightful place in the closet? Do you remember how I said that it would be my Bach that would be used on the then upcoming recording for my solo CD? Yeah well… Sometimes things don’t go exactly as planned.

About a week before the recording, my Bach started feeling tight and kind of squirrelly. I started struggling with the Schumann Fantasiestucke and in general felt like I was playing on ice — with nothing really slotting in, but rather gliding constantly to and fro. So what did I do? Yep, I pulled out my Yamaha (Chicago Artist Model) and almost instantly felt more comfortable. From that point on I stuck with the Yamaha and ended up using it on my recording after all.

Commence the throwing of the pies. My face is poised and at your disposal.

Equipment is a funny thing, and while I stand by the general message in my previous article, it is also worth mentioning that you should always go with whatever is working the best, whatever you have the most confidence in. For me, when crunch time really came, the Yamaha was the horn for me, and that should come as no surprise really, because it really is a damn good instrument!

I can’t believe it has been a month since I wrote here! It has been quite the month too. The recording of my first CD was an overwhelming, yet extremely rewarding, undertaking. I knew it would be a big project, but I didn’t know how much it would entail. I had been hoping to write on the blog about my daily activities as the recording unfolded, that idea proved, uh, impractical.

Now, however, the dust from that project has settled, and I will be writing on here with more regularity. I have just finished a new feature article about honing mental skills for the audition circuit, especially in regards to the struggle of landing your first orchestra gig. It should be up on the site by tomorrow morning, a kind of Christmas present for my readers. I hope you all enjoy it.

I wish you all a Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas.