Wise Man or Man Down?

Everyday that passes is a day that I near the night of my recital (and spring break; thank God that's coming). I decided that I wanted to play a tuba staple on my recital: Capriccio by Krysztof Penderecki. While it's a standard piece of tuba repertoire, it is also one of the most difficult pieces out there for us. It involves a lot of fast jumps between registers, necessitates technical ease, and a wide range of dynamic control.

It's like Billie Holiday song, you'll probably be really old before you feel you can do it justice.

Generally, people play this on an F (or Eb) tuba. I thought, "hey, why not play this on my C tuba?" For those of you who don't know, the difference between the F and Eb tubas and the C tuba is like the difference between a cello and a string bass or baritone voice vs. bass voice.... sorta.

Anyway, my "brilliant" idea and strange aural concept of this piece led me to make the choice to do it the harder way. Inevitably, my performance will be less accurate than if it were on the smaller tuba.

What I'm struggling with is a two-part problem: 1)Do I accept that the standard of my performance will be not as good in terms of objective execution? Or, do I maintain an ideal nearer to the perfection that I would achieve on the smaller tuba? 2)Is "accepting" my limitation being being realistic and wise or am I manning down?

I feel that no matter if any of you reading this understand anything about tuba music or not, everyone can relate to the reality that they all possess limitations. Is the purpose of limitations to constantly strive to transcend them? Is it to work "within the system" ultimately creating something unique to you because of your limitations? Or is it that we should always be cognizant of what battles we choose to fight?

To put it concretely, I have three choices:

1) Man up and go for the same standard of performance as if I had it the easier way, with my small tuba.
2) Work within my C tuba limitations and make something really musical and passionate, accepting the technical flaws that will come along.
3) Familiarize myself with my limitations and never attempt performing something that will cause me to choose between the two previous choices.

I think that the choice I make, and that everyone makes in situations of recognizing their challenges, is largely telling of what kind of person I am and what I value. Someone can play a sport with great statistic success.  Dedication, discipline, results. But lacking heart and passion. No vitality. They represent choice one. There are great businesspeople with damn good know how but who possess even better people skills. They are easy to like and connect with; there is an organicism about them. They represent choice number two. Then there are people in the world who live in a manner that keeps them secure. They do just enough to be better than half assing the job but they don't stand out. Not good. Not bad. They represent choice number three.

The question at my ripe old age of 24 is who do I want to be? Who does anyone want to be?

Someday, I'll listen to my recording of this piece and wonder what all the neurosis was for. I can't say for sure that any of it even matters.

O! absurdism, how you haunt me.

But that's a philosophy for another day.

So long.

Men Only

Magazines aren't exactly literature. Still, they are some of my favorite reads. Whenever I travel on a plane, I always get a magazine. Maybe a GQ, almost always a Details and religiously I get the latest copy of Esquire. It's my favorite of men's magazines because there is something in it for everyone: fashion advice, interviews with interesting people, lost skills in the art of being a man.

I love it.

The newest issue is full of some really fascinating stories including an interview with Thom Yorke (Radiohead) and an in depth look into the life of a forgotten hero. There are also some practical (manly) cooking articles about pairing your booze properly with a meal, preparing a roast, cooking fresh fish and a whole lot more.

Looking at what I've written, it appears that all I'm interested in is music, violence, food and booze; reading too, I guess.

I am but a man...

Talented writers, wide appeal, a good read, and totally worth the $5.

Mile High Fun

Today I just returned from Denver, CO. It was my first time there; got to see my brother Jason, who is in The Army. I also got to see one of my best friends, Quincy, who turned 24 today.

The time I spent in "The Mile High City" was incredible. One of the first great experiences was John Elway's steakhouse named Elway's. Little did I know, John Elway pretty much owns Denver. Hell, he owns a lot of Colorado. The guy is a business tycoon. And his restaurant is amazing. The smoked buffalo quesadillas are delightful as is the fresh guacamole and chips. Of all things, I was a fan of the drinks... of course.

The selection of whisky and bourbon has more depth than I have knowledge. Same goes for the selection of beer; a subject I'll gloss over later.

I explored Elway's signature cocktails. My very favorite thing was the Lemon Basil Margarita. Fresh, a touch sweet, and very refreshing, especially after a long day of traveling. A close second to the twist on this classic drink was the Blackberry Smash. It's sweet too but darker in flavor. It has a transparency that activates all parts of your tastebuds. Elway's was great.

For a good, more affordable dinner Blue Sushi is wonderful. That's where we ate dinner after the million dollar appetizers and drinks at Elways. And it's a pretty awesome place to dine even if you're with friends who don't care for raw seafood. Also, there are really cool presentations with lava rocks and other random stuff I've never seen done with food.

