This week I had swing band rehearsal and for the first time, I felt confident
about playing.  I played out more and managed to hang on for dear life on
some of the new tunes.  That may not seem great to some but it was better
than my normal routine of watching the notes roar by in blur.  This time I
made a point of figuring out the first few measures in advance and it helped me
get started and keep going.  I made a few mistakes but when I did I
recognized it, remembered it and made a point not to do it again.  There
are still some tunes that I just can’t for the life of me play.  One is an
arrangement of "Tangerine" that starts pretty high (for me). 
Fortunately I actually have the music to it and I plan to work on it since it is
a favorite of the band.  At worse I’ll play the parts down an octave.

Another opportunity that appears to be coming to pass is SINGING with the
band.  All of my singing up to now has been at church (since I was 10) and
some small groups in high school.  I’m looking forward to the opportunity
to doing it.  My favorite male jazz vocalists include Frank Sinatra, Sammy
Davis Jr. (who sang like Frank), Harry Connick Jr. (who sings like Frank), Nat
King Cole and Bobby Darren.  I’m going to branch out my listening to
include a few others like Joe Williams, Mel Torm