Happy 2012! First off, I’d like to extend a belated thank you to all of you who made the 2nd annual “Home for the Holidays” a smashing success. I already have so many new ideas for next year’s show.

Next week I’ll be sending you all a general outline on what to expect from me for the rest of this year… and, believe me, it’s going to be a big one. Right now, though, I need to tell you about my most prized project for this year (and many years to come)- my Songbook project with Nick Rieser.

Throughout 2012 and 2013, I’ll be collaborating with sound technician Steve Capp of Capp Audio Productions and pianist Nick Rieser to highlight some of the most influencial American composers’ greatest works. We’ll be releasing 10 albums in 2012 covering composers like Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, and many more! Three of the albums have already been completed, and I can honestly say I have never been more proud of my work. I’ve posted 2 preview songs on my myspace page at www.myspace.com/maxwellman if you’d like to check them out!

In order to receive these 10 albums PLUS 50% off tickets to my concert with the Belin Quartet in July and the 3rd Annual “Home for the Holidays” in December, you must be a subscriber.

Yes, this is the hook. However, I think it’s a pretty solid deal if you like good music (both live and recorded). Basically, for less than $10 per month you get 10 exclusive albums and cheap tickets to great concerts. Plus, you make it possible for me to SUSTAINABLY produce these all-local productions in the wonderful city of Des Moines, Iowa. The way I see it, it’s a win-win situation.

To become a subscriber, simply email me back with your intention to commit $99 to this groundbreaking project. I’ll follow up with you (and get you the delivery schedule along with other details) and get you your first album by the week of Valentine’s Day!

To get the order in time, you MUST email me by Sunday, January 22nd. To be clear, this is your only chance to hear these new albums… only subscribers will be sent these 10 CDs in completion.

As always, thank you all so much for your support. I couldn’t do any of this without you, and I’m doing everything I can to get you great music in return. Let’s do this!

–
MW
max@maxwellmanmusic.com

VIA THE DES MOINES CIVIC CENTER :

December 15 – 18, 2011
HOLIDAY JAZZ

The Des Moines’ native is coming home from Atlanta for four special holiday performances bringing his delightful jazz voice to the Temple Theater stage. Enjoy your holiday favorites with Max and his remarkable band for this holiday tradition.

Tickets go on sale TODAY for Civic Center MEMBERS and they will go on sale Wednesday for NON-MEMBERS. You can order yours through the Civic Center box office or at www.civiccenter.org .

Get ‘em while they’re hottt!

Concert Schedule:
Thursday, Dec. 15 at 7:30 PM
Friday, Dec. 16 at 7:30 PM
Saturday, Dec. 17 at 7:30 PM
Sunday, Dec. 18 at 3 PM

–
MW
www.maxwellmanmusic.com

This is what I love.”

- Wynton Marsalis, from his book w/ Carl Vigeland ‘jazz in the bittersweet blues of life’.

Wow. What a beautiful passage. I had to cut it short, but I strongly recommend you pick up that book or any other writing on music done by Mr. Marsalis.

I’ve been reading up quite a bit lately on Marsalis and Sinatra, two of the people that I have found most inspiring and influential. I want to be them. I do not mean that in some arrogant, awe-struck way, like I think I could come close to being Wynton Marsalis or Frank Sinatra. I want to be like them in other ways.

I want to live out the things that I love and be uncompromising in my passions. I want to entirely devote myself to the beauty of the music that inspires me instead of worrying about the quality of my talent or how I ’stack up’. These things do not matter. It is only important that you do what you love with reckless abandon and appreciate the passion of those around you as well.

Wynton Marsalis continues to be a steady influence on me. He is controversial in just the right way. He is controversial because he sticks by his gut and intuition, not because he craves the attention of being a controversy. I’m sure there are those that would strongly disagree with me, but I’m not trying to get into the man’s political problems within the world of jazz. I simply admire the conviction behind the things that he says. It’s as if he doesn’t care whatsoever if you have a problem with his opinions or his work.

