I finally got my Schilke custom piece in the mail last week. I went through  my usual routine and at the end – I was longing for my GR. While the tone was  similar on the Schilke, I found it lacking in several areas including comfort  and articulation. While I could probably get acclimated to it I am going to  stick with the GR. To be honest, the past few weeks on the GR have just gotten  better and better. The mouthpiece safari is over (at last) and I am purposely  avoiding equipment websites where there is always a flavor of the month  mouthpiece, horn or method. At this stage in the game there is no substitute for  hard work. I’m rolling my sleeves up and getting dirty with Schlossberg, Arbans,  Clarke and anything my teacher throws at me.

It is funny how one opportunity goes away and another takes it’s place. I  left the master classes on Saturdays and no more than a week later – my church  is starting up an instrumental group who rehearses in the same time space. I had  no idea this was going to happen but I was extremely surprised. I have no idea  how many people we will have or how frequently we will play but I’m looking  forward to it. Since leaving the community bands my reading chops have not been  challenged and this could fill that hole nicely.

One thing that I think beginning jazz players get away from is properly  stating the melody to a tune. A lot of cats blast through the head so they can  get to the improvisation. I unfortunately count myself in that number I was  listening to some music over the weekend and I paid particular attention to how  the greats set the mood using the melody. It is a fantastic launch pad that  should be utilized more. As a result I am going to pick a head to a tune and  REALLY learn it. Right now I am leaning towards “Who Knows Where or When” or  “When I Fall in Love” since I already have Aebersold CDs for them. I will try to  share the results when I feel I’ve made some improvement.

I am also going to work on a classical piece that my teacher gave me. It  looks like a challenge technically and I can’t help to think that I will be a  better player if I can get through it.