Hog On Ice

Hog On Ice: "Little Victories, April 16, 2006

How I Earned my Oxygen Today

1. I discovered three Lester Young albums which look to be pretty excellent. First, Lester Young With Oscar Peterson Trio. I guess Lionel Twain must have named it. The samples are mindblowing. Ladies, if you think you hate jazz, go to Amazon and listen to this album's rendition of 'Stardust.' You will realize that you were wrong. Throw out those goddamn shitty Kenny G. albums. That isn't romance. THIS is romance.

Second, The Lester Young Trio. Guess what 'trio' mean? It means Lester Young, BUDDY RICH, and NAT KING COLE. Talk about crappy marketing. 'Trio'? Are you pulling my tit?

Third, Pres and Teddy. 'Pres' means 'Lester Young,' and 'Teddy' means 'Teddy Wilson,' one of the kings of elegant, tinkly, sophisticated jazz.

In case this is all blowing right by you, Lester Young was a sax player. And he didn't play music that was clever but hard to enjoy, like some people I could name. He had a soothing, gentle sound. Sort of like Oscar Peterson and Lionel Hampton.

2. I ate almost an entire bag of Cheddar Chex, and I washed it down with cane-sugar kosher-for-Passover Coke. I really enjoyed that. Tomorrow, back to salad and sawdust.

3. I found downloadable sheet music for 'Prisoner of Love.' A beautiful but neglected old standard. I remembered it when I saw that Lester Young played it.

4. I reached the point where I can play the third part of Chopin's A minor waltz well enough to practice it effectively, instead of sight-reading it at a glacier's pace. After I conquer this part, all I have to do is get through the A major bit, and then it's all repetition. According to my teacher. I'm afraid to look.

Every day, if you make an effort, something will go right. It's probably a good idea to think about those things before you go to bed.

I have two main tools for maintaining my motivation to practice the piano. First, I read a lot of books about pianists. Reading about other people playing the piano will make you want to play it, yourself. Second, after the nightly prayers, I go back over my daily practice in my head, and I pick out the things that went well. Even when I feel like I made no progress, if I think about it I always discover one or two definite improvements that justify the effort I put in during the day.

If that works for the piano, maybe it will work for other things."