Hometown Hosts Historic Half

Fredericksburg, VA is not technically my hometown. By casual definition, hometown indicates where you were born and raised. Well, I was born on a military base in Okinawa, Japan, and grew up in small towns scattered across the US. But when asked where I am from, I usually respond with the simple answer, "Fredericksburg, VA." I spent five years there in elementary and middle school, and then another three after I finished college. Plus, my parents live there.

Fredericksburg is known to most for it's Civil War history. But come this May, it will be known as the home of the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon, sister race to the Marine Corps Marathon. I am super excited that Fredericksburg will now be on the running map!

Interested in running it? Registration opens on Nov. 1 and is expected to sell out quickly, so sign up quick! And let me know... maybe my parent's will put you up! ;)

Yeah, Fred-vegas (Kyle term), yeah!

Photoshoot Shout Out

Thanks to the lovely folk
at Aestheticize Media for the new pro headshots!

See my headshots here.

See more of Aestheticize Media's work here.

Musician Marathoners part 1

Yesterday I ran the penultimate brutal training run. After running from Sakura Park in Morningside Heights, along the Hudson River Park to Battery Park and back for a total of 18 miles, I am still, this Sunday evening, tired, dehydrated, tired, achy, tired, sore and tired.

I always (conveniently) forget how this stage of marathon training becomes so exhausting all other aspects of life enter a standstill simply because, I am just too tired. This is not good when there are commission deadlines looming and holiday music concerts just around the corner (note to self: do not do not do NOT forget to write up an easy "jazzy" version of Jingle Bells for elementary school jazz band by Wednesday!).

There are only a few more high mileage weeks left and then begins my favorite part of training, tapering! But until then, I am searching for a little extra inspiration...

Eric Alexander

I first learned of Eric's 2001 Chicago Marathon sub 3 hour race in December of 2003. I was in Honolulu for my second marathon and had just happened to pick up a copy of Running Times Magazine.

This highly entertaining article, published in Running Time's January/February 2004 issue, was extremely inspiring then, and still is today:

I'm a broken man," Eric Alexander says as we meet at noon for a run around the reservoir in Central Park. Thanks to his 19-month-old son, Alexander has been up since 8 a.m.—which wouldn’t be a big deal, except that he went to bed at 3 a.m. after headlining at Smoke, a jazz club on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The June sun is high and bright, drawing sweat to his fair skin and providing a constant reminder of his less-than-ideal hydration of the recent past.

"I took it pretty easy last night," he says. "Think I had only four beers. It’s rare to get through three sets on less than four. Maybe it was five." Alexander still has to take part in a photo shoot and give a saxophone lesson before leading another three sets that evening at Smoke.

So why, despite his comfortable, conversational pace, are we passing each and every one of the hundreds of other runners circling the reservoir? It probably has something to do with the fact that the only race of Alexander’s life was a 2:58 marathon. continue reading

Sean P. Diddy Combs

All he wanted to do was beat Oprah's 4:29:20 time at the 1994 Marine Corps Marathon. And in 2003, after only 8 weeks of training (!), P. Diddy ran the New York City Marathon in 4:14:54.

Causing much controversy from the amount of publicity and media he brought to the race, P. Diddy raised 2 million dollars for NYC public schools.

Carter Brey

As principal cellist for the NY Philharmonic, Carter Brey still finds time between rehearsal and concerts to train for a marathon. In 2002, he completed the NYC Marathon in 3:51:37. In 2005, he ran NY again, beating his record with a 3:32:39 time.

A few years back, Runner's World profiled Brey:

What made you run the marathon?
I went with my family to watch the runners go by at the edge of Central Park because we had a friend running. We went to cheer her on. And what I saw was so inspiring I turned to my wife and said "I'm going to do this next year." That was it. I saw these people going by who had done this incredible thing. Ordinary people like me. I thought "I could do this too."

