Spending time online is good for kids An article on Physorg.com (click here to read article) talks about a recent study by the University of Southern California and the University of California, Berkeley which observed kids as they spent time using the Internet and taking part in online communities.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

The study, which can be found online at macfound.org, identified two categories of teen engagement with digital media: "friendship-driven" and "interest-driven."

Friendship-driven participation centered on "hanging out" with existing friends online while interest-driven participation involved accessing online information and outside communities, the study said.

"In both friendship-driven and interest-driven online activity, youth create and navigate new forms of expression and rules for social behavior," the study said.

"In the process, young people acquire various forms of technical and media literacy by exploring new interests, tinkering, and 'messing around' with new forms of media.

"Through trial and error, youth add new media skills to their repertoire, such as how to create a video or customize games or their MySpace page," it said.

The study said young people are motivated to learn from their peers online with the Internet providing "new kinds of public spaces for youth to interact and receive feedback from one another."

  ¶ 11:06 PM

bazaar picnic time,
let's party with wine,
go dining and camping
so
a bbq,
a basket,
how bout
a beverage,
coolers,
what a lifestyle! tailgating never was better.

-GP

Poem created with words from Veryrelated.com.
http://www.veryrelated.com/related.php?base=Picnic  ¶ 7:43 PM

film I composed music for, on the big screen! I while back I wrote some music and performed on the soundtrack/score for a film called "The Letter Goodbye" (with Andrew Ming).

On Saturday it's showing its world premiere at Tinseltown as part of the Vancouver Asian Film Festival.
http://www.vaff.org/fest08/a-moment-in-time  ¶ 1:40 PM

Musical Tidbits on the web A bunch of updates relating to music and the web... hope you enjoy!

SearchMe.com - legal loophole opens door to amazing music search engine

I came across SearchMe, a really neat free/legal music search engine that lets you listen to full versions of the songs. I don't know how it's possible for this site to exist, but apparently they get their music through Imeem widgets, and Imeem has a licensing agreement with four major record labels, and there is some kind of loophole in their licensing agreement which allows a site like SearchMe to exist.

To access the site, go to www.searchme.com and click on Music. I was able to find really rare stuff on there, such as the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack by Yoko Kanno, Ahmad Jamal's 2008 album entitled It's Magic, some Kenny Barron albums, some Roy Hargrove live tracks - it's pretty much endless! It also lets you share the songs. For example, click here to listen to one of my favorite Ahmad Jamal jazz piano trio tracks, a song called Arabesque from his album It's Magic.


Henry Hey and Sarah Palin - jazz piano brilliance mixed with politics

In other news, I discovered the music of New York jazz pianist Henry Hey. I was browsing the web and saw a link to a YouTube video about Sarah Palin singing along with a jazz piano accompianist (click here), and was intrigued. It turns out that pianist Henry Hey took a video of a Palin interview and added piano behind her words, in perfect time with her vocal rhythm and intonation. I thought to myself, "this is where Jazz Piano meets political activism" - from a musical and political standpoint this video is pure genius.

So the result of all this Youtubing is that I went over to Henry Hey's record label Nineteen Eight records (click here) and bought his 2008 piano trio album entitled Watershed. It costs $9 USD for the whole album as a digital download, and is available in non-DRM MP3 format (which let you freely copy to any of your devices or computers to enjoy the music wherever you are: but of course instead of copying to friends you should encourage them to buy their own copy from the web site to support the artist).

If you'd like to listen to some of Henry Hey's music, check out his myspace page (click here).


Youtube video of myself performing Chick Corea tune

Also, in the past few weeks I have been working on learning the wonderful Chick Corea tune, entitled "Windows". I mostly know it from his incredible 1988 album Now He Sings Now He Sobs.

Last weekend I made a Youtube video of myself performing my own improvised arrangement of Windows (click here to view), and the comments I have been getting are really encouraging.

dugin27 writes:

I don't know how much money you're going to make playing piano but I know enough to say that you're goning to have one hell of a fine time with that instrument for the rest of your life. Bravo and best of luck. Bud

drmhouse writes:

Very nice playing... you love to just play and it's fun as hell to watch.

I'm really enjoying this whole Internet thing, to be able to share my music with people around the world, and learn from other talented people by watching their music too, it's the greatest thing! Many interesting years ahead!!  ¶ 1:10 AM

New song idea - Peace for J I wrote the beginnings of a song last night - it could be some kind of ballad. I needed to relax and calm down, and this short song helped me do that. Please click below to listen and let me know what you think!

