| summer in NYC | 12/06/2008 |
| hello hello and thanks for stopping by... so here i am again for my 3monthly blog installment! once again, apologies all round for utter tardiness and there are no excuses other than pure laziness on my part. I thought it was long overdue to keep my friends and comrades in all things soulful updated on my AMAZING adventure in gotham city. what can i say except i just love it here. im really set up now and feel like im getting grounded and rooted. obviously there is no money playing improvised high energy jazz music (which is what i want to do) so i have got an amazing job as materials manager/delivery driver for a construction company. i got a brand new 5litre v8 truck which i keep so its great to have wheels! the hours are pretty flexible so i still get to do lots of horn whilst making the rent and bills. NY isnt cheap and i like to live well! most of the best playing situations have been in someones studio or basement or loft. the standard here is just off the chart and the emotional commitment to the music is totally unsurpassed. very very inspiring to be around! i decided i didnt want to do the 'commercial music' route and feel pleased and relieved to pursue my own musical vision with integrity and vigor. ive been writing new tunes and exploring other facets of my musical nature rather than compulsively practicing saxophone. i feel ive grown more in the last 6 months than i could have done anywhere else in the world. you see, i believe, its all about intent and the creative process. why do we do what we do? whos it for? etc etc . i ve realised the complete importance of finding your own path and voice. one thing about all the greats- you knew who they were instantly. they were totally distinctive and strived for uniqueness. it wasnt cool or hip to sound like someone else or play there ideas, esp badly! think about it, now most young cats all sound the same. (for the most part, imho) they all sound likethey're technical wizards who live at home with their parents. maybe i'm just old fashioned, but i like it to groove and be a bit 'dirty'. thats why i love the cats with that emotional commitment i spoke of earlier. ive been really digging donny mcaslin, hes a NY monster and plays his arse off! geez, there are just so many people here its out of sight. but the good thing is that there is something for everyone. ive met some great players who are totally rude and up themselves and then it doesnt seem so great. i love the humbleness and humility that we strive for on this journey. another great tenor player is my friend xavier perez. he bought one of my old m/pcs and we've become good friends. he hips me to some great sounds. yeah, its just awesome. life is good! very hot though at the moment, yesterday it was 103degrees F!! thank you all for your emails, its great to hear from you. ive had lots of kiwi visitors which has been so nice. i miss it many ways. im stoked to have the passport!!! anyway, thanks for reading!, till next time, all things funky, johnny :) btw, i promise i will update/overhaul my website soon. i know its pretty out of date! | |
| NYC update | 14/03/2008 |
| Hi there and thanks for stopping by!! Big apologies for the general tardiness of my pathetic blogging skills but I have decided I could put it off no longer and an update was well overdue! So here I am, been in NYC for 4 months and certainly settling into a groove now. I still feel incredibly excited to be here and sometimes I just walk around manhattan going WOW! I’ve been playing regularly although there’s no trips to Singapore this month! Been doing Art Lillards big band which is cool and various odds and ends. Been playing/gigging a bit with a few female singer songwriters which is nice as its something different and requires a different concept. Been hanging out with and listening to so many top drawer jazz musos I feel I cant keep it contained. Its so awesome learning new creative processes and of course the NY energy and emotional commitment to the music is unsurpassed. Been studying the drums a bit which has been a nice distraction and writing a bit too. I feel very happy to be practicing hard and I can feel a change in my musical conception already. Being out of the grind of teaching on the BMus course and being here has opened up my ears in many ways I don’t think I could’ve conceived in NZ. There’s no doubt money is tight here in NYC but along with gigs and teaching I’ve been getting by from selling vintage sax mouthpieces (that I accumulated in NZ) and doing a bit of work in construction! Nothing like a good solid days work at the coalface to remind me of how lucky I am to be blessed with the gift of music! There’s a lot of stuff about NZ I miss, mostly my regular university salary and my friends! For my NZ buddies who read this, imagine my surprise when I bumped into Deva Mahal in Williamsburg! She lives a few streets over from me and it was so nice to catch up with her in another place. No doubt we will get a few projects on the go shortly! Yeah, so life is good and I’m happy, Some days are easy, others tough, I guess that’s how life is for most people!!! i feel so blessed to have a lovely apartment in the coolest part of town and a whole heap of lovely friends- what more could anyone want?!. Thanks for looking and please give me a shout if you’re passing through NY. i promise i'll try and write more often! Peace, Johnny | |
| NYC update | 05/12/2007 |
| hey there and thanks for stopping by! wow, ive only been here a month and so much amazing stuff has happened already. its incredible how devotion to and love for ones vocation can accomplish miracles! ive been playing with some top cats and have landed a few gigs already. i'm going to be going to vegas, barcelona and singapore in january as part of a funk horn section. we're making a mtv thing next week too which should be a laugh! i'm staying in a new part of brooklyn which is nice. loads of musos everywhere, its so inspiring! got a few little jazz gigs coming in too so thus far i havent had to deliver pizza! phew. its freezin here but the other day it snowed which was so beautiful and romantic esp with a clear blue sunny sky. yeah, so life is good and i feel happy to have been given this opportunity to reinvent myself and really work on my music. ive got a great little studio set up with a drum set and again the jedi force has been very kind to me as its very cheap. its just good having somewhere to really blow! seen loads of great stuff, its everywhere, obviously. its really amazing how cheap it is here esp compared to london and the amount of great music you can see for free is just out of sight! and theres a really good place that does brilliant falafel for $3. ha! reminds me of student days :) The Baha'i scene here is amazing and NY is the city of the covenant in our faith so it is extra special to be here. The community is so diverse and theres loads going on so i feel very inspired. They even have jazz night at the baha'i centre run by mike longo (dizzys piano player) in the 'Dizzy Gillespie auditorium'. Yeah, awesome stuff and talking with mike about jazz and dizzy is a real blessing. anyways, there's a bit more news for the 4 people that read this. i hope you are all well and happy :) i'll post more soon, i'll try and do it every month! peace, johnny btw, check out www.eddieharris.com thanks to 7th house publishing too :) | |
