Chaos in Colorado (pt.II)
(scroll down and read pt.I first!)
After a free day of knocking around Boulder and hiking with Nicki and her friend Barry in the Flatirons of the Rocky Mountains, it's time to get serious. First order of business -- well, get Nicki some coffee. Second order of business -- oops, forgot to leave Shanna her purse! THIRD order of business -- Jazz Ensemble II class. Since many of the students in this class are also in the Symphonic Band, I decide to talk about the theory behind Chaos Theory. This presentation goes relatively smoothly, although I suspect that both the class and I are struggling to be awake and alert at 7:30 AM on a Monday morning.
Until disaster strikes.
I'm not quite sure how it happened, but in the middle of my shpiel, my guitar slips off it's perch and hits the floor. And bounces. Twice.
Ouch.
I check the tuning to see if the guitar is OK. The bridge has been shoved into the body and the treble strings are resting on the neck -- this is BAD NEWS.
I finish the class, using the school's Fender Strat to play musical examples, and once the class leaves, I grab a screwdriver and pliers and nervously dismantle the whole guitar, praying that I can fix it. One student (Zeb) offers to get me a loaner guitar from the music store he works at if my axe is beyond repair. Fortunately, I am successful -- I vow to be more careful in the future, and promise to take the guitar to a real tech when I get back to Chicago.
Next comes a quick lunch-break, where I meet the percussion and jazz teacher (and bass guitarist for Chaos Theory), a very talented cat named Shilo Stroman. After that, we set up for rehearsal in the "Auditeria" (a combination lunchroom and concert hall). While I'm setting up, kids keep yelling for me to play "Purple Haze", which I repeatedly oblige for a few seconds, until they refuse to sing along, which is my cue to stop.
Rehearsal goes pretty well -- some spots need a little woodshedding, but there's time for that. Overall, the band sounds really, really good. It's clear that they've worked really hard as an ensemble, and the musical results are obvious. I'm excited and encouraged that this'll be a good concert. While we rehearse, Nicki walks around the hall, giving me the soundcheck status ("turn up, turn down"), and I find that in order to balance with the ensemble, I can only get away with setting the volume on "2"... but that's still REALLY LOUD!
After rehearsal, Shilo gives Nicki a ride to the airport shuttle bus so she can head home. Nicki and I both wish she could stay for the concert, but know it's not possible. The rest of the afternoon is a mish-mosh of hanging with students and listening and talking about music with Pete and Shilo. At one point, I put on the CD of John Mackey's piece, "Juba", and Shilo and the students are blown away. The students insist on hearing it again so they can follow along in the score.
Dinner at "Fat Albert's" (GREAT pie!), and an early bedtime. I'm whipped!
After a free day of knocking around Boulder and hiking with Nicki and her friend Barry in the Flatirons of the Rocky Mountains, it's time to get serious. First order of business -- well, get Nicki some coffee. Second order of business -- oops, forgot to leave Shanna her purse! THIRD order of business -- Jazz Ensemble II class. Since many of the students in this class are also in the Symphonic Band, I decide to talk about the theory behind Chaos Theory. This presentation goes relatively smoothly, although I suspect that both the class and I are struggling to be awake and alert at 7:30 AM on a Monday morning.
Until disaster strikes.
I'm not quite sure how it happened, but in the middle of my shpiel, my guitar slips off it's perch and hits the floor. And bounces. Twice.
Ouch.
I check the tuning to see if the guitar is OK. The bridge has been shoved into the body and the treble strings are resting on the neck -- this is BAD NEWS.
I finish the class, using the school's Fender Strat to play musical examples, and once the class leaves, I grab a screwdriver and pliers and nervously dismantle the whole guitar, praying that I can fix it. One student (Zeb) offers to get me a loaner guitar from the music store he works at if my axe is beyond repair. Fortunately, I am successful -- I vow to be more careful in the future, and promise to take the guitar to a real tech when I get back to Chicago.
Next comes a quick lunch-break, where I meet the percussion and jazz teacher (and bass guitarist for Chaos Theory), a very talented cat named Shilo Stroman. After that, we set up for rehearsal in the "Auditeria" (a combination lunchroom and concert hall). While I'm setting up, kids keep yelling for me to play "Purple Haze", which I repeatedly oblige for a few seconds, until they refuse to sing along, which is my cue to stop.
Rehearsal goes pretty well -- some spots need a little woodshedding, but there's time for that. Overall, the band sounds really, really good. It's clear that they've worked really hard as an ensemble, and the musical results are obvious. I'm excited and encouraged that this'll be a good concert. While we rehearse, Nicki walks around the hall, giving me the soundcheck status ("turn up, turn down"), and I find that in order to balance with the ensemble, I can only get away with setting the volume on "2"... but that's still REALLY LOUD!
After rehearsal, Shilo gives Nicki a ride to the airport shuttle bus so she can head home. Nicki and I both wish she could stay for the concert, but know it's not possible. The rest of the afternoon is a mish-mosh of hanging with students and listening and talking about music with Pete and Shilo. At one point, I put on the CD of John Mackey's piece, "Juba", and Shilo and the students are blown away. The students insist on hearing it again so they can follow along in the score.
Dinner at "Fat Albert's" (GREAT pie!), and an early bedtime. I'm whipped!
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