tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67097672008-04-23T13:47:46.004-05:00jimBlogger661125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-73669691077231140072007-12-18T15:27:00.000-06:002007-12-18T13:47:17.310-06:00

In tribute to Nicole Alaniz' penchant for punk rock, I have created a far less-than-usual cover for the Angels with Dirty Faces score... the letters cut from band logos and magazines for tattoos and body art, music, motorcycles, food, travel and adventure... and, of course, Rolling Stone magazine... I think Nicole would approve.

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-31126628166015799862007-12-17T11:24:00.001-06:002007-12-17T11:33:54.749-06:00

I want you to witness this phenomenon. This is the encased meat emporium across the street from Midway known as Hot Doug's. Newman and Steve and Montoya have all eaten there, and if Mackey ever had the time, I would take him here as well -- but at the end of the day - Newm and Steve and Montoya would all tell you that it is good, but it is just a glorified hot dog joint. I took this picture

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-78183120840216114392007-12-14T13:57:00.000-06:002007-12-14T14:00:38.911-06:00

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-46708158377937350722007-12-13T21:51:00.000-06:002007-12-13T21:52:27.340-06:00

So what did you do last weekend?

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-88983714337673192412007-12-12T13:57:00.000-06:002007-12-12T14:04:32.784-06:00

(click to enlarge) Getting tracks prepped for the Midwest convention... figured I'd show you a screenshot of the editing window in Pro-Tools where I chopped up the Calgary Stampede/Dwayne Engh/Tyler Hornby recording session... come by the BCM booth next week to hear it!

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-25410439375291824662007-12-11T10:27:00.001-06:002007-12-11T10:30:17.292-06:00

Midway now has paper cups! No more styrofoam!! Pretty fast, huh?! Next step: get Midway to buy MUGS and do away with all these disposable cups...

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-48481359371773717142007-12-07T10:32:00.000-06:002007-12-10T11:01:31.995-06:00

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-81782358647638458782007-12-06T16:49:00.000-06:002007-12-06T16:53:00.638-06:00

Wednesday, about midnight...

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-55244647508842740522007-12-05T16:23:00.000-06:002007-12-06T16:48:37.323-06:00

Got a $100 parking ticket yesterday for parking after 9AM on a street-sweeping day. How do I know it's a street sweeping day? There's a bright orange sign at the end of the block that says so. See it? By the stop sign? See it? It's about 100 feet away down the street. You can click on the picture to make it bigger... see it now? Just for clarity, there was another sign too, only about 50

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-31005686664230090952007-12-04T13:42:00.001-06:002007-12-04T13:42:34.495-06:00

Everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) in this guy's cube was wrapped in tin foil. (thank God there's a locked door to my studio!)

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-66892142785350808162007-11-30T17:15:00.000-06:002007-12-17T15:20:34.293-06:00

For some dumb reason, I can't get today's picture out of my phone... so here's a youtube video I found on Troels Folmann's blog... such beautiful musical souls...

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-39060527069618406512007-11-29T18:12:00.000-06:002007-11-29T18:27:00.236-06:00

To the lady in the dirty white Ford P.O.S. with New Jersey license plates on 90 West this morning -- you're a menace. I watched you zig-zag across 4 lanes of rush-hour traffic for literally FIFTEEN MINUTES so that you could get ONE CAR AHEAD OF ME BEFORE YOU GOT TO YOUR EXIT. Get off the road you idiot.

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-69765709365914108612007-11-28T18:24:00.000-06:002007-11-28T06:17:23.681-06:00

This is my last one... Yesterday I convinced the powers-that-order-supplies at Midway to stop ordering styrofoam cups (unhealthy for the user, take a long time to biodegrade, bad for the environment) and purchase recycled paper cups. The discussion took about 2 minutes. They'd been ordering them for so long, they'd never considered anything different. Paper cups are not ideal, but it's a

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-12474518408824980222007-11-27T21:23:00.000-06:002007-11-26T22:59:57.265-06:00

same town, about 50 feet down the street from the Krap-o-rama... in case you can't read it: "Jazz for an Afternoon Terry Waldo and the Gutbucket Syncopaters"

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-71639194745805284142007-11-26T21:12:00.000-06:002007-11-26T10:42:58.128-06:00

in Bucyrus, Ohio for Thanksgiving, and saw this storefront in a nearby town. The name says it all... I thought I should at least let Mackey know, so next time he's visiting the folks back in Ohio, he can check it out...

