hairylarry

Elphonium

I wrote a descending ii V i exercise and then I turned it into a piece by adding a bridge. I called it “Elven Minuet”.

At my composition lesson Dr. Jenkins suggested that I give the right hand melody to vibes and the left hand harmony to marimbas. Kind of inspired by “Wood Sprites” on the Bebop Beatniks album.

So I thought I would hunt up some spoken word fantasy passage I could read over it, inspired by my reading from “Leaves Of Grass” on “Wood Sprites”.

As soon as I started to search for text to read my own super short fantasy story, “Elphonium” came to mind. It's a bit long but with some judicious editing I'm sure I could bring it to under two minutes while still delivering the story.

The story “Elphonium” was inspired by a great piece of artwork I found on deviantart.com by INDRIKoff who gave me permission to use it to illustrate the story. So I envision a multimedia presentation centered around this piece of art and including public domain fantasy art that follows the story.

The band would play the piece with “Elphonium” displayed on a screen behind them. Then when I started reading the slides would follow the story.

Now that's a cool idea.

My story “Elphonium” on SFF Short Stories. https://sffshortstories.com/?x=entry:entry170714-062937

INDRIKoff's “Elphonium” artwork on Deviant Art https://www.deviantart.com/indrikoff/art/Elphonium-689679937

The Bebop Beatniks album “Leaves” with “WoodSprites” https://archive.org/details/BebopBeatniks-Leaves

I played at the Johnny Cash Heritage Festival.

I know, you double checked and I wasn't on the bill. But the Zyndall Wayne Raney Band was playing so I took my harmonicas. First thing Doug Greeno asked me was “Did you bring your harps?” I've been sitting in with these guys since way back when they were Jeannie and The Guys. It always pays to be prepared.

I thought Doug would invite me up to play “All Over Again”, one of his favorite blues songs. I even had my G harp out and ready. But instead when Marcus kicked off a blues Doug told me I might as well come on up. They kept calling out keys so I kept playing. I think I played half the set. When they closed the show featuring Mike Geo on “Wipeout” I figured they didn't need me anymore and I went back to partying out front.

I got to tell you how good these guys are. They had fans come from Nebraska to hear them. That's a good long trip to hear some music. Of course, they stayed for the whole festival. But they heard them last year and they told me the reason they came back was to hear the Zyndall Wayne Raney Band play again.

They still have the big Johnny Cash Heritage Festival show this afternoon and I'm sure it will be great. KASU presented music in the Dyess Community Circle, nine bands on Thursday and Friday nights. Both nights were great. Every act was memorable. I got it all recorded on my Zoom H6. I'll know later today how the tapes came out. I have confidence that you will be hearing music from this festival on Arkansas Roots, Something Blue, and 6 Degrees Of The Delta.

Here's the link to the schedule.

http://johnnycashheritagefestival.com/music/

Johnny Cash Heritage Festival

October 18-20, 2018 – Dyess, Arkansas

I'll be recording Thursday and Friday for KASU so you can expect to hear some of this great music on Arkansas Roots, 6 Degrees Of The Delta, and Something Blue. The KASU shows are free so get in your car and drive. It's only an hour from Jonesboro and about the same from Memphis. The big show with the big stars is Saturday. Here's a link to the lineup.

http://johnnycashheritagefestival.com/music/

If you come Thursday or Friday be sure to say hi. I wish I could go Saturday too but I'm at the end of my rope energywise. It's been a busy fall.

aNONradio openmic

aNONradio is the icecast radio station on SDF, a Unix time sharing system. Volunteer DJs fill out the broadcast schedule with an eclectic mix of programming so, even for underground radio, it's out there. I'll put it this way, Something Blue is blues, jazz, and other roots music and it's kind of mainstream on aNONradio.

openmic runs from 10:00 pm to midnight CT every night or 3:00 – 5:00 UT if that's easier for you. You can listen here.

http://anonradio.net/listen/

And if you want to participate you can find everything you need right here.

http://anonradio.net/openmic/

You don't have to be an aNONradio DJ to icecast on openmic. But you're missing the fun unless you log onto SDF and go to the anonradio room in the SDF chat room on com. DJs and anyone can listen and chat about the music or whatever they're doing. So it's open chat to go along with openmic.

You can get a free SDF account here.

http://sdf.org/

They have paid accounts too but the free account is fine for chatting on com.

So you can listen to anonradio and starting at 10:00 CT it will be openmic. You can learn how to icecast and add your own favorites to the mix. And you can log onto SDF and chat with the DJs on com.

All of this is free.

See you there.

“Knocking Boots” now on CDBaby

The new NJHB CD, “Knocking Boots”, is now up at CDBaby where it can be downloaded cheap and heard for free.

https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/njhb12

On the HairyLarryLand website I say “buy download on CDBaby. Best way to support the artist.” You spend a bit, we get a bit, no plastic or postage.

