by Mike Errico | Sep 25, 2015 | Free, So Good, Uncategorized
Don’t know if this is apocryphal, but I have heard parts of it quoted to me enough times that I’m willing to assume that most of it is 90% true. Yogi Berra Explains Jazz Interviewer: Can you explain jazz? Yogi: I can’t, but I will. 90% of all jazz is half improvisation. The other half is the part people play while others are playing something they never played with anyone who played that part. So if you play the wrong part, its right. If you play the right part, it might be right if you play it wrong enough. But if you play it too right, it’s wrong. Interviewer: I don’t understand. Yogi: Anyone who understands jazz knows that you can’t understand it. It’s too complicated. That’s what’s so simple about it. Interviewer: Do you understand it? Yogi: No. That’s why I can explain it. If I understood it, I wouldn’t know anything about it. Interviewer: Are there any great jazz players alive today? Yogi: No. All the great jazz players alive today are dead. Except for the ones that are still alive. But so many of them are dead, that the ones that are still alive are dying to be like the ones that are dead. Some would kill for it. Interviewer: What is syncopation? Yogi: That’s when the note that you should hear now happens either before or after you hear it. In jazz, you don’t hear notes when they happen because that would be some other type of music. Other types of music can be jazz, but only if they’re the same as something different from...
by Mike Errico | Apr 23, 2015 | Uncategorized
People in the San Francisco area: Join me and Paul Leo as we hit the Paramount Theater with authors David Brooks, Anna Quindlen, Daniel Handler and Kelly Corrigan at the brilliant Notes and Words benefit for UCSF Benihoff Children’s Hospital in Oakland....
by Mike Errico | Apr 3, 2015 | Uncategorized
…and it’s made it onto her site, too. It’s always great to see Joni on the charts, and my piece, “Joni Mitchell Is Not a ’60s Songwriter,'” is now #3 on Medium. I’m so glad so many have responded to it. If you could do me a solid, would you go there and click the RECOMMEND button on the bottom of the page? It’s just like a Facebook like, and it helps other Joni fans find it. LINK:...
by Mike Errico | Dec 2, 2014 | Teaching, Uncategorized
I don’t get into inside baseball here, but saw something that needed to be said, so I said it. Jack Conte from Pomplamoose recently wrote an article where he outlined his tour budget, concluding with the fact that, although the tour was successful on many levels, they lost money. It seems everyone jumped on one of two bandwagons: that music is dying, dying dead and all is lost and here’s the proof; and that if Pomplamoose can’t figure out how to create an accurate tour budget, they’re just idiots. The Internets took a-hold to these narratives, and added one – that it was a secret cover up to promote Conte’s startup, Patreon, or something – and the Echo Chamber took off, bouncing this horse hockey from URL to URL. Usually I’d watch the ping-pong match and shrug, but this annoyed me, because Conte was very clear in the management of his expectations. He invested in the show he wants to stage – and investment is very different than a loss. In the same way KISS could have saved a buck by cutting back on the blood packs (but didn’t), a larger concept was at work. I was shocked that no one seemed to read this with an eye toward self-actualizing artist development. Key being “self-actualizing,” because in a world with diminishing label development, self-reliance is the gold standard – not asking for permission, and doing what you have to do to create the art you want/need to create. So, it bugged me. So, I wrote something. Here it is. Dear Jack Conte, I’m Sorry No One Read Your Article...
by Mike Errico | Nov 24, 2014 | Books, Stories, The Solo Show, Uncategorized
OK. This is big. The first installment of my essay collection, “The Solo Show,” just went live. They’ll be coming out bi-weekly, and there are many more to follow. The topics are pretty varied, but they always revolve, orbit and return to music, which is where we met. Good ol’ music. Yeah. Many of the stories will have embedded playlists that will enhance the story. Some of the songs will be mine, and some won’t. The idea is that you’ll click on them and listen as you read. It’ll be a full experience. A talking – or, singing – book. If you’ve ever been to my live show, you know that that’s where all this has stemmed from. In fact, it’s you who have given me the courage to take this step forward. You’ve requested stories, asked me to speak, to lecture, and even to teach. I’ve been so grateful, and this is an exciting step forward. Already, I’ve received emails back from early readers asking when I’ll be podcasting the series. Soooo…..I guess the answer is pretty soon…and thanks for asking. OK, so: If you like where this is going, PLEASE do what you can to push it out to others – share it, tweet it, Tumblr it, Pinterest it, email the link around to friends the way your crazy aunt does. You know the one. HERE GOES: The Solo Show: Musical Success, A...
by Mike Errico | Nov 9, 2014 | live shows, Teaching, Uncategorized
Thanks to NYU, the Norwegian Consulate General, and organizer Stein Bjelland for inviting me to this conference to discuss how streaming is impacting artists and content creators. I talked a good bit, some of it was funny, some was definitely not, and I’m hoping to collect my notes and post them at a later date. For an itinerary of the day’s events:...
