An Open House

My music program, Caleb Chapman Music, has an annual open house to promote auditioning and the casual gist of the program. Since I am a part of that program (and so proud to be), I had to play at the studio for an audience. We we able to ask non-members to jump up on the stage and play with us. Shockingly, the only person was a female trombone player in the eighth grade, which was really cool.

I managed to play with most of the bands, Including Voodoo Orchestra, Crescent Super Band, and Time Check. The horn swings in the Crescent Super Band was da bomb, and the trombone soli in La Quema Del Diablo was amazing. Voodoo Orchestra is the band I want to audition for next year with Bryan, Cameron, Molly, and Jake. If we were to all get in, it would be a party. (Caroleine, you need to audition for it!)

The Voodoo Orchestra at its finest

Image courtesy of Master Calender

The Voodoo Orchestra has recently played at the Apollo theater in New York on their tour in April this year. I think it was the other coolest tour for the Caleb Chapman musicians to go to on, other than the Crescent Super Band's trip to Cuba.  Next year, the Voodoo Orchestra gets an international tour of their own- to Ireland, England, and Scotland. Image the differences in the music we make and the music they make. There would certainly be a lot to learn about that culture on the other side of the world. 

After the open house, Little Big Band won an award at Best of State. The only other band that also had won an award was the Crescent Super Band. Bet you didn't see that coming. We played a lot more songs than usual, which was so much much fun! Unfortunately, we were not on TV like the Crescent Super Band. I've never experienced a big award like that before, and it was quite a shocker to see how nonchalant my band members were about the whole thing. I just loved performing so many songs and I really hope I get the chance to perform that much again.

Michael Davis Is A Boss

What do you get when you cross a broke teenage girl with a shiny new trombone?

Nothing, she's broke.

At least I got to touch them. I went to Summerhays with Jake, Leo, and Luca. Summerhays has recently become a dealer for Shire trombones. Congratulations Summerhays, you are now the official dealer of my drug. Shires are like the Ferraris of trombones. A Ferrari that Michael Jordan drove a few miles to go pick up Beyonce in. That is how nice they are. And I got to PLAY one. Two, actually. Their names were Michael Davis and Michael Davis Plus.

Fancy at its best
Image courtesy of Hip-Bone

Just look at how fancy this is. Admire the shine before it makes you blind. This piece of metal costs more than I do. Plus, it is engraved with Michael Davis and a bunch of flowery patterns. Of course, nobody needs the flower pattern, but when you play with an engraved trombone it just shows off your superiority to others. It would make people envy you, just showing off a trombone that costs more than their whole life.

To my surprise, this trombone played really well in all partials and octaves. It is a small bore, which is used more commonly in jazz. I have no idea if Michael Davis meant for this horn to be used for jazz, but it certainly worked well for what I needed. Compared to the Michael Davis Plus, the smaller build of the horn made it easier to reach higher notes, which is optimal for what I do with my solos.

The slightly bigger Michael Davis Plus
Image courtesy of Phil Parker LTD

The Michael Davis Plus is also a really nice horn. Not only because of the flowers engraved on it, but also because of the slightly bigger bore.  The slightly bigger bore made more lower notes sound bigger and fuller. It was so nice! Getting to higher notes was slightly more of a challenge, but it was so good sounding.

Michael Davis must know what he's doing. After all, he's released six albums. He studied at the Eastman School of Music, and is a music entrepreneur. Michael started a company called Hip-Bone Music to write publications for young jazz musicians. Not only this, but the cool dude has written books. On jazz pedagogy, of course.  When Michael plays, he plays so well that nothing can be considered wrong in his his technique. I'm really jealous of his talent, and I really wanna know what goes on in his mind.

Before I went to Summerhays to play the Shires, Little Big Band went to a recording studio. I have no idea what it was called, nor do I care to remember. All I know is that it was hard to play, but it was really fun. Me being me, I also did something really stupid. I sort-of-kinda-almost broke my ankle. Hobbling around a place with a lot of cords and expensive microphones was probably the most stressful thing I've ever done. We recorded three tunes- Mr. P.C., It Don't Mean A Thing, and Cry Me A River. When I was recording my solo, I noticed that we really killed it on the changes. Because yes, I did record a solo. Shocking, I know! I did through, and it was pretty good.

