Enough time has passed. It’s time to tackle Imaginary Bebop.
I read a list of “things writers do” the other day, the type of list that always pisses me off because there is this idea growing like the blob on the Internet that only a set group of people who have conformed to a certain set of behaviors, and bookmark the same blogrolls, could dare call themselves writers. They must always read, always write, always talk about why they write, always suck up to agents on their blogs, follow the same …

It’s this time of year when I usually start crawling out of my skin, as the winter has completely lost its allure. Now, the icy air just gives me a headache and stiffens my bones. It’s only the beginning of February and I’m ready for the spring, though I have so much more waiting ahead of me. Luckily, I have a few things going on to keep things interesting.
First, my little girl Gwyneth turns nine moths old this month, and it’s such an amazing thing to watch the transformation a …

My last piano improvisation was on the more abstract side, an experiment in using one note only while still telling a musical story.
In this next one, it’s back to an exploration of mood, especially a minor mood. I based the meditation on a simple V – i resolution, stepping in and out of it, meandering through outside chords always with the inevitable V – i resolution in mind.
At the same time, I kept the movement of the piece very slow, almost decelerating  at times, all to create a very somber …

This is an exciting post for me, because I’ve decided to start posting some improvised piano music here, taking a risk, but getting it out there.
For as long as I’ve been playing piano I’ve held these types of personal sessions, where I hang my head and wail on the piano, following every idea as it pops into my head, encapsulating the mood of the moment in notes and chords and rhythms, letting go of any skill limitations and reaching in any direction I have the impulse to follow. When I …

It’s been a little while, which tends to happen with this blog. But there really is a good reason. It’s fatherhood.
It’s funny, how just a few weeks ago I seemed more able to squeeze an hour in the morning and at night so I could do some writing or blogging, but then the morning routine got more intricate (thanks to solid foods) and the early time vanished. Then the holidays, which includes shopping for my little girl’s first Christmas, brought their own after-work tasks to my life. One day I …