Live More Lightly Workshops - Live More Lightly

Live More Lightly Workshop in Schools

Schools are back in session and I am now trying to coordinate presenting a “Live More Lightly Workshop” to school-age youth. The deadline for a showcase application to Artstarts in Schools is October 17th and I must have a video by then. I am still working on preparing the book, but financial considerations have limited the time I have been able to spend developing the environmental section. The book may act as a teacher resource guide as I am putting so much environmental information in the book and on my Sources of Inspiration Page.

Most of the work I have done recently on my blog and the project is administrative tasks that are not too exciting. However, I am excited about the possibility of facilitating a workshop in Powell River soon and having my friend Judy capture the action on a video. Now I have updated WordPress, I can add video and podcasts. It is always a concern of parents when considering allowing their children to be in a video posted to the internet, but I hope that I will be able to form a community of environmental supporters. Everyone seems to be less concerned when there are hundreds of videos — I’ve seen countless children on Youtube.

I will be networking with more environmental education sites and I hope that many people will know “The Live More Lightly Song” by the end of the year.

SLR Camera – Image Capture

Now I have had the opportunity to look through two examples of excellent camera technology, I find myself increasingly attracted to continuing the experience. The first time I held such a camera was at the Madu Sari gamelan performance, “New Javanese Shadows“when a friend of mine asked me to hold his camera. My first impression can only be described by referring to a Hindu myth often told about the young Krishna. For those not familiar with Hindu mythology, the incarnations of the god Vishnu are many, but this story is about his time as the human Krishna.

On one occasion, when Krishna was still a child, he revealed his true god-self to his mother by asking her to look in his mouth. When she complied, she was astonished to see the entire universe inside the mouth of her child. When I looked into that camera, I saw a glimpse of the infinite — I was astonished. The photographer who owned the magic box enthusiastically started informing me of the technical details in a language full of numbers that I did not understand. This machine may be described by numbers, as the universe can be modeled mathematically, but the impact of the revelation I had experienced created a bookmark in my mind that I return to in wonder.

My next reaction was more practical, as the Virgo reasserted her presence. If everyone had a camera like that, my opportunities for employment as a graphic artist would be seriously reduced. There was no noise in the image, it was balanced and in sharp focus. If the capture mechanism was as pristine as the view, the images would reflect a hyper-realism that would need few adjustments. My daughter later comforted me by pointing out that many of these cameras are owned by individuals who can cause them to malfunction and that composition skills are still required. Even the best images can benefit from layout, design and story, so my production skills will still be needed.

The term “multi-media artist” has often been applied to my skill sets in production. I know that if I am not being paid, I do music, music technology and saving the world. Some practical part of me knows that my time will not allow any more addictions. I am already being drawn away from my “Live More Lightly Project” too much by other musical entanglements. I have to complete a book prototype this month. Move on. Continue reading SLR Camera – Image Capture

Where Did the Summer Go?

It’s raining in Vancouver again and I know this is a foreshadowing of the winter to come. A warning to finish up with summer affairs quickly because the remaining sunny days are shortening. There is still time for a ride during the autumn and I hope I can get my bike ready to go on a test run before the rain rolls in and parks.

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Progress of Live More Lightly Project

Book Portion

Cover – draft complete, photo rights purchased, still writing material for the back

Interior – 3 sections planned: First Edition is for everyone, Second Edition is for Choirs

Front Matter (Title, CIP, Dedication, Index, Foreword)
Workshop Guide
Sheet music (positioned so material lays flat in the middle of the book)
Section break photo page (2)
Environmental Suggestions (for song lyrics)
Music Materials (instructional material on basic rhythm patterns and melody ideas)
Creative Commons License

Next Step: Finalize draft so that number of pages can be used for print quote.

Remaining tasks: Source paper disk sleeves for book insert, try a few more fonts, source line drawing for logo, disk label and song sheet cover, source environmentally inspiring photos.

Disk – 4 sections possible

Music (includes recording of the song with and without vocals and helpful loops for practicing)
Parts for printing in booklet form
Workshop support materials (includes poster and other materials that may be helpful)
Possible power-point of workshop material
Possible demo video of sample workshop

Next Step: Create a demo book and CD

Remaining Tasks: Finalize “Basic Arrangement” with piano accompaniment, Record material, Video workshop, Create Power-point presentation, Complete support materials

Workshop Portion

Local workshops in Vancouver being organized.

Next step: Create sample workshop video and workshop promotional material.

Motorcycle still not ready to tour.

Next Step: Get luggage and camera on-bike.

