An amazing video from Louisville’s transit authority on how to use their bus bike racks:

Though it’s not quite to my tastes, I think this is an incredible way to educate riders. I have to admit, I’ve never found the need to ride the bus while I was out with my bike; I wouldn’t have had much of a clue how to use the Citrus Connection’s bike racks until I saw this video.

Yet another example of clever new media marketing.

via Urban Velo.

There are no excuses.  I’ve been away, finishing up my work at the CJC, buying a house, and starting a new job at the Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce.

Here’s the house, including the front door, recently painted:

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

You’ll be hearing more about the changes and excitement in my life shortly and I’ll be back to offering news and editorials on jazz and things germane to Lakeland.

Until then…

The Wengerd|VanVoorst Duo hit tonight definitely did not go as planned!

After some back-and-forth over what hour slot we were to take, we had finally settled on the 7:00-8:00 pm timeslot, accommodating one of the participating artists, a harpist of some kind. Not long after I got home, I received a frantic email - the harpist wasn’t going to make it; could we play two hours?!

Rich was gracious to oblige and we were set. Rich called me half an hour before the gig; he was stuck on I4 with a broken-down car! Certainly not his fault, this was still quite a pickle. I called every player I knew in town - they either didn’t answer or couldn’t make it.

Finally, 5 minutes before downbeat, I get ahold of Paul Butcher, my friend and former teacher. Though he lives 1/2 hour away, he graciously agreed to come out (remember, this is for charity). I played almost 1/2 an hour solo - not something I’m quite prepared for yet (that’s an understatement!) and was saved by Paul’s quick arrival.

People loved it and I really enjoyed playing with Paul, particularly because he brought his flugel. If you can, please come out and see Paul and I again (along with Nick Bagwell on keys) at Mayfaire tomorrow morning at 11:00.

You may have noticed (if you’ve actually been to the matthewwengerd.net in the last few weeks) that the header image on this site rotates between five images.  If you’re monitor is wide enough, you may also note that every picture is music-related, a fact lost on those with smaller monitors.

In the street shot, there’s a music stand at the far right, behind the nav bar.  Kudos to the first reader to tell me what two books are on my music stand.

Having worked for non-profits for quite some time, I find that the latest post from Seth really strikes at the core of what it takes to survive as a non-profit:

If you’re only willing to bid $19 to buy a $20 bill at this auction, you’re not doing charity, you’re bargain hunting. There’s nothing wrong with bargain hunting, it’s fun, but it’s not philanthropy. I think bargain hunting for a good cause is just fine, but wouldn’t it be great if the event could raise far more money and change the way people view the organization?

This is not the easy path. It is much easier to sell your public on bargains than it is to sell them on generosity. The good news is that once you get over the hump, it scales. Bargains scale downward… better bargains are lower-priced bargains, which means you scale to zero. Philanthropy scales upward… better overpaying is more overpaying. A public auction is always a public competition. The challenge is to create social approval for what would otherwise be bad auction skills! Enlist a few stooges in the audience in advance, then start by auctioning off that $20 bill. When it goes for $45 and the winner gets an ovation, you’ve set a tone.

The goal of a non-profit seeking money needs to be to create an environment in which the community congratulates itself on overpaying.

That’s a very tall order. I’m not entirely sure I dig the subterfuge Seth encourages (I’m sure tongue’s at least lightly placed in cheek on that one), but the task of creating that kind of culture is difficult with or without it.

I’ll be playing twice for a local non-profit this week.

The Wengerd|VanVoorst Duo will be playing at the Volvo Mayfaire by the Lake kickoff party tonight in front of the Lakeland Library.

and the Matthew Wengerd Trio will be playing tomorrow at 11:00 am.

It’s not much, but it’s my kind of philanthropy. I get to help and be noticed and, let’s face it, without that combination, most forms of philanthropy would not exist.

Wynton Marsalis doesn’t shy away from controversial stances. The mild display of haughtiness here is only a glimpse of the types of things that make Marsalis a polarizing figure. In fact, this is almost charming:

via adrian.

A point-on post from I was doing alright worth reposting here:

A few months ago I was introduced to the director of jazz studies at one of the local Atlanta universities. For the sake of anonymity, let’s call him Joshua. The person making the introduction told Joshua that I have a website featuring Atlanta jazz musicians, Atlanta jazz clubs, and Atlanta jazz concerts. Joshua asked me for the name of my site, but when I told him the name he didn’t recognize it. I then told him that I had written about several jazz events at his school and that he’s probably seen my site when he does online searches for “Atlanta Jazz” topics. Once again, he said he wasn’t familiar with my site. I certainly wasn’t offended that Joshua didn’t know about my site, after all there are lots of jazz-related sites out there and I don’t expect everyone to know about mine. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have given any more thought to our conversation until Joshua said, “You know, I never do any searches for jazz on the Web.”

