Tim Price Bloggin' For Rico- Coda for Colony Records NYC- Gone in a NY Minute-.< Tim Price - John Gross NYC concert this Friday.>

Colony Records, the famed sheet music and memorabilia store on Broadway at 49th Street in Manhattan, closed its doors after 64 years.Richard Turk, a co-owner of the store, cited the expenses of doing business in Times Square, and the Internet's impact on his industry as reasons for closing. "In the book business, the video business, and the music business, the downloadable aspect is the determining factor of those stores closing," he said. "We've done everything we can to hold the fort for as long as we can and the time has come." Colony is home to one of the largest sheet music collections in the country. Musicians and concertgoers know it as a place to find everything from a “Mary Poppins” score to a Sondheim karaoke recording to a Beatles “Yellow Submarine” alarm clock.Harold “Nappy” Grossbardt and his partner, Sidney Turk, founded Colony Music Center on 52nd Street and Broadway in 1948. It became a fixture of Tin Pan Alley, New York's music publishing industry, and a drop-in spot for songwriters and music industry people. Specializing in vinyl and sheet music, it was known to carry a lot of the odd and unusual material smaller stores couldn't stock.Colony underwent a number of expansions, moving in 1971 to its present location in the Brill Building. Famously open until 2 am, it was a haunt for night owls who prowled the area’s jazz clubs WHO KNEW knowing tunes was the bread and butter of the art form. Filmmakers including Nora Ephron and Woody Allen sought the store’s help in finding music for their scripts.

The loss of such a store- and an asset to every member of the community...is horrid. Nothing can replace it. Lets also not forget the volume of music paper, score pads and parts paper. I'm sad to see this place go....very sad. Thank you to all the people, staff and workers at COLONY through the years- You are always in my thoughts and music. I'm going to miss that corner.

ALSO....Don't forget...this Friday ; SAXOPHONE WORKSHOP & CONCERT WITH JOHN GROSS & TIM PRICE Friday September 28th New York City. AT- MICHIKO STUDIOS ( Roberto's 2ed floor ) 149 W 46th St, New York, NY 10036 @ Roberto's Winds and Michiko Studios At 7:00....Join jazz legend John Gross for a saxophone workshop on Multiphonics for the Saxophone & jazz improvisation. John Gross is the author of "185 Multiphonics for the Saxophone, A Practical Guide" published by Advance Music. At 8:15....hear tenor saxophonist John Gross & tenor saxophonist & multi-woodwind player Tim Price & friends perform a jazz concert. Please attend- this is music for the sake of music-

Try your best to attend our concert this month too. Friday September 28th New York City. AT- MICHIKO STUDIOS ( Roberto's 2ed floor ) 149 W 46th St, New York, NY 10036 @ Roberto's Winds and Michiko Studios At 7:00....Join jazz legend John Gross for a saxophone workshop on Multiphonics for the Saxophone & jazz improvisation. John Gross is the author of "185 Multiphonics for the Saxophone, A Practical Guide" published by Advance Music. At 8:15....hear tenor saxophonist John Gross & tenor saxophonist & multi-woodwind player Tim Price & friends perform a jazz concert. FEE- FREE!Thank you Rico reeds! Dig it - this is music for the sake of music.

And- Let me add this ; SKYPE SAXOPHONE LESSONS WITH TIM PRICE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk0E5OdKgY8 STUDY WITH TIM PRICE IN 2012 ON SKYPE....All levels are welcome. Taught two students today on Skype...one in England, and the other in Japan! Pretty amazing and great way to connect educationally with me These students are making the same solid progress as my in-person students. Personalized Lessons in your home. Using Skype. Learn on line from recording artist, author and jazz educator. ( New School Jazz Dept. and Long Island University, and Selmer & Rico clinician) I will listen to you play, make suggestions & offer practice regimens. My online lessons will focus your practicing for maximum progress towards creating immediate results. My approach is simple. It combines discipline, creativity & with musical knowledge. Your playing is examined in real time, on line, Then you are assisted to reach a new goal right there ! Take advantage of Tim Price's 35 plus years of teaching, performing, recording & writing experience. Step by step online videos to help you improve your playing at a logical pace. On screen spoken help explaining how to reach your next level. All levels are welcome. SEE YOU SOON~ Tim Price . . . .

