May 27, 2019 The Beginning of something new….
I’m starting a new blog today. My husband and I were talking and he randomly said: “hey, you should start/write a blog about all the music you see.” I laughed. But in all honesty, I go out and hear a lot of music. In my first week back in NYC alone, I’ve heard four shows: a jazz singer, a rhythmic explosion lead by a drummer, a vocal improve workshop and a duo jazz piano gig.
So…just a little background and I’ll get to the music. I moved to NYC in 1996. I’m a musician. A singer. A songwriter. I make music that tells stories – often jazz influenced, as that is my first musical mother, but it has evolved to be just a part of the patchwork of who I am as an artist. I am an educator. A published author (eek!). I have four albums to my name, with a fifth on the way. I have too many degrees (BM, MM, PhD). I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity and drive to finish all of them and learned a lot about myself each time I moved through a program with the last one being the most profound. My path hasn’t been linear. Rather, crooked and irregular – I prefer the road less traveled, as it were. From 1996 – 2019, I have called NYC home, although I lived in Miami for seven of those years – five in school (with a lot of time in between the MM and the PhD) and then another two where I was the Director of Contemporary Voice at The Frost School of Music, University of Miami. What an amazing gig it has been – my colleagues, students, classes – all truly amazing and I miss them already. But I missed the city and my husband (five years long distance is way long enough, thank you) and all the people I love here more. I missed the soul. And I missed the music and the randomness this place seems to generate – and how it pushes you to be uncomfortable. I like being uncomfortable. It’s where we grow the most.
I’m not sure what’s next. When you walk away from something, I’m finding you need to allow the universe a little time to discover where you went so that it can help you down whatever journey is on the horizon. I mean, you have to help it out by figuring out what you want – so that’s what I’m doing. I’m leading with things I love to do, people I love, and then thinking about how to be organized and thoughtful with my actions to achieve the goals I have.
So, with this blog, I don’t really have any reason except that it seems like an opportunity to write about music, about people I care about, and about this city I love. As I said, I go out to a lot of music. Sometimes, I’m the only person in the audience for these shows and sometimes I’m one of a whole bunch of people. But either way, I love supporting live music, my friends, and venues that provide live music listening opportunities. Here’s my thoughts on some of the stuff I’ve heard.