A lot has happened since my last post. Thinking back on the musical experiences I've had in the past couple weeks, I can hardly believe it all actually happened. Fortunately I have 20 other witnesses in the band who can back me up and say that it really did!
Two weeks ago, we had Arturo Sandoval come and play a guest artist concert with us. Yup, THE Arturo Sandoval. It was a really special occasion because we turned our usual Friday night swing dance sets into a Latin dance party with Arturo. It was nice to play 3 full sets with a guest artist- usually when other guest artists come, we only get to play one 30 minute Plaza Gardens set with them, which always feels too short.
We had two mornings of rehearsal with Arturo before the show. They were definitely high energy and somewhat chaotic as we tried to get all of his music in order. Arturo is definitely a very intense guy- he gets completely into the music whenever he plays. He also has the most blinged out trumpets I've ever seen. Ha, they had cigar stickers on the bells of the horns! I don't think I'll ever forget the first time we played through A Mis Abuelos with him as a band. As soon as he came in with the super loud screaming melody line, it was this really bizarre full circle moment. I can remember listening to that song specifically when I was in middle school and geeking out with all my trumpet player friends. Fast forward several years, and here I was playing it with him!
Besides playing incredible trumpet, Arturo also plays timbales and piano and really well. At the end of one of our rehearsal days, he sat down at the piano and started playing "All the Things You Are". He was totally absorbed in that tune for about 10 minutes, and we all just stood and watched him in silence. Ha, we were so transfixed that Patti our stage manager had to force us to leave and get on the tram to costuming.
Our concert with Arturo was a strange mix of terrifying chaos and musical joy. We were never sure of what our tune order would be until a few minutes before each set, and at most we had played each tune twice through before the concert. We were literally on the edge of our seats trying to concentrate as much as possibly on the charts in front of us. Despite the tinge of anxiety, the concert was outrageously fun. Arturo played beautifully and impressively as expected. At some points we could literally see STEAM (or mist, or whatever it was) coming out of his bell from the intensity of the air he was pumping through the horn. The most nerve wracking parts of the concert for me were my flute parts, which were fairly extensive. Side note: why is it always that you learn to play flute with this beautiful, upright posture, but they every time you're doubling in real life, you're hunched over into a microphone in the worst possibly playing position ever? They should teach you how to play flute while you're crammed into the fetal position and your elbow is in your neighbor's shoulder. That would be a more realistic playing situation.
Before the very last set, Arturo took a couple minutes to talk to us. He somehow got off on an anti-drug and alcohol rant that was absolutely terrifying. I didn't ever intend on abusing either one of those, but I certainly won't after Arturo threatened to hypothetically fire us all if we ever did. Scary!
The concert was definitely a high point of this summer and a landmark for the whole College Band program. My souvenir and proof that it happened is this picture I got with Arturo after the concert:
As if that concert wasn't enough of a musical pinnacle for the summer, less than a week later we had John Clayton come in as a guest clinician. If you're not familiar with John's work, he's an incredible bass player, arranger, and bandleader. He's also one of the most deeply intellectual and generously kind people I've ever met. I sincerely hope that everyone gets the chance to be around John at some point, because it is an absolutely life changing and perspective altering experience.
John talked a lot with us about our career paths. It was both a very humbling and encouraging experience to have someone as successful as John show sincere interest in our life goals. John's perspective on improvisation is this: There are no bad solos, and there are no good solos. It's all art, so the judgement is left up to the listener. All we can aim for as artists is to play with honesty and clarity- play what we feel, and play it with the technical proficiency required to get the emotional message across clearly. That thought process was a real game changer for me. I realized that I don't need to worry so much about judging the quality of my solos against those of other players I admire. I only need to aim to express myself as clearly and honestly as possible. That definitely involves jumping a lot of technical proficiency hurdles that still stand in my way, and a lot of soul searching to truly find my musical voice. I'm starting to finally reach the point in my musical career where I think I'm on the brink of really creating something that's my own, and that process is really exciting.
The other point from John's clinic that really hit home was when he advised us all against a "fear-based education." What he meant by that was going to music school- particularly graduate school- to get a degree you're not really interested in only because you're worried your plan A won't work out. For instance, if your dream job is to be a top studio musician, you don't necessarily need 3 degrees. However, plenty of people will stay in school only because they're afraid to take the plunge into their career or aren't really sure what steps to take to get where they want. Now, I'm a big fan of school- I plan on getting a master's degree myself, and I may end up with a doctorate someday. But John's statement made me really consider why I want to go to graduate school. I decided my motives are pretty noble: I really desire the knowledge and new perspectives I'll gain wherever I go, and it will help me build a musical network in other areas. Of course, having extra degrees will theoretically help me get a teaching job, which is something I want to do (and not just "fall back" on).
Our concert with John was a total blast. All the tunes we played were his arrangements and really well done. Even though John is a very gentle and somewhat reserved person in conversation, he is a fiery bandleader. He literally runs around the stage and has a collection of pretty crazy cues! His energy and passion for the music is infectious. John, who studied with Ray Brown, actually plays on Ray Brown's bass. He brought it with him and I got the chance to touch it, which was a eerily powerful experience. You can't touch an instrument with that much history and not get chills.
Oh, and check this out- anyone recall the INCREDIBLE performance of the National Anthem by Whitney Houston at the Superbowl way back in the day? Whitney kills it, but what's equally amazing about this performance is the super hip arrangement the orchestra is playing. Guess who wrote that? Yup- John Clayton. Take a listen:
There is a lot more to tell you about events that have happened, especially over the past few days. Since this is already a long and rambling blog post, however, I will save it for a not so distant future post. Cliffhanger! We're on our 9th week out of 11 here in the College Band program, and I still continue to be in awe every day of the opportunities I've been granted. I'm incredibly thankful for whatever it was that got me out here, whether it was a good audition, a reference from a friend, dumb luck, or a divine plan (or a little bit of each).
More to come soon! Stay tuned :)
