Hey guys! Great job at practice on Monday. I know the room felt a bit hot and there was a lot of yawning (all in all everyone had some sort of a tired day) but we got a lot of good work done. And the run-throughs we did of "The First Circle" were impressive - we're making great strides with that piece. Some of it is probably the fact that once the pulse/rhythm locks in - and by this, I don't mean the rhythm section but rather the band with the section - the piece becomes more comfortable (comfortable is probably not the operative word) and the other parts about it can catch up, like intonation and dynamics and articulations. Ideally, we've been doing this all along, but when there's an all-consuming feel issue...
Anyway, I want to stress the importance of not going on autopilot in this piece. I don't think people are, but it could happen, and I think everyone on autopilot in that piece is more dangerous in the sense of "we're going to crash" than just worrying about "not crashing." "The First Circle" to me is a double-edged sword. Just when you think you've got it, the music introduces a whole new level of demand for focus and perfect concentration. It really is a masterpiece.
At any rate, next week we will be working more on "The First Circle" and the horns will be during the last 30-40 mins. or so to work "Malaguena" which we haven't done in the past few weeks. And then on May 3rd, we start heavily working the new stuff, like "Begin the Beguine."
So take care and have a good rest of the week, and see you all on the 26th! :)
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