Over the weekend I went to Lowes hardware to pick up some materials for minor household repairs. It was pretty early in the morning and I had “Moontrane” from Larry Young's Unity blasting from my truck CD player. I pulled into the parking lot beside two gentlemen loading drywall into a pickup. One of the guys asked me who I was listening to. I enthusiastically told me the song title and artist to which he exclaimed… “MAN that sounds GOOD!” I grinned from ear to ear as if I had performed on the album myself. I think it makes me feel good when an under appreciated art form like jazz gets a positive nod from anyone. It also gives me hope that people will still be coming out to hear me when I start playing.

I?ve had another solid week and making progress. These journal entries are going to get boring if this keeps up! More than anything I think my attitude has been positive and that is where it all starts. I am trying to finish up some assignments that my teacher gave me so I can get another lesson in the next few weeks. It includes memorizing a few licks (in C Major, C Minor 7) and getting familiar with some basic chords on piano. The focus isn't really on where my hands are but how each chord sounds and what formula creates those sounds. Fun stuff so far. I still need to work on my scales and intervals.

I sometimes wonder if I am getting way ahead of myself with regards to playing the trumpet and learning jazz. While I am improving on the trumpet I wonder if the time I spend working chords and practicing improvisation would be better spent doing more long tones, slurs and articulation studies. I'm hoping a happy medium will still give me the results I?m looking for.