Please note: you can find a more up to date version of this blog at http://blog.neilennis.com

Monday, March 31, 2008

"My name is legion, for we are many"





Here's a piece Brian and I did a couple of weeks ago as part of my lesson.

It's "C Jam Blues" by Duke Ellington.

The Drums, Bass and Piano are on a backing track.

I'm playing the brass quartet at the start, plus the clarinet, trombone and trumpet, all on the WX5.

Brian's playing guitar.

This is one of the reasons the WX5 is so much fun to play - there are so many different instruments available. the challenging part is that when you play a "trumpet" it's important to think like a trumpet. When you play like a trombone, imagine you're playing a trombone, and how you'd like it to sound. I have to adjust my playing technique depending on the type of instrument I'm trying to mimic, otherwise it doesnt sound convincing.

With this piece, although we in front of us the chord progression that Ellington used, we improvised all of what we played.

One thing Brian has taught me about improvisation is that it's not about trying to play every riff and lick in your repertoire. It's all about fitting in with your fellow players, and with the ideas that the composer originally had.

It's real music, and it's a lot of fun.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Oriana

IMG_4906IMG_4817IMG_4821IMG_4926

Here's some photos from our recent cruise on Oriana.

Mum & Dad's photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/magictyger/sets/72157604094394019/
Kevin's photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/magictyger/sets/72157604011072449/
My photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/magictyger/sets/72157604011236961/

She's a lovely ship, a little bit older than but very similar to Aurora. The design improvements between Oriana and Aurora are noticeable, but they're both very classy ships.

A couple of fun photos:

King's beach Caloundra (at night) as seen from Oriana:
Kings Beach Caloundra as seen from Oriana 1


Queen Victoria (at night) as seen from Oriana, off the Sunshine Coast, Qld.

Queen Victoria 1

Sydney Opera House (at dawn) as seen from Oriana just before we disembarked.

IMG_4972

The mascot on the bridge. "Evan the Ever Watchful"

Evan the ever watchful