You know what I like? Jazz, that’s what. That picture, to the left there? That’s my friend and fellow composer Jason Brandt on the piano, and my sax in the foreground. In this photo, Jason and I are doing what cool cats call “jamming” – in an effort to create music that might at least approximate jazz. We get close every once in a while. Thing is though, I find it really difficult to stay in playing condition. And instead of practicing my horn, I’m usually writing music – or berating myself for not practicing my horn; that’s a skill I’ve spent over 20 years perfecting. Ask me how!

So I have this idea to form a jazz band (quintet/sextet/octet/some sort of tet?) of composers like me who just want to start playing again on a semi-consistent basis. For fun. For groupies. And to stem the tide of self-loathing that comes from not practicing enough. If you’re interested, let me know.

In the meantime, here are a few musicians we should all spend the rest of the day and night listening to: Phil Woods, Bob Berg, Lionel Hampton, Stan Getz, Tom Harrell, Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, Dennis Chambers, Thelonius Monk, Paul Desmond, Dave Brubeck, Oliver Nelson, Joe Pass.