> Peace for J (MP3 time 1:40) - Composed and played by Geoff Peters.  ¶ 10:42 AM

Colin Pombo - Yoga Poses Kind Selekta digital boutique writes:

With a swing comparable to an early down tempo Marc de Clive Lowe joint, Colin Pombo’s “Yoga Poses” leads you through an open minded meditation session of well colored chord patterns swirling around thoughtfully poised rhythmic snaps.

Reminiscent of the past’s Curtis Mayfield or today’s Jeremy Ellis, ‘Yoga Poses’ sets the mood with a soul inspired falsetto that softens perceptions with relaxed intentions, Supported by a rich sturdy bass like that of a Pariss Clemons slow jam, and layers that seem to be transported here from a classic 45, this track is sure to warm any room into a head noddin’ swing as the mind and hips are gently pressed forward in the same motion.

I downloaded Colin's track from the site (click here) and am enjoying it... Colin has put a grooving bass line and warm electro-keyboard chords together with some soulful vocals and plenty of textures and layers to reward repeated listening.

I paid for the track using Paypal, and it was through a British company (Kind Selekta) so it came out to 1.64 GBP (British pounds), which worked out to $3.28 CAD after fees and exchange rates. I was a bit hesitant at first, being able to buy whole mainstream albums through Puretracks.com for around $10 CAD, but I'm glad I made the exception and supported an independent artist.

Both Kind Selekta and Puretracks are now selling non-DRM MP3's, meaning I can copy the MP3's to listen on my cell phone, in the car CD player, on my work computer, and in my living room! I think this is a welcome trend in the music business: companies are realizing that people don't want to pay for music with restrictions on their freedom to play it on various devices.

My recommendation: check out Colin Pombo's track, Yoga Poses!

Colin also has a Myspace page (click here) with a free sample and more info.  ¶ 11:50 PM

New Composition: Good to You I wrote a new composition. It's a ballad called "Good to You". Please click below to hear a recording I made. I've also written lyrics which I've included below. Any singers out there who would like to record this?

> Good To You - Mp3 time 3:13 - (Geoff Peters solo piano, composition by Geoff Peters)

Lyrics:

Money and greed
she ain't good to you.
But why do I keep
coming back to you.
Baby -
please don't forget
I've been good to you
She'll never change her ways.

Summer turns to fall,
Winter turns to spring.
Nice to know.  ¶ 12:03 AM

Classical music vs Jazz I am currently working on the piano part to Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. If I'm lucky I'll get a chance to perform it with an orchestra in October! It made me realize again how different the experience of practicing is between classical music and jazz music.

In classical practicing I am trying to learn to play exactly the notes and rhythms the composer has written, with some degree of interpretation of the dynamics and articulation, but largely focusing on rendering into sound what is specified in the sheet music.

In jazz practicing I am trying to learn to play "tunes" and improvise. It involves discovering harmonies and melodies that I can work around the basic form of a piece. I am connecting my theoretical knowledge of jazz and my ability to physically play the piano with what I am hearing in my head, which in turn is influenced by the music I have been listening to.

I find that learning jazz has led me more naturally into thinking in a creative musical way, harmonically and compositionally, but that classical has given me a good foundation in technique.

But any music that I play or listen to, including classical, informs how I play in the many musical "worlds". I have found that I get a sense of freedom when switching back and forth between jazz and classical.

And that only covers two general "styles" or approaches to music. Playing in a folk band adds another dimension too!!!  ¶ 11:45 PM

Waltz for Debbie - Piano Practice Video I made a video of myself practicing for 15 minutes on the beautiful Bill Evans tune, Waltz for Debbie. Click here to watch the video in Blip.tv or use the player below.

