I like to tell people about the large ensembles I was in in college because it makes me sound diversified and worldly. The music school required that you be in a large ensemble every semester. That presented a challenge for keyboardists because there are no large ensembles that regularly feature the piano/organ/etc. Your options were:

• Orchestra
• ( Read more... )

I don't know why, but for some reason "Tower of Babble" from Godspell popped into my head this evening ( Read more... )

Mike and I went to see Jason Robert Brown at the Jazz at Lincoln Center, and it wasn't until I left to go pick up the tickets at will call that I realized I'd seen Dar Williams there last March. It's a really cool venue because the wall behind the stage is one giant window looking out onto Central Park South. When I saw Dar there, after her first ( Read more... )

Apparently I woke up yesterday being able to do snare rolls. It was kinda neat when I reluctantly accepted the snare part on Berlioz's "March to the Scaffold", which consisted of only one four-measure snare roll at the end, and when I got to my part I was utterly shocked by what came out of the drum when I played it. This snare roll was much ( Read more... )

Step 1: Put your MP3 player on random.
Step 2: Post the first one or two lines from the first 20 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 4: Strike out the songs when someone guesses correctly.

( Cut because I can. )

I saw Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young with my family on Wednesday night and it was really excellent. The concert was dominated by Neil Young and songs off his new CD which is largely anti-Bush. Among the songs I recognized were:

• Carry On (in which you could definitely hear their age)
• Long Time Gone
• Find the Cost of Freedom
• Our House (if that's the ( Read more... )

I recently acquired a pair of headphones, so I spent the day listening to Laura's favorite radio station*, WFUV, via wfuv.org, and the day went by SO FAST. Uch*, MUSIC!

*Words printed in red are sarcastic.
* What does "uch" mean?

And it's time to go home!

At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to go see the NY Phil in Central Park this evening. Most other people cancelled due to the extreme heat and the threat of rain, and I certainly don't blame them, but I'd braved the heat last night for the Bryant Park movie, and I'd definitely been looking forward to this concert much more than I'd been looking ( Read more... )

Clues: One name is used twice! All songs are from the following albums: Ben Folds Five, Whatever and Ever Amen, The "Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner, Rockin' the Suburbs. I can't find my Songs For Silverman CD, and those are the only five I have (I discovered from making this quiz that there are apparently a lot more). Only one song ( Read more... )

I was listening to Free FM, the station that is now at 92.3 instead of KROCK (what are all the angsty teenagers listening to these days?), and I heard what I suppose is the newest song by System of a Down. I made the mistake of listening to the lyrics. They were simply the MOST INANE LYRICS I'VE EVER HEARD. They were UNIQUELY BAD. If you don't ( Read more... )