Tim Price Bloggin' For Rico Reeds- MONEY JUNGLE < 50 years ago today! >

A classic album was recorded 50 years ago today! September 17- 1962 What an power trio: a legendary bandleader and composer, a pioneer bop drummer, and an unclassifiable bassist.On the jagged blues "Very Special," Ellington establishes a weighty mood while his piano work almost borders on free jazz. Roach's sticks dance across every inch of his kit on "A Little Max"; on "Caravan" he effectively shifts from exotic rhythms to straight time. Duke's harmonic invention is delicate and mysterious on one of my favorite Ellington compositions "Fleurette Africaine," but simultaneously jarring and cerebral on the confrontational "Wig Wise." It's hard to believe only three people are creating. Ellington alone emphasizes the beautiful melodies of the classic ballads "Soltitude" and "Warm Valley," but the edge returns when the rhythm section joins him. You'd say the synergy was magical,but 50 years later as I listen to it today it is timeless- and probably will be that way in another 50.

If this is one of the first jazz albums you listen to, you will be thoroughly impressed with its virtuoso,it is a exceptional jazz album.This is one of the truly great albums, an album that epitomizes the great preoccupations of jazz--the breaking down and building back up,the old and new schools. It is also more evidence of the Duke's continued reign as undisputed champ of music in America; he was willing to do anything, go anywhere. And so he followed Mingus and Max Roach into their world,a record that is hard-driving and forceful and beautiful. It's not surprising that Mingus, in the presence of Ellington, plays as well as he ever has. No matter how far Mingus reached, no matter how experimental he got, he came from Duke, and worshipped Duke.

And Duke? What can one say... In addition to being a wonderful soul, he was a very smart man.He didn't sign up with Mingus and Roach to dip his toes cautiously and quickly into some new horizons.For me one of the biggest reasons I love this recording all these years is when you play this record it takes you away, where I don't know,the outer nebula and beyond even that. Duke's piano doesn't let up. Nobody plays bass like Charlie Mingus and he's never played better than with these guys on this record. Max Roach is the quintessential bebop drummer, his tempo is his own and Duke and Charlie sound so fresh decades later.

These men are jazz, without them it wouldn't be.If you don't own this record- you need to.To pick one song here and call it my favorite would be impossible. These men, these players in this thing we call jazz, may have departed this mortal coil, but they play on. This music speaks louder than anything. It will forever because...it was played and recorded by people who loved and respected the art form. Happy 50th gentlemen- thank you for the inspiration. ~~ Tim Price

Tim Price Bloggin' For Rico- Music is the healing force.

“My music is the thing that keeps me alive now. I must play music that is beyond this world. If I can just hum my tunes and live like, say, Monk does, live a complete life like that, just humming tunes, writing tunes and being away from everything-if I could do this, it would just carry me back to where I came from. That’s all I’m asking for in life and I don’t think you can ask for more than just to be alone and create from what God gives you. Because, you know, I’m getting my lessons from God. I’ve been through all the other things and so I’m trying to find more and more peace all the time.” Albert Ayler As the fall approaches us, in this beautiful September,that quote rings so true. The healing force. But how many have heard it? How many have taken the time to adjust their lives and realize what Albert was saying back then in 1969? Everyone brings to the table what they have to put on the table, others come to eat, others come to just smell the food.In this lifetime...I'm here for the music. I've seen the results. To me Ayler's communication of a feeling is so much a part of art's deep value,that knowledge through the emotions.That is what is missing today. It just can't be taught! This essential aspect involving the heart and soul is another level. Almost beyond words! But for Ayler, words were not important because when Albert Ayler played he spoke to you. I heard his voice, and it was a different than the profound texture in his playing. He was a transcendent master of fusing spirituality with music and a modern spiritual guide to present day music. He takes kind, gentle, hummable melodies and stretches them, he created a beautiful unique sounds that you'll never hear anywhere else.