Without Bryan making me stay to record, I probably wouldn't have recorded one. He is my ride home, so I kinda had to stick with him. It was a lot of emotions all at once. I was scared and happy and excited and nervous and ready and gah. The time has come for me to stop freaking out and just play. So what if the crowd doesn't like what I play? I do, and they have no right to judge my creativity, even though it sucks. Gosh.

In Tone, In Tune, In Time, In Touch

Right now, it is 10:27pm on the tenth of May, 2015.

The school year is coming to an end. I am that much closer to becoming a high school graduate, with only three years left on my journey to find out everything I can about the world and about myself. I have struggled a lot with trying to find out who I am as a person and what my morales are. I have struggled a lot with trying to find my friends, the ones who are always there. I have struggled a lot trying to figure out where to go in this crazy, chaotic, unforgiving world.

What no one ever tells you is how you need to show the world that you are ready for its challenges, its love, its adventure. No one would tell you that it is hard to find a place in this mess, but it is. One year may seem like an eternity, but in the scope of things, it's really not.  No one can tell you who to be, but you can tell yourself that. If there is one thing you need to learn now, it's how to be you. No one can stop you from being what you already are.

This year, I have learned so many things about myself, music, and just random information. I learned that playing trombone makes me feel happy, even if there's a rainstorm of a mess with everything else. I learned that to change the entire feel of a song, you just have to change the accents on a note. I learned that there is an actual place called Tunisia. How much of this matters to you, the one reading this blog? What have you learned from me? Have you learned anything about yourself this year?

As posted on this blog, a lot of crazy things have happened this year. Heck, Mr. Taylor even called me awesome! I found my Heaven on Earth, the Soundhouse. I have met and played with Brian Lynch, Jerry Cortez, Dave Pietro, and Tom Bones Malone. I got up and played in front of hundreds of people, which I never thought I would ever be capable of doing. I competed for a spot in the Wind Ensemble. I practiced consecutively for seventy four days. There are a lot of perks to exploring, and right now I'm exploring happiness and music.

The most important thing that I have learned is that nothing can prevent me from being me. Yes, I get too darn excited over a small thing, like a cool rhythm or solo. I get too nervous playing in front of too many people. Music bring a feeling of euphoria, nostalgic gut-twisting butterflies like right before a roller coaster.  This blog has helped me express my love for music in a way that everyone relates to. I know most of you don't care, but 98% of my time is spent on music, whether it be thinking or daydreaming or practicing.

Courtesy of Austin Music Therapy

Two Words

If there is anything in the English language that can describe me and all of my weirdness, it would be two special words: breath taking.

Now, it's not what you think. I don't mean it in a beautiful and desirable way (of course you can think that if you want), I mean it in a literal and blunt way.

I literally am breath taking.

All I do is breathe. In, out. In, out. Playing my instrument takes oxygen. In, then blow out with as much force needed. Breathe in, and then the same thing all over again. Me, being a slightly shy and nervous person, I lose my breathe a lot. One time, when playing a piece with my friend, a trombone instructor came over to teach and I, well, lost my breath. When I stand to solo, I have to close my eyes and tell my lungs to breathe before I bring my horn to my face because I'm so nervous. Anxiety causes me to just forget to breathe, which isn't too bad, except for the fact that I need to breathe to live.

Now, many of you know that when you're excited, your heart beats like 14548434 times a minute, right? Well, let's just say at one point... I was so excited I forgot to breathe.

So do y'all know who the Utah Wind Symphony is? I sure hope you do. The Utah Wind Symphony ensemble had a concert at my school's auditorium, the Eccles Center. The concert was a very special evening for kids in the Park City High School band program. Not only would the Wind Ensemble play, but they would play with the Utah Wind Symphony. Bryan wasn't excited for some reason. He was pretty meh about the whole thing, and I couldn't understand why. Mr. Hughes even gave out special tickets that had the two bands on it. They even felt like real concert tickets!

The concert was just ASDFGHJKL;ZXCVBNM,.QWERTYUIOP to describe my excitement quite accurately. The Wind Ensemble played first, with a few pieces from their last concert. Then the Utah Wind Symphony was on, with a whole range of pieces. The symphony was having their pop concert, which means they were playing well-known pieces like the melody for Saving Private Ryan. It was the absolute best because I didn't know half the tunes when they were named, but I knew them when they were played. After, both the Wind Ensemble and the Utah Wind Symphony played a few pieces together.