Not a bank breaker, good portions, a lot of zen, blue decor.

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Hangover Break

DenBisCo (Denver Biscuit Company) is possibly the most bread I have seen at one meal. Motown Music going, biscuits, gravy, eggs, bacon, cinnamon rolls, self-serve coffee, and more biscuits. I am not big on bread, but this place was filling and curing, especially after a night of imbibing. Loved it. It's a Denver must.
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I got the privilege of going to a few breweries during the short time I spent in Denver. Among my favorite was River North Brewery. I ran into some UM alums, which was cool (and apparently a normal occurrence in Denver for anyone who went to a big school). It's pretty much a bar attached to an indoor beer garden. The space is very open and made for standing and talking and drinking tons of beer. You don't have to squeeze through tons of drunken idiots spilling drinks on you. I wish I could tell you all the beer there was, but there is A LOT to choose from. Everything ranging from standard brew types to more adventurous creations. By far one of my favorite places.

While on the subject of big schools and alumni, I also visited a bar called Whiskey Bar. It's a big hangout for Mizzou graduates. This phenomenon of alumni bars was really surprising and pleasant. Denver is a city full of people who aren't from there. So no matter where you are from, you can find a home away from home. Whiskey Bar was cool. Standard bar. Lots of whiskey and televisions. 

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Healthy Break

Red Rocks is a Denver staple for people who appreciate nature, love music, and enjoy hiking.

How can you hate that? There are miles on miles of hiking opportunities in the park. I couldn't do any this go around because of my knee injury. But just seeing it was spectacular. Musically, Red Rocks may be one of the most famous amphitheaters in the world. It's been around since 1908, I believe. The Beatles, Widespread Panic, Jimi Hendrix, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Stevie Ray Vaughan... They've all performed there. But what do I know? The history of this amphitheater is rich beyond what I can write here. You have to see it (and hear it) to believe it. There is a museum that features many aspects of this widely appealing wonder. Among those features are past performances of great artists just in case you're not visiting during concert season. 

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The last food/drink establishment of note was The Kitchen. It's a new Denver restaurant. The decor is clean, open, and slightly industrial with the exposed brick, metal ceiling beams, and wooden floors (they may be wood laminate... this place is very "conscious"). The staff is very young but attentive and helpful. From start to finish, the food was tasty. I had a steak with kale greens tossed in braised lentils. I almost finished it all. It was a lot of food and I eat at an annoyingly slow pace. For desert there was a caramel toffee pudding concoction. I don't even know what all was in it but it was served warm and it was addictive. My only qualm was that the restaurant didn't carry some of the standard spirits that you would find at most places such as Woodford Reserve or Beefeater. But I guess the trade off is that they have a lot of locally distilled spirits, which in the restaurant's defense were very good.

Well, this blog has been long enough. I had a lot of fun in Denver. I would seriously consider living there. Matthew Stafford (Detroit Lions) was on my plane ride home. Random.

Oh, and Stranahan's Whiskey (distilled in Colorado) is awesome.

Here's an ever-ambiguous article about the distinction between Whiskey and Whisky: http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/whiskey-versus-whisky/

An Interesting Read

I referenced J Dilla before, on my blog last month. An NPR music blog, A Blog Supreme, published an article a few days ago echoing the enthusiasm for the late talent of Dilla. But besides that, the article tells of his musical and life history.  It also explains the significance of his music and how it continues to reach, change, and influence several music scenes, especially jazz. It's a good read.



Also, Happy Belated Dilla Day (February 9).

Why J Dilla May Be Jazz's Latest Great Innovator

Anna Moffo, Kanye West, and Me

So, I've got a recital coming up. And I'm guessing of the 5 people that read my blog, none of you are even close enough to get here. In preparing for my recital however, I've become more and more obsessed with vocal music. One of the pieces I'm performing is from Rachmaninoff's 34th opus, entitled Vocalise No. 14. It's a tirelessly performed piece but for me, it's a first. It's gorgeous in every way. A great recording of the late and great Anna Moffo is posted below. She glides with such ease that it's almost unbelievable.

I thought it would be great to do some other "well-known" music on my recital this time around. It starts with Kanye and ends with West; I'm putting my money where my mouth is.

I'll have a sneak peak recording from rehearsal on my website next week.

Free Music

Many know of IMSLP, a virtual library that both supplies free music (music in public domain) and music for sale that you can download. What I didn't know about, was Partifi.

On my upcoming recital I'm playing Vocalise No. 14, op. 34 by Rachmaninoff (overdone sure, but I love it). I looked for it on IMSLP and found the score easily. But with Partifi, I was able to create a piano part and tuba part for free and in PDF format. You can do this with music you have purchased yourself or using the IMSLP database. It's great. Use it. Love it. Play it.

http://www.partifi.org/