In Heart Only ...that's what music HAS to be. Albert was right again. No matter what you do, study on your own, learn from records and go to a school. Whatever- if your gonna play for more people than the four walls- In Heart Only. Check- Him here-Albert Ayler - Nuits De La Fondation Maeght 1970 - 01 - In Heart only/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNK7ovE1Rgc

~ ~ ON FRIDAY IN NYC.....I Caught _OREGON_ at Birdland with two great bros- long time friends John C and Rob P.....The band was off the hook inspiring. This might of been the 40th time or so I caught the band....I saw them with Colin Walcott too, in the day- but this version is soooooo beyond words...and more thru the years.....this night was inspirational. Like being there, and hearing something like Trane. THAT LEVEL...in the spirit....Paul McCandless is a spirit / he is a modern day master .To add to the intensity Richard Stoltzman was in the house loving it too. I used to listen to TASHI ( Richards band then ) ...in the 70's at the Guggenheim with Stoltzman and hear OREGON live a few days later.Music like this IS the thing that makes life..life. You got to be there-hear these bands that are real working bands live. SUPPORT, Dig? .My journey is my journey but as I sat there,in the 9th ave. diner after going to some sessions & watching the daylight hit 9th Ave.... A few years ago Steve Grossman played NYC & the music was THERE. Ditto.. OREGON...and when I caught Charlie Haden Quartet West with Alan Broadbent & Ernie Watts...Plus guys like George Coleman & Lou Donaldson and so on...There's so much happens live. JOY! These artists are one of a kind. They play with such creativity...music that is really so fulfilling that you never forget it.

~ I like to say- as we hear, so we become. Music is the healing force! Tim Price

Tim Price Bloggin' For Rico- Great September energy / Looking forward to John Gross concert & forward motion of positive music this month...plus some important things to practice as well.

~ Exciting times. The last Friday of the month...there is a concert / workshop I'm producing in New York City. This is something for me like a dream come true as well. John Gross is one of the unsung giants of the tenor sax.It's great to hear someone play from point zero. I am so looking forward to playing with him and Billy Mintz. Listen to John Gross on the Ninewinds c/d he did on Vinny Golias excellent label or those Shelly Manne things that are coming back thru on c/d now. They sound like they were done yesterday.The deal is, I've been trying to deal some music like this in NYC for a few years now. The name game appears and I refuse to buy in to it. The clubs that force you to work for the door are always there, when musicians start to respect the fact that this is OUR LIFE, and we are trying to all exist together, well maybe something will change. Till then as Baretta sais- I gotta keep stroking. So I found a space where we can be serious, let John Gross and myself really get a groove. It's also at 7:00 at night- so it's not to late. Case in point- it's all about the music.

~ This also is interesting because it is about the music. Not some internet profit that spends 22 and a half hours on line dousing others with his boccalone. Why these types do not try stepping into the shed instead of the the serious internet whining I dunno. I love to practice, it's food for my soul. I'm always trying to go deeper and connect to things I'm thinking about or hearing. But then to shed them- getting that sound you hear. Thank you Bob Rockwell. Yea- I haven't spent all these years in and out of NYC cafe and hood coffee shops,bodegas and not learn anything. Come on'...I'm on the case here. Ha!! INSTEAD....of doing what the person with the boccalone does- My path is clear. As Harold Ashby said- " I've got an agenda". I'm here to play, advance myself as a person inside the music. Music for musics sake as my man Charlie Banacos was famed for saying. If a player is REALLY aware of the time span we have as players ,it matters to me most that no matter what,those of us that are here to create will strive to survive and make our music thrive, because we love it. That's why my agenda is important on this John Gross- Billy Mintz- Tim Price concert. I got stuff to do.

