Quick update

I've been away for a few days so practice time has been limited. I spent about an hour on Friday morning before I set off running through my current four pieces. I did the same thing last night when I got back. I worked in a less structured way than usual - more playing through the material than practising it. This morning I spent about an hour on Wonderful Tonight. This seems to be coming together quicker than the other two Grade 2 pieces. Maybe this means I'm getting better?!

Whilst I was away I bought an excellent biography of Wayne Shorter - Footprints by Michelle Mercer. I've nearly finished it already. Its definitely one of the better musician biographies that I've read (and I've read a whole bunch of them!)

I'm still listening to a lot of the first Brecker CD and it is fast becoming a favourite.

I've also been reading and toying with some of the sections in John Novello's Contemporary Keyboard Player. The improvisation chapters are based mainly on exercises Novello worked on with the enigmatic Charlie Banacos. I'm not expecting to become the next Bill Evans any time soon but its always fascinating to learn more about different approaches to improvisation.