  ¶ 11:02 PM

New Recordings of Piano Jazz Radio The awesome NPR Radio Program "Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz" has some new shows available for listening on their web site (click here). These include musical interviews with Tony Bennett, Ahmad Jamal, Norah Jones, and Herbie Hancock.  ¶ 12:01 AM

Windows Vista is not so bad I recently got a new Dell computer and it came with Windows Vista. I've been using it for about a week now and I've gotten used to it, and even am brave enough to say that I like it!! My computer is quite fast, so much that it could install Microsoft Office in just one minute! (Yes I bit the bullet and bought MS Office standard edition, so that I can sync my Pocket PC and Nokia cell phone with Google Calendar). Vista runs really smoothly and quickly. I notice a lot of really small improvements for XP annoyances which overall make using the computer much easier. Yes, dear Mac fans, I respect you, but please don't hate me for liking Microsoft and Vista!! :)  ¶ 8:06 PM

New York Times article about "Digital Intimacy" Clive Thompson has a great article in the New York Times (click here to read) where he examines the phenomenon of "Digital Intimacy": how social networks such as Facebook and Twitter allow people to continually exchange details of their daily lives. From the article:

[For "aggressively social people online"] constant online contact had made [strong relationship] ties immeasurably richer, but it hadn’t actually increased the number of them; deep relationships are still predicated on face time, and there are only so many hours in the day for that.

But where their sociality had truly exploded was in their “weak ties” — loose acquaintances, people they knew less well. It might be someone they met at a conference, or someone from high school who recently “friended” them on Facebook, or somebody from last year’s holiday party. In their pre-Internet lives, these sorts of acquaintances would have quickly faded from their attention. But when one of these far-flung people suddenly posts a personal note to your feed, it is essentially a reminder that they exist. I have noticed this effect myself. [...] This rapid growth of weak ties can be a very good thing. Sociologists have long found that “weak ties” greatly expand your ability to solve problems.

  ¶ 12:23 AM

The Bird and The Bee (Music Video) The Bird and the Bee is a "jazz-influenced electro pop project" from Los Angeles, with Greg Kurstin ("bee") and Inara George ("bird").

View their Web site, their Myspace page, or their Wikipedia page.

Also check out a video (below) from their debut album which was released on the Blue Note label. I think the piano intro to this video is awesome!

  ¶ 1:53 PM

Aaron Parks new jazz album Aaron Parks, a twenty-something jazz pianist and composer from Seattle (now living in New York), has released his debut album on the Blue Note label. It's called Invisible Cinema and you can listen to tracks from the album on Aaron's myspace page (click here). The album also features Eric Harland on drums, Matt Penman on bass, and Mike Moreno on guitar.

Allmusicguide writes (click here to read review):

Melodic improvisation is the key in Parks' mysterious, strangely beautiful compositions, such as the elliptical, shapeshifting "Peaceful Warrior." Parks employs his elegant style to full effect, allowing his sense of restraint and economy to create tension and drama, which is pointedly accented by Moreno.

Peaceful Warrior is my favorite track from the album - it's really cinematic and inspiring.  ¶ 1:31 PM

New Composition: A Horrible Accident (Music for a Film) Tonight I wrote a new piece, called "A Horrible Accident". Thankfully no horrible accident actually happened for me lately. This melody really jumped out at me (it's kind of classical), and I'm sure I've heard it before. I put some mysterious chords underneath and a simple major bridge to tie things together.

Please click below to listen, and let me know what you think!

> A Horrible Accident Mp3 Time 3:25 (Geoff Peters original composition, performed by Geoff Peters on piano)  ¶ 2:22 AM

New Recording: Sybaritic String Band (MP3 available) This evening I did a recording session with the Sybaritic String Band (click to view band web site).

The instrumentation is:
Brian Hayden - fiddle
Rich Sobel - fiddle
Barry Cole - mandolin
Geoff Peters - piano

We recorded a medley of lively jigs (Banks of the Allan, Rich's E Jig, and Blue Jay). Rich's E Jig was composed by Rich Sobel. I started the set with a rubato piano solo intro. Please click below to listen, and let me know what you think!

> Banks of the Allan, Rich's E Jig, and Blue Jay - MP3 time 6:49 (Sybaritic String Band)

We made this recording using a MOTU 8-Pre (click to view web site), an high quality 8 channel Firewire interface for home studio and portable recording. Mixed by Geoff Peters.  ¶ 12:02 AM

Douglas College Jazz Intensive (Concert video available) The past week I took part in a jazz camp, the Douglas College Jazz Intensive in New Westminister, BC, Canada, which was organized by director Bob Rebagliati.

It was a great way to spend a week, being surrounded by talented musicians (both young and young-at-heart) and being instructed by excellent music educators such as Alan Matheson, Sharon Minemoto, Bernie Arai, and others.

I recorded our group's final concert (3 songs) and have created Youtube videos of the performance. Here are links to the videos:

1. B.L.P. (click for video)
2. Ladybird (click for video)
3. Modalee (click for video)

The concert recordings in MP3 are also available online (please click here).