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-39976066198483915522007-07-16T20:44:00.000-05:002007-07-17T09:28:38.215-05:00

The short film for NASA is finished. “Walking on Other Worlds” is an innovative video collaboration between Morrisondance and NASA Glenn's Imaging Technology Center. Green screen technology is used to showcase NASA Glenn's "floating treadmill." Treadmill simulators like the enhanced Zero Gravity Locomotion Simulator (eZLS) can mimic different gravitational environments, and are used by NASA's

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-9013486343897266742007-06-22T15:24:00.000-05:002007-06-22T15:30:27.261-05:00

Legendary emcee Chuck D of Public Enemy was in the studio this week. He's one of the nicest guys I've ever met, and from all accounts, a consummate professional in the studio... with a voice like a CANNON. (Posing for this picture was his idea... honest!)

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-45032739443822411772007-06-21T11:10:00.000-05:002007-06-21T11:30:14.578-05:00

I have the unique opportunity to write music for a short film being produced by NASA. They want wall-to-wall music-to-picture, finished and delivered by Monday, July 9th. The film will be about 8-10 minutes long. That's all for now...

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-14272593215394495152007-05-23T21:55:00.000-05:002007-05-23T22:22:22.926-05:00

Last night was the world premiere of Angels with Dirty Faces, the piece dedicated to Nicole Alaniz. I blogged what I read before the piece was performed... notice the sunflowers on their music stands -- sunflowers were Nicole's favorite. The band did a really great job -- especially considering the extensive rewrites I dropped on them the day before. The piece seemed to be very well received,

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-72045339090204231652007-05-22T09:34:00.000-05:002007-05-23T09:41:59.715-05:00

"I’d like to say a few words about the piece you’re about to hear, and about the process of creating it. A year ago, the musicians at St. Charles East asked me to write a piece for them -- in tribute, not in mourning – for Nicole Alaniz. I was flattered that they chose me, and I was honored to be asked to write about something of such significance to them. In the past I have found that when I

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-21355317188733082042007-05-21T22:37:00.001-05:002007-05-21T22:41:23.778-05:00

After about 16 hours worth of rewrites over the past weekend, I sent Jim Kull the revised score and parts, and he was gracious enough to put them up on the stand today. Evidently, the ensemble took to the changes well, so hopefully, NOW the piece is finished... I'm riding out to the dress rehearsal tomorrow morning, and then the premiere tomorrow night, so more news soon... There was an article

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-13882585839664542362007-05-18T06:31:00.000-05:002007-05-19T06:38:07.232-05:00

So as I mentioned before, I finished Angels With Dirty Faces last weekend -- by FINISH, that means I decided it was finished -- I had been agonizing over the flute intro, and I thought I'd finally come to the simplest, most elegant soluton. I decided that I wasn't going to mess with it anymore, that it was time to let it be. I heard a recording of a rehearsal yesterday. It was the first time

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-55186797236602428852007-05-17T22:08:00.000-05:002007-05-18T07:48:17.917-05:00

So after the recording session, Milt and I high-tailed it out to Shaumberg to see Steve Vai -- this wasn't an ordinary concert (although I'd never call a Vai concert "ordinary") -- this was a meet and greet, up-close-and-personal experience at his brother's restaurant. And having been inspired by Vai's work for over half my life, this was set up to be close to a religious experience for me. We

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-53204621475605642822007-05-16T20:49:00.000-05:002007-05-16T21:32:44.980-05:00

Hey sorry, crazy week -- we're in the home stretch on Stranglehold and there is precious little time to do anything else... although I did FINALLY finish Angels with Dirty Faces this weekend! But more on that later... Here are a few pictures from the jazz recording session I had at Hinge studios last Friday. The day started at 6 AM, scrambling to finish up the charts for the session. They

jimtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709767.post-49894273631462127512007-05-11T10:19:00.000-05:002007-05-11T10:21:24.135-05:00

Big day today... recording session in the afternoon at Hinge studios, and then Steve Vai at Entourage tonight... I'll tell you more about it next week... in the meantime, I've got to finish up my charts for the session!

jim