I am inspired also by his blending of the classical and jazz genres into one beautiful, American art form. It is the niche that I wish to carve for myself as time goes by.

That’s all I’ve got for this week.

FYI, tickets for my ‘Home for the Holidays’ concert go on sale next Monday, October 17th through the Civic Center box office or through ticket master. The show will be December 15th-18th at the Temple Theater. Shows on the 15th, 16th, and 17th will start at 7:30, while the show on Sunday the 18th will be a 3:00 matinee. I hope that you can make it. Thanks as always for staying in touch!

Feel free to send thoughts my way via my facebook music page or email ( max(at)maxwellmanmusic(dot)com ).

I finished Malcom Gladwell’s book ‘Outliers’ last week. I’m not a fan of non-fiction reading, but I was looking to mix it up a bit. A few of my friends had strongly recommended ‘Outliers’, so I gave it a shot. As it turns out, Gladwell’s stunning research on the concept of self-made success was one of the most interesting books I have ever read. One of the most striking ideas presented in the book was his ‘10,000 hour’ theory. Before you scoff, let me say that I had heard of this theory before and thought it was ridiculous until I read the book. Basically, Gladwell argues that the human brain requires 10,000 hours of practice at a craft before it completely masters the art. There are exceptions, but Gladwell does in-depth studies of so-called prodigies from Mozart to Bill Gates and proves his theory’s validity. When people are young, one might have a bit more ability than others in certain subject, but it is quite literally practice and practice alone that leads to true success.

This got me thinking about my own practice routines. I mean, I for one can admit that I haven’t spent nearly 10,000 hours in a practice room. If I’m going to master the art of something, I’d better figure out what it is and start logging those hours! Mainly, it made me take a long look at my musical ambitions. What do I really spend my time on? What is it that I feel driven to do every single day?

I started playing the piano and trumpet in grade school, a few years after I had started to take singing seriously. I think even then I hadn’t considered myself a ‘musician’ until I picked up an instrument. I mean, everyone sang in choirs, right? Singing was always a different thing to me. It came easily, so I didn’t think it was technically a ‘hard’ thing to do. In contrast, piano and trumpet were very challenging. When I played each of them I felt great potential, but it took serious practice. I did not consider the hours each day I spent singing along to Ella, Sinatra, and Connick to be the same thing.

As I continued to study all three instruments, my regard for the art of singing only continued to fall. It bothered me quite a bit to consider the idea of growing up to be a measly singer . Just a singer. I would listen to great singers like Diana Krall or Jamie Cullum and think, “Man, listen to them! They are great singers AND they play the piano better than most people in the world.” It seemed to me that I was selling myself short to just continue singing.

As time has gone by, I have completely readjusted the way that I view vocalists, though. I think there are different levels of artistry that go into singing. One only has to put on a Sinatra record or listen to someone like Tina Haase Findlay to be struck by the real potential of a master-singer. There is something honorable about being the singer, the true interpreter of words, the middle man between the brilliant instrumentalists and the audience.

Yes, it was Tina that first taught me this concept. All of my closest musical friends were instrumentalists and so I had grown up paranoid that the musical world had a giant chip on its shoulder toward the Divas. While this has some substantial truth to it, there are reasons for that and it is a topic for another day.

I began listening to Ms. Haase Findlay more intently throughout high school. I often think of her as I think of a great character of fiction. This woman was referred to as simply ‘Lady Blue’ when I met her… is that not something out of a story? Her voice has the power of a full orchestra and the intimacy of a single cello. I have heard her on more than one occasion slyly remark to the crowd, “I’m just the little singer!” Yeah, right.

