Greetings from Geneva, Switzerland. Writing from the middle of a 4 week European run which includes Yellowjackets, big bands, a saxophone quintet, and guesting here with George Robert’s quartet. It’s an incredible gift to get to play music you’ve written with people all over the earth. Music is such a potent language that crosses all barriers of ethnicity and philosophy.

I just came from Cologne, where I joined with the Cologne Saxophone Quintet (visit their web site to find out more!). This is a wonderful group of musicians who play saxophones, clarinets, flutes, and a wild instrument called a tubax! The tubax has the range of a contrabass saxophone, but looks more like your bathroom plumbing. It has a wild sound, and the quintet used it advantageously. It was so comfortable to play with these guys. The arrangements are straight-ahead, r and b, and somewhat classically influenced, which made for a really varied and interesting program. I did a cd with them a few years ago, so it was nice to come back and revisit the music. It was a challenge to play groove music without a drummer in this situation. This reinforced the fact that as saxophonists we have to think like a percussion instrument.

Played with a nice big band in Gemersheim, Germany last week as part of a festival that had some very cool things going on. Then went on to Tromso, Norway and worked with a big band up there. The band did a great job, and the country-side was magnificent! Land of the midnight sun! You could go out and get a suntan at 3 in the morning. Beautiful place.

The latest book I’ve just finished reading is called “The Devil’s Horn”. By Michael Segell. It is a history of the saxophone that is bursting with bits of information about the instrument, its inventor, Adolph Sax, the players, and the ruckus that the saxophone has been causing for the last 140 years. A great read! Wonderful quotes from Sonny Rollins, Dave Leibman, Phil Woods and on from there. Some of the comments made have been real food for thought the last few days.

Here’s a great recipe for some fine eatin! Brown rice risotto - my own little creation. Very easy to make and economical to boot. You’ll need the following ingredients:
2 cups short grain brown rice, 6-10 good sized cloves of garlic, one medium sized onion, stringbeans (1/2 cup finely chopped), shitake mushrooms (1/2 cup finely chopped), extra-virgin olive oil, chicken stock (2 cups), white wine (2 cups), salt, pepper, and good parmessano cheese (reggiano parmessano is best).

1. Cook 2 cups of brown rice to completion (in 3 cups of water)
2. In a large sauce pan sauté 6-10 cloves of garlic and 1 small onion in extra-virgin olive oil.
3. Add string beans, maybe 1/2 cup, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces. You can also add 1/2 cup of finely diced shitake mushrooms if you like mushrooms. Cook until tender.
4. Pour some chicken stock into the vegetable mixture and then pour in all the cooked rice. Stir regularly, adding more chicken stock and white wine as you go to keep things moist. Add salt and pepper to taste. Keep stiring!
5. After you’ve used 2 cups of chicken stock and 2 cups white wine (roughly 15 minutes of stirring) add 1 cup of parmigiano and if you want to really get it happening, a few drops of white truffle oil. By this time the rice should have somewhat of a gooey texture. Serve immediately and groove!

On this trip of four weeks duration I actually brought little in the way of clothing. 5 tee-shirts, 3 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of shorts, 2 dress shirts, one sport coat, and socks and underwear for one week. The most important ingredient is powdered soap for washing clothes. My suitcase is very light and manageable. Good for fast getaways! Also good for air travel, where things are getting tougher in terms of how much weight you can check in, and what you can carry on the plane. I carry my tenor and a briefcase (with computer, books,k etc.) on. In Frankfurt airport I actually had to go through 2 different security checkpoints! The second one had a line a mile long. All the more reason to travel light.

Sat down at a piano in Koln and played for a while. Found a nice re-harmonization of the tune Old Folks. It just came out spontaneously. Compelling evidence that we should all spend time with the piano. It is a great place for research and the formation of new ideas.

In the “Devil’s Horn” book mentioned above there was a lot of discussion on how one finds their own voice on the instrument. The concensus there, which I agree with, is that you do as much homework as you can as far as learning the history and technical production of the music, then get out of the way and let your music come out as it is. I’ve been sitting lately and trying to hear the music in my head, heart and soul, and trying to be accepting of what that is. I feel that if I keep listening to my inner voice (as well as being open to the world around me) I will be guided in the right direction.

On that note, keep swingin, questioning, enjoying the moments, taking nice walks, and doing nice things for the people around you.