July 29: Patriotic Medley

In both the Rockport Legion Band and the Cape Ann Community Band, we are playing a song called "Patriotic Medley." It was written by a guy named Bob Puff, a music legend in Gloucester (he was a music teacher and involved with lots of community musical endeavors for decades). Apparently when he was a grad student, he wrote this medley of patriotic songs, including the songs of the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force. He hand wrote the parts and they have been photocopied over and over again for local bands to play. 

I first played the tune in the Rockport band a few weeks ago, where I play alto sax. But then I played it again at the Cape Ann band, where I am playing bari sax, and discovered there is no bari sax part for the song; instead I was given the tuba part. In general, an Eb treble clef instrument (like a bari sax) can actually pretty easily read and play a C bass clef instrument (tuba)'s part, EXCEPT when it comes to accidentals (notes that are flat or sharp), and of course the fact that the tuba can play notes much lower than a sax can, so I found myself constantly transposing and putting notes up an octave, which was super difficult and frustrating. So I went home after that  rehearsal and wrote up the whole song in my music writing software (I use MuseScore) and then had the program automatically transpose all the notes to notes I could actually read and play. (Also, there is something about handwritten music that makes it super difficult to read so having a computer generated part was just so much cleaner to read.) I had basically created a brand new bari sax part for the song. I printed two copies; one for me to use in the Cape Ann band, and one for the bari sax player in the Rockport band to play, because I thought he would appreciate it as much as I knew I would. On Monday, I played the new part at the Cape Ann band, and it was delightful. And on Thursday I gave the new part to the bari player (a Rockport High School student) and he loved it. It was delightful to give him the new part to make it easier for him to play the song. I very much delight in delighting others (and in making life easier for all!)!

With delight,

♥Jamie

July 28: Riverwalk Concert

The Ipswich Summer Band performed at the Riverwalk on Wednesday, and it was delightful. The weather was perfect; a mild summer evening, just a slight breeze and not too many bugs. We set up in front of a mural painted on the brick wall of one of the EBSCO buildings right on the Ipswich River. We had a decent crowd in attendance, and we all performed quite well. My solo of Frank Sinatra's "Strangers in the Night" went very well, and I was generally happy with my performance during the evening. I was also given a gorgeous little bouquet of flowers (with a sunflower, my favorite flower) as a thanks for soloing. It is delightful to be able to share music with others, and having an outdoor concert is such a great way to do so during these COVID times. And I was thankful that it wasn't raining or crazy hot (which have been the typical weather options recently). And even though I usually play bari sax in the Ipswich band, this year they really needed an alto player, so I played that part, and even that has been a delightful experience, to play such a different part in the songs, and to be challenged musically. 

With delight,

♥Jamie

July 27: An Edited Sefris

After drafting those new Magic cards on Sunday, I added some of ones I got to my newest "Sefris" deck (the one I blogged about last week), a premade commander deck from the same set we drafted . I absolutely loved playing the new version of this deck, especially because I am starting to make it my own. I've never loved decks right out of the box, so I am glad I had the chance to edit this one, especially with cards from the same set. And with all the edits I get to venture into dungeons SO much more (which is still my favorite new mechanic), and it is super fun! :)

With delight,

♥Jamie

July 26: So Many Saxes

At the Cape Ann Community Band practice on Monday, I delighted in a full saxophone section... two altos, two tenors, and me on Bari. I love playing with a full sax section; our sound is so much better with a diversity of voices. One of the tenors is a less experienced player, so it was great to have a very experienced player with him to help him out. (Same with the altos, one more experienced to help the slightly less experienced). It really contributes to the fullness of the sound of the band when a section is complete, and I very much appreciated that at rehearsal. I hope everyone can attend the concert so our performance will be as great as practice was!

With delight,

♥Jamie

July 25: Ace Card

Sunday (July 25) was overall an amazing day. We had a BBQ/band practice for "Reset Button" (our last before our first 2021 gig on Thurs Aug 5, 12pm-3pm, at the Gloucester Sidewalk Bazaar..... shameless plug!). It was great to not only play music together but to share food and laughs together. Then we had an 8-person draft for the new Magic the Gathering Dungeons and Dragons themed set. We had one new drafter (though an experienced 60-card magic player, he had never drafted before) but he was delightful to teach and work with. Every draft I lead, I set up the table for 8 players and put a playing card at each seat (A-8). Then as players arrive, I have them randomly select a playing to pick their seat. The new player had sat down before I had the cards ready, at the Ace (or number 1) chair. I shuffled up the cards, fanned them out, and joked that it would be perfect if he picked the Ace card so he wouldn't have to move. And he totally picked the Ace card!! It was hilarious and delightful and we laughed and laughed. I told him it no longer mattered if I won or lost the draft, I already had this win for the day. (for the record, I got 4th place out of 8, but still ended up winning the most expensive card, a planeswalker named Lolth because 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place didn't want her. Score!)