If you think I was excited, nope. Nothing compared to when the FREAKING CONDUCTOR CALLED ME OUT OF THE FREAKING AUDIENCE TO GUEST CONDUCT THE FREAKING BANDS!

I conducted on a tune called Stars and Stripes Forever. The conductor, Scott A. Hagen, didn't tell me what time it was in. I tried to figure it out, but I just went with a 2/4 time and stayed with the beat. I hoped for the best, and it kind of worked. Ian gave me a nod of approval and Jake made eye contact with me, so all was well.

My feelings on that night

Courtesy of Srboom

When the conductor called me, he turned and said I looked like I was out of breathe and was going to faint. Bryan told him I was like that a lot. It was a pretty great night. I loved the feeling, the energy, the happiness, the environment. I wish I could have more chances like that to conduct in the future. When I found my seat in the Eccles Center, I ended up sitting in Mr. Taylor's seat, which was the cat's pajamas. Speaking of which, I ended up talking to the conductor after the concert, who asked if I have an interest in teaching. He said that I should be a high school band director because I have the personality for it and that I should be happy with the memories and not worry about the money. Mr. Taylor had something to do with this, I know it.

Delfeayo Marsalis and the Composer from England

So we had a special guest at our school this week.

I can't remember his name.

Oh well.

Anyways, the guest at our school is a composer from England. We went to a lecture by him one day during school. He had previously had conducted our school choir and conducted a piece our orchestra played that was his own composition. I guess you could say he was a fairly notable composer. I don't know. I can't even remember his name.

When at the lecture, he talked about his childhood. He was adopted at a young age. As a child, he was super musical and started composing at the age of eight. However, later he decided to pursue chemistry and other sciences at a university in England. Something, I don't know what, brought him back to music. He wrote for everything, and sometimes his compositions only took him ten minutes. For some reason, this guy was amazingly talented at composing. When he found out the reason why, it was shocking.

Since he was adopted, he hadn't gotten to know his biological parents too well. He decided that he wanted to find his biological mother, and set out to find her. Eventually, he did, and it turns out she was a professional pianist. When she was pregnant with him, she had played him the piano every night. The first time they met, he told her he knew the song she had been playing him. 

In the middle of his lecture, he asked a few people who think they're good at improv to stand up. WELL, YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHAT DIDLY DARN HAPPENED. Ashley, Alizah, and Ryan all told me to stand up, so I sort of kind of got up until Ryan pushed me. Thanks. Luca, James, Jake, one other girl and I were standing. You'll never gosh darn guess what happened next. He made us SING improv for one minute. It was absolutely terrifying. I mean, improv is fairly easy on my instrument, but singing? It is quite difficult to sing something that even you don't know what it is until it's sung. 

Luca was the first one to sing. Indifferently, he got up and smashed it. He sang in a scat style, and surprisingly, did not use use anything that sounded like a song. After Luca, James was supposed to go but he got scared, so it was my turn. It went way better than expected. I counted myself off, granted that I probably didn't keep the tempo, and just sang. I also sang scat style like Luca, and tried to create a melody from there. It was maybe just a little tiny bit fun. 

But only a little.

After I went, Jake went. He also casually killed it. Jake sang a lot a rhythms that made an actual melody, which was really cool. James did a jazzy take on what seemed like a television show theme song. The girl sang triads in a really cool pattern in a classical tone. I think she could actually sing.  

Most of the time, the composer spoke mostly about how his compositions came to him purely by nature. He said he hadn't needed much training, just playing experience. I really want to be able to compose like he can, but it is going to take practice and skills in other clefs and instruments. To be able to tell a story with music is a great power- and with great power comes great responsibility. 

Later, there was a concert. It was some of the Marsalis family. Delfeayo Marsalis and his father Ellis Marsalis Jr. performed with Smitty Smith (his name is perfect) and John Clayton. Delfeayo has been one of my favorite artists to listen to because he plays with such good tone. When I watched him perform, he has the best chops and technical abilities out of every other trombone player I've seen. I was able to sit next to Jake and Nick for the concert, and they both laughed at me when the group played my favorite song ever. Ellis played a lot of piano on a tune called Emily, which of course he rocked. (Ahem, ASDFGHJKL;ZXCVBNM,.) Pure excitement. The Last Southern Gentleman was a blast to see, the music and the energy was so exciting!