Was it hard to train for?
That's a funny story. I applied on the New York Road Runner's website and I did not make the computer lottery. I was rejected. And I thought "oh well I'll try again next year." And at the very end of September I got an e-mail from the Road Runner's Club telling me they had such a precipitous drop off in the number of overseas applicants because of 9/11 that they were inviting me back in, so to speak. So I said great and I wrote back and I accepted. The only problem was that the New York Philharmonic, of which I am the principal cellist, was about to leave for a nearly month long tour of Asia. And at the end of September, I had what...about 5 weeks in which to train. So I did all my training on the road in places like Kuala Lumpur, Beijing and Manila. It was very unusual, to say the least. My training was pretty haphazard and not at all thorough. I already was maintaining a basic level of fitness, so I knew at least I could finish the race. It wasn't a big leap to try to get ready for the marathon. Although, this ext time I'll do it a little differently, I'll certainly start considerably farther in advance.

Was it hard to perform after the marathon?
Just the walking part. Fortunately, when I work, I sit down. But I remember taking a week off from running.

When the Philharmonic travels do you run in foreign cities?
Oh yes. All the time. Quite a few of us do. All the runners in the orchestra know each other and sometimes we arrange to go out in pairs or in groups. Or otherwise we'll see each other in the hotel gym on the treadmills. There are a couple of runners in the horn section and the other member of the orchestra that ran the same marathon is the assistant principal clarinet. Another runner is the second oboist.

Do you run before a performance?
It energizes me completely. I always feel better and more prepared mentally and physically after I've run. It doesn't tire me.

Do you run after a performance?
There's no reason not to, it's just that most performances take place at night. We're nocturnal creatures. But after a matinee for example there's no reason why I wouldn't want to go. I do have to say it's more likely it would happen the other way around because running energizes me but concerts deplete me. I find performing much more tiring.

Does being a musician help your running?
Not directly. But I think they both demand the same kind of discipline. The difference between a professional and an amateur in any field, certainly in music, is that the professional cannot depend on the inspiration of the moment to produce a high quality product. You just have to be able to do it even when you don't want to. If you're feeling lousy or if you just had a fight with someone, nobody cares, you just have to go out and do it. So, I try to apply that same type of discipline to my workouts. There are plenty of days where I just sit on the sofa with a magazine and veg out. But I try to maintain a commitment to fitness. It's like practicing everyday. There are lots of days when I don't feel like practicing either.

Have you ever run with a cello?
Strapped to my back? Only to catch a bus. I don't recommend that.

[incidentally, I have a friend who ran the Boston Marathon with a tuba on his back!]

Do you run to a beat?
Oh, definitely. I almost always have music going through my head. I bet a lot of people do. It's a very natural thing. Very often it's some piece that we happen to be performing that week.

Read the whole thing.

If you know of any other musicians that have also completed a marathon, please let me know!

Where the hell am I?

Sometimes I feel like I'm going to explode from the mundaneness of my life.

I realize I'm no Harold Crick, but when I come across guys like Matt Harding, I get a tightness in my chest on the verge of detonation that I recognize as a desperate, immediate desire to put my current life on an indefinite hold to crawl slowly in a winding, indirect path around this world.

To never experience the rest of the world is to me, a great tragedy that I am currently living. It astounds, and depresses me that there is an enormous planet full of varying vegetation, landscapes, people, languages, food, sounds, animals, music, clothing, rituals, lifestyles, that I have not been able to see, hear, touch, smell or taste.

What good are our senses if they are only exposed to the same experiences day after day? How can we expect to have true compassion for mankind if we've only ever had encounters with one culture? Do we truly understand what it means to care for our planet, if we've never seen vegetation outside of our own? How can I sit at this desk every morning, pretending to write music, expecting to contribute to a society I've never met?

This is not Matt's advocation. In regards to any message he might be stating through his happy feet he states: "Up to you. I'm just dancing."

Check him out, and see if you don't feel inspired to do the same:

For more on Matt's adventures, visit Where The Hell Is Matt?

