Pure Musical Joy: Why Nils Lofgren is one of the greatest musicans around and I am not

Thursday was an amazing day.  Nils (http://www.nilslofgren.com) came by and spent several hours playing and talking to CMAS.  It was beyond incredible.  Aside from his obvious talent, he is also one of the most grounded, kind, and generous people I have ever met.

I found myself way too star struck with him.  You'd think being so close to "Uncle George" as Gray calls him that I would act like less of a boob around someone like Nils; but no, I was kinda "Captain Wonderputz."  I hope he doesn't think me too dim after all is said and done.  I don't even wanna think about it.

Ok, now past all that, there were several things that really struck me in the time he was with CMAS.  The most significant was his humility.  Not just the obvious and almost cliche kind of thing that you'd expect from someone who has "made it" and done so much - in truth, he's probably best known for playing in the E Street Band with Springsteen; but even if you take that all away, his resume is staggering - but more about how he kept emphasizing his love of the song as his driving motivation.

With Nils you get the real sense that he loves playing with Bruce and all the work he's also done with Neil Young and so many others; and he's clearly grateful and appreciative for all he's been able to do in music; but he talks of smaller gigs in small clubs with the same kind of affection.  He has a kind of musical Joy about him that I don't see very often. It reminded me of Robert Billups (see an earlier blog about that true genius).  Even in the CMAS main hall, which is pretty cool for a school facility but not really a big deal in the pantheon of places Nils has played, he was just clearly in love with the music.

And I don't mean in an arrogant sort of way 'cuz it was his songs.  I mean he just loves music.  You can see it, palpably, in his face.  The Joy of it seems to take on his entire body and informs all the energy about him - he literally radiates it.  I learned more from Nils in those few hours yesterday than I could possible recount here, but his joyous playing and sense of self within the musical lines was just indescribable.

Full disclosure, I feel I did him a disservice in the sound I provided him - not that he complained.  I'm hoping passing along George's contact info to him, as well as  the mixes I'll create of his performances for the show that was being taped, will at least make up a bit for that and all the rest of my gaffs.

Ok, time to go and find some of my own musical joy.  So this is Captain Wonderputz, signing off...for now...

Back inside the sound: why I sometimes almost miss my old teaching gig and why "traditional" ensembles matter

This past week I was asked once again to be a clinician for the Arizona Band and Orchestra folks. In short, it was beyond terrific; and to work, even if just briefly, with these amazing young orchestras, was great fun for me.

With all the studio work and training I do; and the songwriting, etc, etc. that makes up the CMAS program, I sometimes forget how much I still love being "inside" that kind of sound.  It is a very different world, and in some ways I miss it.  Not enough to go back, but...that sound...no matter what else I ever do, I still love it.  Frankly, it's been creeping back into my own music in some ways lately, so maybe it's a kind of musical synergy coming to fruition. Who knows.  Anyway...

Lately when I am lucky enough to be a part of these kind of things, inevitably the conversation comes around to CMAS.  Many times I cannot tell for certain at first if I am being investigated or envied.  The truth is liekly somewhere in between.

While it's my job to promote the paradigm shift that CMAS represents to music education, people usually seem so surprised to learn that I have a very real and strong affinity for traditional ensembles.  It just seems odd to me.  Music is about something more than the specifics of the ensemble.  More than a tale of who is playing what instrument.  It's about getting inside yourself and life and the world and God and whatever else you wanna connect it to.  The organic, pure nature of music is not limited to any specific parameters.  I find it odd that this strikes so many as a "new" concept.  Many will feign agreement only to privately scorn the music CMAS now fosters in people who would otherwise have no interest in its exploration.

It seems very simple to me and was really reinforced for me while at this recent festival with all these grand orchestras: either all music is viable or none of it is.  Sure, you cannot do it all, and everyone will have their strengths and weaknesses in execution; but at it's heart music - of all genres - reaches beyond.

Does it really matter which path you take to get there?  Traditional ensembles are hugely important.  Truly.  But, in the end, it's music that is the important entity.  Get it however you can and encourage others to do the same, no?  Band, Choir, Orchestra, Jazz, Rock, Country, Rap - that's all just superfluous details.  Music is what matters.  All music.  Sometime I really wonder if CMAS is really that big of a change.  I swear, fundamentally, I am only able to approach music one way - I know of no other - regardless of the specific ensembles or genres.

I may not be a "traditionalist" but I am certainly a "purist."  And I am very, very lucky to have a life that is 100% family and music.  It's just that simple.  Really.

It's all in the numbers: my recent epifany about class size in schools

So lately I've been having lots of conversations with people about the CMAS program - how it started,where it's going, why I structured the curriculum the way I did, etc.  Inevitably, one of the questions is about how the current "traditional" program at the school is dealing with the success of CMAS.

