New Year's Eve 2007

Played for the New Year’s Eve dinner crowd at the Vintage with E, a young bassist with whom I have played music for a couple of years now. He is easy to be with, grateful to be playing music, willing to try new tunes on first sight. Finding folks like E to share music with, folks who are happy and grateful to play music, who don’t let their egos get in the way, who listen to what others are doing and try to dance along, is not always easy. I have been lucky here, I have found some folks I am comfortable with, and it has given me room to be a bit bolder with my playing.

And as much as I enjoy playing, it is composing that is most satisfying. The act of creating an entirely new entity, something that springs forth because I exist, is exhilarating. It is a time when I feel fully alive, a time when I am not struggling to change what cannot be changed, not judging my worth against what others might think I “should” be doing or being. I am creating, I am birthing something entirely new, I feel so lucky to be doing it, I can’t wait to see how it will evolve. And then I want to put it out into the world, with the hope that what I create will touch someone in a positive way.

And, as this year comes to a close, I have been conscious of being fifty, likely being on the other side of the fence, and every day is incredibly precious.