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.