I'm so glad I got a video of this, as it is one of the coolest things I have seen. This is an Israeli tow-truck, and it literally just pulled up beside this car. As with so many things, Israelis are remarkably efficient at ruining someone's day.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Back with a vengence...
After a fantastically unproductive few weeks in Canada, during which practicing was replaced by drinking, and exercising by eating, I have returned safe and sound to the Middle East. In an attempt to reel in the Christmas slack, my first week back has played host to great leaps forward in my musically educational adventure across the sea.
The catalyst to all this recent success can be attributed to one man : Eddie Gomez. This Puerto-Rican born, New York raised bassist is credited as one of the visionaries of the instrument, spending eleven years in the Bill Evans trio and playing with essentially every major jazz artist since.
As luck might have it (and for those of you who know me well, luck often DOES have it) Eddie was flown in by the Rimon School of Music (an affiliate of Berklee College, located just north of Tel Aviv) for a week of concerts and workshops, all open to the public. Being the public myself, I drove up to the school everyday and soaked up the vast experience and knowledge this delightfully easy-going man was offering.
Besides attending workshops by a master of the instrument, my mere presence on Rimon's campus proved to be of great benefit. In three days, I shook hands with a bass teacher I've been trying to track down for a month, realized it wasn't geographically feasible to take regular lessons with him, and almost immediately found another teacher, based in Tel Aviv, who seemed very willing and even pleased to teach me. Furthermore, this new teacher rather resembles one of my composition professors from university, who was a great inspiration to me during my time there. I tend to believe, or at least take pleasure in, little coincidences such as this, and I'm very excited to start lessons.
My final achievement is one not only of musical benefit, but also of personal growth. A young pianist of great talent had been playing during all of Eddie Gomez's clinics and such, and on the last day, I mustered up the courage to introduce myself and get his email for future jamming purposes. Despite my outward comfort and confidence, I am prone to bouts of timidity, something I will have to get over if I plan on dropping in and out of various music scenes around the world. Further mustering led me to ask Mr. Gomez if he would have time for a lesson, which sadly he did not. However, I got his email as well, and if I'm ever in New York (which I very likely will be in the next few years), he said he would gladly give me a lesson then. Come to think of it, that alone is as good a reason as any to go to New York.
All in all, my plan to drop everything and fly across the world is seeming less and less insane by the day, and my prospects for the next few months have me teeming with excitement. I've tracked down a few open mics and jam sessions around the city, which is another big step towards actually playing with people. The first is this Monday at Tel Aviv's Shablul Jazz Club, so wish me luck!
Music aside (though it's never that far aside), Sabrina and I are furiously reading up in preparation for our next great adventure : INDIA! Yes, faithful blogdience, the girl and I are heading to the land of elephants, curry, and yoga for a week and a half. Rest assured, there will be plenty of photos, and thanks to some cunning thievery of my mother's Christmas present, videos as well!
Thanks to everyone who made my trip back to Canada so wonderful, and my deepest apologies to those people I did not see due to scheduling, traffic, and inclement weather.
Cheers,
- Dony
The catalyst to all this recent success can be attributed to one man : Eddie Gomez. This Puerto-Rican born, New York raised bassist is credited as one of the visionaries of the instrument, spending eleven years in the Bill Evans trio and playing with essentially every major jazz artist since.
As luck might have it (and for those of you who know me well, luck often DOES have it) Eddie was flown in by the Rimon School of Music (an affiliate of Berklee College, located just north of Tel Aviv) for a week of concerts and workshops, all open to the public. Being the public myself, I drove up to the school everyday and soaked up the vast experience and knowledge this delightfully easy-going man was offering.
Besides attending workshops by a master of the instrument, my mere presence on Rimon's campus proved to be of great benefit. In three days, I shook hands with a bass teacher I've been trying to track down for a month, realized it wasn't geographically feasible to take regular lessons with him, and almost immediately found another teacher, based in Tel Aviv, who seemed very willing and even pleased to teach me. Furthermore, this new teacher rather resembles one of my composition professors from university, who was a great inspiration to me during my time there. I tend to believe, or at least take pleasure in, little coincidences such as this, and I'm very excited to start lessons.
My final achievement is one not only of musical benefit, but also of personal growth. A young pianist of great talent had been playing during all of Eddie Gomez's clinics and such, and on the last day, I mustered up the courage to introduce myself and get his email for future jamming purposes. Despite my outward comfort and confidence, I am prone to bouts of timidity, something I will have to get over if I plan on dropping in and out of various music scenes around the world. Further mustering led me to ask Mr. Gomez if he would have time for a lesson, which sadly he did not. However, I got his email as well, and if I'm ever in New York (which I very likely will be in the next few years), he said he would gladly give me a lesson then. Come to think of it, that alone is as good a reason as any to go to New York.
All in all, my plan to drop everything and fly across the world is seeming less and less insane by the day, and my prospects for the next few months have me teeming with excitement. I've tracked down a few open mics and jam sessions around the city, which is another big step towards actually playing with people. The first is this Monday at Tel Aviv's Shablul Jazz Club, so wish me luck!
Music aside (though it's never that far aside), Sabrina and I are furiously reading up in preparation for our next great adventure : INDIA! Yes, faithful blogdience, the girl and I are heading to the land of elephants, curry, and yoga for a week and a half. Rest assured, there will be plenty of photos, and thanks to some cunning thievery of my mother's Christmas present, videos as well!
Thanks to everyone who made my trip back to Canada so wonderful, and my deepest apologies to those people I did not see due to scheduling, traffic, and inclement weather.
Cheers,
- Dony
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)