It's a pleasure to come back to Miami and play with some old friends. I was home for only 2 days since my last trip but the weather was so bad in New York that it was not so hard to get up at 5am for my 8am flight.
Saxophonist Aldo Salvent released his first album and it's a great record! You can find it on this page in the album category. He is finishing his Masters Degree at Florida International University where he is studying with the great saxophonist Gary Campbell, and we will play his graduation recital on Thursday.
After a quick lunch we go straight to rehearsal. Aldo has some really nice compositions that are challenging and fun to play on. In this photo you can see Hal Roland on piano, Jose Albizu on bass and Jerry Purpose Jerome on drums.
After the two-hour rehearsal, Aldo had a class so I took a room and practice for another two hours. I'm having a challenge with my students, we just started practicing some exercises I got from saxophonist Kirk Whalum, chek it out http://jazzvideolessons.net/portfolio-items/kirk-whalum/
Around 6pm we left for our concert at The Fish House, a funky little room that sounded surprisingly good and the audience was really listening and receptive so it was nice to play there. I was with saxophonist David Leon, drummer Rodolfo Zuniga and bassist Jose Albizu. I felt a bit old because Jose is 19 years old and really playing his ass off, and David Leon is only 21 although his playing is not only impressive but has a maturity that is actually quite rare even in older players. Even his attitude was surprisingly mature, he leads this concert series in this place with great confidence, yet he makes everyone feel welcome (far from being a usual thing in the music world...). And he is a beast on the saxophone, just wow!!! You should really check him out.
Ok so after our set there was a jam session, so local musicians come and play and hang out. I was already blown away by David Leon, but now comes in this 12-year old kid, a student of David, and boy he can play! I mean I think he is going to be like a Chris Potter. I didn't have half of his improvising skills and confidence at his age. Check out this video, Rodolfo is not making it any easier, he is playing just like with any other musician, and the kid is hanging there! His sound is so good and he plays really musical which shows he has an understanding of music rare for his age. He even already has a bit of an attitude, like the "real" jazz musicians of New York. Let's hope he doesn't forget the importance of humility, which is a great part of Music.
Today I'm doing emails, updating my website etc... We'll go to Florida International University later this afternoon for Aldo's recital at 7pm. Then at 10pn we'll be playing at Lilt Lounge, check out the calendar http://alexterriermusic.com/shows for the details, if you're in the area come and say hi.
We are now Friday morning, I had just a few hours of sleep so I'm trying to recollect what we did yesterday while drinking my coffee. We played Aldo's recital at Florida International University. It was a very special moment for him, the end of a 2-year voyage studying at FIU. Aldo is from Cuba, so, to use his own words "I'm used to eat shit", excuse his French. For those who don't get it, he has not always had it easy. He left Cuba many years ago to live in Costa Rica where I met him. I call him the Godfather because he is very proactive and get things done. When he arrived in Miami 2 years ago knowing no one, starting from zero again, it was rough. I knew it would take him just a few months for him to get known on the local scene and get some gigs.
Aldo is a very genuine person and he was quite emotional at his recital. He thanked very sincerely his friends and teachers, and he made us laugh without intending to. He wrote a piece for his girlfriend who lives in Costa Rica, so he mentioned he lived there, and then says "I have a girlfriend there.... too", but with the pause everybody understand he said he has two girlfriends. He called me his "white brother", which is one way to put it. After presenting his teachers, who are in their 70's, he announced the tune "Santa Amalia" which is "a club of really old people in Cuba, like 60 years old", that made his teachers feel very good!
We had a great time playing his music, which is by the way on his first album! Support him and buy it! Just click on the photo below:
After his recital we rushed to our show in downtown Miami, Lilt Lounge. Pretty neat place and the acoustic was actually really good. We could play without microphone which is what I prefer. They were playing some good jazz and a live concert of Eric Dolphy on the TV screen. Considering that most of the time all you can see on TV is football, that was really cool!
That was a really nice hang, right by the water, perfect weather (hello new yorkers!!!). We got back home around 3:30am and woke up at 8am. Now I give a class at FIU at noon, then I will play for a student's recital again at 2:30pm, rehearsal at 7pm and show at 10pm at Le Chat Noir. See you there!
I always feel like a tightrope walker when giving a clinic to young advanced musicians at a college level. Who am I to give then any kind of advice anyway? Well this was actually pretty fun to talk with the FIU students today, thank you guys for acting like I was saying something interesting, I appreciate the kind and classy gesture!
