This time of year I get lots of mail wishing me a good year.

But wishing is not enough.

If you’re a musician then you have to work every day with the metronome and get the numbers down pat.

If you’re a security professional you have to be constantly vigilant for new threats and vulnerabilities – never relying on your anti-virus and your IT vendors.

If you ride, run or swim – you know that there’s no gain without the pain.

Here’s wishing you and your family a sweet, successful and secure New Year.

Songlines Magazine,which specializes in world music reviewed the latest album from BandOrient- led by Yair Dalal and Eli Benacot (Eli is the musical director of the JP Big Band – where I play tenor and clarinet and serve as the contractor).  The group are amazing musicians – Yair is one of the world’s best oud players and Eli is a master on tenor and EWI not to mention a consummate musician.

The reviewer, Bill Bradley loved the album a lot but is not a big fan of Weather Report…..

The small print on the back of BandOrient’s first CD instructs retailers to “file under Ethno Jazz”: two little words liable to raise eyebrows for, as a genre, this has probably produced more shockers than most. However, one ot the guiding lights in BandOrient, Oud player Yair Dalal, is among the most adept and sincere musicians working in the Middle East today. It’s certainly worth venturing beyond the suspect label. What we find inside ranges from the truly sublime to the truly beastly, BandOrient’s other three members play assorted percussion, double bass and EWI
(Electronic Wind Instrument) -  a blown MIDI controller that allows the player unbridled access to synthesized sounds and samples. If you’re an ardent fan of jazz rock’s more noodley excesses, then you should buy this album straight away: all the playing here will delight and amaze you. Yair Dalal is quite magnificent, the bass and percussion playing of Tzur Ben Ze’ev and Erez Mounk perfectly bridges East and West and Eli Benacot demonstrates wondrous dexterity on his clever little EWI.

However, if you spent much of the late 70s trying to avoid Weather Report, you may be a little more circumspect about the squealing synth portamentos that mar an otherwise beautifully balanced and tasteful maiden voyage from this group.

Personally – I’m a big fan of Weather Report and I’m not in a minority so I would say that if that is the only criticism, then Eli and Yair have every reason to be proud of their art.

Is a little fear in the workplace a good thing?

Management Rewired, is a new book by the consultant Charles Jacobs. Instead of standardized procedures, dictated targets and harsh but true feedback, Jacobs suggests we’ll get better results “if, rather than trying to thwart their natural inclinations, we just accept how people behave and make the most of it.”

From an individual perspective – the insight is of course, correct.

The approach, however, assumes that everyone from the shop floor up to the board room are motivated by emotions.   This I believe is basically incorrect as we learn in Psych 101 that people (all people) are motivated by a combination of needing 3 things – power, social connection and creativity. Managers are more motivated by the need for power and programmers are more motivated by the need for creativity. Sales people are motivated by the need for social connection and so son. We are all a mix of all 3 basic needs.

In order to attain company objectives including protecting digital assets and preventing  data loss – a company needs to find the right mix of leadership, personal example and a demanding regime for results. The best example outside the industrial world is music – an excellent conductor delegates the really hard work to the musicians (who may practice 10 hours / day in order to be ready for a 2 hour rehearsal and 1 hour performance) but leads with uncompromising demands for quality. There is the famous story of Frank Sinatra that came to a recording session in the 60s – and when the conductor (I guess it would have been Nelson Riddle or Phil Ramone) asked the musicians to make a note in their chart, one of the trumpet players, who didn’t have a pencil, asked another player for a pencil. Sinatra noticed it – and said – “fire this joker!”.

And he was – fired on the spot.  Like Andy Grove writes in his book (Only the Paranoid Succeed), “a little fear in the workplace is not a bad thing”.

Personally I prefer a good guitarist who can read and improvise.

“It’s not the mistakes that count, it’s what you do after them that counts.” -Thelonious Monk

“I like the girls to match the upholstery of the car.”
-Charlie Barnet-

“Tastes are created by the business interests. How else can you explain the popularity of Kenny G?”
Charles Mingus-

The outer space beings are my brothers. They sent me here. They already know my music.”
-Sun Ra-

“Blues is to jazz what yeast is to bread-without it, it’s flat.”
-Carmen McCrae-

“Miles was a soul man, a sound, a black Humphrey Bogart. He was also a  p***k.” -Albert Goldman-

“It’s taken me all my life to learn what not to play.” -Dizzy Gillespie-

“I spent a lot of time playing in horrible places that were not fun. Somebody once said it is character building and I was like: My character is just fine.” -Diana Krall-

If you have some spare cash and you’re into swing – this item will interest you:

Announcing the offer for sale of the personal library and archives of Artie Shaw (1910-2004), the great American bandleader, author, iconoclast and raconteur.

The library consists of approx. 6,000 books, many with his personal notations. The archive, in over 33 boxes, contains his personal papers, correspondence from numerous wives and contemporary celebrities, scripts relating to his motion picture production company, musical lead sheets, etc. (Note: his musical arrangements only, were given to the University of Arizona during his lifetime.)

Also included are the literary drafts of his published works as well as his monumental 1,200+ page autobiographical novel that he was still working on at the time of his death. A catalog has been prepared listing the highlights of the books and archive. Any interested party should please contact Kenneth   Karmiole
karmbooks@aol.com or phone 310-451-4342.

Kenny Wheeler’s music for small and large ensembles is one of my favorites.

A conductor is getting an orchestra together for a performance but is having trouble getting a trumpet player. Finally, he calls a contractor, who tells him, “Well, the only guy I’ve got available at the moment is this jazz trumpeter.”

The conductor replies, “I can’t stand working with jazz musicians. They dress lousy, they’re always late, and they all have an attitude problem.”

“Well,” replies the contractor, “that’s all I’ve got.”

“All right,” says the conductor, “I’m getting pretty desperate, so I guess I’ll have to take him.”

The first rehearsal is a week later. The conductor arrives early and notices the new trumpeter, wearing a suit and tie, with a pencil on his stand, sitting on stage practicing his part. During the rehearsal, the trumpeter plays his part quite well and is responsive to all the conductor’s requests.

At the second rehearsal, a week later, the same thing happens. This time, the trumpeter turns in a nearly perfect performance.

One week later, at the final dress rehearsal, the day before the concert, this occurs again, with the trumpeter now playing his part flawlessly. At the end of the rehearsal, the conductor says to the orchestra, “I’ve got an apology to make. I was really dreading having to work with a jazz musician, but I must say that our trumpet player has certainly proved me wrong. He is always neatly dressed, he was always here early for the rehearsals, worked on the part, and he has really learned the music.”
Then, to the trumpet player, “I just wanted to tell you that I really appreciate your effort and dedication.”

To which the trumpeter replies,

“Hey man, I really appreciate that. I mean, it’s the least I can do, considering I can’t make the gig.”