Some most excellent news arrived recently: I've been selected as one of three apprentice piano technicians for the Tanglewood Music Festival in the Berkshire mountains in western Massachusetts. This is a great honor, and will be a wonderful learning experience; Tanglewood is the summer home to the Boston Symphony, and the concert series also includes performances by the Emerson Quartet, the Juilliard Quartet, Peter Serkin, Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, and Joshua Bell, among many others. The three apprentices and the head technician are responsible for the health and well-being of around 80 pianos on the festival grounds, in the performance venues and rehearsal spaces. I will be there from the beginning of June until mid-August, doing nothing but working on pianos and absorbing as much of the vibe of Excellence as I possibly can. What could be better? [Well, V could be there with me for the summer, but she will be visiting at least once - for the 4th of July performance by Diana Krall.]
It was 20 years ago this summer, 1989, when I left Massachusetts as a credentialed-yet-inexperienced bassist for an opportunity which afforded huge growth - as the bassist for the Aspen Jazz Ensemble. And now I return to Massachusetts in 2009 as a credentialed-yet-inexperienced piano technician for what should be a very analogous experience at Tanglewood. As they say, large circles are spinning.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Why "A is A" Piano Service?
I've been asked this question a number of times since I started my business. The short answer is: Because it made you ask! But, beyond that there are a couple of reasons. Aristotle, for one. His law of identity, stated in this way, means that everything that exists has a unique nature, which cannot be avoided or denied. Ayn Rand used it as the cornerstone of her philosophy of Objectivism. To me it means: there are no mysteries that cannot be solved with the proper dedication and focus. Also: there is no use in evading reality, because it's gonna happen no matter what you do, brother.
Secondly, 'A' happens to be the first note I tune on a piano, and it's the same 'A' each and every time.
I temper this seemingly intractable viewpoint by paying heed to a favorite quote from the guitarist Robert Fripp, viz. "Things are not as they seem. But neither are they otherwise."
Secondly, 'A' happens to be the first note I tune on a piano, and it's the same 'A' each and every time.
I temper this seemingly intractable viewpoint by paying heed to a favorite quote from the guitarist Robert Fripp, viz. "Things are not as they seem. But neither are they otherwise."
I'm glad there is - I
Most people who appreciate jazz improvisation and piano are hip to Mr. Jarrett's Standards Trio, but this wonderful recording (1992, released in 1994) sometimes escapes notice. I can't explain it fully; perhaps it's simply the presence of Paul Motian on drums rather than Jack DeJohnette (whom I love in the 'normal' trio without reservation), or the intimacy of the setting, or the quality of the recording itself. Whatever the reason, this is the Jarrett trio recording I come back to most often, and fondly. Jarrett searches here as he does nowhere else, especially on the standards 'Solar', 'Basin Street Blues', and the seldom-recorded 'Chandra' by Jaki Byard. The ballad which closes the set, Rogers and Hart's 'It's Easy To Remember' is stunning.
Seven-year Itches
So - there are those who believe that our lives can be viewed in seven-year periods, or sections. I'm not sure I buy into it all-the-way (there are ways to make numbers come out almost any way you want, if you're willing to look hard enough), but as I look back on my life, approaching twoscore and eight, it seems there are some significant events which can be viewed as happening in and around the beginnings/ends of the septadic (?) divisions. Briefly:
Age 7: I don't know - do you remember what you were doing when you were seven?
Age 14: The beginning of my life as a listening musician. This marks the year when I discovered the joy of delving deeply into a recording, dissecting it, and making it a part of me. I spent a LARGE portion of this period listening to music, much of which still resonates with me to this day. I also developed a love of performing and the experience of creating music with others. Mind-altering substances may-or-may-not have been involved; I'm not saying either way.
Age 21: The end of a period of trying-to-become something other than what my nature dictated, and the beginning of a period of trying-to-become what was right for me. The transition revolved around flunking out of college (as a computer science major) and beginning my serious study of music. If substances were involved, they would have been left behind during this period. Mostly.
Age 28: With a Bachelors degree in Voice Performance under my belt, I choose to follow another path towards instrumental music. In the midst of my Masters program I change from vocal music to the string bass. I complete the MM at UMass 18 months later and begin a career in college music teaching.
Age 35: I leave my first teaching job, and start towards the completion of my doctorate (begun in the previous period), but am sidetracked by an opportunity to combine my vocal and instrumental teaching and performing abilities at a unique school in Iowa. I spend time there, leave for a while, and finally return at the end of this period. I also meet my Sweetie, the divine Ms. V.
Age 42: The beginning of the end of my teaching career. I spend the first three years fighting it, but then decide on a move towards something else. I discover Guitar Craft, the substance and sense of which becomes a very important facet of my life. This is where piano technology presents itself to me as an option, a result of an otherwise innocuous conversation with a colleague, and I decide to pursue the craft. A move to Chicago, with a stop along the way to gather up V, and we set up operations in Lake County, home of a surprising number of forest preserves, the best beer selection I've ever been near (except for Dirty John's in Iowa City), and now, A is A Piano Service.
There you have it: I'm at the beginning of the end of my seventh septad (It's a word. I just decided.), and trying to be watchful for signs of the future presenting itself.
Age 7: I don't know - do you remember what you were doing when you were seven?
Age 14: The beginning of my life as a listening musician. This marks the year when I discovered the joy of delving deeply into a recording, dissecting it, and making it a part of me. I spent a LARGE portion of this period listening to music, much of which still resonates with me to this day. I also developed a love of performing and the experience of creating music with others. Mind-altering substances may-or-may-not have been involved; I'm not saying either way.
Age 21: The end of a period of trying-to-become something other than what my nature dictated, and the beginning of a period of trying-to-become what was right for me. The transition revolved around flunking out of college (as a computer science major) and beginning my serious study of music. If substances were involved, they would have been left behind during this period. Mostly.
Age 28: With a Bachelors degree in Voice Performance under my belt, I choose to follow another path towards instrumental music. In the midst of my Masters program I change from vocal music to the string bass. I complete the MM at UMass 18 months later and begin a career in college music teaching.
Age 35: I leave my first teaching job, and start towards the completion of my doctorate (begun in the previous period), but am sidetracked by an opportunity to combine my vocal and instrumental teaching and performing abilities at a unique school in Iowa. I spend time there, leave for a while, and finally return at the end of this period. I also meet my Sweetie, the divine Ms. V.
Age 42: The beginning of the end of my teaching career. I spend the first three years fighting it, but then decide on a move towards something else. I discover Guitar Craft, the substance and sense of which becomes a very important facet of my life. This is where piano technology presents itself to me as an option, a result of an otherwise innocuous conversation with a colleague, and I decide to pursue the craft. A move to Chicago, with a stop along the way to gather up V, and we set up operations in Lake County, home of a surprising number of forest preserves, the best beer selection I've ever been near (except for Dirty John's in Iowa City), and now, A is A Piano Service.
There you have it: I'm at the beginning of the end of my seventh septad (It's a word. I just decided.), and trying to be watchful for signs of the future presenting itself.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Here we go...
Welcome to the beginning of the end of the seventh septad of my life on this planet. What does that mean, exactly? Is septad even a word?
More to come...
More to come...
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