 My daughter said something that got me thinking about blogs today, specifically my own. She and I were having lunch, discussing her probable evening plans with a friend who will be sleeping over. I was shocked to hear she might prefer to watch “The Smurfs” over “Edward Scissorhands”. Now, don’t me get wrong. I do love a good Smurf yarn, but choosing the tiny blue nincompoops over the incomparable Johnny Depp in one of his best roles? WHAT?! To be fair, I have not seen the new Smurfs reboot and she has only seen a teeny portion of One Of the Best Movies Of My Adolescence, but still. She gave some defense of her ridiculous choice that I didn’t listen to and my defense? Because.. Johnny Depp. The ultimate teen chick flick! Just about any Johnny Depp movie (not “Donnie Brasco” and the like though, since it’s about the mafia and mafia = Guy flick) may qualify as a “chick flick” because.. Johnny Depp!
This led to a lamentation on my behalf that I couldn’t conceive of an instance in which I might write “Because, Johnny Depp” on my own blog. My blog is and always has been bassoon-centric (which likely explains the vast readership of two, in all probability also bassoonists). But my dear daughter, with her wonderful sense of humor and her generation whatever’s lack of delineation, countered with, “Why not?”....
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I had a wonderful reminder last night of an old friend. He was passionate and eccentric and talented and he died in a terrible car accident in the late nineties. I was probably a little bit in love with him, like every other person that knew him. He used to practice his bass (whom I think he had named "Volupte") all over the music building, most often in the back stairwell or in the elevator and we were constantly running into each other. We had a communications class together with my friend Dawn and had many a late night study session, usually the night before a test and sometimes, he would play. He was incredible.
He is the one that told me to put myself into my music. That there's no point if all you're doing is just playing the notes on the page. Don't be afraid, be passionate. Express Something! He isn't the first person to have ever said that, or to have even said that to me, but his voice is the one that stuck. It's been more than ten years since he passed and that philosophy has soaked in so much that I had lost from whence it came. I wish I had known him better. Sean Kelly Ball, was a gifted composer and double bass player who was tragically killed in a car accident on February 28, 1997. Though he only lived for 27 years, his life was dedicated to discovering new avenues of musical expression and passions. He was, as well, a talented percussionist, and many of his early compositions involved percussion and double bass. Breakfast at Patrick's was written for Patrick Neher and was first performed by Sean at the Neher residence during a surprise breakfast party. The piece was given it's official premiere in 1992. |
cassandraFreelance bassoonist and carpenter of the reedy persuasion in Tucson, AZ. other blogsHabits of Musicians
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