Recital videos, August 2023
I’m pleased to share videos from my recent Delta State University faculty recital.
I’m pleased to share videos from my recent Delta State University faculty recital.
I posted last week about Diane Wood, the federal judge and oboist who is a candidate to fill a soon-to-be vacant seat on the US Supreme Court. (Unsurprisingly, Patty Mitchell, prolific blogger and online curator of all things oboe-related, also picked up the story.)
Yesterday the LA Times ran an op-ed by Meghan Daum, herself a recovering oboe player, entitled “The Supreme Court could use an oboist.” Here are the good parts:
The oboe isn’t just an instrument; it’s a way of life. … Playing the oboe means living your life entirely at the mercy of tiny wooden double reeds that crack at inopportune moments (weirder and more awful yet, you’re supposed to make them yourself as though you were a 19th century artisan). It also means blowing so hard into them that you risk a brain aneurysm every time you try to hit a high D. It also means you’re a huge nerd.
I would have mixed feelings about taking a teaching job outside the US, but I would definitely willing to fly out for an interview for this one. Maybe for a couple of weeks?
Here are some highlights (to me) of what happened on the blog this year. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for new, non-meta content once the holidays are over.
Don’t forget to subscribe via your favorite feed reader or social network, and hit me up with your questions, comments, and requests. Happy New Year!
I’m pleased to share videos from my recent faculty recital at Mississippi State University. The program was all unaccompanied solo works for clarinets and saxophones.
Here’s the program and video playlist:
Earlier this week jazz musician Yusef Lateef passed away at age 93. Lateef was known for his adventurous woodwind doubling, playing saxophone and flute, plus the oboe and a number of woodwinds from non-Western cultures. Here he is playing some tasty flute:
I’ve seen oboists look a bit uncomfortable when the topic of Yusef Lateef comes up, no doubt because his sound on that instrument was so different from the preferred American-school classical oboe sound. If you have been too quick to dismiss Lateef’s contributions as a jazz oboist in the past, I suggest you listen again with fresh ears, bearing in mind that his music was informed by jazz as well as the music of many other cultures, and that the “classical” oboe tradition was not necessarily relevant to his goals. Here’s some bluesy oboe playing:
Check out Yusef Lateef’s official website for more information about his life and music and about his passing.
For a while now I’ve maintained lists of woodwind doublers’ websites and blogs, but, as it turns out, a number of fine woodwind doublers also have entertaining and/or informative Twitter feeds. Starting today, you can check them out on this site, or head on over to Twitter to “follow.”
If you’re a woodwind doubler (of any skill level) and would like to be included, send me an email or a Tweet.
If you’re looking for a good list to follow that focuses on a specific instrument, you might try one of these:
I haven’t been able to find a great oboe list. Let me know if you start one (looking at you, @pattyoboe).
Twitter lists, if you’re unfamiliar, are put together by individual Twitter users, and are a good way to keep track of a group without cluttering up your personal Twitter timeline.