I got to share the stage w/ Tina for the first time in May of 2010. We didn’t sing together, but I sang right before her at an event at the DSM Playhouse. Thank God I didn’t have to sing after her. I thought I had knocked my performance out of the park. People loved it and my voice felt great. Tina gave me congrats and promptly took her stage back. She sang “At Last”. I normally hate it when people sing that song. It’s Etta’s, after all. It’s like people singing Darin’s “Mack the Knife” or Sinatra’s “New York, New York” (I’m not crazy about that song anyway, but most people identify it solely w/ him). It’s weird. However, Lady Blue put on the single most overwhelming performance I have ever experienced. The silky way she sang the more subtle parts of the tune were sweet enough to make you cry (people did) and the climax of the tune (an unamplified belting of “a thrill that I have never known!” that overpowered the big band accompanying her) pulled people to their feet mid-song in the formally decorated theater. It was amazing.

Before she went on that night, she talked to me about the honor of being the singer. It is your stage, she said, and you’d better make sure it’s all set up the way you want it before you bare your naked soul on it.

She’s just the singer, you know. Yeah, right. I’m looking forward to working harder on my craft throughout this year. I’m just going to sing and see what happens. This all makes me even more excited for the songbook project w/ Nick Rieser.

Stay tuned! As always feel free to send your thoughts to me at max(at)maxwellmanmusic(dot)com or at my music page on Facebook!

First off, I apologize for not making my announcement #2 yesterday! Unfortunately, that one is going to have to wait due to some last-minute changes.

At any rate, I’m extremely excited to talk about today’s announcement. I’m proud to say that my annual ‘Home for the Holidays’ concert will be produced in partnership with the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines at the Temple Theater in Des Moines, Iowa.

Building on the success of last year’s sold out performances, we’ve added a concert this year for a total of 4 showings taking place on Thursday, December 15th, Friday, December 16th, Saturday, December 17th, and Sunday, December 18th. Thursday through Saturday’s concerts will take place at 7:30 and Sunday’s showing will be a 3:00 matinee.

In addition, I’m even more proud to say that I will be bringing back the same cast of fantastic musicians. Nick Rieser will be on piano, Brooke Peters will be returning from her tour of the Caribbean to play bass, Joel Gettys will be the drummer, and the very talented Dave Rezek will be playing trumpet.

As you know, Dave is a supremely talented arranger and composer in addition to his trumpet playing. He will once again be lending his arranging abilities to the composition of this show.

Tickets will start at just $20 this year. All tickets are set to go on sale on Monday, October 17th.

Mark your calendars now! ‘Home for the Holidays’ : December 15th-18th at the Temple Theater in Des Moines. Tickets go on sale Monday, October 17th! Tickets will be available at www.civiccenter.org , at the Civic Center Box Office, or through www.ticketmaster.com .

You can get a look at the first promotional materials on my music page on facebook if you feel so inclined.

I had a fantastic time in Des Moines through the last week and am now prepared to make some groundbreaking announcements. I will be announcing one project today, another tomorrow, and the last one on Friday. Be sure to check my blog at www.maxwellmanmusic.com/blog for announcements past this week.

The first is what I may be most excited about. Over the course of the next two years, pianist Nick Rieser, Capp Audio Productions and I are teaming up to produce a songbook series profiling some of the most influential American Songbook composers of all time. Each chosen composer will be highlighted on their own album, featuring several of their most defining works. The project will include 20 albums in total, all to be released throughout 2012 and 2013 EXCLUSIVELY to Wellman Music SUBSCRIBERS.

Yes, I said subscribers. Starting this December, you will have the opportunity to become ‘members’ of our musical team in a very cool way. In addition to receiving the songbook albums FREE of charge, you will have access to EXTREMELY discounted tickets throughout the year, pre-concert lectures from myself and my collaborating composers, and much more.

Your commitment will only enable my groups to provide more concerts and programs throughout the year by providing us with the operating budget to do so.

This new opportunity will first become available to those attending this year’s ‘Home for the Holidays’ concert (due to be announced tomorrow). I will be releasing more details as that weekend draws near, but I would like to thank my wonderful collaborators Nick Rieser and Steve Capp (www.cappaudioproductions.com) for their involvement.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow and Friday for more events taking place in the near future!