Saxophonist Aldo Salvent released his first album and it's a great record! You can find it on this page in the album category. He is finishing his Masters Degree at Florida International University where he is studying with the great saxophonist Gary Campbell, and we will play his graduation recital on Thursday.
After a quick lunch we go straight to rehearsal. Aldo has some really nice compositions that are challenging and fun to play on. In this photo you can see Hal Roland on piano, Jose Albizu on bass and Jerry Purpose Jerome on drums.
After the two-hour rehearsal, Aldo had a class so I took a room and practice for another two hours. I'm having a challenge with my students, we just started practicing some exercises I got from saxophonist Kirk Whalum, chek it out http://jazzvideolessons.net/portfolio-items/kirk-whalum/
Around 6pm we left for our concert at The Fish House, a funky little room that sounded surprisingly good and the audience was really listening and receptive so it was nice to play there. I was with saxophonist David Leon, drummer Rodolfo Zuniga and bassist Jose Albizu. I felt a bit old because Jose is 19 years old and really playing his ass off, and David Leon is only 21 although his playing is not only impressive but has a maturity that is actually quite rare even in older players. Even his attitude was surprisingly mature, he leads this concert series in this place with great confidence, yet he makes everyone feel welcome (far from being a usual thing in the music world...). And he is a beast on the saxophone, just wow!!! You should really check him out.
Ok so after our set there was a jam session, so local musicians come and play and hang out. I was already blown away by David Leon, but now comes in this 12-year old kid, a student of David, and boy he can play! I mean I think he is going to be like a Chris Potter. I didn't have half of his improvising skills and confidence at his age. Check out this video, Rodolfo is not making it any easier, he is playing just like with any other musician, and the kid is hanging there! His sound is so good and he plays really musical which shows he has an understanding of music rare for his age. He even already has a bit of an attitude, like the "real" jazz musicians of New York. Let's hope he doesn't forget the importance of humility, which is a great part of Music.
Today I'm doing emails, updating my website etc... We'll go to Florida International University later this afternoon for Aldo's recital at 7pm. Then at 10pn we'll be playing at Lilt Lounge, check out the calendar http://alexterriermusic.com/shows for the details, if you're in the area come and say hi.
We are now Friday morning, I had just a few hours of sleep so I'm trying to recollect what we did yesterday while drinking my coffee. We played Aldo's recital at Florida International University. It was a very special moment for him, the end of a 2-year voyage studying at FIU. Aldo is from Cuba, so, to use his own words "I'm used to eat shit", excuse his French. For those who don't get it, he has not always had it easy. He left Cuba many years ago to live in Costa Rica where I met him. I call him the Godfather because he is very proactive and get things done. When he arrived in Miami 2 years ago knowing no one, starting from zero again, it was rough. I knew it would take him just a few months for him to get known on the local scene and get some gigs.
Aldo is a very genuine person and he was quite emotional at his recital. He thanked very sincerely his friends and teachers, and he made us laugh without intending to. He wrote a piece for his girlfriend who lives in Costa Rica, so he mentioned he lived there, and then says "I have a girlfriend there.... too", but with the pause everybody understand he said he has two girlfriends. He called me his "white brother", which is one way to put it. After presenting his teachers, who are in their 70's, he announced the tune "Santa Amalia" which is "a club of really old people in Cuba, like 60 years old", that made his teachers feel very good!
We had a great time playing his music, which is by the way on his first album! Support him and buy it! Just click on the photo below:
After his recital we rushed to our show in downtown Miami, Lilt Lounge. Pretty neat place and the acoustic was actually really good. We could play without microphone which is what I prefer. They were playing some good jazz and a live concert of Eric Dolphy on the TV screen. Considering that most of the time all you can see on TV is football, that was really cool!
That was a really nice hang, right by the water, perfect weather (hello new yorkers!!!). We got back home around 3:30am and woke up at 8am. Now I give a class at FIU at noon, then I will play for a student's recital again at 2:30pm, rehearsal at 7pm and show at 10pm at Le Chat Noir. See you there!
I always feel like a tightrope walker when giving a clinic to young advanced musicians at a college level. Who am I to give then any kind of advice anyway? Well this was actually pretty fun to talk with the FIU students today, thank you guys for acting like I was saying something interesting, I appreciate the kind and classy gesture!