B.L.P. and Modalee are original compositions by our instructor, Alan Matheson, who in addition to being an outstanding composer, director, and music educator, is also a talented trumpet player who performs regularly in the Vancouver area. Please click here to view Alan's web site.  ¶ 1:44 AM

New Composition: Soul Ice (for Hockey Night in Canada) Right now there's a songwriting competition going on in Canada, to find the next theme for Hockey Night In Canada. I gave this a whirl mostly as an exercise and came up with "Soul Ice". Please click below to listen, and enjoy! :) If I win, I'll get $100,000 and lots of fame. I'll be posting a link to where you can vote for me soon.

> Soul Ice (Proposed Hockey Night in Canada theme) MP3 time 1:49 - Composed, recorded and performed by Geoff Peters

Update, Aug 24th 2008:
My anthem was approved for the competition and you can register your vote and rate my anthem by clicking here.  ¶ 12:04 AM

The Jazz Session (Podcast) + some other stuff The Jazz Session (click here to view web site) is a podcast of interviews with some great but perhaps lesser known jazz musicians.

Also check out an interview (click here) with New York jazz pianist Misha Piatigorsky.

Another great radio program with musical interviews is the show Piano Jazz by Marian Mcpartland (click here), which currently is featuring an interview from 1987 with Herbie Hancock.  ¶ 7:00 PM

Voyage solo piano improv Last week I made a little Youtube video of me performing an improvised arrangement of the tune Voyage by Kenny Barron:

  ¶ 5:30 PM

New Composition: We Will Be Together Again I was inspired to write a romantic tune, which I call "We Will Be Together Again", not to be confused with the jazz standard of that name. Please click below to listen, and let me know what you think! Any vocalists out there who would like to sing it?

> We Will Be Together Again (Mp3 - time 1:20) (Geoff Peters composition, performed by Geoff Peters on solo piano)

Lyrics:

Refrain:
It was a day
Like any day
Then you appeared,
and time slowed down and then...
resumed
its pace...
but we will be together again.
For we will be together again.

Refrain.  ¶ 11:47 PM

Facebook Redesign Facebook has some of the best user-experience designers in the world at the moment. I had a good look at the new design and am really quite impressed. Great work Facebook team!!  ¶ 1:13 AM

New Jazz Jam Recording (free MP3's avail) I spent Sunday afternoon having a jam session on piano with my brother Byron (drums) and friend Jason (bass). This was the first time we had played together and it was a lot of fun. I made a recording of our jam and have made the Mp3's freely available to download (please click here).

Of course, being a jam session, these recordings are not studio quality and are not our "best", but they will give you an idea of the kind of energy and musical ideas that we had going during our session. The consensus among the band members was that it was really fun!!

> Click here to listen to our jam session (free MP3's)

Regarding the tracks we played, I think Voyage is the most "polished" sounding, as I know the tune quite well. The other tunes I sort-of knew but I managed to fake it most of the time. We need to work on our endings!! Blue Monk was really fun, I tried playing in a "rough" style maybe influenced a bit by Thelonious Monk. There is also a recording of a new original tune of mine, Warm Day, which I wrote while taking a composition class with New York Jazz pianist Misha Piatigorsky.

This recording was made using a consumer-model Sony Hi-MD Minidisc player/recorder and a Sony stereo condenser microphone. The total cost of the recording equipment is less than $500. Considering the low cost of the equipment, the sound quality is not bad! I have written an article that describes how I made this recording using Minidisc (please click here).  ¶ 11:36 AM

Enlarging Images by rendering detail (idea) I came up with an idea which I think would make a good Masters Thesis or startup company research project.

The idea is to find a better way to enlarge small images. You know how in the movies, they always have a small image and then they use the computer to enlarge the detail that wasn't there? My idea is to analyze a small 2D image, identify objects and textures, create a 3D model, and then use 3D rendering and computer graphics techniques to create a larger image in the same perspective and view, and same degree of photo-realism, just with more details filled in.

The most basic existing example of this is how someone using a tool can convert a simple graphic to a vector representation, and then it can be enlarged without the pixellation and ugly artifacts usually found when resampling a bitmap image to a larger size. My idea extends the simple vector graphics modelling to more complex types of images, such as modelling a landscape or a city scene, and using the model to enlarge the small image.

