Fake reeds, real sound

So, for the holidays, I received both some scales and a complete screw-over from Delta Airlines. They've managed to be completely incompetent at every step of the way. They even managed to somehow screw up when I flew on USAir. That's a special kind of incompetent. It took USAir 33 minutes to untangle the mess.

On a much better note: Reeds. I've started testing some of the Legere plastic reeds as I've started hearing wonderful things about them. Although I don't think that I've settled on a strength yet, it looks good. At the very least, I may have a reliable backup reed for times when nothing else will work. So far, I've also only tried the Quebec cut, but I'll try the Signature line soon. I'm confident enough in one of them that I may use them for a recording on Tuesday. It'll be like those instant coffee commercials "Let's switch the reed for Legere and see if they notice."

Er...should I not have posted it on the internet if I'm supposed to be keeping it a blind experiment? Nobody reads this anyway.

For Christmas Eve I'm giving myself...

...scales! Since I've been slammed with paperwork, snow, and flying, I've not really practiced in the past few days. I'll be getting back into the swing of things starting with a little C Major sweetness and just see where the night leads us.

Save the Dates!

So, as the semester closes, I creep out of hiding for a small blog update. [Yes, the semester. For those not in the know, I'm in the middle of a PhD among all my other gallivanting about town.]

I've got some wonderful concerts planned for the Winter. Here are 5 that are required attendance for anyone reading this blog. Yes...both of you.

Dec 17, 2009 Thursday 8pm - 45 W 4th St, New York City, NY
World Premiere of Guy Barash's 45 minute work "Proteus" that includes the new clarinet and electronics piece he wrote for me, "Talkback".

Mar 1, 2010 Monday 8pm - 45 W 4th St, New York City, NY
World Premiere of Izzi Ramkissoon's new work written for me and pianist Carol Minor and electronics.

Mar 7, 2010 Sunday 4pm - Glens Falls, NY
World Premiere of Grammy Award winning composer Michael Gandolfi's new work for solo clarinet and string orchestra with the Glens Falls Symphony. [Yes, I'll be playing the Solo Clarinet part.]

Mar 8, 2010 Monday 8pm - Skirball Center, New York City, NY
World Premiere of Ricardo Climent's new work for orchestra and electronics. Also on the program, Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scherezade".

Mar 9, 2010 Tuesday 10pm - The Stone NYC, New York City, NY
I'll be doing a set at The Stone with pianist Carol Minor. Also on the program will be Guy Barash and Izzi Ramkissoon on electronics. Carol and I will be playing World Premieres of works written for us by composers Curtis Hughes and Izzi Ramkissoon. We'll be playing a piece that was written for us last year by London-based composer Yumi Hara Cawkwell. Also, a 2nd performance of Guy Barash's "Talkback". Carol will playing the World Premiere of a piece written for her by Nathan Scalzone.


So, if you can't tell, the theme for these concerts is NEW MUSIC! We're not just playing alot of music written in the last 50 years of so. We're playing a ton of music written for us in the last 14 months.