big city lights
i'm in buenos aires right now and it is the shit. i went to this jam session with another trombone player last night and was there until 5 am ... I only played a few tunes but I made sure that they swung -- none of the typical intellectual bad attempts at miles davis tunes. my favorite part was taking out the plunger and going crazy on a slow blues. mmm.
i'm finally used to the buenos aires accent and am continuously surprising myself with how well I can understand people and get around in Spanish. This trip was exactly what I needed. I'm practicing, I'm listening to good music, I'm playing jazz, and I'm having FUN. I realized that the last week I was in Santiago was just a total drag, and I wasn't enjoying being there. So this break has been fantastically refreshing.
Unfortunately, the folks back at the program in Santiago didn´t think it was such a great idea. They sent me a warning email (after I was already here) that if I'm not careful I´m going to fail spanish by not meeting the 80% attendance requirement. But I think that if I'm apologetic and act innocent, I'll be fine. Spanish class is such a joke I didn't realize that I had to actually go to x number of classes, I'm doing fine on the tests and papers. Sheesh.
Well, I'm going to get some lunch here and then go practice. I'm staying with Joaquin, a young jazz trombonist who runs a music school in his house. So there's lots of room to practice. It's a neat place, but there is ALWAYS music of some kind or another being played ... both a good thing and a bad thing, I suppose. OK, time to go gorge myself for practically no money. I love this place.
i'm finally used to the buenos aires accent and am continuously surprising myself with how well I can understand people and get around in Spanish. This trip was exactly what I needed. I'm practicing, I'm listening to good music, I'm playing jazz, and I'm having FUN. I realized that the last week I was in Santiago was just a total drag, and I wasn't enjoying being there. So this break has been fantastically refreshing.
Unfortunately, the folks back at the program in Santiago didn´t think it was such a great idea. They sent me a warning email (after I was already here) that if I'm not careful I´m going to fail spanish by not meeting the 80% attendance requirement. But I think that if I'm apologetic and act innocent, I'll be fine. Spanish class is such a joke I didn't realize that I had to actually go to x number of classes, I'm doing fine on the tests and papers. Sheesh.
Well, I'm going to get some lunch here and then go practice. I'm staying with Joaquin, a young jazz trombonist who runs a music school in his house. So there's lots of room to practice. It's a neat place, but there is ALWAYS music of some kind or another being played ... both a good thing and a bad thing, I suppose. OK, time to go gorge myself for practically no money. I love this place.