DREAM VENTURES IN OLDER LIVES

When you were still in the working world, did you ever wonder what your life would be like when you were older or after you retired?

Did you ever think after you retired you might take up a long-desired interest you simply did not have time to thoroughly explore during your regular wage-earning professional career?  

Have you pursued such an interest, maybe engaged in something else, or might in the future?   

Perhaps there's an interest which you wish you could take up but seems unlikely you"ll ever be able to do so?

I don't know if the person described here thought about those questions, but when he retired, he was motivated to pursue further his deferred interest in playing the drums.

Harvey Leff,   aka "Styx", and others in the Physics Department at California State Polytechnic University - Pomona, near where I live, came together while still working and formed a musical group -- Out-Laws of Physics (audio recordings on the link).   They performed just for fun for their colleagues, then commemorated another with original Styx lyrics and raised scholarship funds.  Amazingly to this Physics professor and his department cohorts, their music was greeted with appreciative enthusiasm.  They were a resounding success asked to perform more on occasion.

Eventually, Harvey retired; was thoughtfully gifted by his wife,  Ellen, with a drum set.  He continued practicing and playing, taking some drumming lessons from a professional drummer jazz musician in the ZZAJ group I've enjoyed and written about.  Harvey's university musical group and he had evolved --  to paying jobs playing country, folk, pop, jazz and all sorts of music entertaining a growing number of fans.  

I met Harvey and his wife, Ellen, interesting and fun-loving people, at the free Sunday afternoon jazz concerts I started attending after my husband's death years ago.  Later, I enjoyed attending his group's appearance at a popular local restaurant that regularly features live music.

This delightful and personable couple eventually moved to a Portland, Oregon retirement community offering all levels of care to be closer to their twin sons and families.  They've become very active in their community.  Ellen chairs the movie scheduling group, also line and folk dances while Harvey and their sons have formed a musical group, the Leff Trio.  He also drums regularly with a local Portland jazz sextet.  He seems to have plenty of gigs, in that music world terminology, to keep him busy.

"Sing, Sing, Sing" -- Leff Trio.              

  (One of their numerous tunes listed on the right side bar of this You Tube link).

Here's another video of the Leff Trio performing "As Time Goes By":

Even if we are unable to fulfill long held dreams, much less don't achieve the recognition from enjoyment Harvey has given others, I think he would be the first to say the satisfaction, pleasure, fun he has been having is worth all his efforts.  He might also say that what has unexpectedly developed musically for him is simply the icing on life's cake!

Some of us may not explore our life's dream ventures in our older years for a variety of reasons, including due to complicating circumstances in our lives.  Still, anything can be possible for many!  We never know what may develop whatever our situation unless we investigate and experiment with what gives us joy.

JOSH CRUMBLY STRINGIN' ALONG

Joshua Crumbly, jazz bassist, sat in to accompany a few entertaining tunes with one of my favorite groups, ZZAJ, last weekend, providing me with a welcome change of pace from other life matters. The full round sound of an upright acoustic bass he was playing, has special significance to me since my husband’s avocation was playing the instrument professionally with his own groups, other musicians, occasionally backing celebrity performers who came to the Columbus, Ohio area. I’ll be sharing more information about Josh in the future.

Josh has been visiting his parents on a break from Juilliard Schools renowned Music Division a “…Private conservatory offering programs through the Divisions of Dance, Drama, and Music from its campus at Lincoln Center in New York City.” Juilliard has “… some 600 students from more than 40 countries. Its distinguished faculty includes internationally renowned soloists, chamber, and orchestral musicians…Among them are recipients of Pulitzer Prizes, Grammy and Academy Awards.”

Josh has been developing his musical skills from an early age through high school, continuing to receive many wards including the Ruth Nadel Award at the Stanford Jazz Festival, 1st Place at the Duke Ellington Society Awards. Here he is on acoustic upright bass playing in a jazz quartet of piano, drums and keyboard at The Music Center’s Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County 2009 Spotlight Awards.