With delight (and a bunch of new Magic cards),

♥Jamie

July 24: Iota and Bloody Marys

After a slightly disastrous concert I performed in (in short, it was crazy hot and the super hot sun was shining directly on me, making my saxophone play super out of tune and making me feel generally uncomfortable the whole time!), my husband and I had a delightful dining out experience at the Fox Creek Tavern in Ipswich. We sat at the bar and played a cute little game I brought called "Iota", which is kinda a mix of Scrabble and Set (You use cards with different shapes, numbers, and colors on them to create word-like spreads of up to 4 cards and connect them like on a scrabble board. The cards in a spread either have to have all the same shape, number and/or color, or all different shapes, numbers, and/or colors. (For example, a spread could be 4 blue square | 3 blue square | 2 blue square | 1 blue square, which is SAME color, SAME shape, DIFFERENT number).

Three young guys sat next to us and were thoroughly entertaining to listen to. They were all *just* barely 21. The bartender asked for their IDs, and one of them said "I'm flattered you think I'm so young" which is something you say if you're like 40, but he was literally 21, and the bartender thought it was hilarious he would make that comment. Then they proceeded to order drinks, but totally didn't know how to order drinks, because they had no clue what anything was. The flattered guy ordered a bloody mary and the two others ordered beers, after sampling a few beers they didn't like. After trying his bloody mary, the flattered guy asked the bartender if he could have something else; he said, "I didn't know what a bloody mary was, I just thought it sounded cool" but he thought it was awful. (I also think that blood marys are awful.... tomato juice, Tabasco, and Worcestershire sauce with alcohol?!? no way. But I know better than to actually ORDER one! hahahaha). 

As we continued to play Iota, we took up more and more space at the bar, and I apologized to the flattered guy for encroaching on his space. He didn't care at all, and proceeded to ask about the game. We explained to him the rules and how to play, and it was entertaining seeing him try to figure it out. It was a delightful evening; I have very much missed going out to dinner and playing games with my husband. 

With delight,

♥Jamie

July 23: Live Music!

For the first time in over a year, my husband and I went out to see some live music, and it was absolutely delightful. We started the evening at Captain Carlos to hear a doo-wop band called "The Jantelles" that one of our friends is now playing saxophone in. The lead female singer had the perfect voice for 50s and 60s tunes, and everyone in the crowd knew all the songs, and were thoroughly enjoying themselves, singing and dancing; it was delightful to see. Our sax friend's mother was there and bought us our first round of drinks, because I had let him borrow my bari sax for the gig. We stayed for about half the show and then headed off to the Rhumbline to hear a group of musicians I endearingly call Carlos & Friends (aka The Dubtones), an ever-changing group of musicians playing ska/reggae tunes. Gigs at the Rhumbline used to be from like 9:30pm to past midnight, but now they are doing music from 7pm-10pm, and it is absolutely delightful! My husband and I commented several times how amazing it was to be able to experience live music and not have to be out all night! 

With delight,

♥Jamie

July 22: Beach Boys Solo

Back on July 22 (yeah, I know, that was almost a month ago, but I've taken pretty good notes of my moments of delight, and now I am playing catch up!), I experienced a moment of delight at rehearsal for the Rockport Legion Band. We were sight reading a compilation of Beach Boys songs and I had several solos in it. One was particularly hard; I had the melody for "Wouldn't It Be Nice?" Thankfully, I am very familiar with Beach Boys music (AND we are playing the same piece in the Cape Ann Community Band, and even though I am playing bari sax for that, I was at least familiar with hearing the alto sax part), which all resulted in me pretty much nailing it. After that first read through, the conductor congratulated me for doing such a great job. I really appreciated that acknowledgement, and was delighted that the solo came out as well as I thought it had! 

With delight,

♥Jamie