| NEW YORK CITY! | 11/11/2007 |
| hi there and thanks for checking my website :) so here i am back in gotham city! what can i say except its one hell of a town...... the people here are so friendly and stylish and i am living in williamsburg which is a part of brooklyn. it only takes 5mins on the tube to be in the lower east side. perfect! im right by the bridge sonny rollins used to practice on and ive been going up there doing long notes before it gets too cold for outside practice! the views are just amazing and it feels like being a part of jazz history! seen some great music already with a highlight being the dave binney big band at the jazz gallery. so much to see and do its just outta sight. i'll try and keep this updated as often as possible but apologies in advance if i get slack:) too much to do! i better go and do some practice cause there aint no shortage of horn players here! peace and best wishes, johnny | |
| AUGUST 2007 | 20/08/2007 |
| Hi there and thanks again for checking my website! i apologise to those who expected my website updating skills to be better! anyway, heres the latest installment.... after a fantastic month back in london recently playing with the who's who of A listers (Bobby Wellins/Pete King/ Mornington/ Matin Drew/ Steve Melling/ john Critchinson etc) i realised that there was nothing really here for me anymore in NZ so i quit my job at the the Uni and am moving home for good. ive got a few things on in Europe ( lisbon/munich) for the rest of the year and then going to NYC in 2008 as i just got granted an O1 artists visa (kinda green card). ive just finished mixing a new CD (just trio w /bass/drums). kinda grossman vibe i guess if you want to label it. nice tunes and just lotsa blowing!! i'll post it on the site when its done along with some photos/sound clips of me playing with big boys in the UK!:) I think its so important for a horn player to work with 'kick ass' r/sections and thats the thing that i find hard about NZ, aint no one here!! still, its served me well and im most grateful. The mouthpiece guru 'doc tenney' just sent me one of his yet unannounced 'jazzmaster' pieces. wow! smokin. if you liked his slant sigs youve gotta get one of these! Big open chamber link vibe but better. top shelf, one of the best pieces ive ever played! (hehe!- nothing like train spotting sax talk!) So, there is some more news for you avid website addicts! im sorry im so slack- i just dont seem to have the time/inclination to be on the internet all day. however, i do understand the importance of self promotion etc and that i need to do more of it! just seems to me that there are too many people out there nowadays all selling the 'sizzle' rather than the 'steak'. that said, i did do a gig once and someone said they liked it so this post is for them! hehe :) Yeah, so thats me out of academia (thank god). it really begs the question can/should jazz be taught? is jazz more of a 'lifestyle' than a course of study? is it ultimately something you need to find for yourself? just seems to me that jazz education (at uni anyway) seems to reward conformity rather than encouraging individualism, which is what (to me) this music seems to be all about -making some kind of personal statement! yeah kinda of a paradox. people say you can teach the nuts and bolts at school and maybe the 'ensemble' environment is the best way forward- just teach reading/doubling/technique etc- just seems to me that in terms of soloing, one needs to have something to say before shouting loudly! maybe the saying 'you cant play it 'till you've lived it' holds some truth? i guess two people can look at the same thing and see it very differently so maybe there is no wrong or right. i just had enough of taking horses to water and them just not being thirsty!! no good telling a blind man about an amazing picture. you dig? Maybe its just a cultural thing here in NZ? i suppose it is the land of sheep and bungy jumping afterall. next stop south pole!! The great piano player paul bley once said the most important decision a jazz musician will ever make is their geographical location. NZ is a beautiful country and under different circumstances i would probably stay but i know as Artists we will never find new oceans until we can lose sight of the shore. i also quite like the saying 'if you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room!' That said, ive been blessed to have some fantastic students that do make the whole thing worthwhile and i will remember my time here fondly! anyway, peace to you all and thanks again for checking out my site. i promise i'll try and update it more often and ill let you know where the wind of life has blown me next -i know its going to a fun adventure wherever it is! Oh, and after waxing lyrical about not having any time to mess around on the computer -i did get a 'myspace' thing and have posted some youtube stuff i like on there. (myspace.com/johnnylippiett) coolio! best wishes, johnny :) btw, heres a nice article on me...... http://www.jazz-groove.com/2007/07/17/johnny-lippiett-in-new-zealand/ | |
| FEBUARY 2007 | 30/01/2007 |
| Hi there and thank you checking out my website. Again, its been ages since i updated this page (and my site) but things are back on track now. im going to post my Eddie Harris transcriptions here so watch this spot! Life ticks on here in NZ and the windows of opportunity open and close with a predictable regularity. It does seem that there is less and less work for the 'creative artist' and more and more work for the 'commercial journeyman' i guess as commited jazz players we are all caught between the two extremes. There were some good highlights from 06, the most notable being the completion of my masters degree. i'm gonna try and get the transcriptions/analysis published but if they are on my website then people can enjoy them in the meantime. There were some happening gigs too last year and we are probably putting out a CD from a gig at the Wellington jazz fest last oct. i've been really enjoying the trio format too and the freedom that comes from that. I'll put the tracks here too so you can have a listen for yourself. 07 is shaping up well and theres a few festival dates to look forward to and a trip back to London/NY in june which will be great and hopefully get to do some study with some heavywieghts there. Very sad to hear about Mike Brecker, RIP. ive got quite a few vintage ottolink m/ps that i want to move on so i'll post those here too. Lots of exciting things in the pipeline so i'll try and stay onto it with regards updating my site. i'll post more soon, thanks for looking! johnny | |