travissullivan-blog

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Summer Reading

Henry Threadgill “Easily Slip into Another World” – I got to get back into this book but it’s been incredibly entertaining and informative. Dan Simmons “Hyperion” – I need to wrap this one up  I have just a few pages left of the epilogue.  Super gripping and I’m surprised this hasn’t been made into a movie or a TV series.  But a lot of influential stuff here too.  Looking forward to delving into…

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Piano Practice Journal

Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor – 1 hour. Ravel “Noctuelles” – 1 hour Progress is as very slow, but I’m staying relaxed during these difficult passages and I’m getting lost in these pieces.  This music is so complex and deep.  The Ravel is from another planet.  It’s very Chick Corea-like.  There’s a lot of cool licks that could be used for improvisation. And let’s face it the Rach is…

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Something Completely Different

I was playing around with today with this really cool VST plugin from EW Strings called “Adrenaline.”  Here’s a track/experiment that uses this instrument along with the hyper ambient Aparillo synth a CS-80 (from EW Strings “Goliath” library) and the Waves Element synth for the arpeggiator. I also haven’t posted to SoundCloud in quite some time.  I tried to post some tracks a few months ago and…

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Altoism: Henry Threadgill

I think it was maybe 2010 when I lost my alto saxophone.  It was a grey Sunday morning and I was on the phone getting out of a cab in the East Village with my then girlfriend/now wife Jamia.  As the cab sped away she asked me “Trav where’s your saxophone?” and I realized that I left my treasured Selmer Paris Super Action 80 Serie 2 Alto Saxophone in the back of the taxi.  I ran after it trying to…

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Birthday Reflections

It will be my 53rd birthday this week and I have to say how grateful I am for that and for the all the wonderful people in my life. Did some recording at home of some old tunes.  This may morph into something – an album maybe? Could be fun to do something completely on my own, but an ensemble album.  Anyway this is a step in the right direction and it sounds funky.  Could be a good demo.  I’m…

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Waiting for Elden Ring to Update

The new DLC for Elden Ring has prompted me to get back into playing the game.  I reached an impasse with my sorcerer several months ago.  There were a couple of bosses I couldn’t beat and I couldn’t really figure out how to proceed, which also led to a respec of my character and still I was having a hard time. I tried to resume a couple of months ago and although there was a tad of progress I was…

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Back from NH!

I took the past couple of days off from just about everything to visit my mom in NH.  I played some Baldur’s Gate 3 and practiced some keys, which I brought up from NH.  Looking forward to getting back to it in NYC. I did play some music with my good friend Jeff, who is a fantastic jazz guitarist.  It was a lot of fun and always an amazing thing to play with someone that I’ve been making music…

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Dune 2 Questions

A few months ago my wife and I went to see the second installment in Villeneuve’s “Dune” film series.  It was a lot of fun and a cinematic achievement to be sure, but I was left with one burning question: How does one dismount a sand worm?  It looks like a major achievement to get on one, so how do you get off one?  It would seem to be just as much of a challenge.  Does the sand worm slow down?…

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Practice Log

The piano practice continues… First 12 bars of the Chopin Ab Major Etude, this etude is so beautiful but it is a beast.  Reviewed the fingerings I got from my piano teacher. Also took a look at the “Revolutionary Etude” That’s pretty much it for today but it was some real focused practice on these pieces. Continuing with the Ligeti and planning on getting to that tomorrow. I also composed a bit…

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Funktaculous

I have been on a composing kick lately.  Here’s a little groove idea that I think is a cool loop.  I’m using the Waves CODEX Synth for the arpeggiator and the East West Forbidden Planet VST for the bass.  Also Toontracks EZ Drummer 3.  Didn’t really do anything with it in terms of mixing but it sounds good to my ears! Enjoy! Funk Stellar

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Piano Practice and Back to the Sax

After a solid week of being on the road (with one day in NYC in between) I’m getting back into the classical piano practice.  Last night I sat down and played through a couple of the Chopin Etudes and the last movement of the Beethoven C Major Sonata.  It’s a completely different experience playing these from memory really. Today I made some headway with the Ravel and did some recording as well. …

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My Go To Music Apps

These are the apps that I use the most frequently on either my iPhone, iPad, or PC: Smart Record: I use this to record ideas and make field recordings.  I just found it has a transcription feature as well, which I’ve never used. Pro Metronome: This is a free metronome and I’ve used it for years. Tuner Lite: another free app that I use a whole lot for both practice and teaching. ForScore: This is…

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Back on the Blog

I made a commitment to myself a couple of weeks ago to blog every day, and yesterday I completely forgot to blog! But here I am back on it.  I’m giving myself some grace because yesterday I had 5.5 hour drive to Washington D.C.  for a weekend-long event with my wife’s family.  Last night was the “meet and greet” which was an awesome cookout at Jamia’s Uncle John’s house.  There were some really…

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NCPC Day 3 and Back in NYC...

“I feel faces and traces of home back in New York City!” I got back yesterday from an amazing trip.  I learned a whole lot about the performing arts industry while I was in Asheville for the North Carolina Presenters Consortium annual meeting and made some great connections.  The pitch meeting was a bit nerve racking but it was cool as well.  The pitch video was presented on a huge screen in the…

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Snapdragon “Free Suite”

Here’s some new music from SnapDragon. We’re a avant garde jazz trio that features myself on alto sax, Bob Meyer on drums, and the latest addition to the group pianist Eishin Nose. We have near-telepathic communication and it is such a thrill and a privilege to make music with these cats. Part 3 ”Traneing Out” is my favorite since it’s gets into this late Coltrane sort of space, which was one of…

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NCPC Day 2

I’m at this great bar in Asheville right now writing this post. Little Jumbo – great place, and I just sat in with my new friend Will Boyd and a smokin band! We played a Yosef Lateef tune “Nubian Lady” and a Mingus tune “Big Alice.” Will is playing some real deal stuff. in other news I did the pitch meeting today, and they showed the pitch video on a huge screen at the Wortham Center. I was…

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NCPC Day 1

I’m not going to any details here but the first day of the North Carolina Presenters Consortium was cool! There was an opening reception at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts, and then at the hotel there was a big dinner with a whole bunch of excellent performers.  One of the standouts was this Swedish multi-instrumentalist and swing jazz performer – Gunhild Carling.  She played three…