Playing by Instinct

Shortly after Marshall Samms returned from the war, his father...

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:41:00 -0400

Shortly after Marshall Samms returned from the war, his father encouraged him to write about his experience for Sir magazine. This is a must-read: It’s extremely well detailed, from what they ate to how the skies looked flying back, with some real honesty over how frightened they felt.

Marshall Samms' last bombing mission

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:39:00 -0400

Marshall Samms' last bombing mission:

(From the 450th bombardment group’s website)

Bicycle built for two?

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:34:00 -0400

It’s spring, so like every other homeowner I know, I think about getting rid of some of our clutter. That inspires the idea of a garage sale. And the garage sale makes me think of what “big-ticket” draws we could offer, and that brings me to our tandem bike.

This is no ordinary tandem bike. This is $2,000 worth of sleek Cannondale high-tech machinery, only ridden twice. I bought it for Steve for his birthday early in our life together, well before my eventual acceptance of Steve’s hatred of all “Outside Magazine” style adventure sports.

His biggest complaint when we went mountain biking was that I rode too far ahead of him, so I thought this solved everything. I’d seen other couples gliding along in perfect sync when we’d gone to Kettle Moraine, so the idea really appealed to me. Until we actually rode it. The first time, we just took it out for a quick ride and discovered that it was very hard for me to balance both of us. The second time, Steve took the helm. It wasn’t long before the stress of trying to control it and deciding how fast and where to go got us bickering.

Finally, Steve decided this had gone on enough and squeezed the hand brakes — hard. Unfortunately, only the front brake reacted, and the back end, with me still pedaling, was thrown high in the air. I will never forget the horror of staring down at the top of his head. I think after that moment we decided to walk it home, and it’s never been on the road again.

What’s even more funny, aside from my complete misreading of what the bike would offer, is how we view it now. I will bring up the garage sale idea at least once a year, and he’ll mumble that we really shouldn’t sell it because “maybe the kids will take it out some day” or “maybe we’ll try it again.”

For me it represents a really stupid purchase so I just want it gone. But he has more loyalty. It’s an admirable trait. Maybe we’ll pump up the tires and take it for a spin this weekend.

Julia’s first bike ride of spring (and her mother’s...

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 08:51:16 -0400

Julia’s first bike ride of spring (and her mother’s first rollerblading).

Different learning styles

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 08:50:00 -0400

It’s been two months since I started J and J on piano lessons. Mrs. Victoria commented on how different their learning styles are. I guess that refers to Julia’s method of goofing around on the keys versus John being more end-result oriented. I have heard the first part of the Star Wars Darth Vader march theme at least 100 times.

I don’t know what their musical futures hold, but Mrs. Victoria is an encouraging instructor. And she has to be, because these days, music lessons today battle with a host of extracurricular activities, and band funding is down.

I started playing clarinet in third grade. Our instructor Mr. Rahn had an outstanding reputation. He was also, in some students’ eyes, a jerk. (My older sister egged his house once.)

He didn’t suffer unmotivated students well, and I was one of them. I never practiced at home. Of course, we played every morning in addition to section lessons once a week, so I still squeaked my way to second chair.

By eighth grade, my relationship with Mr. Rahn was truly strained. One spring day, Ms. Avalon, a young student teacher, attended one of our section lessons. Fifteen minutes into it, Rahn gave me a “woodshedding” for my lousy playing on Kensington Overture. He’d yelled at me many times before but no other adult was ever present to add to the humiliation, so this time, I started crying.

But that’s not why I remember the day. It was because of the next moment, when Ms. Avalon lit into HIM about berating me. The first chair, Heather Hall, and I sat there stunned, watching the fight unfold, ending with the angry departure of Ms. Avalon.

Looking back I always worried about what happened to her. And I want to tell her, thank you, but he was right. I deserved all of that. For six years I was lazy and probably brought down the entire section’s morale. I really should have quit. But my father loved clarinet so I didn’t want to disappoint him.

I just wish my learning style was more conducive to the tough love approach so I’d be a better model for J and J now. Let’s hope they keep at it.

Baja Marimba band, Wes Montgomery on Bacharach special

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:21:00 -0400

Baja Marimba band, Wes Montgomery on Bacharach special:

This brings back memories of listening to my mom sing “What the World Needs Now.” One of my most cherished gifts of all time was Steve giving me a Burt Bacharach three-DVD retrospective. OK, not jazz per se, but great music anyway. I’ll have to bring that along to Florida next time.

I wish I’d been able to see some of these videos before I interviewed Lee. It must have been cool to appear on this special with Wes and say, wow, we’ve certainly come a long way.

