3 Weeks

I can scarcely believe that I've been living in Montreal for three weeks. I remember telling myself, in the time leading up to the move and during my 2 weeks spent in Ottawa with my Uncle after securing a place, to savour the transitional period. I knew it would be over soon as time has a way of going by. My place is even starting to feel a little bit like home. Overall, I'd say not much has changed in terms of my life, but I feel positive about the move and getting to do the same thing across the country in a very different (and awesome) city.

I've got a job teaching a music school out here, as well as several private students. In the music school I work with students individually before they work with a jazz band all together, playing tunes like C Jam Blues and Route 66. They even do a Duffy tune called Mercy. They will become the youngest band to ever play in the Montreal Jazz Festival come this summer. Overall, the attitude is very positive and there are some great young kids (7 or 8 years old) taking some pretty good solos. I am happy to be part of the team helping.

My flyer delivering job has continued to disappoint by not providing alot of work. I really like the job itself (though I don't think I shall continue it into the winter), but I scarcely work more than 2 or 3 days a week. The days are extremely long and tend to peter out near the end. Case in point, my last working day I delivered 1100 flyers from 7:30-3:00, followed by 100 from 3:00 to 6:30. This wasn't because I ran out of steam.

I've always done some article writing and general web-work for my dad and his company, but it seems like that is starting to pick up now that I actually could use the money, and I'm very excited about this. It should allow me to do what I love, MUSIC!

Musically not too much is happening, which I'm kind of comfortable with for now. They was a period of almost 3 weeks where little practicing got done, and now is catch-up time. I've still been going to the jam sessions, and even met a bass player from my theory class at Cap last year. I had no idea how great a bass player he was. He is doing his first year in the graduate program at Mcgill and him and his friends were killing. Got to play a tune with them. If I could be playing with people like that, that would really be something. Of course, everyone in Montreal is really burning anyway.

Other than practicing, I've also been checking out the Martin Duchow Music Library at Mcgill, a great resource for records, scores and books. I've read incredible books of interview with two of my favourite saxophone players, Lee Konitz and Steve Lacy, discovered incredible recordings I had always wanted to hear, and checked out the score to one of my favourite minimalist pieces of all time, Steve Reich's "Tehillim". The Lee Konitz book was especially insightful as I got the incredible chance to work with him for a week at the Stanford Jazz Residency in Palo Alto, California just over a year ago. It was an experience I won't soon forget.

Music:

Miles Davis - The Sorcerer, Tribute to Jack Johnson
Wayne Shorter - Adam's Apple, Speak No Evil
Sonny Rollins - East Broadway Rundown
Conlon Nancarrow - String Quartets No. 1 and 3 (Arditti Quartet)
Charles Ives - Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 4 "Children's Day at the Camp Meeting"
Charlie Haden - Liberation Music Orchestra, The Golden Number

Books:

Lee Konitz: Conversations on the Improviser's Art by Andy Hamilton
Steve Lacy: Conversations by Jason Weiss
Ulysses by James Joyce

Movies:

Brazil
À Bout de Souffle