In order to accomplish this, we would need to generate a 3D model from a 2D image. I believe there is already a lot of research and progress in this area, at least for certain kinds of images. Then we would need a way to generate additional detail, perhaps through texture generation and taking advantage of some algorithm such as Perlin noise. Then we would need a seamless way of combining the existing pixels with rendered pixels.

If you know of any research into this area, please drop me a line at geoff@gpeters.com. Maybe someday if the various steps to accomplish this task are available in open source libraries, I will put together a website that takes images and enlarges them, adding detail. That could be a very popular site I imagine!

-Geoff Peters  ¶ 11:21 PM

Stanford Jazz Festival Spotlight David Rubien writes in the San Francisco Chronicle (click here to read article) about aspiring jazz artists Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet), Dayna Stephens (saxophone), Julian Lage (guitar), and Taylor Eigsti (piano). From the article:

Aspiring jazz artists, so the script goes, won't hit the big time unless they move to New York to make it in the jazz capital of the world. [...] Each is certainly bound for jazz stardom, and each is having to figure out his own way of getting there, because so far in the 21st century there are no standard routes, no plethora of apprenticeships, few jazz club circuits, few record labels clamoring for jazz talent.

The article has three full length MP3's of the artists' music (click here) and you can also listen to more music by clicking the artists' names above.  ¶ 10:35 PM

Geoff Peters in Concert (free recording available) I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to perform my original composition "Quiet Night" at the Victoria Piano Summer School, during their 20th annual Composers' Day. I feel it was a real milestone in my musical career. The audience was about 150 people and included faculty from the University of Victoria, and piano students and teachers of all ages. The Phillip T. Young Recital Hall in the MacLaurin Building at UVic has wonderful acoustics and I was alone on a huge stage with a Steinway concert grand piano.

I want to share this special musical moment in my life with you! Please click below to listen to a recording of my performance. I played this piece in a typical jazz form, by starting off playing the melody (head), then making an improvised solo over the form, and then ending with the melody again. I had the form including chords and melody in my head.

> Quiet Night (Mp3 recording, time 3:13) - composed and performed by Geoff Peters  ¶ 11:58 PM

Bill Evans on Piano Jazz One of my favorite radio programs is NPR's Piano Jazz, hosted by pianist and composer Marian Mcpartland. In 1978 Bill Evans was on the show and took part in a musical interview with Marian McPartland, and their session has been re-released for free listening on the web at NPR's web site (click here to listen).  ¶ 4:35 PM

New Composition: Lament I wrote a classical-sounding piano piece, Lament, that is quite moody and reminds me a little bit of Beethoven and Chopin. (Click here to listen.)

Wikipedia says, "A lament is a song or poem expressing grief, regret or mourning." I sat down and thought I would try to write something jazzy, maybe inspired by some of the great jazz I saw in the Vancouver Jazz Festival, but for some reason I was attracted to the sounds of minor and diminished chords. Some classical piano pieces which have had an influence on my music are the Beethoven piano Sonatas (especially the Appassionata) and the Chopin Ballades.

Please click below to listen to my piece, Lament, and let me know what you think! It's recorded in stereo for your listening pleasure. :)

> Lament (MP3 recording, time 3:05) - Geoff Peters Original Composition  ¶ 2:38 PM

VeryRelated.com I launched a new website, VeryRelated.com that shows how things are related on the Internet.
It makes cool mind maps like the one below:
  ¶ 12:12 AM

New Composition: Lost in Chinatown A few weeks ago I was wandering the streets of San Francisco's Chinatown late at night - this ambient/atmospheric piece captures some of the mystery of that evening. It is also inspired by the soundtrack of Lost in Translation, the song called "Alone in Kyoto" by Air. I used piano and synth for this track.

Please click below to listen and let me know what you think!

> Lost in Chinatown Mp3 time 1:52 (Written and performed by Geoff Peters)  ¶ 4:42 PM

Geoff Peters Trio - New Studio Recordings I'm very happy to announce the release of 6 full length original tracks of my jazz band, the Geoff Peters Trio. Mark White, Greg Murray and I recorded these tracks in March 2008. Please click here to visit my band's website where you can download high quality versions of the tracks for free.

> Download the tracks

By all means, please put the tracks on your iPod or burn a CD to enjoy them in your living room. If you enjoy the music, consider giving us a small "donation" through Paypal by clicking the Donation link on the download page (click here). Donations will go directly to support us in creation of further high-quality recordings of original jazz music.  ¶ 12:26 AM

For Sure (New composition and lyrics) I wrote a little ditty on the piano (a vocal duet) and came up with some lyrics to go with it.
I'm hoping to sing it with one of my vocalist friends.

