IAJE in Review

Here are some more highlights from my four days in New York attending the International Association of Jazz Educators:

The "Musicians as Entrepreneurs" class was a good reminder that I need to spruce up my bookeeping skills. Things are not quite up to par around here.

I met Will Calhoun, formerly of In Living Colour, and gave him my CD. I also met Paoli Mejias, Grammy-nominated latin jazz percussionist, and John Benitez, Grammy-winning latin jazz/salsa bassist. Gave them all CDs. Seeing that I gave away 21 CDs in all, I'm obviously just skimming the surface of naming whom I met. I've been getting lots of follow up emails since I got back, and I gots to do the same!

Kenny Werner's class on "Playing from the Space" was great, albeit way too short at less than an hour. Here are some nuggets:

"One day at a time is a good way to practice."

"Art asks questions. Everyone on TV is answering questions, not asking."

"When thy eye be single, thy sight be divine."

"In the real world, there's good and evil. In music, they're just slightly different chords."

"In music, spirituality climbs on the shoulders of sensuality--of saying thank you."

"People think Effortless Mastery is about not practicing--they say, well, Kenny says I should just accept where I am now and not practice. No. It's about practicing to the point of mastery. Nothing's worth playing until it's just spilling out of you. I practiced playing in 5 and in 7 until it was totally free."

"The biggest joke about free music is that people try to play it correctly."

"Even just a page of music can be overwhelming when you sit down to practice. If that's so, look for two bars, or the smallest point you can start with."

"Swim the whole universe of music and just laugh."

The entire clinic is archived on his website, apparently.

What else. Oh, I liked the "Sing along with Ella" class. We learned her solo to Take the A Train, as well as some keys to her style--she was a fan of the Boswell Sisters growing up. The teacher, Amy London, played some snippets of the Boswell Sisters, who were really swinging!

I met many many people: musicians, festival bookers, DJs, PR agents. I got to say thanks and get a hug from Mark Ruffin, who had so kindly enthused about my CD on the air after I handed it to him at the 2004 IAJE. He said he was looking forward to the next one!

We went out to S.O.B.'s and saw what turned out to be a historic night: Manny Oquendo and Libre, with 76-year-old timbalero Oquendo telling us this was his last gig. I danced without stopping, and had a blast. Then, our last night in town, we all went up to Harlem to eat soul food at the world famous Sylvia's. It was delicious comfort food! After that we took a picture in front of the Apollo Theater (where Ella was discovered) and took the subway back.

Finally, I was proud of myself for taking the E Train and then the AirTrain to JFK--only $7, and faster than the Supershuttle on the way into town had been.