What a Ball of Confusing Rubber!
As the world presently does resemble a knotted ball of rubber bands (today, I’m wondering what they’ll find under the hood of President Biden’s Corvette), my world is rather staid and simple. The older I become, this is the course I intend to travel. And with less responsibility (our last cat died last July, I’m now sporting a low-cut, no-fuss hairstyle, and I’ve jettisoned the last bitter, bothersome being from my sight), I can think more about travel. My fanciful thoughts of stuffing my backpack with half a dozen t-shirts, my well-worn Sauconys and a pair of jeans that won’t get washed until I return home, and pitching myself into an Arcadian idyll tickles the Dickens outta me. But this morning, I awoke to the first significant layer of snow all winter, so I’ve shelved my dream until I’ve sanded the front steps.
So, what’s ahead this week for this gal…
· I’m finishing up my interview with bassoonist Mark Ortwein; an erudite individual with a good sense of humor (the only way to last a round or two with me.) The interview will be posted by Wednesday afternoon here and heard live on WGXC 90.7 FM the next morning.
· I have an interview with someone involved with The Hudson Jazz Festival (February 16-26). You do know that Jazz and improvised music lives, breathes, and thrives in the Hudson Valley of New York, right?
· I have several releases to sweep off of my desk - the eponymous release by the Gardyn Jazz Orchestra out now on JCGardner Music (if you were wondering - GAR, meaning "a weapon", and DYN meaning "sound or alarm", combined with the termination ER gives the name "Gair-den-er", which means "a warrior"!); pianist Bob Himmelberger’s Legacy (out now on Trance); drummer Jay Lawrence with The Platinum Jazz Orchestra on Payin’ My Dues (out now on Jazz Hang which he co-owns); guitarist Doug MacDonald’s Big Band Extravaganza (out Jan. 31 on Dmac Music); and legendary drummer Joe Chamber, exploring “the musical connection between Jazz, Latin, and African music” on Dance Kobina (out Feb. 3 on Blue Note)
The rest of my time will be spent lovingly curating upcoming episodes of The Jazz Disturbance and Situation Fluxus and waiting for my day in the sun…
…but not today because it’s overcast and snowing.
Keep the faith, y’all.