One-String Guitar!

Musical Quote of the week

"It's always better to play the wrong note at the right time than the right note at the wrong time. Because the right note at the wrong time is ALWAYS wrong!" - David Russell, USC Masterclass, March 12, 2013.

Please take a step in stopping illegal music distribution

Please take a moment to sign this petition, and take the first step in stopping websites from distributing, and in some cases profiting from, stolen music. It's not fair for people to profit from others' hard work! Please be a part of this movement to help all working musicians. Thank you. 

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/962/812/993/stop-online-sheet-music-theft/#sign

Playing Fast

Enjoy and learn!

Kenny Hill is Featured in Bay Area

Go get 'em, Kenny! This is a great little video posted on the Mercurynews.com site as part of a series featuring successful businesses in the Bay area. See for yourself. Enjoy.
(yes, an annoying ad starts it off...sorry).

New Year Inspiration

I have this quote by Winston Churchill pinned up at home, and I see it every day. So, it's on my mind every day.

I love this following video. I found it so moving and inspirational that I just needed to share it. How many times have we just quit? Accepted our circumstances? Convinced ourselves that something was impossible? Not followed our dreams? 

This posting is not to sell anything or endorse any product. I just think this video speaks to something deeper and human inside of us all.

This video has also proven to me that:

1. Music makes the movie;

2. Diamond Dallas Page has some great yoga chops!

Enjoy, and Happy New Year!

Christmastime in Pasadena

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I was just cleaning out my SIM card from a camera, and found several photos that I decided to post. They show what Colorado Blvd. is like on a busy Christmas shopping night. I love it here at this time of year! The air is clean and crisp, and for LA, is quite cool. I had company in town and took them out to Old Town, Pasadena - my town - for a big hang. It has a small-town look and feel, but jammed with traffic. Everyone looking for that perfect parking spot. In a week this will be the Rose Parade route. They have had the bleachers up along the street for a couple of weeks already. Always the biggest annual event here in Pasadena, and one of the biggest New Year's parades in the nation.

                                     Me just hanging out, I guess. OK, not so interesting...

Shot from inside Intelligentsia Coffee

Colorado Blvd. facing west...

...same...

...top-notch establishments...

Intelligentsia decked out!

...yes, it's Colorado Blvd....

...again...

A very skilled and artistically rendered "through the window" shot. Don't try this at home.

Very Proud

December 16, 2012 - 5:33am

This is arguably my best espresso pull ever. I've had a few, and this quality is rare for me, but this morning the coffee gods on Mt. Java looked down upon me favorably.

The photo was hastily taken, so I didn't even take time to clean off the usual coffee splatter on the inside of the cup. I was too excited to document the moment. Even with a Rocket Giotto machine that is need of a little tech work (random coffee spraying from filter basket), this double shot had deep color, a very thick crema (in this photo creme is deflating already because it took me a while to set up the lighting and angle - you can see from the ring where the creme HAD been) and a profoundly rich flavor. Blend was bought at Jones Coffee in Pasadena yesterday, and must be a fairly fresh batch, judging from the consistency of the grind (grinder: Ceado), and was a 50/50 blend of their Espresso Cara Mia and PRC roasts. This is my standard blend I use, but I do notice that, as the beans age a few days, that the creme is less and flavor naturally more stale.

I am a little verklempt and pretty proud. So excuse me while I enjoy it. It's getting cold!

Update: even after taking time to write the blog entry, the espresso, now virtually at room temperature, has held its flavor very well. Wow. And, mmmmmmm.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Prayer

Thanks O Lord for thy daily food
Thanks to Thee for making us good
Thanks for thy shelter and keeping us fed
Thanks for thy drink and wholesome bread
Thanks for the seasons that come and go
Thanks for the flowers that bloom and grow
Thanks for the friends who help us in need
Thanks for the trials which make us succeed
Thanks for the children so dear and sweet
Thanks for the love which makes us complete
Thanks for the eyes in letting us see
Thanks for the mind in setting us free
Thanks for the music that touches our heart
Thanks for the muses that inspire our art
Thanks for the visions that reveal our goal
Thanks for the lessons that strengthen our soul
Thanks for the sleep that gives us the rest
Thanks for the sage who unfolds the Quest
Thanks for the sun so luminous and bright
Thanks for thy guidance and inner light
Thanks for the stars that sparkle and shine
Thanks for the peace that is thine and mine
Thanks for the kindness which you give
Thanks for thy Grace by which we live.

• Peter Y. Chou

Worcester, 11-22-1979

AUSTRALIA!!