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A project like this can be daunting, but I am trying to organize the tasks into bite-sized sections. Project administration is another area that is receiving a lot of attention. There are grant deadlines coming up and I am trying to balance the time invested with the possibility of actually getting a grant. Sponsorship is another possibility, but I will have to be careful to keep the focus on the individual actions that people can do and not a corporate agenda.

I have been encouraged by the response to my blog and the many encouraging comments that people have made. When I tell people about the project I get different reactions, from supportive to completely negative. It does take a certain kind of stubbornness to see a project like this through to the end. By this time next year, I hope to have my video recorded and my journey completed.

Music Festival Vancouver

Festival Vancouver has a special place in my heart because I have met people who have become important in my life at past concerts and the music is always exceptional. The first announcement of the evening was a change of name to “Music Festival Vancouver”, apparently there has been some confusion about the festival focus . . .

This year Music Festival Vancouver held concerts in VanDusen Botanical Garden for the first time. It was a great choice for a venue and the large grassy field, where plant sales are usually held, was prepared by adding a large covered stage on the north end. The World at the Garden Series featured three great concerts and friends have told me that the guitar led Yamandu Costa Trio (Brazil), who played on Friday, Aug 15 was amazing. I chose to go to Salsa Dura, the “hard salsa” band conducted by Sal Ferreras on the following Sunday evening because of guest Ernán López-Nussa, piano.

I first encountered this accomplished Cuban pianist in 2003, when I heard him play at UBC, then later during in the week at the Commodore Ballroom. Ernán López-Nussa opened for John Kosrud’s “Orquestra Goma Dura”, one of Vancouver’s great big salsa bands. I had the opportunity to dance with Ernán after his set while the second band was playing. I had a great time that evening and looked forward to hearing him again.

It was an overcast evening after weeks of sunny summer weather and concert attendees knew there was a strong probability that we would be on the receiving end of some falling raindrops. I decided to go despite the rain and packed an umbrella on my motorcycle (closed).

The garden was beautiful and I had a few minutes to wander around before the music began. VanDusen Gardens is one of Vancouver’s treasures as it is watched over by a gardeners and offers an ever-changing pallet of colour, scent and form. I couldn’t linger too long, as Celso Machado was opening and I did not want to miss a moment of his show. Celso is one of the few solo performers who has packed the Ironworks during the Jazz Festival (2007) and he is a favourite of local audiences.

In addition to playing guitar and singing in the styles of his native Brasil, he has learned to play African kora and South Indian kanjira, a snakeskin covered tambourine. Celso is known for his mischievous attitude to displaying his virtuosity and this evening was no exception as he performed a percussion solo on his microphones and water bottle. He did bring out the kora and the exquisite timbre of African strings infused the garden.

The intermission was cut short as the rain began to fall and the original plan, of allowing the audience to wander the garden while the second group prepared to play, was shelved. After a speedy set-up, the main attraction was ready, with two female singers, a brassy horn section, piano and three percussionists. Continue reading Music Festival Vancouver

Vancouver Folk Music Festival and the Canon A80

It has been raining in Vancouver now for a couple of days and I have been riding, because I put my van in the shop just as the clouds were gathering. As the rain pours down in a foreshadowing of the winter that will arrive all too soon, I think back to the clear skies and endless sun we enjoyed July 19 + 20th for the 31st annual Vancouver Folk Music Festival.

Despite my frustration with how slow everything is progressing with my project, I still dropped everything to go to the Folk Music Festival with my daughter and her friends. It is really hard for me to concentrate on spreadsheets when I know there is some fine music out on Jericho Beach.

This is also a story about cameras because I was left with my venerable aged Canon A80 to take to the Folk Fest and to the Javanese Shadow play. This is because I invested in the Canon S series as a suitable camera for my daughter and it is really too fragile. I ended up with her old S2 after the power supply blew out and I bought her an S3. I had my Canon A80 and had just bought some lenses for it when I got the S2 repaired and have been using it instead of the older A80. Alas, the S3 blew out it’s power supply and I returned the S2 to my daughter while it was in the shop. So, I was left with the A80, but I had lenses to try out.

My daughter was armed with the newly repaired Canon S3 and her friends are also photographers with very impressive looking cameras, the usual digital SLRs and even a medium format antique. There were a lot of really expensive cameras at the Festival and good photographers as can be viewed on flikr.

My daughter looked at me quizzically as I started screwing plastic bits on to my camera. It’s not like my old Pentax K1000, bayonet mount, this is a procedure where parts have to be manipulated. “What’s that?”, she asked. Quick witted as ever, I looked at the part in my hand and carefully read the neat white letters printed on the side, “It’s a wide-angle lens, dear, I’m trying it out.” She replied definitively that I should take crowd shots.

