JUST MUSIC

I was going over the blogs from the past and discovered I had two drafts - one of which was "JUST MUSIC" . Apparently I never did post it, so I will rewrite it and post tonight.
This is Saturday, July 3, 2010. It would be my 52nd wedding anniversary if my husband were still alive. I suppose whether he is here or not, it is still my 52nd anniversary. Oh, well. no sense sitting her supposing - 1958 is a long way back in the past. One think I learned early into our marriage, getting hitched on a holiday weekend is not a good idea. You pay double for hotels if you can get into one at all, and you can't get a sitter for your kids because they all have their own holiday agenda.
I have three absolutely great kids, wonderful children-in-law, sis grand children and four great grand children. They don't care much about my music - that's o.k. I probably don't care much for theirs - I don't even know what they like. I just hope they all like some kind of music because it does provide all sorts of benefits: passes time pleasantly, keeps the mind nimble, gives us rhythm in our steps and binds us to people of like mindedness. Everything else fades when one is wrapped up in his/her music.

This past week Joanie Manero of Lowrey Organ Company, Regional Sales Manager for the east coast (including one of the Dakotas and Arizona - somebody flunked geography while they were excelling in organ!). Joanie did two workshops at the dealer, Starbird Music Mall in Portland, and then after a pot luck lunch, came to my home and did a workshop for Joyce and me. We are both Prestige owners and the dealer does not have one in stock. When you are entertained as well taught there is nothing to complain about.
It was a wonderful day in my book. I am optimistic that the organ program in Portland is alive and well and growing once again.

I purchased two new books lately. Both are fake books - easy fake books to be specific. They are written entirely in the key of C which eliminates the necessity of dealing with all those little little sharps and flats at the beginning of the pieces. The difference between fake books and the EZ-Play format is smaller notes, slightly more - and more difficult - chords and some pieces have interesting embellishments. The music is not as challenging as conventional sheet music, the traditional fake books, or the music I have purchased from O'lyn Callahan. It is pure enjoyment, turn-the-page music. I love it.

The Gospel Fake Book has a lot of good old gospel music, some I am familiar with but having been brought up in a Congregational Church, hardly the music of MY childhood.
The other recent purchase is a great Latin Fake Book. I spent nearly two hours today quite leisurely working on some of those sambas, rumbas, tangos and bossas. The nice thing about music at this age is no one is timing you or telling you what you are doing wrong. No parent reminding you you haven't been there long enough. Or telling you the notes are sour. There are benefits to being old.

A lot of Latin music was written by Antonio Carlos Jobim, aka Tom Jobim. He was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1927. He married and had children, but he moved to New York (I suppose, after all, that was where all the action was) and worked with Sinatra, Fitzgerald, Stan Getz and many other American musicians. Among his compositions - he was a key figure in the development of the bossa nova - were (American titles) Meditation, SLsilghtly Out of Tune, Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars, The Girl From Ipanema, How Insensitive, and one of my favorites, Wave. Most if not all of them are in the Latin Fake Book.

IF it weren't for composers like Jobim we might never have been exposed to the great Latin rhythms. If you watch Dancing With The Stars you know how they have become a standard in all forms of music.

Keep a song in your heart and keep the music playing.

Janice