As always, feel free to send me your thoughts and comments via my music page on facebook or email at max(at)maxwellmanmusic(dot)com .

First off, I’ve noticed that I often start these blogs by saying ‘first off’. I want to let you know that I’m going to continue to do that.

Secondly, I’d like to advise you to make a concerted effort to check out this blog next Wednesday, as I have several EARTH-SHATTERING announcements to make. This is all very exciting, and I promise not to be over-hyping anything.

Third, a disclaimer: for all of you that are sick of me always getting on a soap-box about the wonderful midwest (The Moines in particular), you might as well stop reading. This entry is an observation in favor of said territory.

Here it goes.

When I first announced that I was moving to Atlanta, plenty of people immediately honed in on the fact that I would be moving into Dixie territory. I might as well have announced that I was going to Birmingham or Jackson (no offense to either city). Nevermind the fact that most people living in Atlanta are natives of other, mostly northern, states. Nevermind the sizable market for the arts in this very democratic city. I was at first bothered by all of the northerners’ warnings about the southland.

However, there is definitely something different down here. I can’t quite put my finger on it quite yet, but I do feel like an outsider. Something about traveling down here feels a bit different than taking a trip to New York or Los Angeles. At any rate, I’d like to talk a bit about the perspective of most people I work with in the fine city of Des Moines, Iowa compared to what I have experienced here.

If you listen to even one minute of news a day, you know that the United States of America’s glass is half empty at best. We have no money, our kids are dumb, and the air tastes like smog. That’s what the message is from the media.

While I do not discount the facts that are reported every day, I do think that the way people respond to this information is completely up to them. While I was in Indianapolis, I noticed that people (outside of our beautiful bubble world of Butler University) were generally down on the state of things. People were looking backwards for fear of what the future was holding for them. In the brief time that I have spent in Atlanta, I’ve noticed this trend even more. People are NOT happy! Successful businesses aren’t hiring due to fear and worry, rich people aren’t throwing parties because they’re concerned for their grandchildren’s wealth, and people are prone to snap at anyone that gets in their way while walking down the street.

On the one hand, I don’t blame anyone for letting all of the news get to them. On the other, we still have the power to change ANYTHING we want about our current situation. As an individual you don’t, but the community can do anything.

I think that people in Des Moines (and the midwest in general) have that idea down pat. Downtown keeps growing, people are hiring, and new startups are bursting at the seams (see http://www.siliconprairienews.com/ ).

I have a lot of friends that are afraid to graduate into the real world. Well, here’s news for you from a real-life college dropout: It’s not THAT Bad! There ARE jobs out there and the world is still and exciting place to live in. You might have to live on ramen noodles a little more than you’d like, but people have dealt with a lot worse than that.

The city that I’m currently living in is a beautiful place, and I look forward to learning more about it throughout this year. I just miss a little of the everyday optimism that I was used to.

Since I made my last entry, I have finally had the pleasure of visiting Churchill Grounds, Atlanta’s self-proclaimed finest jazz club. It is particularly convenient for me to go there since it is just a few blocks away from our apartment. The club features the best musicians from around Atlanta and often hosts touring acts on the weekends. The building itself is beautiful… it is attached to the famous Fox Theater in a grand piece of architecture that looks part theater, part arabian castle. Churchill Grounds is split up into two rooms: one is a typical bar for socializing, the other is called the ‘Whisper Room’. The ‘Whisper Room’ is where the music takes place. The room is simple and beautiful, revolving around a small but prominent stage at the front of the space. You can check out more about them at www.churchillgrounds.com .

As I sat down, I was very excited for the show that was about to take place. Justin Chezarek’s Tree-O of Love was playing their weekly Wednesday night gig. The trio features a drummer, a bass player, and a saxaphone player. This, of course, is a traditionally unusual but currently trending kind of setup, lacking a chordal (guitar or piano) musician.

