TROMBONIST & EDUCATOR
One of my favorite blogs to read each week is Leo Babauta's Zen Habits. I find that so much of what he writes about is applicable to music. In a recent post, Leo discusses the concept he calls "The Rule of the Edge." In simple terms, it is pushing yourself towards the edge of discomfort and... Continue Reading →
Have you ever place an avocado pit in a jar of water like I did here? If so, then you know that it takes forever (well, 4 months) for it to grow into the little plant that I now have. My effort was pretty minimal, though. All I did was make sure that that there was enough... Continue Reading →
Many are familiar with Miguel Ruiz's The Four Agreements. It is seen as a way of promoting love and happiness in your life. Who wouldn't want that? Those of you who know me, know that I enjoy working on personal growth. I often find myself reading a book that has nothing to do with music and... Continue Reading →
What a treat it was to visit Columbus State University this past June for the Southeast Trombone Symposium! Dr. Bradley Palmer has now hosted STS for 6 years. I attended the first STS in 2010 as a participant, and Chris and I performed in the Professor's Choir in June. So much has changed over the... Continue Reading →
This post is long overdue, but I wanted to express my gratitude to Dr. Jemmie Robertson for hosting another fabulous MTEC conference at Eastern Illinois University (October 30th-November 1st). The featured guest artists were bass trombonist Randall Hawes from the Detroit Symphony and The American Trombone Quartet (Nathaniel Lee, Zsolt Szabo, Bill Mann, Jemmie Rombertson).... Continue Reading →
Melba Liston (1926-1999) paved the way for women in jazz—especially trombonists and arrangers/composers. The world of jazz continues to be a male dominated field to this day. There may be many reasons for this: Jazz music has always had sexual associations—these associations are more easily made when women are not actually the ones performing the... Continue Reading →
In my last post, I said that I had learned so much this year. It's true, and I feel that I now have something to offer my fellow musicians, colleagues, and professors. When I began this blog, it was a class project (thanks Professor Manning!). I had not really given much thought to how I... Continue Reading →
