Move to Venezuela

So I seem to have finally decided on a date to move to Caracas. Well, it's not like a permanent move, because I'm keeping the NY apartment. I might go back and forth a bit, depending on work. But I do need to spend some serious "work" time in Venezuela to get the books done and record and perform my original music.
It's quite difficult not knowing where I'll be living in the future. I'll be leaving NY in mid February (as nice a time to leave NY as any!). Since it's so hard to travel with instruments and I like to play so many, I had to make sure I have instruments in each country. So I have been sending stuff to Venezuela little by little. One of the instruments I sent was my Rampone & Cazzani curved soprano sax. It was subsequently stolen from a friend's house and is now missing. If anyone has any info I'd love to recuperate it as it was my favorite instrument. It is silver with a gold engraved bell, model R1 Jazz, and it's in a brown leather hard case.
I guess that's just how things are in Venezuela. Always more difficult and dangerous, but very rewarding in other ways.

Well, I'll have more to write about in March when I get to work over there...
:-)

new change of plans...

Now that we have hired someone to help take care of my dad in Venezuela, I've postponed my plans of moving there once more.

Change of plans..

I'm going to have to postpone my plans of moving to Venezuela until at least November. I still have to save up some money, so I will continue teaching music here in NY for the time being. But I've started sending my instruments to Venezuela. That's going to be the hardest thing to do. I have to send the baritone sax, the soprano sax, the mandocello, 3 electric basses, 2 bass amplifiers, a snare drum and a bass drum, the bass clarinet, and who knows what else I have around here. Good thing I already took the alto and tenor saxes, two six string electric basses, and the string bass!
Thanks to all friends and family who are helping me carry stuff!
:-)

Plans for 2006...

I've decided to move to Venezuela for an extended period after I finish teaching at the Manhattan School of Music summer camp this year. I need to work full time on my book of transcriptions of popular Venezuelan music if I ever want to publish it. Being in Caracas I can easliy travel to meet with the composers that are still working and I'll also be able to consult with a large number of musicians who know the music well and some that worked with the compsers that have passed away. I have close to 200 songs now in the book and I aspire to publish with more than 400 so I have a good ammount of work ahead of me.
I also want to get a group together to play my original music. The group I've been playing with is great but I also want to meet some of the younger musicians that are trying to do something interesting with the traditional venezuelan styles. When I feel comfortable with the group I'll try to organize some tours in the USA and perhaps Europe to spread the music as far as posible.
Last, but not least, I really want to stop working full time at something other than playing music. I want to take a break from teaching. A long break.

Back in NY with a lot to do...

I've been back in NY for a couple of weeks now. I brought back a lot of music from France that I now have to work on and make presentable for the book. Cristobal gave me a large quantity of written music, finale files and audio files. Much of my time goes into Finale work; making the pages look good and maintaining consistency with the rest of the book. But each page has so much work! Between verifying authenticity, finding information on the composers, checking lyrics, trying to get the correct basic harmony, etc... It's no mystery to me why this hasn't been done before.

In Paris, working with Cristóbal Soto

About a month and a half ago I got a call from Cristóbal Soto asking me how my book of venezuelan transcriptions was going. I told him that progress was slow, being isolated in New York. He then made the mistake of offering to help and about 30 minutes later I had my plane ticket to Paris!
I came to Paris for nine days to work with Cristóbal and enjoy the hospitality of his wonderful family, who very kindly offered their home to me. My visit has been very productive. Not only have I added many new songs to the book but Cristóbal has guided me regarding the musicological aspects of the book and stressed the importance of verifying sources of information. He is also putting me in contact with people who will be able to help me with different aspects of the book in the future.
Cristóbal is one of the important figures in venezuelan music. He lived in Venezuela for many years and worked with most of the musicians that have made a difference. He was a founding member of Ensamble Gurrufío and is an excellent multi-instrumentalist. He is always interested in learning more about the music and he generously shares what he knows in a clear and unselfish way.
One of the most important things I've achieved on this visit is to establish a working relationship with Cristóbal that will be very useful to me in the future; not only regarding the book, but also in the development of a friendship that is grounded in my admiration of his efforts, achievments and kind personality.