JOHN GROSS...has been a lifelong inspiration- as you should be able to tell.This night at the end of the month I have been seeking my entire life, one of the real inspirations in my musical world. Try to make it dear reader.

The John Gross book is a major work for the sax and multiphonics.And its easy to use.People like Gross and Bert Wilson have been on the trail of saxophonistic advancement.Hunt his stuff down.I bought a Shelly Manne record in 1970 with him on and never forgot him. Need I say more?

Try your best to attend our concert this month too. Friday September 28th New York City. AT- MICHIKO STUDIOS ( Roberto's 2ed floor ) 149 W 46th St, New York, NY 10036 @ Roberto's Winds and Michiko Studios At 7:00....Join jazz legend John Gross for a saxophone workshop on Multiphonics for the Saxophone & jazz improvisation. John Gross is the author of "185 Multiphonics for the Saxophone, A Practical Guide" published by Advance Music. At 8:15....hear tenor saxophonist John Gross & tenor saxophonist & multi-woodwind player Tim Price & friends perform a jazz concert. FEE- FREE!Thank you Rico reeds! Dig it - this is music for the sake of music.

Remembering back...One was called...."Mannkind", then there was "Outside"...and "Live in London".The band was very advanced,on a par with Miles and Hancock.I am surprized that Miles never got Gross to play with him .

~ So many times people musically are concerned about harsh reviews that serve no purpose and just thrash the artist. The common sense of communication, respect and review are lost forever in this kind of situation. The great teacher Charlie Banacos once shared the below quote with me of Theodore Roosevelt which sums it all up nicely. “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt Here's a helpful hint to gain new dimension ; Replace the same old videos you watch on youtube with classic jazz recordings.Start listening more to masters and study the real history of what your playing! Youtube can be a great starting point- but keep on searching. Listen to more String Quartets, more Woodwind Quintets, read more about composers. Open a book, listen to Bill Evans, Bartok, read Boulez.Study scores, and get past the same stuff. The world is out there go find it.Live music needs your support! I continue to explore and learn all I can about all music in the quest to develop a voice.The more I know about what’s behind the music the more profound the effect is on my musical psyche. Being a complete musician goes well beyond the notes- much more than that. I’m grateful for the era that I came up in, and the teachers, musicians that made me aware of these values. Balance! I hope my words on this issue, in the process inspire people to do the right thing.Go hear some live music, support the people playing NOW, be part of it. In Pentatonic scale use you can use a C Pentatonic scale over these chords; C maj 7 C7 Dminor7 D7sus 4 Emi7b5 Fmaj7 G7sus4 Ami 7 B7b9sus4 Bbmaj7 F# dom7 F#mi7b5 ALSO- You got to think past your horn.Be prepared, as in knowing the music inside and out. ALSO- don’t judge yourself,get out of your own way.Stay in shape-eat right and don't be _that guy_who's hung over at a rehearsal or tired. Get your rest, this is after all your life and employment.Be responsible-nobody owes you a thing. Learn to play in 3/4 ! Learn some jazz melody's in 3/4, anything from " Someday My Prince Will Come" to " Up Jumped Spring" and "West Coast Blues" -Monk's "Ugly Beauty", Denny Zeitlin's "I, Thou", Wayne Shorter's "Iris", Richie Bierach's "Nightlake", Sonny Rollins' "Kids Know", Herbie Nichols' "Love, Gloom, Cash, Love".

Take note! NEW YORK JAZZ WORKSHOP....My blues to standards class. Check it out. ‎~ FIRST CLASS...Starts Friday. Sign up ASAP- we still have room. Blues to standards. Every Friday- in a great location and easy to get to place. http://www.newyorkjazzworkshop.com/workshops.html#blues

Till next week be in the moment and make every moment the best it can be. ~ Tim Price

~~~ THIS WEEKS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO... ALL the people who have their own personal relationship with music. Keep on. Thank you.