59

Up to page 59 in the Piano For All Book one.

Good jazz trio practice this morning. Working on a jazzy and vocally cool “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.”

56

Up to page 56 (of 91) in the first Piano-For-All book.

Beatles

Continue to work on the Piano-For-All book 1. Tempted to also work with a Charlie Christian book I have. Worked on a jazzy version of “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.” 

Watched Ron Howard’s movie about the touring years of the Beatles; a great film.

Snowing! 

Piano, Norwegian Wood Five, Michelle

Up to page 16 of 92 in the first Piano-For-All book.

Recorded a version of “Norwegian Wood” that might be modified for our trio.

Found a version of the Beatles’ song “Michelle” that I recorded some time ago. I played it in a back seat of our vehicle while my wife was driving me and the kids home from a vacation. You can hear the cars on the highway and our car in the background. One of the kids held the recorder as I played.

Piano

This is it. I’m tired of just meandering in music. It’s time to commit or shut up. Time to commit to losing weight, too. This is the year. 

Giving myself 2 years to progress satisfactorily on the piano or just going to stop it. Thought of different methods I might use. But without getting into all that, here’s the two year commitment:

1. Will finish the Piano-For-All Program by Robin Hall.

2. Use my Weight Watchers and common sense, will lose 100 pounds.

That’s the formal commitment.

Here’s the more relaxed goals of this year: 

Will also dabble in some quasi-Sudnow style piano play. Will also continue to play guitar in the two bands I’m in. Will engage in more spiritual reading and prayer. Will spend less time on my phone. Will read more challenging books, like the biography of Thelonious Monk. Will listen to more vinyl albums. 

This Year

I want this year to be different......actually lose weight.....actually memorizing about a song a month Sudnow style.....actually finishing the lead guitar section of the Swing Guitar book......

New Year’s Stuff

Practiced from the Swing Guitar Book today. This year I want to lose weight....get more into spirituality.....learn more about guitar playing....do more...

Gig Night Pictures

Gig Night Picrures

Gig Night Pictures

Open Mic Night

Open Mic Night

https://youtu.be/PdnT-Ba_YI4

https://youtu.be/880ybYrgJiU

Bob Dylan at The Met

Recently finished listening to all of Bob Dylan’s authorized studio releases, and here’s a ranked order of them in terms of how much I liked them:

 

1) Blonde on Blonde 

2) Love and Theft

3) Highway 61 Revisited

4) Bringing it All Back Home

5) Time Out Of Mind

6) Together Through Life

7) Modern Times

8) The Freewheelin Bob Dylan 

9) Oh Mercy

10) The Times They Are a Changin

11) Shot of Love

12) Another Side Of Bob Dylan

13) Shadows in the Night

14) John Wesley Harding

15) Blood on the Tracks

16) Tempest

17) Basement Tapes

18) Slow Train Comin

19) Bob Dylan I

20) Nashville Skyline

21) Street-Legal

22) Planet Waves

23) Desire

24) Under the Red Sky

25) World Gone Wrong

26) Infidels 

27) Christmas in the Heart

28) New Morning 

29) Saved

30) Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid

31) Self-Portrait

32) Good As I Been To You

33) Fallen Angels

34) Triplicate

35) Empire Burlesque 

36) Down in the Groove

37) Knocked Out Loaded

Also, my son and I saw him last night in concert and it’s was quite a memorable and great show. Saw him in Philadelphia at the opening night at The Met, and the venue was fantastic. Had spotlights outside the venue. Some notes: 

1)!Cry a While” was apparently set to Link Wray’s “Rumble.

2)  A GREAT highlight was a cool version of “Scarlett Town” with the kid singing it standing up holding the mic all kinds of cool ways and every once in a while holding a pose of just standing there in his silver suit striking this certain cool pose he kept doing consisting of standing there with one hand on his hip. Coolness!

3)DID take awhile to figure out what songs he was doing- because he revamped them a lot! I forget what song it was to, but I really thought he placed it to the music of “Cold Irons Bound.” 

4) He played no guitar but was at the piano. He sometimes stood up getting into it. Man, he can really play the piano! It was turned up, and he can really play!

5) Another highlight was “Like a Rolling Stone”: at some points the band just seemed to drop out and he sang lines in almost a sad way. It was beautiful and I won’t forget it.

6)  Biggest highlight for me was “Blowin in the Wind” Tears were welling up. The arrangement was stunningly beautiful including a violin

7)!Early Roman Kings” was awesome

8)?Setlist:

1.       Things Have Changed

2.       It Ain't Me, Babe

3.       Highway 61 Revisited

4.       Simple Twist of Fate

5.       Cry a While

6.       When I Paint My Masterpiece

7.       Honest With Me

8.       Tryin' to Get to Heaven

9.       Scarlet Town

10.   Make You Feel My Love

11.   Pay in Blood

12.   Like a Rolling Stone

13.   Early Roman Kings

14.   Don't Think Twice, It's All Right

15.   Love Sick

16.   Thunder on the Mountain

17.   Soon After Midnight

18.   Gotta Serve Somebody

19.   Encore:

20.   It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry

21.   Blowin' in the Wind

  

Three Amigos

2014:

2015:

2016:

2017:

2018: