So far, 2012 has provided some pretty exciting and insanely busy times. It wouldn't be much of an exaggeration to say that I've spent about half of the new year driving from gig to gig and place to place. While this has mostly been fun (I'll get to the non-fun part in a minute), I'm pretty psyched to spend the next week or two in the same town. My car is thrilled too, considering it's caked in about 1500 miles worth of road filth.
In the first week of January, Joel and I traveled to the great American city of Louisville, Kentucky, for the JEN conference. I've actually been to all of the previous ones, but this was Joel's first conference, so it was fun to go with him. For all of my non-jazz readers out there, JEN stands for the Jazz Education Network, and the conference is probably the largest annual gathering of jazz musicians, jazz educators, and jazz nerds. (Consequently, about 85% of the conference attendees wore glasses and were balding, the choice look of jazz professors everywhere.) I really enjoyed being saturated in music for the 4 days of the conference. Some of my favorite groups and artists I saw were Victor Wooten and Steve Bailey, the Miami Saxophone Quartet, Donny McCaslin, the Danny Gottlieb Collective, and the Alan Baylock Orchestra.
One really fun part of the conference for me was a reunion with some of my friends from the Disney band- Drew, Chris, Dan, Ben Ford, Brett, Adam, and Tyler. It was great to hear Drew and Ben play again with University of Illinois's Concert Jazz Band, and to check out original compositions by Tyler and Brett in the student composition showcase. I also talked to tons of other musicians and educators who I've encountered over the past several years. One advantage to the jazz community being small is that it feels like a family- everybody ends up knowing everybody. And the vast majority of professional musicians are always willing to chat with students and colleagues, no matter how successful or famous they become. Like John Clayton said last summer, "The musical community is different because when we see each other, we don't shake hands- we hug!"
I'm definitely planning on attending the conference next year. It's in Atlanta, so it will be super convenient to travel from Alabama over the holidays. For all my friends in the Southeast, don't miss this! Students, conference registration is super inexpensive for you, so you have no excuse!
Shortly after classes started, I had the pleasure of traveling to Huntsville to work with students at Grissom High School for their mini jazz camp. Grissom's A Jazz Band is preparing to record an entry to the Essentially Ellington competition, so the rest of the faculty and I were there to whip the band into shape over a quick two days! It was really fun to work with such talented, respectful students who are excited about jazz. My saxophone section was a bit shy, but they opened up and really improved between the beginning and end of camp. I also really enjoyed meeting and playing with the other faculty members. They were all terrific players and fun people, which just proves my point that there are talented musicians EVERYWHERE (even in my hometown!).
Here's a video of the faculty performing for the students at camp:
Finally, my last travel adventure of January was both horrendous and rewarding. Last weekend I drove to Champaign, IL for my first graduate audition. I left from Huntsville expecting about an 8 hour drive. What I got instead was one of the worst travel experiences of my life. About two hours away from Champaign, it started raining. Apparently it was the perfect temperature for chaos, because the rain began freezing. Soon the roads were covered in ice, and things were getting really scary. Part of the interstate was closed and I was routed on a detour. I happened to stop and get gas and food, which was probably a good decision. Once I got back on the road, I encountered completely stopped traffic on the interstate. What I thought might be a short delay turned into me sitting in the exact same spot on the road for 5 HOURS. Apparently the ice had caused so many accidents in such a short time that the interstate was basically a cluttered skating rink. I just so happened to be stuck in traffic next to a guardrail where I could not travel forward or backward. Saying that it was miserable is an understatement. I had planned to run through my audition material that evening, but instead I was listening to to traffic reports on the radio and biting my nails. I started to worry that I wouldn't even make it to my audition by the next morning.
FINALLY, we started moving again. Instead of spending any more time on the road, I immediately got of the highway and found the closest hotel. I basically napped for about 3 hours, woke up and got dressed in a suit, and then drove to Champaign at 7 in the morning. Fortunately, I made it, and my auditions went well, which made the nightmare of a drive worth it. Surely the rest of my auditions won't be that stressful!
After my audition, I finally got to relax and have some fun. I hung out with Ben Ford from the Disney band, who was kind enough to be my host in Illinois. The next morning, we woke up and drove to Chicago for the Disney auditions. It's tradition for AACB alumni to return to the auditions the next year to say hello to Ron and the crew. We had a pretty large group of alumni show up- me, Ben, Drew, Chris and Dan. Ron actually had us sit in the audition room and listen to the applicants, which was probably more intimidating to them than we ever meant it to be.
As I looked at my friends from the band in that room, and as we chatted and reminisced with Ron, I realized we were sharing a beautiful full circle moment. Just a year ago, all of us had been on the other side of that audition- unsure of whether we would make the band, unsure of exactly what we were getting into, and strangers to the people who would become our best friends. After spending a summer in California, all of us have become stronger musicians, more confident people, and we've gained a new family. I'm so excited for the musicians who will make up next summer's band, because their lives will most definitely change. I sincerely hope they surpass everything we were able to do as a band and keep raising the bar.
Thankfully my drive back to Bama was much less eventful than my drive north. Last Monday, I FINALLY had my last procedure for my teeth implant process, and I got my shiny new crowns! For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, all you need to know is that I wasn't born with enough permanent teeth, so I basically had to have some fake ones put in. To anyone that ever has to get teeth implants, just know up front that it's a pretty long and annoying process. But it's not the end of the world, even if you play a wind instrument.
That's pretty much all for now! I have three more graduate auditions coming up in February, so I'm sure you'll be hearing about that soon. Until then, I'll be in the practice room :)
By the way, if you haven't checked out my new website yet, please do so! I just updated it with a kaboodle of recordings and some new gig dates. Here's your chance:
http://www.brianacarrasquillo.com/index.html
Hope everyone is doing well. How are your resolutions going so far?
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