Selected Facebook Writings
Below are some writings from Marvin and his students, keep checking back for new material and
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Date: December 11th 2008
Change brings about growth, giving
allows you to receive....
Well, this writing thing is sort of cool, I mean
not that I'm trying to be Jack Kerouac, but it is real cool to note the
observations I have about music and just over all Karma.
The last week had been an amazing
journey in my musical growth, that I hope continues, but for now i need to
document a few things.
The FASTING: Well, I strongly believe that people are being fed garbage,
chemicals and toxins that humans should not be ingesting.
Until my last year in college, I was always stick thin, they used to call me "bean" as in bean pole when I was growing up, well then go to big State College,
binge drink, party and I changed, the poison did something to my metabolism, so after Uconn, I dropped weight. Then marriage came, well you settle and in my case
with a European wife who is one of the best cooks on the planet, allowed me in conjunction with owning a bar and that lifestyle, to gain ALOT of weight, the year was 2003,
I was up to 235 pounds and was miserable. On the golf course, my wife is 5 mos. pregnant, playing golf, looks at me and says "you look pregnant too", not to be mean,
but it took a few months after that to say, yup change is needed. So, she went 6 mos eating and nourishing her baby, I went hardcore. I started running 5 miles a day, a
habit I still have today, I also went hardcore Atkins Diet, by the time my son was born, 7/22/2003, I had dropped 68 pounds, was down to 167 and normal. All that time, I
gave up music, focused on work, making money, building a new house, setting stuff up for the future. It was later that year, I started writing tunes, cats asked me to play guitar for
them and I dabbled back in the scene. I had quit music for almost 9 years. Well, with the new music and body, I needed a new look. I was traveling to England alot for work and
started buying UK clothes, cats in the UK are thin and I finally found stuff that fitted, then I started buying vintage, I was able to dress like they did back when people were
NOT fat, obesity was a seldom heard term and people cared about fashion, shoes, & overall presentation. I have been buying clothes from the past, 1940's through late 1960's,
why buy new stuff that is made for fat people, when I could re-use the hip stuff from back in the day, still to this day, I have a closet that is bigger than most women I know and a
penchant for clothes that I never had BECAUSE I could now wear them and look good. Well, the easiest part is loosing weight, the trick is keeping the look. I have figured that
out in the last year. The actress and singer, Beyonce, in getting ready for Dreamgirls, did a Master Cleanse or The Lemonade Diet. This is a system where you live on a special liquid
intake for 11 to 40 days, depending upon how messed up you are. Everything thing we eat contains chemicals, preservatives and basically bad stuff unless it is raw food. So, after gaining
about 15 pounds, I felt horrible last spring, so I did my first fast for 13 days, dropped 19 pounds, was back and felt great. Did it again 4 mos later and now I am on day 7 of a 17 day fast,
my longest yet, I ate way too much this fall and when my waist was at a size 34 the day after Thanksgiving, I freaked out and now will be back to a 33 waist by Christmas, able to
wear the clothes, clean out
my system and gain the strength and will power to grow. I am considering
becoming a full vegetarian starting in 2009 (more on that some other time)
GROWTH: So fasting allows you to appreciate more about everything, you not only
look good, but I mean I am my now at high School weight, I have high school
energy, allowing me
to GROW. Now, I am focusing on growing my musical abilities to a new level. My last rambling note elaborated on this but since then, I have had another lesson with Sheps & Marvin and
here is the deal: So, last Sunday, another master lesson. This time I pick a tune, "I've Never Been In Love Before" and when sat down to play at the lesson, I'm told to use brushes
on the WHOLE tune, BAMMM, curve ball. I have never played a full tune in front of Marvin or the guys with brushes, I have been trying to practice them enough to be OK, but I was
no where near the level I should be. Well, I had learned the tune well enough, where I was relaxed enough to pull some more out of me and play the song, Rob and Marvin didn't have too
much to say, I mean I played it, did not falter and now I am motivated to go back to the brushes and am not scared to play with them, I survived the test, received some advice and
that will help me to improve brush technique. Last night, at a packed jam session, I played 3rd seat at the Terrace, I saw the way Rob put the cats out during the jam. I was picked
after Andrew and Kesai, which was a total compliment. Rob is old school proper jazz and runs a great show, putting the right combinations up, putting the drummers up in an order that
keeps the show moving, he works with Marvin to really create an atmosphere of not only great music but personal rewards to the musicians who practice, then show up and WANT to
play. I was really lucky to play with a super young cat named Joe from Stamford who plays upright bass. It was amazing to see a 21 year old kid, get up there and basically tear it up
with the masters of jazz and do a good job. Rob calls out Caravan, a tune I play pretty good, BUT I was expecting a brushes tune, I quickly picked up sticks and started playing, the
first 10 seconds were sort of bad, I was flustered, another curve ball. Well during the 10 seconds, Marvin yells "play Caravan, Rob yells look at the bass player", then BAMMM !,
it all kicked in and I just "played", no worries until I saw the song structure change, instead of AABA, I saw the bass move to ABA, not being sure what to do, I just played the tune
and followed the bass, I figured as long as "the time" is cool, the song would be cool. It was a great version, I know it can be way better, but when said and done, people made a point
to tell me it sounded good, I received some real constructive criticism and realized the "CHANGE" thrown at me, allowed me to up my game, I am learning to face the change (curveballs)
head on and just play through. 3 mos ago, I would have freaked out and then screwed up the tune, because I was FEARING the change, I refuse to live like that, my goal is simple now:
Learn from the masters, PRACTICE my ass off and get my skills to the point where someday, the musicians that play the Terrace can call me for a gig, and I can play it.
I do not care if it takes 6 mos or 6 years, I will get to that point, there are no other options. Someday, I want to play music as a career, get to do some tours of the world and
spread the jazz message, all the time trying to always grow as a drummer and as a person, continuing to GIVE GIVING allows you to receive: It seems the more you give of yourself
and to others has a direct proportion on how much you grown and receive yourself. We all feel good giving, I mean giving gifts or doing favors, it is a good feeling, it brings about
happiness. An example, not only is Marvin my drum teacher, but he is one of my best friends, I love the man and I do what I can to help him further the growth of jazz by allowing him
to spread the word and show the world that people can play the music the way they did when the masters invented it. Over the last 2 years, we have built some cool tools to do what
we do, we created a computer network in Marvin's studio, full video and sound production, and we did it the right way with high end gear, my expertise in computers and music gear
allowed me to give to the cause, the drum crew, give back to the music. In doing so, it seems to have made Marvin pretty happy, but in the process his happiness transpired over
to me, motivating me to practice harder, get better on the drums and feel some sense of satisfaction. Giving does not have to be material either, it could be knowledge or advice,
anything, but the fact is YOU as a person are giving up something to someone else. It is a beautiful thing. I am going to continue on the path I am on, fasting every 4 mos,
confronting change, eliminating the fear, practicing and playing my ass off, and most importantly giving.
All of this is constant and
moving, is "Education In Motion" by Jan Jurgielewicz IV