Long day yesterday...

Work on the Nutcracker is progressing, but not without the little hitches that make life so much more interesting. The "Messiah" performance went splendidly Sunday night. The audience was very appreciative--five minutes of standing ovation at the end. And whistling. In that church. That sounded odd to me. Anyway, we tore everything down and had the truck loaded in almost record time that night. I don't want to bore you with all the hitches, but so far, they've been relatively minor, and things are moving forward on schedule. The newest, and potentially ugliest, hitch will come on Sunday after the performance, when the temperature is expected to plummet near zero. I HATE loading the truck in the cold. At least it's not expected to snow....

Yesterday was spent unloading the truck (by myself), setting up the orchestra's chairs and stands (by myself), then heading to another location to set up for rehearsal (by myself), and then changing my mindset to that of musician. I hadn't been home all day, nor had I gotten a chance to eat. I got home shortly before 11 last night, but not before ordering a pizza. Oh, if they only offered that with the ibuprofen topping...

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Today's CD is "Boney's Funky Christmas" by Boney James. Boney is a jazz sax player, but not one of the "biggies" (you'll never find a Kenny G CD in any collection of mine, but that's an entirely different rant). I'm not sure exactly why I like this album. Generally, jazz Christmas albums don't quite blow me away. This came out in 1996, and is full of the over-produced, synthesized instrumentation that was common for jazz of the day. Perhaps it's the simplicity of "Jingle Bells" that begins the CD--just sax and bongos. Maybe it's the good arrangement of "This Christmas", a song that has been done so badly by so many. Maybe it's the fact that BIL2 absolutely loves this album too, and he's one not easily impressed by anything that's not James Taylor. As a background CD for a Christmas party, this one works very well. Better than most. On my top 10 Christmas list? Probably not, but I like it.