Happy new-year! Wishing you a healthy and fulfilling '06. 2005 has been quite a year with the war in Iraq, the tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, the earthquake in Pakistan - a lot of challenges set before the world last year! Despite the United States government claiming that our economy is growing, funding for the arts, medical coverage, funds for college scholarships, and real growth for those other than the corporate elite and the very rich is on a downward trend. What our government tells us seems more like a trumped up PR maneuver than an accurate assessment of what is going on. We’re fighting a war that is remarkably similar to the war in Vietnam in terms of motive and outcome. Ironically, Bush, Cheney, Rice, and Rumsfeld have never been in the military. Yet they confidently send young people over to Iraq to fight their war. If musicians played like these people do their job, no one would listen!

Things to do: vote and be active in local government, make donations to non-profit political and arts organizations that have a similar philosophy to your own, do volunteer work, speak out on matters that bother you, buy a hybrid car, and be grateful for every moment. We are all loaned this precious time we have here on earth. Make the most of it and do the right thing. These are my new years resolutions.

I recently read a new tribute to John Lennon (Memories of John Lennon) organized by Yoko Ono, and consisting of anecdotes from various people who were affected by this man in some way. It’s an interesting window into the life of this great musician. I was always taken by the honesty of Lennon’s music as a Beatle and afterwards. His songs have always conveyed some aspect of his life in such an honest, genuine way. To learn a little about his life through reading the book, and then thinking about how his songs reflected on his life experiences has been quite inspiring. It has made me think in a more concerted way about what it is I might trying to convey in the music I create.

The other night I heard some music in a dream. It sounded so interesting that it woke me up. I stayed in bed replaying the sounds I heard in the dream for a while, and then went back to sleep. I heard some other music in the next dream that was so transparent that I could hear and comprehend every detail. It was a wild sensation. In any case, when I awoke I remembered a general shape to the two snippets of music I had heard in the dreams. These are the starting points of the next two things I write.

I’ve been working on a book that deals with piano as a means towards becoming a more articulate improviser and composer. The piano has always been a window into the world of harmonic and melodic motion for me. I still use the piano to learn new music, to accompany students, and to find new pathways through the 12 tones. This book will deal with piano voicings, how to play a bass line in the left hand and comp with the right, how to play chords with the left hand and play melodies with the right, how to comp using 2 hand voicings, and how to create various systems with which to explore possible compositional devices. I hope to also cover rhythmical interdependence of left and right hand, and how this may enable one to delve more deeply into the writing process. This is something I’ve been thinking on for a long time, as most of the great musicians are and were accomplished pianists.

After spending a week with family and friends during the holiday season, I’m feeling rather grateful and inspired. It’s amazing how visits to beautiful places and being with inspiring, vibrant people gets the creative juices flowing. There is inspiration in so many places! We watched a movie on a flight the other day traveling from Salt Lake City to Houston. The opening theme to this rather average movie was great. It had this wonderful, positive feeling to it. I thought how cool it would be to try and write and play something that had the same kind of flow and groove. Another inspiring moment occurred a week earlier when we went to hear the New York Philharmonic play the Rachmaninov first symphony. Man, talk about lyricism! Right out of the gate this piece starts tugging at your heartstrings. Pure inspiration that went on for 26 minutes, but felt more like 5 minutes. I spoke with one of the woodwind section in the orchestra after the concert that felt he would have liked the piece to never end.

In closing, keep at it, stay alert, choose your circle wisely, exercise every day, read as much as possible, enjoy every moment, learn how to cook nice food (it ain't that hard!) and be grateful for who you are and what you are doing!