Of course there are free downloads at the Internet Archive, which I guess, is the second best way to support the artist. Truth be told, I just want you to enjoy the music. You can get it free or pay a few cents, the choice is yours.

https://archive.org/details/hl2018-10-13

And if you want to buy the CD email hairylarry@deltaboogie.com. Ecopacks are $4.95. That's the CD and the artwork in a black envelope.

Or if you come to the next New Jazz In Jonesboro show at the Public Library at 7:00 pm on Saturday, November 10, I will be giving CDs away for free. Hear Bebop Beatniks and NJHB and pick up a free CD too.

Nothing wrong with that.

New NJHB CD from the New Jazz In Jonesboro Show on October 13.

Now up at the Live Music Archive at http://archive.org.

The music is just fine especially if you like vibes and piano working together like Modern Jazz Quartet. Also Sean and I did a little bit of scat singing and I even danced a little bit but, you know, you had to be there.

Here's the link. https://archive.org/details/hl2018-10-13

Here's the liner notes.

NJHB Knocking Boots New Jazz House Band New Jazz In Jonesboro October 13, 2018 Jonesboro Public Library Jonesboro, Arkansas

Song list

01 Low Earth Orbit 02 Sweatshirt 03 Knocking Boots 04 Breezes

Personnel

Al Clevenger – vibes Spencer Rawlins – bass Alex Washam – drums (1 and 4) Chris Issom – drums (1) Sean Cunningham – drums (2 and 3) and vocals (4) Hairy Larry – piano and vocals

Photos by Vivian Heyl Cover art by Gustavo Rezende, public domain

hll-1044 hairylarryland.com njhb.org

Recorded to my Zoom H6 with the midside mic attached.

Thanks to the Jonesboro Public Library for making the Round Room available and to the musicians and the audience for making this a successful event.

Damn we played a good show last night.

Common Time opened and really did a fantastic job. Josh Carter leads the band playing alto and he never misses a lick. The rhythm section is Spencer Rawlins, bass; Al Clevenger , piano; and Chris Issom, drums. They are also the rhythm section for the ASU Jazz Orchestra. Nuff said.

Then NJHB did it's usual wild thing playing 5 originals including one, “Breezes” we had never played before. Shawn and I sang a scat duet and I even got up and danced. Chris, Alex, and Shawn all drummed. And Al was the star of the show, playing vibes with NJHB.

The audience was great, clapping along and obviously digging the music. And we had coffee and cookies. What more could you ask for?

The next New Jazz In Jonesboro will be on November 10 featuring Bebop Beatniks and NJHB. Put it on your calendar.

New Jazz In Jonesboro Tonight – Saturday, October 13

Common Time will open the show at 7:00 pm. Common Time is a jazz quartet playing standards from Bebop to present day. They are outstanding musicians educated in the ASU jazz program.

Then NJHB, the New Jazz House Band will play original charts. All musicians are invited to sit in with NJHB. Composers are invited to contribute charts.

New Jazz In Jonesboro will be in the Round Room at the Jonesboro Public Library. The library is closed at 7:00 so use the outside entrance to the Round Room. See you there!

NEA Game Fest Friday and Saturday, October 12 and 13

The NEA Gamers Guild is putting on a big game festival as I write. It is being held in the Hoxie Community Center in Hoxie, Arkansas. All kinds of games are being played from table top to RPGs. There are tournaments. There are prizes. There is food.

The event is a fundraiser for the Childrens Shelter. So go have some fun and donate to a good cause at the same time.

Here's the Facebook event page.

https://www.facebook.com/events/194586871139093/

Four of my kids are helping with this event. I'm going Saturday to play some Dungeons and Dragons in a 12 hour, jump in, jump out, RPG session. Come and quest with me. We'll kill some monsters and find some treasure. I love playing DnD.

ASU Jazz Concert Tonight

I cancelled today's Hairy Larry's Merry Pranksters rehearsal so I could attend the ASU Jazz Concert tonight at the Fowler Center. I could have done both but not and have supper too and I really like to eat. Besides with the whole Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday thing this week I already had too much on my plate. Do you see what I did there? I like to eat but I don't like too much on my plate.

The concert tonight has two big bands playing, the Lab Band and the ASU Jazz Orchestra. Always a good time. I see my friends in the audience and on the stage. The music is great. And it's free. Come if you can.

I also want to give a shout out to Oliver Prehn for his New Jazz tutorials on Youtube. He has a lot of them and all his lessons are free. His theory is sound but he teaches technique first and then explains the theory. I'm a theory gear head but not everyone is into that so I appreciate Oliver's approach.

Here's the video I found today. It's the start of a series. Once he gets a hold of me I have to continue. I can't stop learning from him.

Left hand chords: “minor 7” and “suspended” chord progressions https://youtu.be/eqZoKKnf9i8

So if, like me, you are obsessed with jazz piano check out his videos.