There was great music at the festival and it was an opportunity to spend time with my daughter and her friends. I had never spent so much time with non-musicians at a festival. Some of them went shopping, so I joined them, as I had never considered shopping at a festival. The wares were very unique, like the small fairy wings some of the girls were wearing. A lot of time was spent talking and enjoying the sun and fine food. Relaxing, socializing and hearing the music like a lounge band at a fine restaurant, this was a very enjoyable and perfectly valid festival experience … but, I was panicking inside because I was missing everything! I had to go and listen to some music without having to talk to anyone. We coordinated cell phones, so we could meet up again, and I went off by myself.

Continue reading Vancouver Folk Music Festival and the Canon A80

Gamelan Madu Sari: New Javanese Shadows

Even though I am very busy with everything else in my life, I could not refuse an invitation to join a week-long workshop with five of the most innovative masters of the Arts of Java.

Gamelan Madu Sari, Vancouver’s gamelan that uses Javanese instruments, was producing a show called “Semar in Lila Maya” and they had worked very hard to bring four performers from Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Students could study with one or all of these instructors who specialize in dance, shadow puppetry and music instruction. It was tempting to sample a bit of everything from the rich cultural buffet. The group picture, taken at the end of class, was a bit of an afterthought and I had already changed into my motorcycle riding clothes so I couldn’t sit cross-legged anymore.

On the far left back row and below, is my friend Mas Sutrisno Hartana, who has moved to Vancouver and teaches Javanese music at Simon Fraser University. It is because of Sutrisno, that I say five Masters of Javanese Arts, although there are only four visitors. I have taken better photos of him, but he is really concentrating and serious in this image below. He introduced me to the subtle beauty of Javanese gamelan when I was still playing with Gong Gita Asmara, the ensemble using Balinese instruments based at UBC. I did rehearse with Madu Sari and play one concert, and I look forward to having more time to play with them in future. Continue reading Gamelan Madu Sari: New Javanese Shadows

Canada Day on Granville Island 2008

The first day of July started with a plan to ride my motorcycle down to the Canada Day celebrations hosted by Coastal Jazz on Granville Island. This event featured some of Vancouver’s finest jazz talent on three different stages throughout the day, including Chris Gestrin, Jillian LeBeck. Brad Muirhead +Pepe Danza (Koan), Paul Plimley and Tony Wilson. As I was getting ready to go, my phone rang and my daughter requested my help to finish clearing out her godmother’s apartment. The jazz would have to wait, but it didn’t sound like there was that much to do and I would certainly be able to catch some of the shows. Continue reading Canada Day on Granville Island 2008

Vancouver Jazz Festival Part III

The free concerts at the Roundhouse Community Centre started at noon and I arrived by Skytrain after dropping my bike at Simon’s for examination. At the present time it is a long walk from the Stadium skytrain station to the site, but the new Olympic line is being constructed with a station right across the street. This site will be much more accessible for the Jazz Festival in 2010, although a lot of people do make the effort to walk, bike or skateboard rather than find scarce parking in the area.

The High School Jazz Intensive, with Chicago-based flautist Nicole Mitchell conducting, was in full swing when I arrived. The young musicians played at a very high calibre under Mitchell’s expert direction. Paul Plimley and I were discussing this concert later that day, and we both agreed that the quantity and quality of instruction and instructional materials has increased since we were young. Instructional multi-media, books,magazines, DVD’s and the internet have all contributed to a positive trend. This access to information and the improved acceptance of jazz, as a music that should be taught in school, has raised the standards of musicianship among Vancouver High School Bands. This nine-day intensive workshop series culminating in this performance is an educational outreach program that requires that the student to audition to qualify for entry. We were listening to the result of a focussed program applied to some of the most dedicated young musicians in the area courtesy of the sponsors and Coastal Jazz.

Brian Nation, the impetus behind Vancouver Jazz.com, was listening too. We both decided to go in to the tribute to Al Neil concert set-up to take photos. Brian wanted to interview Al Neil for his website jazz magazine as he remembers hearing him play and has known him for decades. The pictures I took of Paul yesterday did not turn out very well because of the low light conditions, so I welcomed a chance to to go in pre-concert and try again.

Brian and I compared cameras and he showed me his cool new flash diffuser, he took a photo of me with and without and the difference was amazing. Lan Tung, the erhu player in the next group to play in the venue, had asked me to take photos of her new ensemble. I quickly asked Brian if he had time to take a few shots of them during their set-up as his camera was so much better than mine.I think it worked out because I ended up using Lan’s video camera to record the show instead of taking stills.