Nad takes on Monk Competition

Congratulations to Nadje Noordhuis for making it into the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. This esteemed competition will take place Oct. 27 & 28 in LA. Nadje will compete in a live performance against 10-12 other semi-finalists for a ranking, and up to $20,000 award money.

A division of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, the Monk Competition is one of the most highly recognized competitions in the jazz world, helping young artists gain notability. Major record labels attend the competition, and like American Idol (and this is the ONLY comparison) the 2nd and 3rd place winners often gain more fame than the top placer. It's an incredible honor to make it into the competition.

Each year, the competition focuses on a different instrument. To make it to the semi-finals, competitors have to be 30 years of age or younger, submit 5 different tunes meeting a variety of requirements, and have never recorded as a leader or co-leader on a major or independent label.

Nadje, in addition to being a good friend, is a fantastic trumpet and flugelhorn player whom I often utilize in my own compositions. She hails from Sydney and Melbourne, Australia and attended the Manhattan School of Music to earn her 3rd degree, a Masters in Jazz Performance in 2005. She currently plays around NYC, most notably with Sherrie Maricle & The DIVA Jazz Orchestra, Kyle Saulnier's Awakening Orchestra, and the Justice League of Jazz (yes, I've settled on that name for my band, provided the folks at DC Comics don't mind...). Occasionally you can catch her with her own quartet, the NNQ.

As I was browsing the list of winners, dating back to the competition's inception in 1987, I noticed that no female instrumentalists have placed number one. In 2003, Karin Harris placed 4th for trombone, and in 1995 Shirley Bailey placed 3rd for guitar. But so far no number 1s.

On behalf of all female jazz instrumentalists, no pressure, Nad...

Mix Tapes, again

Thank you Destination: OUT for bringing us this solo piano mix tape compiled by Vijay Iyer.

An interesting and educational listen, especially for you non-jazzers out there! But hurry, the downloads will only be active for another 6 days! Hopefully D:O will continue to post these compilations, as I do love a good mix tape!

Audience Participation Necessary?

There was a talker again last night. Oh, nothing irritates me more!!!

I was at Dizzy's with Sara checking out Sherrie Maricle & the DIVA Jazz Orchestra, part of the Diet Coke Women in Jazz Festival. We both have friends in the group and felt compelled to support our "sisters in jazz." And I have actually never heard the band before and was curious.

I was quite pleased with the set. The band swung hard and I enjoyed hearing Carmen Bradford sing her heart out. Janelle Reichman is a saxophonist you need to get to know. She was covering Anat Cohen's tenor chair and played her ass off on a Benny Goodman clarinet tune (wish I could remember the name). I also cheered loudly for Nadje Noordhuis's beautiful flugelhorn feature, Deborah Weisz's plunger enhanced trombone solo, Erica vonKleist's short but sassy alto solo, as well as Sharel Cassidy's alto feature.

I was very happy this band did not suck, as it seems to be one of the primary representations of female jazzers right now. But aside from genuinely enjoying the music, I was once again struck by the audience.

My first observation was that it seemed the band was more at ease than the audience. It was a full house, but a very polite house. The band started their first tune hooting and hollering for each other. The girls laughed, smiled, cheered during each other's solos. They behaved as you would expect any rowdy swinging big band to act.

The audience clapped and cheered at the expected moments, but that was it. Overall, they seemed a bit unsure. At one point Sherrie actually instructed the audience that it was okay to cheer whenever they heard something they liked. At another point, the man sitting next to me turned to me and said, "You sure are supportive." Why? Because I was cheering?

Hmm...

I don't think people know how to listen to jazz. And when I say people, I mean civilians. Non-jazzers. Non-musicians, really. I always wonder who the people are at these shows and why they are there. Are they mothers and fathers and friends of the musicians? Are they people that actually enjoy jazz and don't mind dropping $30 for the cover and another $10 for food/beverage? Or are they the dreaded self proclaimed "intellects" who still equate jazz with sophistication and are hoping to appear hip when at the water cooler Monday morning they relay their weekend hanging at Dizzy's?

