An interesting quote attributed to Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss)

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

I think this is equally true for music. Play what you feel, and be who you really are (not what someone else wants you to feel and be).

Bear in mind that playing the things that people like is not a bad thing... I'm saying that I agree with Dr. Seuss because the origin of tunes, the ones that people will like in the future comes initially from the truth of oneself.

Besides, a little Dr. Seuss every day would make the world a better place. After all, I enjoyed the "tweetle beetle paddle battle on a poodle in a puddle" and the "cheese trees blowing in the breeze."

This week, another great musician and artist has passed away. Maynard Ferguson, the excellent high-brass musician and artist, died of health complications.

I enjoyed Maynard's trumpet (and flugel) playing in the seventies, and even into the eighties. Although I did not know Maynard, or have the opportunity to observe him playing live, I have heard repeatedly that he was a great musician at heart, not just in performance.

Many more times than once, I've heard and read that Maynard helped up-and-coming musicians get exposure, experience, and gave lots of encouragement. This one thing alone is what makes an artist truly great, IMHO. For it is the ability to share with other musicians that puts them in the true light of greatness - even more so than their ability to entertain or play technically well.

Godspeed and RIP, Maynard. I'm glad you were here.

An interesting email came across my desk the other day. Jim Pearson (from the UK) dropped by to say hello. He's a first class guy, and a first class musician! Interesting and wonderful that the same name on both sides of the Atlantic, and both make music.

Please drop by to check his music out. I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I have!
GarageBand.com : Jim Pearson

The music community's strengths are many, but one of the greatest is its ability to share among musicians.

Recently, I've had some really awesome musicians come by one of my sites (or pages on places like audiri.com or songplanet.com, etc.) and leave a nice comment, or send an email of encouragement.

What makes me feel good about the music community is that these very same folks who have listened, commented, and stopped by - are far greater musicians than I am... I've been actively playing for two years, and yet they seem to like the groove of other musicians (even amateurs like me).

Shine on, guys and gals!

Music at an early age...

When I was growing up, one of the most fun things to do was to get up early on Saturday morning - and watch cartoons. In my less-aged days, most of the cartoons were from Warner Brothers and a host of variants.

If memory serves me correctly, many of the truly early animated cartoons were done as a "new media" experiement, and were largely musical... They were good entertainment, and generally (NOT always) tasteful and fun.

I still hear those early 20th-century tunes in my head sometimes, the ones that were used in cartoons. "I'd tip my hat to you, but I haven't got a hat" and "We're in the money", and stuff like that. I must say, most of the cartoons were genius, and utilized music to get the audiences' feet tapping.

Interestingly enough, those early tunes (and cartoons) are still an influence on my music today...

Here's an interesting one hosted on Google Video, now in the public domain(? more than 75 years old, I guess). A Day at the Zoo.

A week or so ago, I stumbled upon a very interesting set of web radio stations. Some of the best I've ever seen... hosted in San Francisco, California, USA.

Give them a listen, make a bookmark, send some donation support:

Apple Computer introduced a new Mac desktop computer yesterday. It's a major machine, and comes in at a fairly low-cost-for-features-and-performance point. You can see it here:Mac Pro.

If one had the bucks (not any time soon :-( in Bearsville, though) to snag one of those with 2 GB RAM and a copy of Logic Pro 7, one would be able to make some really awesome music. Whew! It isn't very often that a product like that makes it even more exciting to make music!

If you really wanna make music with the aid of the computer, this one is a great place to go!!!

To coin a phrase, horsepower for making your music with a Mac Pro is like twang on a Telecaster!