The Quartet finally made it down to Australia after all these years. And down under it is: a roughly 14+ hour direct flight from LA to Sydney. The longest flight I've ever been on. Then, after a 4 hour layover there - customs, bite to eat, espresso, and back massage at a airport establishment called "Samsara" - then it was another 4 hour flight to Perth. So all in all, a 24 hour journey.

But it was worth it. What a wonderful place. The land, sky, sea, and its inhabitants radiate a beautiful earthiness and ease I've not encountered anywhere else. Shattered my old and jaded impressions imbedded in my boyhood psyche by Monty Python's "Bruce" and "Australian Philosophers" sketches and the "Paul Hogan Show".

We came for two performances of Rodrigo's "Concerto Andaluz" with the WASO (Western Australia Symphony Orchestra) in Perth, followed directly with three performances of the same concerto with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. For Sydney, we also added a suite from Falla's "El Amor Brujo" arranged for 4 guitars and orchestra, which works quite well.

PERTH
The concert hall in Perth has an absolutely amazing resonance to the acoustics. Both evenings saw sold out crowds in the 1,731 seat venue.

           taken with the panoramic setting on my iPhone, so some jagged edges...

The weather was a bit rainy toward the end of our stay, but generally sunny with a refreshing  strong breeze from the water.

Food and drink were equally as good. Since this blog was ORIGINALLY intended to highlight coffee, good places were found there. Woogi Espresso on St. George's Terrace had top notch espresso, with edibles such as handmade sandwiches, assorted sweet treats and the like. A very small place inside a corridor bridging St. George's Terrace and the Mercure Hotel, this place had lots of character. Sorry, I have no photos. You'll have to trust me.

I tried several shots around town, but the most outstanding establishment had to be Bench Espresso on Hay Street. They pull excellent shots here, and use a single origin bean. I generally find single origin espressos too high in acid and high-note fruitiness; too bright generally for my palette (like two places I frequent in LA, Intelligentsia and Handsome - talented baristas and great pulls, just too bright on the tongue for me). But, although the espresso at Bench was bright in flavor, it had a real depth to it as well. I would go back.

Bench Espresso in Perth - again, jagged panorama shot

a ristretto double shot, with great crema, from Bench.

Cafes and espresso joints were all over the place. And, since the competition is high, the quality is overall very, very good from one to the other. Here is a sign I saw outside one of them, summing up a philosophy of this coffee-dotted landscape.

Only saw one Starbucks while there. Yippee!!

Eats. We wanted to hit a place with great local cuisine in Perth. A place where the local residents ate. And since Perth is one of the most expensive places to buy food and drink I have ever visited (average cost of a hamburger and fries with drink: $27 USD), we wanted a place with reasonable prices working musicians could afford. We were directed by several folks to Billy Lee's. Cantonese food, and open late. This was a great recommendation. Simple and small, it had more tables and chairs outside than in.

                                                                      Bill and Matt at Billy Lee's in Perth


Being that Australia is a land mass smack between the Pacific and Indian Oceans, it's culinary culture draws from a variety of Pan-Asian sources. Local critters can be had as well, and I believe Bill had a crocodile burger and Matt tried some kangaroo. I stuck to veggies and fruit primarily.

                                      A wide selection of edible critter jerkies at the Perth airport. Emu? Hmmm...


SYDNEY

We are playing with the Sydney Symphony at the Sydney Opera House. Yes, that's the one. Never was there a building so iconic as this, and so majestic. Breathtaking would be a good word. I had always thought it symbolized sails, or something to do with boats, being that it's the Sydney harbor. But today I heard a story from a local musician that the architect cut up an orange, placed the wedges on the ground, and basically said "voilá"! Not sure what to believe.

taken from the ferry boat to Manley Beach

                           Us after a popular morning radio show appearance at the ABC studio lobby in Sydney

                                                                            Yours truly at Manley Beach

                                                                      Advertisement outside the SOH


With more updates to come, let me finish this entry with some shots of what I think is the best espresso place I've tried (thus far) in Sydney. Workshop Espresso on George Street. Great blend (not single origin), great crema, and an artful pull skillfully done.

UPDATE!!!!!

The quartet met today with esteemed Australian composer Philip Houghton. It was a real honor to finally meet him. Among many, many other notable works, his best-known work for guitar quartet is by far "Opals". Philip is a natural synesthete, meaning he vividly associates sounds with colors, colors with sound. This is known as "synesthesia". The work Opals immediately came to him when he first saw a particular black opal, which he holds in this photo. He said something today that struck me profoundly: "Music is slowed-down light".

                               LAGQ with Philip Houghton outside Sir Stamford hotel, Sydney