Summertime, and the livin' is....pleasing

Summer is in full swing with both the weather and performing season!  I'm singing on Beach Street once a week as a solo artist and it is going great. I'm getting the hours of experience I was looking for.




 
Amazingly, I finished my last Berklee class a few weeks ago! I can't believe that it was not even a year ago that I decided to start taking classes, and I have learned so much this year. The final class was Jazz Improvisation with Gary Burton - not necessarily a beginner class, but it was still good to learn from the best, and I have a much better idea of the overall principles of improv, though I have a good way to go to be proficient at it on flute. But, I'm happy to say I still want to practice and improve after finishing the class, while at the same time it's been nice to have a little breathing room without the pressures of weekly deadlines for class and do some writing again.

My plan now is to study with someone locally and keep praciting my improvisation as much as I can. I had one lesson with John Toomey at Old Dominion University, one of the best jazz pianists in the area (you don't have to study with your same instrument on jazz, though in this case it's nice that I know piano well enough that I can watch his hands and copy), and it went well and he gave me some great exercises. We plan to pick up again in a few weeks once he is back from vacation. 

I also had one jazz voice coaching lesson with Stephanie Nakasian while she was in town a few weeks ago! She was so encouraging and gave me some tips for letting my natural voice come out even more. 

And.....last but not least, I'm pleased to announce that I will be a vocalist at Havana Nights Jazz Club starting on August 28th!! I went in and sang for Dana Rice, the owner, about a month ago, because he was interested in trying a vocalist for their Wednesday cocktail hour. He liked what he heard and hired me for 4 weeks on Wednesdays 6-9pm starting August 28th! This is really a dream come true, as ever since I've been going to Havana Nights to see shows and sing for the open mic I've dreamed of singing there. I'll be performing duo with Justin Kauflin on piano - what an honor! He is aready poised for greatness as he heads to the Montreux Jazz Festival as I write! I'll be singing standards, as well as an original, and recently-penned lyrics to the Bill Evans standard Peri's Scope.

My family continues to thrive as my husband and I celebrate our 9-year anniversary next week and baby Joy turns 6 months!

I'm so grateful and excited for all the open doors and hope you will come to see me when I sing at Havana Nights!  
 

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