Continue reading Vancouver Jazz Festival Part III

The Vancouver Jazz Festival Part II

There is only one full day left of jazz festival action and then there is a short curtain call of Canada Day festivities on Granville Island, July 1.

A quick reprise of today’s highlights at David Lam Park and the Roundhouse Community Centre. I volunteered at the Ironworks last night so, I did not get up early and I forget to charge my cell phone. I decided to leave my motorcycle at home and take the bus downtown. I arrived just in time to get into Paul Plimley’s performance on piano with a quartet of mostly European influenced players. Harris Einstadt (Toronto) on drums, bassist Wilbert de Joode and saxophonist Tobias Delius.

In the second piece, Paul’s extended solo developed beautifully out of an ensemble improvisation and was one of the best pieces of music making in the improvised set. The ensemble played very well together, interacting and responding to each other in a musical dialogue. The group’s mood changed dynamically when they played a soulful ballad as the penultimate piece, showing that improvised music doesn’t have to be loud, noisy and full of odd sounds. The final piece demonstrated that it could be exactly that and the concert ended on an energetic chord. Continue reading The Vancouver Jazz Festival Part II

Vancouver Jazz Festival

Every year I volunteer at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival and last night, June 22, was my first shift as the Crew Chief at the Ironworks. The show last night was fun and unusual as Francois Houle and Mats Gustafsson organized an improvisational program around the idea of a hockey game, Improv Power Play: Canada vs Sweden. The individual solo improvs that started the event were excellent with standouts in my mind being Peggy Lee (defense for Canada) on cello and Per Ake Holmlander (defense Sweden) on tuba. Everyone played extremely well and the night ended with both teams on stage playing together. The drummer or goalie, Raymond Strid, for the Swedish Team (Tre Kroner), was very playful and showed a great sense of humor in this some times “serious music” jazz environment.

June 20

I have already seen some great shows, Barry Guy (bass) and Myra Homberger filled up the room at The Western Front with delightful sonorities and tasteful improvisation. The Baroque violins that Myra specializes in playing, have a unique timbre and blend with Barry’s bass beautifully. This duo has played together frequently and they mixed composed works with less structured pieces in imaginative segues.

Unfortunately, I had a small motorcycle accident, so I was a bit disoriented and missed Benoit Delbecq at the Roundhouse. That hurt more than the bruises I sustained, as I am always inspired by his playing.

June 21

I did catch the set with Benoit Delbecq and Quator Bozzini at the Western Front and it showed me a more restrained side of his musical skill set. I will see them again on Tues and will write more after that.

My daughter recommended Pink Martini as an interesting show and they were pure entertainment. The most unusual feature of this group is the multi-language focus of the songs. Although all of the songs fell within the movie theme + Vegas show + cruise ship show band type of genre; the switch to a different language showed how far the influence of stage band jazz has reached. The group excelled at Latin music and closed with a great version of “Brazil” after singing in Chinese, Arabic, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, French, English and probably other languages as well. The pianist, Thomas L. Lauderdale, played with flourishes that reminded me of Liberace. Lauderdale is the mastermind behind Pink Martini, and the lovely vocalist Chana (citation) was credited with co-writing the songs and was amazing in her abilitiy to sing in all these different languages. Other members of the 13 piece group were outastandin musicians and helped contribute to the multi-cultural aspect of the performance.

June 22

Despite having an afternoon business meeting regarding the book, I managed to hear a bit of the Vancouver Creative Music Institute (VCMI), a co-production of Coastal Jazz and Blues and the Vancouver Community College. The large ensemble, conducted by Georgio Magenesi, was brilliantly executed with space for all the players, changes in density, dynamics and timbre that maintained interest throughout. One of the best improvised large ensemble pieces for this year. Lan Tung was featured on erhu, Chinese violin, and her tone sang beautifully.

Georgio has taught me a lot about music. Sometimes when I listen to improv, noise music or another genre I don’t completely understand — I switch into another mode of listening. I change from listening for melody, harmony, rhythm and other structures, to listening to a matrix of timbres and densities. If I can break free of my traditional music frames, I can enjoy and experience music in another way. I feel like I have never properly thanked him for this tool, and other things he has told me about conducting. He is the Director of Vancouver New Music and we are lucky that he left his native Italy to enrich out community.

Francois Houle was the Artistic Director of this years VCMI and he did a wonderful job of supporting the players. All of the faculty also play in the festival and this week long series assists Vancouver players to interact with established International artists.

Later, I volunteered at the Ironworks.

Today, I have to go to work and so will miss the shows. However, I might be able to get off early enough to use my pass to see at least one show.