I’m always keenly interested in the many individual young people and musical groups committed to perpetuating jazz’s continuance for long after I’m gone and future generations – they give me great pleasure and satisfaction. Josh is definitely one of those young jazz musicians beginning to realize a promising future.

You can follow Josh’s career, listen to more of his music, and track his itinerary of appearances on his new web site still under construction: joshuacrumbly.com

Go to the "listen" link to hear several tunes including one of my favorites: "Caravan."

Most recently he performed at the Playboy Jazz Festival. He's been appearing with Terrence Blanchard and earlier this month was at NYC's Birdland Jazz Club. In a few days he'll be in Taipei, China with Blanchard's Quintet at Kai-Shek Concert Hall.

Let's charter a plane and all go, but I don't know if concert tickets are still available.

Josh's career plans in music will include appearing "solo, touring, recording, producing and writing." Enjoy his music and remember this name ---- JOSH CRUMBLY !

Sunday Afternoon with ZZAJ

…ZZAJ Music Infusion …

Our community has the good fortune to experience free concerts weekly that various musical groups are hired to present as mentioned in my previous post, "Music and Memories." On a recent Sunday afternoon one such group, known as ZZAJ, provided an enjoyable music infusion to the soul and spirit of those of us fortunate enough to be present. They didn't play just any music, but being extraordinarily talented musicians they performed some very special jazz including traditional, current and original songs.

As they describe themselves:
"ZZAJ is a contemporary music group offering a blend of Jazz, R&B and Latin styles."

The ZZAJ group consists of:
Rich Sumner, guitar; Joel Paat, keyboard; Tom Barnett, bass; Roger Gillespie, drums
with DiAne Gillespie as vocalist.

Their impressive musical backgrounds and experience can be read about HERE.

We enjoyed the music that afternoon as we sat shaded from the hot direct sun at large umbrella covered tables. The comfortably warm weather embraced the slightly cooling breezes dancing around us, as though drawn by the music. We listened, swayed to the sounds that some accompanied with rapid head nodding, others tapped a foot or fingers to the beat, as these professional musicians performed well-known familiar tunes plus their own compositions.

I enjoy their instrumentals, but especially appreciate the singing quality of their vocalist, DiAne Gillespie. She is a unique performer in her own right that I first heard sing last year. I'm quite impressed, as I was then, when she sings "God Bless The Child," a classic jazz tune primarily associated with Billie Holiday, "Lady Day," an icon of jazz vocalists. DiAne's special vocal expression makes the tune her own.

The group performed a recent arrangement of a favorite song of mine, "Louisiana Sunday Afternoon," highlighting DiAne's vocal skills as she emotionally conveys the longing feelings imbedded in the excitement of anticipation in seeing a missed loved one again.

She shared the story of an unexpected pleasure the ZZAJ group recently experienced at a local resort performance. The well known singer, Jack Jones, unexpectedly joined them on stage to sing with DiAne another favorite song of mine, "Love Dance." He has a solo CD album recording of that tune.

This is not an easy song to sing requiring challenging vocal changes, but when I heard her solo rendition again, I could only wish I'd had the good fortune to hear her duet with Jack Jones. Her vocal nuances with this tune clearly and effortlessly evoke in her audience the feeling sensations that exist in that dance that engages lovers around the world.

DiAne is also an accomplished artist who creates the group's CD album covers. Her picture titled "Rehearsal" reminds me of ZZAJ and groups from my husband's music days. That picture and others can be seen HERE.

I'll be looking forward to ZZAJ's continued future appearances on certain Sunday afternoons that others, too, can enjoy.

I find myself wondering what music genre most appeals to this blog's readers; if similar pleasurable quality music is as readily available where you are? Music feeds the soul, I believe. As an afterthought, I wondered who else might say similar words and discovered Laura Niles, classical violinist, expressing a similar idea at “Violinist.com.”

She has an interesting article with a link to the “…2007 Lifetime Achievement GRAMMY Award recipient and soul great Booker T. Jones” where you can listen to this accomplished rock and jazz musician.
Music forms are all connected to each other and to us, whatever the genre’.