I'm Back, Baby!!

Yeah, I know. You'll believe it when you see it. My last return was one post. I get your skepticism, and I personally share it.

But, for today, I am blogging. I've decided to make some changes in my life. I've not blogged about it, but I've been obsessively playing World Of Warcraft, which has led to much less time in Second Life and some shirking of RL obligations, as well. I've been in a total holding pattern in my life, except for the leveling of multiple characters in WoW. As a person in recovery, still possessing very addictive behavior patterns, this is not abnormal, for me or others like me. The only problem arises when I fail to recognize and deal with it in a timely basis.

So, I am here and I have not played WoW yet today. What I did do was wake up, have some water first (my caffeine addiction is kicking in again,) and then had some coffee. I actually went outside and drank some with the dogs. Then I came inside and actually did a short yoga session and meditated! I know! It's shocking! And now I'm blogging? The world may very well be in shock from my behavior today.

I'm actually overwhelmed at what I need to do to catch up in my life right now, but really, when I simplify things, I just need to do a few things each day and within a month, change will be noticeable.

One thing will be changing here. I am going to add another blog for now. The new one will replace my old whitesail.org blog. I will use this blog for only SL posts, so likely most of my blogging will be on the other new blog. I first have to find the perfect title for it. Much of what I will write about will be spiritual matters. I will also be posting more on my Savoy blog. I will be writing more about music and jazz and musicians and the Savoy itself. I would like to see my career manifest itself in music and jazz, so that is a logical and important step for me.

Anyway, I have to take care of some things in RL now, so I will leave you with this. I thank all of you who are my friends, for just being you and staying with me. I've been a bit of a recluse from SL lately. It's a combination of things, including WoW obsession, being burnt out in SL, and just plain isolating, which is an addicts best (unhelpful) friend. I am, however, moving forward again, and we'll see where this takes me. Take care.

Savoy Jazz Club Blog!!

After much thinking, I finally decided to do it! I have created a Savoy Jazz Club blog named.....get ready.... The Savoy Jazz Club. :-)

I've been wanting to do a Savoy blog entry for awhile, but just haven't got around to it. Finally, I decided that I should do a Savoy blog where we can post about events, and I could post about some of the jazz artists that I admire so much. The Savoy has rekindled a love for jazz that started in the eighties for me. When I was in college, I roomed with some guys, one of whom listened to a lot of electric jazz and fusion. I eventually came to love this music that was new to me, but it wasn't until I discovered album by Wynton Marsalis, who at that time was a teenager. At first, I thought I had gone too far. Acoustic straight ahead jazz is what it was, and the only person I had ever heard play it before was my dad. I played it for my friends and was met with what can only be described as complete indifference and almost horror.

I was intrigued and delighted, however, and I kept delving in to the genre, finding Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Billie Holiday, among others. I was in the midst of my addiction and something about jazz resonated with me, much as what happened with Blues music at the same time. I didn't know it at the time, but blues was deep inside jazz, and there is no separating the two. I eventually lost most of my records as casualties to my alcoholism and addiction, but when I got sober I started picking them up again in CD form. Eventually though, I lost interest in jazz for almost a decade.

Enter Bill Mondegreen and the Savoy, and what was a smoldering ember ignited. I found friends who shared my love. I found that there were a lot of people who loved the same music I did and were grateful for the Savoy and what we did there. I now am fortunate enough to almost break even, to have the best DJs in SL work with me, and to have two of the finest singers in SL grace our presence on a regular basis. You will read more about these wonderful spirits in the Savoy Blog, as well as hearing from them, I hope. And I would be remiss without mentioning our hosts and hostesses who humor our massive DJ egos and work with us, making the Savoy a home and sanctuary away from the rigors and dreariness of everyday life.

Finally, The Savoy Jazz Club is first and foremost about the music. We don't have sploders and contests, as fun as those can be. We have music. We have what I consider to be the best music in SL on a consistent basis. We have friendly and witty hosts who absolutely crack me up, and also have an understanding and appreciation of the music. While I manage the Savoy, I really don't do an awful lot. My only instruction to the DJs is play the music you love and have fun. If they, and I include myself, do this, we will find our audience and we will have fun doing so. While playing popular music is cool and fun, do we really need to hear Crazy Bitch again? I love going to Ogg's gig and hearing Derek Trucks or John Scofield. I love going to Cat's gig and hearing Rickie Lee Jones and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. I love going to Iso's gig and hearing Ronnie Earl. I love going to bigd's gig and hearing Jimi and Johnny Winter cuts I've never heard before. Music. Jazz. Blues. The Savoy Jazz & Blues Club.

Back to reality....