The more I think about Joshua’s comment, the more it concerns me. As the director of a university jazz studies program, it’s Joshua’s duty to prepare his students for a career as jazz musicians. That responsibility shouldn’t be limited to teaching them how to play music. For his students to succeed as professional musicians, they need to learn as much as possible about their local jazz scene, including the local musicians, clubs, and events. And most importantly, they need to learn how to promote themselves and their music. In today’s world, the Web is unquestionably the most effective medium for accomplishing these goals. And certainly, it’s becoming more important every day. I can’t help but think that if Joshua isn’t actively using the Web to find and disseminate information about jazz, there’s a good chance his students aren’t either.

I can’t speak for other cities, but in Atlanta there aren’t any printed publications that cover all of the local jazz musicians, clubs, and concerts. At best, newspapers simply announce national touring acts and a few local events. To truly know what’s happening in the Atlanta jazz scene, you have to go online. And even there, you can’t simply rely on a single website to tell you all there is to know. You have to continually search for information. Since Joshua isn’t searching for jazz online, he and his students are probably out of touch with what’s happening in the local jazz community.

Sure, some students will turn to the Web for information on their own, but I don’t think their initiative should be taken for granted. As with all of the other important aspects of the jazz curriculum, jazz educators should take the lead when it comes to teaching students about the local jazz scene. Educators should give students a list of websites that feature local musicians, clubs, and events and they should continually search for new online resources so that list doesn’t become stale. If you leave it to the students to find this information on their own, there’s always the possibility that they’ll miss some valuable piece of information and/or fail to make a connection that can help them in their careers.

A major part of your success or failure as a jazz musician stems from your ability to promote yourself and your music. I don’t know what Joshua covers on the subject of promotion, but I’m fairly certain there’s little discussion of online promotion. I base this on the fact that several of his graduates don’t have any web presence at all (not even MSpace pages). Even though I see them play around town, I can’t find any information about them online so I don’t know where or when they’ll be playing next. Consequently, there’s a good chance I’ll miss their next gig. Their lack of Web presence is odd to me since all of these graduates are young, having grown up in the Internet age. You’d think it would be natural for them to get online and at least create a MySpace page. But in most cases there’s nothing. I can’t help but think this is because Joshua and the other educators at his school never mentioned anything about online promotion. BTW, for more ideas on jazz promotion, check out my Atlanta jazz - promotion ideas article.

I know there are several music school students who read my jazz blog and use my ear training tools. Perhaps you could shed some light on this subject. What role does the Web have in your jazz education? Do your teachers refer to the Web as a place to learn about jazz in your community? Do they give you lists of musicians, clubs, and event-tracking websites? Is online promotion included in our jazz curriculum? If somehow the Web isn’t a integral part of your jazz education, I encourage you to start a dialog with your teachers on this subject. Maybe you can school them for a change!
ONE MORE THING

This is a bit of digression, but somewhat related… Jazz students should regularly attend local jazz concerts (not simply national acts). I’d go so far as to say it should be a REQUIRED part of your jazz studies. I attend at least one or two Atlanta jazz concerts each week that feature local Atlanta jazz musicians and I rarely see students at these events. When I was their age I also didn’t attend many local jazz concerts. It didn’t seem that important to me at the time so I didn’t bother. Looking back, I can see how foolish that mentality was. Attending local jazz concerts is a fantastic way to see what life will be like as a working jazz musician and it’s a great opportunity to start networking with local musicians. Any one of them might be the source of future gigs and likewise you may need to call upon those local musicians someday to play at one of your gigs. Start learning about your local jazz scene today. See live jazz!

I agree on both points.

Tell me.  Do you use the internet to monitor your local jazz scene?  I have a Google Alert set for “Tampa+Jazz”, informing me any time those two terms show up in the same webpage.  What websites are available for your local scene?

Mayfaire is coming! Produced by the Polk Museum of Art, Mayfaire is a gathering of local, regional and national artists and craftspeople to share their wares. Like last year, I’ll be playing Mayfaire - one of my favorite gigs and it’s just blocks from my apartment!

Friday 9 May, I’ll be playing with tenor saxophonist Rich Van Voorst for the kickoff party (I’m pretty certain this is not a public event) and will be playing with a not-yet-finalized group Saturday 10 May at 11 am. That’s right.

The Matthew Wengerd Group

Live at Mayfaire

Saturday 10 May 2008 at 11:00 am

Be there or be square.

I am finally done.

This weekend, a Master of Music in Jazz Performance was conferred upon me by the President of the University of South Florida. It all sounds much more grand than it actually is and, for a moment, it all felt pretty grand as well. What, with the 500+ Graduate Students receiving degrees, Doctoral Students being referred to as “Dr.” for the first time, and the thousands of spectators, it was rather inspiring.

I’m not sure it will last, though. Here comes life.

This does mean more posts, though.

And, in case you were wondering, Pink is the official color of the discipline of Music as laid out by the American Council on Education in their Academic Costume Code

This is the official announcement of my Graduate Jazz Recital this Monday, 28 April 2008 at 7:00pm.

Click below for directions.

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