TT 319: School Stuff
and a few cheerful links
More about Louis Armstrong shortly, but I’m at NEC today and thinking about what I’m teaching. Usually I’m pretty basic and direct about technique and repertoire, but three essays are comparatively philosophical:
“Old Man Yells at Cloud.” The melody is the song.
“There is Only Today.” All the best music sounds like its time and place.
“How to be ‘Original.’” Individuality usually means doing something the peer group wouldn’t do.
Patrice Rushen lays down the law.
Howard Mandel interviews Carla Bley in 1978.
Vinnie Sperrazza re-ups his classic piece on Paul Motian. (At the time of first release, Joshua Redman tweeted that Vinnie’s piece deserved a Pulitzer.)
Vince Keenan reviews new books covering the classic comic movies Airplane!, The Blues Brothers, and Anchorman.
Speaking of comedy, the 2005 SNL skit “Lazy Sunday” featuring Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell came back on my radar lately.
“Lazy Sunday” led further back to the 2003 Homestar Runner bit where Strongbad teaches us how to draw the dragon “Trogdor.”
Both these small skits meant a lot to me at the time, and they are both still great today. Humans are incredible.
It turns out the little Casio keyboard “Skills of an Artist” theme is available in sheet music form at the Homestar Wiki. For what it is, it is perfect music.
(I admit I think the bar line is in the wrong place. The first “F” must go on beat one, not on beat three. But, on the other hand, who am I to correct the great Strongbad?)