Whine, women and song (not necessarily in that order)

It's too nice a day here in Miami, sunny but not oppresively hot, to sit here and blog for too long, so a few odds'n'ends.

My friend and occasional duo partner Camille Jentgen now has a Myspace page for her music. The sound clips make me want to hear more...

Boston composer (and jazz wife) Julia Werntz blogs about the decrepit Boston jazz scene. I concur wholeheartedly with her analysis. There is no obvious solution- the direction of the culture in general, combined of high rents all over the city, the general lack of available space that gives Boston its quaint charm, and Boston's function as a launching pad to New York, don't show any signs of changing soon.

However, I think more innovative thinking is needed rather than simple bitching. In the last ten years Boston has seen an explosion of interesting, and somewhat improbable, new organizations on the classical music scene, from the fantastic BMOP to the early music group Vox Consort, to name two. Why couldn't this model work for us? (There is the Boston Jazz Collective, of which I'm a member. but suffice to say I don't think this is their model.) Maybe when I'm home, and not so in debt, I'll take this up further...

Finally, closer to my current home, the big buzz on Cruise Ship X this week was the UEFA Champions (Futbol aka Soccer) League Final, with Barcelona defeating Arsenal 2-1 on a late explosion of fantastic passing (by Barcelona) and terrible goalkeeping (by Arsenal). I'm not a big soccer fan, but I don't hate it either, and Nick Hornby sort of made me a passive Arsenal fan, so I watched. (Maybe too it's that Arsenal is often playing Red Sox to Man U's Yankees, complete with the Stienbrenner connection.) This was a very entertaining match, with lots of wide open play and scoring opportunities for both sides. One thing that sticks out to this gringo, however- man do those guys bitch at the refs. The whiniest American athelete would be the picture of restraint on a soccer field.

Current listening- Bobby Previte, Weather Clear Track Fast I've played a little of Bobby's music, and like it. He has a fascinating idea of the role of the composer in ensemble music, where the musician shapes the piece as the piece shapes the improvisation. I think this, and the slightly more obscure Hue and Cry, are the best examples.