Well....My fantasy of not ever having to work in RL has come to an end, and I must devote a fair chunk of my time to finding a job quickly, and then actually going to work. *sighs* The last weeks have been fun....and a complete waste of valuable time. I have blown a chance to get started on some things that I wish I would have. In fairness to me, I wasn't clear on what I wanted to do in the first place, so possibly this was an incubation period. The vague description of what I'm shooting for is graphics and web design, but obviously I have a lot to learn. I'd like to eventually ply my trade in music somehow, preferably in blues and jazz. We'll see...

Speaking of jazz, we have a fabulous New Year's Eve at the Bistro and Savoy last week, starting with bigd at the Bistro, and ending with Oggden, me, Nina and Iso/Hy at the Savoy. We had a ton of great music at the Bistro, and I even got to do my first Cowboy Junkies set, which was fun for me. Bigd was rocking the house most of the morning and afternoon, along with Tali, Ogg and I.

At 6pm, the party moved to the Savoy, where Ogg took the stream with a fabulous set of fusion and jazz. After that, Nina and I traded off with me spinning and her singing, and the house band was just pumping!! Kimala pulled out her U2 signature guitar, while me and Aeryn provided the rhythm to back her. The highlight of the evening was when Hy and Isobela shared the stream for a hilariously fun and touching evening of blues, together for the first time...again....heee. By coming "out of the closet" as a RL couple, they provided laughs and great music for the next couple hours until we all collapsed with exhaustion. All in all, it was a fabulous evening and a great way to bring in the new year.

And it is a new year....2009. While the last year, in some respects, has seemed to be somewhat of a failure for me, in RL particularly, I have to pick up and move on. I have to learn from these failures and see what are the lessons in them, and possibly find out that there are no failures, but only learning experiences. Hills, valleys and plateaus....that when viewed without judgement, provide the beautiful landscape of my life.

I will probably not have as much time to devote to Aeryn and her vampiric ways, but I hope to have some time now and then to engage in her little "hobby." You never know when you're going to end up in a bird cage, high above a frozen lake, captured by aliens...wondering when you'll be able to taste the sweet red essence of a fresh human.....*sighs* Fortunately she escaped to roam, yet again. She also went to a wonderful wedding of a vampire friend, that was truly the most beautiful wedding I've been to yet. And yes, I'm aware that I've traded pronouns and am possibly confused. :-P Confusion is part of my charm, Yo!

So, the end of a chapter and the beginning of a new one. Exciting and scary and exhausting. What shall I create in this life of mine? Because, that is what it is....creation.....without limitations.

Wow!!

Short post and I may add to it later, but Nina Brandenburg sang live for the FIRST damn time at The Savoy Jazz Club today and she just blew us all away. What an amazing performance....first time out of the gate. Technically near perfect, and great phrasing and style, and she has a great feel for jazz and blues....improving and embellishing to match the songs. Oh, and her song selection was fantastic, too. She sang Ella Ticket-A-Tasket, Diana Krall Peel Me A Grape and Frim Fram Sauce, I Will Remember You by Sarah McLachlan and Stay by Sugarland. Her finale was the best I've heard with two Eva Cassidy styled versions of Imagine by John Lennon and Somewhere Over The Rainbow, which actually choked me up and brought on tears. Amazing performance and I'm sure that it's a matter of time before she hits it big in SL.

God, I was just speechless, and that NEVER happens!! ;-)

I'm getting ready....

....to get back into SL again, I think. This has been a very strange week. I have not done a very good job of getting caught up around the house in RL, and I have been on SL very rarely other than to DJ and attend a couple other events with friends. I have, however, been feeling that pull of doing some things in SL that I have not felt for a while. Nothing concrete, but I think I feel a project coming on. Don't ask me what, I'll let you know when I know. :-)

Oh, and I have an entry on my other blog too, today. It might explain me starting to emerge from my funk. I love Synchronicity, don't you? ;-)

I'm bored in SL.....

....in some ways.

I love my friends and DJing. That's basically why I log on anymore. I recently, or not so recently, moved into a new house on my own beautiful private island on an open space sim. Lots of water, etc. I still have not decorated or furnished my house. I'm just not interested in that right now. I think I SHOULD be, but I'm not. :-P

So lately, I'm logging in to DJ and to take care of things that need to be done. And, of course, to hang out with my friends. The changes in my RL, which obviously color my SL, have been taking me through some ups and downs. Changes will do that, so I'm riding it out, and I feel good about things now. I feel like a lot has changed and I have a positive outlook. :-)

I'm sure when the weather turns....when it gets colder, that SL will be more attractive to me. I'm guessing too, that I will be re-inspired to do something special and create something or do something more than I am now. But I'm not pushing so much. I'm very excited about life right now, and I have not felt that way for a while. I mean, certain things excite(d) me, but life as a whole...not so much.