Surely the men at the opposite end of the bar where the latter. They were the men that would not shut up. Really, how rude can you be?

I know this is not a new issue, the appreciation an audience gives jazz. I'm glad it's not just other jazz musicians in the audience. But I wish they would loosen up and try actually listening to what they are hearing. Not that I expect a "yeah, man" after every interesting statement a soloist makes. This was after all a big band and the audience most likely related to the overall sound of the band rather than the intricacies of the soloing.

But it did make me consider the different ways people listen and show appreciation for what they are hearing. I know I myself am not gonna be that listener that shouts out in the middle of solos when I hear something I like. But I am definitely a head-bobber. And a smiler. If there's a good groove my body is moving and if I like what I hear I am smiling like an idiot. Then there are people like my friend John, who sit there frozen and stone faced, but enjoying themselves nonetheless, usually ready with a complex analysis of the solo. There are also people like my other friend Doug, who back in college used to get so excited he would bust out into girlish giggles and hide his face in a pillow in attempts to contain his excitement over a Cannonball Adderley blues lick.

I believe music is a communication and that involves audience participation of a sort. Maybe Sherrie has the right idea in educating the audience in when to cheer. I know I spend a good part of every class I teach making my kids participate in "Active Listening" which includes appropriate concert behavior and a very basic analysis of what they hear. How else do we expect these audiences, specifically those new to the music, to know how to listen and that its okay, even better, to be an openly appreciative audience?

Giant Steps

Actually, the trail is called the Giant Staircase, and for any hiker's out there, I highly recommend this nearby hike. Amanda and I met at the W. 178 bus depot, hopped a bus over the GW Bridge and up the into the Palisades, where we disembarked at the NJ/NY state line. The whole trip took maybe 4 hours, the hike was shady and challenging, offering beautiful views of the Hudson and a much needed break from the city.

Here are a view pics to tempt you...

Rave Run

In Runner's World, there's a column called "Rave Run" where people can send in a picture of themselves running their favorite routes. I love pouring over these 2 page spreads of varying landscapes and locations, daydreaming about what it would be like to run in these favorite places, discovering the magic the route holds for each stranger. Does the runner feel inspired when running here? Is it the simple challenge of the route that holds the allure? Does it offer peace, or a desired loneliness? Or is the view so breathtaking that the runner felt compelled to photograph it and mail the print into Runner's World?

Last Wednesday, I had a Rave Run.

I met with Kate, much later than intended, and we headed over the Reservoir. We were both a little nervous as we cut through Central Park to darkening skies. Scenes from Law and Order and CSI:NY of cops bent over dead girl number 1's body in the park flashed through my mind as did my mother's warnings to "not go out after dark in big, bad New York City." But then we crossed over the W 94 Reservoir Bridge, and all changed.

The reservoir's 1.6 mile loop, which is usually crowded with runners, walkers, and extremely annoying space taking tourists, was sparse with just enough runners to make us feel safe. By now it was flat out dark, but the run was amazing. Kate kicked my butt with a slightly faster than normal pace. Extremely peaceful, the loop was a nice juxtaposition to the streets that lay a half a mile to either the east or west.

Kate and I did the usual girl chat on the first lap, but fell silent on the second as we worked to keep our pace. This silence taunted me to return alone, knowing my introvert self would be in heaven in the darkness. But despite my Donna Troy alias, I think I'm not quite brave enough to venture back there alone. (Well... maybe if I entered from the East Side, but who wants to go there?!)

Sadly, I only had my 1.something mega pixel cell phone camera to capture my Rave Run, and I will not be mailing the print into Runner's World.

Instead, I share it here.

Philly Marathon

It's official! I am now registered for the Philadelphia Marathon to be ran on November 18, 2007.

I'll only be there a few days, no long trip this time, but I would like to do 1 or 2 touristy (or non-touristy) things.

Suggestions?