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If Dorian Gray Were a Song
Our friend Spencer and his fiancée Andi thought of a wonderful surprise for the first dance of their upcoming wedding. Andi's grandmother, who passed away last year, had been…
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Next Up: India
Well it’s official. I’m going to India. I leave at the end of August and stay for 12 days. The flight home will add another day, so with jet lag…
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Rain in India
Today it rains, so unlike the summer of 2011 with its blistering heat and lack of moisture. Wet earth will make this year’s heat easier to endure. I think.…
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Arctic
A soundscape that uses a Melodica and Arvo Part influences.
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25 Things, a meme reborn
During the year that I was on Facebook (2009), I participated in the viral survey called “25 Random Things About Me”. The idea behind it was simple: you list…
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Tiny Desk Concert: Marketa Irglova
We need more of this in the world — two unaffected artists straight-up making music, no gimmicks, no pizzazz. Marketa Irglova and the talented newcomer Aida Shahghasemi performed a…
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Dovekeepers Cover Photo
A little tidbit about the cover photo of Alice Hoffman’s The Dovekeepers. It’s a photograph by Joyce Tenneson, a photographer in NYC who shoots large-format polaroids on chocolate film. This…
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Cloud Shmoud
Spent today immersed in the software side of social media and mobile. Very timely stuff of course, though I couldn't get as excited as everyone else about putting web…
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electronic minimalism: listen
Beautifully strange music from a composer in Spain named José Manuel Berenguer, a.k.a. ‘jmb’. Free mp3s on his website, though he strongly suggests that you contact him for higher quality…
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Bill Hanley: Genius
The man who single-handedly invented the concert sound system. File under: amazing people deserving wider recognition.
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A Glass, Darkly
Had an amazing day in NYC today. We walked endlessly, photographing architecture and odd window displays, consuming epic amounts of cappuccino, admiring a city we once called home. Late…
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The Horrors of the Half-Diminished
The pesky root-tritone relationship in the half-diminished chord — min 7 (b5) — adds an annoying constraint to voicings options. Often chordal players will omit it entirely, particularly when…
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Greasy Dominant Tricks
Continuing the topic of chords (chords, I love chords!!), it’s time to bask in the power of the dominant nine — whether flatted or raised. The voicings below are…
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Luscious Chord Fatness
In the spirit of the previous post, I thought I’d talk about a few more chord tricks. Here the focus is on creating the biggest sound possible, the type…
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Ferrante Voicings
The great pianist/composer Russell Ferrante (of the Yellowjackets) has a unique brand of chordal harmony. While much of what he plays is as rich and complex as chocolate cake, it could be argued…
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Manolo
Last night we ditched a planned movie outing to go wandering through the Galleria. The appeal of the Apple Store is always great, and yet it always disappoints. There,…