Bottom line, SL better save up it's energy for me, because I'll be back with a vengeance baby!! Unless I pull a muscle or something.

;-)

What I really need...

....is another blog. Okay, not just another blog, but my OTHER blog.

WhiteSail

My plan is this....I am going to use this blog for Second Life posts, and use the WhiteSail for other stuff. With everything going on in my life, and inside me, I'm looking at branching out some and doing more writing. Don't laugh...I heard that and it wasn't nice!! :-D

That's all for now. I just finished watching What The Bleep again and I'm feeling quite inspired. What I decided I would try to do long ago within Second Life, was to try to use it somehow to recreate my life within that platform. By DJing, which is bringing my love of music, in to my Second Life...to the forefront of my SL, my idea was that would help me to bring it in to my Real Life. While that has not happened yet, at least not to fruition, it has set things in motion in me, including the ideas set forth in this movie, which is pushing me to make major changes in my life.

One of these changes is to focus more on what matters to me. Music, friends, family, spirituality and living the life I want to live. In some respects, living the life I NEED to live. I'm not happy with my RL job at all right now. I work for a great company, but I hate the job itself. I NEED that to change. In fact, more importantly and more powerfully, I have CHOSEN to change that.

That's all for now, but I hope to have the other blog going again soon, if I can find out where my damn control panel is!! :-D

Miles Davis - So What

Incredible youtube of Miles Davis Quintet performing So What. John Coltrane with an unbelievable tenor sax solo, Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb on drums. Classic. Jazz. Beautiful.

Fine And Mellow

I found this video yesterday. I have not been as utterly and completely blown away by a performance of any kind in a long, long time. There are two things about this clip that are very interesting. Actually there are more than two, but we'll keep it simple today. I'm playing this right now and I have this big grin on my face.



First off, this was recorded two years before Billie left us and she is in rough shape. Towards the end of her career, her voice was not what it once was, but she had lost none of her ability to sing, and by sing I mean transmit through her voice to us feeling even the essence of the song. In the words of Gary Giddins, "Her voice was frayed in those last years, but she communicated more deeply than ever, making banal songs more urgent and the good ones radiant." Miles Davis said, "I'd rather hear her now (1958.) She's become much more mature. Sometimes you can sing words every night for five years, and all of a sudden it dawns on you what the song means....So with Billie, you know she's not thinking about now what she was in 1937, and she's probably learned more about different things."

She can say more with one single word and note, than most singers today can in a whole song. I love watching her face, at times peaceful, at times you can see her thinking and listening, even working the song in her head. And I absolutely love the way she watches the soloists, truly appreciating their playing, even adoring in the case of Lester Young and Ben Webster. But behind the joy of her singing and her appreciation of her bandmates, there is a deep sadness and a hint of desperation in her eyes. I watch this video with joy and despair, having been in her shoes, at least partially. Her story is worse than my own, as I did not grow up as she did. Her childhood was horrible, and I cannot claim that, but I went through addiction so I share that with her. The joy comes from the music and from her sheer brilliance and artistry, and that of her bandmates.

And the second part of this video that is astounding her is band. Imagine a concert with Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Paul McCartney and Rick Wakeman backing up the singer. I'm sure I could come up with a better analogy, but the lineup is obscene. The first pair of solos is taken by tenor saxmen Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young. After another verse, trombone player Vic Dickenson and baritone sax player Gerry Mulligan take turns. The final pair of soloists are Ben Webster on tenor sax and Roy Eldridge turning in a blistering trumpet solo. Watch Billie's face, particularly during the solos of Lester and Ben. Lester is amazing in his solos simplicity, yet deep bluesy feeling.

I share this with you in hopes you may enjoy it too. I would encourage watching this in it's entirety if you listened while reading. Go back and watch....oh, Lord....I'm being bossy, huh? Just a suggestion...lol. And I have one more quote about Lady Day in her last years....

"I feel there is no one in jazz who can come close in terms of emotional penetration to the Holiday on these tracks (referring to her last albums.) For those who say they liked the youthful Holiday and don't dig Billie in middle age, I would suggest they not abandon these records yet, and instead save them for their own middle age." - Nat Hentoff

All that jazz........

Life is so amazing. You can be minding your own business, and something jumps up and grabs you. Or maybe something jumps up and smacks you and says, "Hey!! Where the hell you been?" Well, SL is the same. And here is another example....

