Life & Music Updates

Last week I accepted a promotion with my company. There will be a little more responsibility and occassional stress, but it's not really that much more than I have now. And yay! for a raise and small bonus. I'll have a lot of preparation - there's actually a 10-week plan to get me ready, and I'll be out of town a total of 2 weeks for training Once I get into the new position, it should be a welcome change. (And what do I have to lose? If I end up hating it, I'll just resume my job search...)

While I'm excited about the promotion, I'm still more excited about music stuff.

The dixieland band had our first rehearsal since November, (we had a little holiday hiatus) and it was fun as always. We've got a gig next weekend, with a guest keyboard player. He joined us for practice and was terrific. The caliber of all of the players in that band sometimes still surprises me; they are so casual about their talent, they pinpoint issues and work on them if necessary, but often everyone is just right on top of things.

The quintet is progressing; there's a big emphasis on perfecting the musicality of some 'simple' pieces. At times the horn player and I really want to move on (we've had a few conversations along those lines- mainly because our parts tend to be the ones most simplified), but it's really good to focus on those basics, and sometimes eye-opening to realize that it's still difficult to play 100% consistent half notes, or match the articulation between 4 other players. And when we ended Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral last week, one of our trumpet players actually cheered because it was so majestic and beautiful and exciting.

My biggest concern with my promotion at the day job is that it may sometimes interfere with the music stuff.