finding my way in

there’s a point in the creative process where it clicks.

where I find my way in.

and when I do I realize that it’s been right there all along.

I just hadn’t found the phrase, motif, chord or tiny fragment of an idea that opens the flood gates.

sometimes it takes weeks. sometimes days. sometimes years.

sometimes I need to put it away for a while.

but I think that it’s important to remember that if I hang in there I will eventually find it.

because that is what I’m looking for. I’m always searching for my way in.

***********

every new arrangement is born of this process

of trial and error of frustration of nearly giving up.

and I have to go through it in order to really appreciate when the germ of an idea just appears.

and I know it’s right because it’s so simple, so elegant and so deeply resonant.

and I feel like skipping around the room or whispering,

thank you.

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two videos. two kites

I feel like Dorothy. All I needed to do was click my heels together three times. I’ve been able to edit and upload videos to youtube all along. I just needed someone to tell me how.

Here’s what you do with a mac:

Open imovie

if the movie is already on your desktop and you want to edit it, click file – import – movies and find the file.

Click on “create a new event” and give it a name

make sure you click “copy” rather than “move” the movie

you will then see the entire movie (frame by frame) on the bottom of the page.

Move the mouse anywhere, hit the space bar and it will play from that point onward.

Select a section by holding down the mouse – find a good starting place, a good ending and once it’s highlighted, you hit “E”

that isolates and moves that section to the top of the page where you can probably do a whole bunch of things to it that I don’t know how to do yet.

Click on “share” and you can export to your desktop or share it directly to youtube. there’s actually that option, and a bunch more.

I can’t tell you how long I’ve been daunted by this task.

Now I just need to learn how to edit a few things together, and write some text on the movie. I’m sure it’s not that hard…

Feel free to tell me about it.

In the meantime, please enjoy a couple of videos from my “Two Kites” CD release recorded live at Lula Lounge:

Mike Murley (saxophone), George Koller (bass) and Nick Fraser (drums)

Here’s the title track from the CD, Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Two Kites”

Here’s an original instrumental, “All Fall Down”

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JUNO Nomination! my February newsletter

you can read my February newsletter here.

Two Kites was nominated as Vocal Jazz Album of the Year

here is a full list of the nominees.

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