A few weeks ago, I went with Jenda to hear a friend of ours DJ some blues. Bill actually played "real" jazz. Now, I'm sure most of you have been to jazz clubs in SL and I have too. The music is nice and romantic and great to dance to. But, for the most part, it's not jazz. Frank Sinatra was a great singer, but really didn't do jazz. Billie Holiday sang jazz. Don't get me wrong, many of the clubs there are fun and very nice to go to, but Bill and I started talking and he wanted to open a club where he could play the real deal. I agreed. About this same time, someone contacted me about DJing some jazz at a club she managed. So I started DJing at JD's Jazz & Blues for the owners and for Parker. Talk about synchronicity or serendipity.....two different events occurring within days to lead me to where I need to go.

The thing is, I used to listen to jazz a lot, and I had quite a good collection on vinyl. After selling most of my albums during my addiction, I recovered most on CD, but still have a ways to go. I have not listened to jazz hardly at all in years though, only when it comes up randomly on my stream. So Bill decided to open this club and I'm involved in that with him, along with Jenda. And it has been amazing for me spiritually. There is not another form of music that I know of that is as rich creatively as jazz. It's one thing to write a great song, and go into a studio and perform and record it. There may be some improvisation during the solos or some vocal embellishment here and there. In jazz, you have a few guys (or gals) who may just have a general outline of what they're playing. And they just wing it....and I know that's oversimplifying, but it is so amazing to hear it done well. The thing about jazz is, they players aren't just playing what's in their heads, they are actively listening to each other, responding and playing off of each other. Listening is so important.

I really know so little about jazz. I know what I love. I cannot speak eloquently about it as I would like. I know that when I hear Horace Silver play Song For My Father, I get chills every time, particularly when I hear Joe Henderson's tenor sax solo. I know that EVERY time I hear Miles Davis and his sextet play So What, I'm utterly blown away....by every note...it's perfection. I know that when I hear Scott LaFaro and Bill Evans play together, I'm witnessing a psychic connection that I'm honored to be able to share in. I am humbled by these musicians, for what they achieved cannot be matched in any other genre of music, or possibly any art. And this is art...the height of creativity. There are so many aspects....Stanley Turrentine's tone, John Coltrane's epic virtuosity, Charlie Parker's...well, Bird did everything....lol. Listen to Miles Davis play anything. He doesn't fill your ears with notes, like Coltrane might, but he understood better than anyone, the spaces between the notes and that they were also part of the music. Listen to Billie Holiday's phrasing....I cannot explain what she does well. All I know is that I hear someone who has better pipes (think Christina Aguilera) and how they have no idea how to get to the soul....the heart of a song. Most pop stars today really need to listen to Billie and Miles, and stop with the lame embellishments. (Beyonce and Christina, this means you)

I'll close by saying, this is one more thing that SL has added to me life. Or rather, somthing that SL has reminded me of....brought me back to. I've played more jazz in the past weeks than I have in years. And my life is richer for it....my heart is fuller...my soul, happier. Thank you to Parker and Bill, and to Jenda for encouraging me.

I'm laughing inside because yesterday, I started out DJing blues at Not Too Hot, then played pop/rock at the Hive, and finished up last night with Jazz at The Savoy. I can't keep this up too long, as I'll get burned out, but damn it has been fun. I would like you all to join us sometime at the Savoy Club. This is Bill's baby, and I'm happy to be along for the ride. Please join us. If you love jazz, this is the place for you. If you want to learn about it, we can help...heehee. I should say, Bill can. He's extremely knowledgeable. Personally, I need to do my research better. I've caught myself announcing incorrect personnel on song....the horror. And jazz is about the players, so I need to make sure I get that right...lol.

Shimmer by Shawn Mullins

Sharing with us what he knows
Shining eyes are big and blue
And all around him water flows
This world to him is new
This world to him is new
To touch a face
To kiss a smile
New eyes see no race
The essence of a child
The essence

He's born to shimmer, he's born to shine
He's born to radiate
He's born to live, he's born to love
But we'll teach him not to hate

True love it is a rock
Smoothed over by a stream
No ticking of a clock
Truly measures what that means
Truly measures what that means
And this thing they call our time
Heard a brilliant woman say
She said you know it's crazy
How I want to try to capture mine
I think I love this woman's way
I think I love this woman's

way she shimmers, the way she shines
The way she radiates
The way she lives, the way she loves
The way she never hates

Sometimes I think of all of this that can surround me
I know it all as being mine
But she kisses me and wraps herself around me
She gives me love, she gives me time
And I feel fine I feel fine

But time I cannot change
So here's to looking back
You know I drink a whole bottle of my pride
And I toast to change to keep these demons off my back
Just get these demons off my back

Cause I want to shimmer, I want to shine
I want to radiate
I want to live, I want to love
I want to try to learn not to hate
Try not to hate
We're born to shimmer, we're born to shine
We're born to radiate
We're born to live, we're born to love
We're born to never hate