Baja Marimba band on Durante/Knotts show

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:55:43 -0400

Baja Marimba band on Durante/Knotts show:

I’m back in the jazz project saddle after a month’s absence (Arizona vacation, online project, video editing) and found some recently-added clips of the musicians. It eats up so much time searching through but there’s great music being added every day, and it helps my project tremendously to be able to include a few moments of them.

This one has Lee “impersonating” Herb Alpert and features an amazing drum solo/comedy performance by drummer Frank DeVito. Lee is edgy in it, to say the least, and has a great reaction when the drummer forgets to come in. Along the YouTube related links column on the side you’ll see other recently-added Baja Marimba appearances and a short documentary. The fan who added some of them is a 29-year-old jazz drummer from Long Island (sort of in Lee’s neck of the woods). I should encourage Lee to drop by one of his performances.

Benny Barth Trio and Mel Torme on TV

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 13:41:33 -0400

Benny Barth Trio and Mel Torme on TV:

This one features Benny with Gary Long on piano, Perry Lind on bass. It was produced by jazz critic Ralph Gleason. When you call it up you’ll see several more from the same show.

Happy Valentine’s Day from John, who drew this clever...

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 20:14:00 -0500

Happy Valentine’s Day from John, who drew this clever card-exchange scenario between droids with retractable arms. The one at the bottom looks a bit like our dog, Pixel.

He auditioned and got a premium recurring role on Perry Mason,...

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 16:21:23 -0500

He auditioned and got a premium recurring role on Perry Mason, but passed it up.

Med did not buy my contention of the military bands being...

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 16:09:56 -0500

Med did not buy my contention of the military bands being “morale builders” for the troops.

Med Flory describes his role in Claude Thornhill’s band in...

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 16:01:51 -0500

Med Flory describes his role in Claude Thornhill’s band in getting musicians from point A to B regardless of their condition.

Saxophonist/clarinet player Med Flory explains the difference...

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 19:32:00 -0500

Saxophonist/clarinet player Med Flory explains the difference between the French / Italian style of playing while making me laugh in the process. By the time he was in seventh grade, the band director promoted him to the high school band, where he played first chair from ninth grade on.

Just friends — and please stop calling!

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 08:08:00 -0500

I was scanning cyberland for excerpts of Med’s acting to add with his interview and came across a Bonanza fansite boasting 3,200 members with names like “Adamsgirl” and “Joesmyhero.” One of the members, “Daydreamer,” had written a biographical sketch on Med, who played several roles during the course of the 14-year-long western drama. She complained she couldn’t find anything recent on him.

Flush with the pride of insider knowledge, I started typing a response about his playing at Charlie O’s, the Med Logansport Jazz Festival, his alumni article, etc., but before I posted it, I took a look at a thread below the dialogue and spotted this addendum from Daydreamer:

“Thanks for the kind words everybody. I was so relieved when I got this [biography] posted, but my Med obsession lives on. Last night I dreamed that I found a magazine with Med on the cover and his complete life story inside of it. Then I dreamed that they made the story of his life a made for tv movie of the week.

If Med only knew the fangirl angst he’s causing!”

I decided right then, out of respect (and a little fear) for Med and Rex, to leave her in the dark.

Rich Henry talks about loaning his alto sax to Charlie Parker,...

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 09:51:20 -0500

Rich Henry talks about loaning his alto sax to Charlie Parker, who would sometimes pawn his own instrument to buy drugs. (Henry was careful to get his sax back at the end of the night.)

Rich Henry talks about the perils of being a jazz musician in...

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 07:18:20 -0500

Rich Henry talks about the perils of being a jazz musician in New York and how he landed playing for trombonist Buddy Morrow of “Night Train” fame.

Rich Henry, who ran off with a band for six months when he was...

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 07:16:19 -0500

Rich Henry, who ran off with a band for six months when he was still in high school, talks about one of his earliest favorites, Tuxedo Junction. In this case the tuxes were wringing wet.

It seems like every month something related to the project gets...

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 07:11:00 -0500

It seems like every month something related to the project gets posted on YouTube, so I added these two videos, one from John Bunch, another from Med, below.

John Bunch performs in Prague with Benny Goodman in 1976. There are several songs from that tour recently uploaded on YouTube.

Med Flory solo during Sarah Vaughn’s “Just...

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 06:43:21 -0500

Med Flory solo during Sarah Vaughn’s “Just Friends”

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Thu, 29 Jan 2009 04:24:25 -0500

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Sign in to YouTube now! Sign in with your Google Account! Barth looks back at the Mastersounds’ Monterey music and a missed chance, due to 9/11, at playing with jazz promoter George Wein.