Delfeayo Marsalis, my idol
Image courtesy of Nuvo

I learned a lot this week about the future and music. I learned a lot about my enjoyment with music, and how I wouldn't mind spending an eternity playing trombone. Music is a form of art that shares thoughts and opinions through a universal language that everyone enjoys. 

Bus Rides, Boys, and Burgers

Field trips- the distant memory of you and all of your fifth-grade best friends getting to spend the day of school away from school. You know what's up, an awesome bus ride to a place that you love. An art museum, nature preserve, or an observation deck at an astronomy building. Whatever the tour guide said, you ate up every word like the last drop in that 7-Eleven Slurpee your dad bought you on the way home from school. Then, during lunch you would burn off all of the hyperactive excitement with your friends by screaming and laughing until your stomach hurt. The entire day was a blast until your bus pulled into the school parking lot.

My band went on a field trip last week. We had the Region X Festival to preform at. Of course, because it was a festival, we had to compete. During the week before, we had another few concerts, both a jazz concert and a classical concert. After the festival, Little Big Band had a performance.

The jazz concert went pretty okay, according to the amount of compliments the band exchanged afterward. For me, it was pretty great, cause I didn't screw up my solo. Cause yes, I had a solo. I played a nice-ish part on Artistry In Rhythm, which went better than expected. My nerves are starting to calm over the whole thing about playing in front of people. The Varsity ensemble also played a few of my favorite pieces, like A Night In Tunisia, Haitian Fight Song, Four Brothers, and Coconut Champagne.  Overall, it was a great concert. Like, the best.

The classical concert was good too. The usual occurred, as in we played, then the Wind Ensemble played, and I fangirled. Since it was the night before festival, the concert short and sweet but still great. The concert was just a normal one, not much excitement happened other than the chords and stuff. After all, since it is the third quarter concert, it was going to be our last concert other then our pop culture concert, which is everyone's favorite.

The excitement came the day of region. No matter what I did, I couldn't focus on anything in my classes, because my brain kept averting my attention to the festival. Oh look, a pencil. There is a pencil in my band binder with my region music. Why does New Orleans sink below sea level? New Orleans is known for music, which is waiting for me in my band binder. What's 225 • 210? Who cares, music.

The bus ride though, THAT was the worst. It was three hours to Vernal, and three hours back. It was totally worth it. On the way there, I sat next to Pauline. Later on, I ended up playing that slapping game with Quinn. I also learned that Five Nights At Freddy's is a very hard game, and that Conrad Herwig is a boss according to Luca.

Nailed it.

When we got there, everyone was anxious. The good kind. We eventually went inside to warm up, and then to work through the last problematic bits of our songs. Then, when everyone was calm, we went out to play. The pieces we played went better than rehearsal, but with the critiques the judges gave us, could have been played much better. However, the Wind Ensemble killed it. Somehow, they achieved straight ones on all of their songs and qualified for state.

On the way back, I sat next to Beckett. We were in a cluster of cool cats, like Jake and Molly. I got a few people to play scorpion with me, which was not a smart idea. I still have scars. Music played and jokes were made the entire three hour chaotic bus ride back. Hey, at least we didn't sit in awkward silence the entire time.

The next night, Little Big Band met at a fancy country club. We played at a charity event for some charitable reason, I sure hope. The tunes were the classic three, Mr. P.C., The Jazz Police, and Cry Me A River. Before we went on stage, the country club offered us some food before our performance. When the burgers came, Mr. Chapman had said the standard, "Ladies first. But in this case, lady" which made me think: Where's Caroleine?

Ahh..... Zoot Suits.

Jazz is a heavily male-dominated genre of music.  I was the only girl that night, which unfortunately really bothered me. Can you name any famous female jazz instrumentalists? I can't. It seems as if because of the history with jazz being all male since creation,  it will stick that way. Devastating. Maybe girls just need the chance to pick up and enjoy learning an instrument, the same way guys need the chance to learn how to twirl and jump with pink shoes on. Caroleine is a really cool girl, and she at least had a good reason to miss the performance. One day, there shall be a band made of both an even number of boys and girls like mine admiring famous musicians of both genders.