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I guess I should consider “Shameless Self Promotion” as a category, rather than a title.  Note to self.  Anyway, for those of you who love your iPod and/or iTunes and don’t yet have a copy of Study of Light (my totally rockin’ debut as a leader), here is a convenient way of solving this problem.  If you don’t have iTunes, then you will want to consider a more conventional approach.

This sales pitch is now officially over.

Best, R.

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Needless to say, this was a fantastic summer.  I visited Holland, Germany, lovely Ohio, Toronto (which lived up to its “Rush’s hometown” vibe – it rocked), and England.  I also played Lincoln Center in NYC, and spent 30 hours in Ireland (had Guinness at the airport at 10am on a Saturday – it was excellent, even though it cost me $9.67).  At the start of the summer, a horrible moment involving the theft of my gear turned into something wonderful: I Play GK.  Yes, it’s been a fantastic summer.  (more…)

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Interested in studying jazz at New England Conservatory?  Already a student, but wondering about auditions, registration and the upcoming schedule of events (“When do classes start?”  “When do ensembles start?”  “Lessons?”)?  As you probably know, I’m on the faculty at NEC, in the School of Preparatory and Continuing Education.  I work for David Zoffer, Chair of the Jazz Department.  After talking with Dave about various answers to the above questions plus a few others, we decided that it might be helpful to post some information here, along with a few forms.  This post is not intended to replace what is available on NEC’s website in any way – the NEC site is the default place to look.  You should consider this merely ancillary to what is available through NEC. (more…)

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It’s Sunday afternoon here in lovely (and I really mean it) Boston.  It doesn’t really feel like Sunday afternoon, though, but that’s because of the crazy schedule I managed to keep in the past week.  Briefly, it involves a drive to NYC on Tuesday for a 5 hour rehearsal, a gig at Lincoln Center on Wednesday followed by a return drive to Boston that night (arriving home at 5pm Thursday).  Thursday afternoon, I caught a flight to Dublin that arrived on Friday morning at 5:30am.  Spent the rest of the day in Dun Laoghaire and played a concert that night.  Caught a flight back to Boston Saturday morning, arriving mid-afternoon yesterday.  So, I’m not sure what it feels like right now, but Sunday afternoon is not really where I’m at. (more…)

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I’m back in Boston for a few minutes, packing up and heading to Logan in order to make my way to our gig in Ireland tomorrow. Pretty fun summer, I must say. Anyway, last night we played a great concert for a million of our closest friends (seats 3500, standing room only, people climbing on scaffolding, so probably more like 6000). There has been lots of coverage, both before, and now after, the gig. I’ll post something more elaborate when I have a moment, but for now, please check out this great audience video. (more…)

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My friend Joel (groovy trombone player in the Either/Orchestra) sent me this link to still-more Ethiopiques audience video from our concert at the Barbican in London. This song is Ashkaru (aka Embi Ba, aka Gouragigna), sung by the great Mahmoud Ahmed.

[flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c52BAd3FSno]

Totally inspired and dying to see more? Try my previous posts (like this one, and this one, and this one. Why not try this one? Or this one?).

Enjoy, R.

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I am slowly, but surely, crafting some thoughts on teaching to be posted here. There is a new page (look at the top of this page) entitled Teaching, and in the coming weeks I’m hoping to get some reviews posted of key materials I use in helping guide aspiring musicians. Specifically, I’m a fan of the following books, although I should mention that there are tons of other incredible books available. These are just the books that I use all the time: (more…)

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The videos just keep on comin’…

Here’s another Youtube video (audience recording) of the Either/Orchestra playing with Mulatu Astatke at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto. It starts in the middle of Charlie Kohlhase’s brilliant solo on Yegelle Tezeta, the third movement of Astatke’s Broken Flowers Suite (arranged by Russ Gershon). (more…)