It's called "For Sure" (click here to listen to the basic melody and chords music):

Lyrics - lines alternate between Person #1 (girl) and Person #2 (guy)

Intro / Refrain:
One day, you'll find out that you didn't know.
Yeah, right.
But are you sure?
Yes Sure I'm Sure.

Verse:
Are you sure?
I'm sure.
But are you sure?
Yes sure.
But really sure?
Yes Sir.
Can you be sure?
I'm sure.

Refrain.

Verse.

Refrain 2x to end.

(lyrics and music by Geoff Peters, May 11, 2008. Inspired by some discussions with opinionated colleagues at Javaone, a computer programming conference last week in San Francisco.)  ¶ 2:12 AM

New Trio Recording - Delicate In March, Mark Greg and I spent three days doing a recording session in our home studio. I'm quite happy with the results. For your listening pleasure here is a sneak preview: an original composition called "Delicate". Please let me know what you think!
(Thanks to Alan for doing a great job of the mixing.)

> Delicate - Mp3 recording of Geoff Peters Trio (jazz)

The piano is a 1960's Steinway B. It still has the original strings (but it's in pretty good shape). Recorded using a MOTU 8-Pre on my Toshiba laptop.  ¶ 7:47 PM

Clayton Hauck is a talented photographer... from Chicago I believe. He has the most amazing character shots of people in night clubs (at http://www.everyoneisfamous.com/). His portfolio (click here) also has some really cool stuff.  ¶ 1:31 AM

Tonight I was in a musical mood, so I wrote a slow, contemplative piano piece. I was originally going to call the piece "Art", after just coming home from viewing an interesting artistic exhibition of graduating UBC art students, but I decided to call it "Sara Band" instead. Actually, I am going to call it "Art | Sara Band". It is quite rubato and impressionistic, but it could be played in 3/4 like a Sarabande, I guess. But I wanted to play around with the title and imagine someone named Sara and this would be her Band. Poor Sara, cheer up eh? Don't worry, the next piece I write will be happy.

Please click below to listen, and do let me know what you think!
> Art | Sara Band - MP3 time 2:51 (Geoff Peters composition, performed by Geoff Peters on piano)  ¶ 12:01 AM

Jazz pianist Renee Rosnes on Piano Jazz NPR's radio program "Piano Jazz" features musical interviews with great jazz pianists, hosted by Marian Mcpartland. Click here to listen to a freely available recording of a 40 minute interview and concert with the incredible pianist Renee Rosnes.



From the web page:

Rosnes' role as a leader took off in 1990 with her first self-titled release on Blue Note. Eight more albums on the prestigious label followed, earning the pianist and composer seven Juno Awards and several Canadian National Jazz Awards.

  ¶ 9:09 PM

Article on Brad Mehldau and the state of Jazz In an article in the Michigan Daily newspaper, Katie Carey claims:

Jazz straddles a dangerous line these days, teetering on the edge of resembling hotel lounge music or a regurgitation of the past. In an art form stressing the improvisation of the individual, there seems to be a general rubric for expressing that individuality. Artists rely on the structures and forms of the "greats" before them, adhering to a confined code of what "jazz" should sound like.
[...] Concerning the trap that jazz musicians fall into when they improvise according to a predetermined structure, [pianist Brad] Mehldau suggests, "The listener is treated like a tourist, while curator-musicians guide them through specific corridors of jazz history."

I'd somewhat jokingly argue that there is nothing wrong with playing beautiful, relaxing, and stimulating music in hotel lounges. Jazz, with all its history and sophistication, provides a rich framework for personal creativity and expression. It is a mature language that supplies a context and baseline for understanding and communicating musical ideas. I don't think calling something "jazz" limits the possibilities of what can be musically expressed.

To me there is something seductive about a style of music that can instantly transform an ordinary place into a luxurious haven for the mind and soul. People who are privileged enough to enjoy traveling and who can afford to spend time in classy hotel lounges deserve to listen to jazz music. Would you rather that they listen to Indie Rock? (Maybe they should try it... in some funky boutique hotels! I enjoy some indie rock too...)

One of my favorite imagined settings of all time is the Park Hyatt Tokyo rooftop lounge which was featured in the movie Lost in Translation. I hope to visit there, or maybe even get a gig there someday.  ¶ 11:42 PM