The truth is, not well.  While CMAS is certainly going through some pretty massive growing pains, overall the general path is forward.  Fast.  So much so that I have been wondering if I need to reign it in just a bit to ensure that we maintain the level of quality I feel is essential -bit that is another topic.

The point is, I was recently talking with some folks from the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences (my buddy Brock, and the school's Administrator Kirt Hamm - also a great guy) about how CRAS could do more to reach out to other music teachers in the community - to say nothing of their support of CMAS, generally - and we got to talking about my transition from the traditional program to full implementation of CMAS.  The context was more about helping other, interested teachers do something similar, even if on a smaller scale; but in the course of that discussion something so unbelievably obvious struck me that I am kinda ashamed I have not talked about before whenever the topic of the current traditional program at the school comes up:

(I wanna preface this by stating clearly that this is definitively not a commentary on any other teacher - just a statement of some facts.)

In the years just prior to the full transition to CMAS I was simultaneously running what would become the bulk of CMAS as well as the complete band and orchestra at the school. There was also another teacher facilitating several other classes that would eventually evolve into part of CMAS as well while also running the choir program at the school.  Full disclosure: for many years this other person was my wife Michele, who to be frank, is a far better teacher than I in all areas, but I digress.

The point is that during this time there were big numbers of students in the CMAS -like classes as well as strong numbers in the band, orchestra and choir.  All working together somehow.  All viable educationally - despite the compelling argument that I was at best a mediocre band/orchestra teacher.  So if the numbers have diminished since in the traditional classes, I just don't buy it that it was CMAS's fault.

Look, the job of the traditional music teacher at the school - at any school -  is very tough; and having done it for years, I can vouch for the fact that it stretches the traditional teacher far too thin to possibly succeed at their best level all the time in all aspects.  But blaming CMAS for the drop in numbers is not only unfair, it's untrue.

OK.  I just wanted to get that out.  My personal goal, if I am very lucky, once the CMAS curriculum is fully implemented and running (likely within the next 18 months or so) is to help revitalize the traditional program.  Who knows, maybe reinvent it a bit...if they'll let me.

Music Education Irony: Or how I try to justify a very strange set of circumstances and call them totally logical and obvious

Truth: I was never any good at being the "Band guy."  Though I was always thrilled to be able to guide students toward a common musical goal (marching band shows, festivals, and such) I never felt like it was really me; and I am not certain I was very good at it either.   As I completed the transition to the full CMAS program, despite all the seemingly endless variables with creating a new type of music program, at least I could be assured that, at its core, CMAS was more a true reflection of myself than all my previous work in education.

I suppose I need to admit that in some ways I live with a continual urge to offer a kind of apology to all my former band and orchestra students.   I wonder if the experience I provided them was really as viable as it could have been.  This is not false modesty - my experience with CMAS has shown me that the right environment (musical, educational) makes so much possible.  Makes it simpler, more direct, and frankly far easier for the students to achieve.  But, as usual, I digress...

Here's the thing.  When I left the "Band guy" behind for CMAS  I assumed that I was also leaving behind all the trappings of that moniker.  In particular, the football game halftime shows.  Oops!

A while back, as we were discussing all the aspects of implementing the CMAS program at the school, I had a conversation with my Principal (Dr. Anne-Marie Woolsey - as an aside, if CMAS is at all successful, it is in no small way do to her support.  More on her and Dr. Mitch Simmons, our other key supporter, later) about how, in theory, CMAS could produce some pretty cool halftime shows, similar to the Superbowl, given the right circumstances.  Over time, whenever we would meet to talk CMAS, the topic would return, and eventually it moved from a theoretical future possibility to a reality that begins this fall.

Certainly this marks a serious change in the community dynamic at the school - the band program has been on the decline for a long time - nationally the trend is similar, if not as pronounced, for what it's worth - and CMAS's success is likely not helping the situation (a discussion on why CMAS is only a small part of the equation, not the root cause, at another time) and there is simply an historical connection, and expectation, that there will be a marching band at the game; but it also marks an opportunity to further extend the paradigm shift that CMAS has precipitated, generally, in music education.

We're still very much in the planning stages, but the premise is basically a full on, albeit short, rock concert in the middle of the football field, with complete lighting and sound.  Yikes!  Is there a stronger word for this than "crazy?"  I'll write more on the details as we work them out, but for now the point is that a) it really is happening, b) we are lucky to be able to tap in to some serious grant money to make it happen (ironically, CMAS is far less expensive, even with this new aspect, to operate than a traditional music program) and c) I am back to football games.  Hmmm....careful what you wish for...