The show was fantastic. They were playing all Sonny Rollins’ charts in tribute to the legendary saxaphonist’s 82nd birthday. Their knowledge of the charts was very impressive… they were not, as is often the case, a group of instrumentalists simply ‘jamming out’ over the chords. They had an intimate knowledge of these tunes and it was very enjoyable to hear.

This all sounds wonderful, right? A stunning, renowned venue with a great band in the middle of an exciting city. However, there were only ten other people (at the most) that joined Katy and I in the ‘Whisper Room’. While I did enjoy the music quite a bit, the lack of attendance was bugging me throughout the evening.

This all kind of relates back to my previous entry about the lack of excitement behind jazz and classical music. Why is it that people all around Atlanta were already partying out in anticipation of the Falcons’ opening game (still four days away at the time) but unwilling to check out some of the best music in the region? We’re talking about a metro area full of 6 million people and the great Churchill Grounds couldn’t draw more than ten.

I would argue that it all goes back to the way things are presented to people. I think that most of what makes people want to go out and do something is due to the hype. All of America’s sports have got that down to a science. Watch an ad for baseball, football, or basketball, and you can’t help but get a bit excited by the possibilities. The drama, the action, the intensity! If you’ve been to a sporting event recently, you may have noticed that most of what goes on (particularly in football, where there is merely an average of 11 minutes of action during a game) is pretty stagnant. People don’t care, though, if they really think they’re in for a treat.

When we pulled off the concert at Hoyt Sherman Place two years ago, it was only because Nikki Syverson, Liz Palik, and myself decided to try and paint it as THE event of the summer. Looking at the promotional material, you would have thought I had ten grammys under my belt. This was not the case at all, as you all know.

I’m rambling again, but I just think it is worth noting that most promotional material (if there is any) for clubs, symphonies, etc. is not the type that gets you excited to attend unless you are inherently a devout follower of the music.

Your thoughts? Email me at max(at)maxwellmanmusic(dot)com or find my music page on facebook and ‘like’ it. Thanks as always!

As I’ve grown up and continued to pursue music, I have held on to the idea of the American Songbook being the real ‘middle ground’ between higher art music and what we hear on the radio. While upholding certain standards of musical excellence (a moving melody, advanced chord progressions, historically virtuosic composers and performers), the best of this genre is still completely accessible to someone without a master’s degree in music.

I often wonder what classical musicians thought of ‘pop’ music back in the early-mid 20th century… Were jazz and standards considered too ‘dumbed down’ by ‘real’ musicians? Nowadays, there is an intense divide between most ‘trained’ musicians (those who go to school for traditional musical training) and most of the people that create and sell today’s hits. I think that a large part of this problem comes from the musicians’ attitude (I’m overgeneralizing, but stick with me) of superiority and entitlement. A lot of musicians do not think their job is to play for ‘the people’ or society at large. Classical and even jazz music often times has to be supported almost completely by sponsorship and subsidies. We have to do a better job of communicating with people. Music is the universal language, after all.

At any rate, I’m interested in finding that middle ground. I would like to feel like I’m creating at a higher level while still making a product that means something to people. I’m hoping to make my first real dive into this effort through a series of concerts currently being planned for the summer of 2012 involving myself, composer Sam Wells, and the Belin Quartet. Yes, that’s a teaser.

Stay tuned for more ramblings. Feel free to send me your thoughts via facebook or email me at max(at)maxwellmanmusic.com .

As I close out my first week here in Atlanta, I’m starting to feel pretty confident living in this place. It now takes me less than one minute to get through the futuristic looking turnstiles to get on the train, for one thing. I thought now would be as good a time as any to lay out my goals for the rest of the ‘year’.

Goal Number One – Have a standing gig in Atlanta before 2011 is done with. This may seem like a small goal, but I would like to uphold a few standards here and get into a nice club in Atlanta. There are more venues than I can count that do live jazz in this city, but I’m going to take time to line a few up with the particular music I like to sing.

Also, I’ll be working on weekends, so I’m looking for a gig on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Sunday evening. This actually may work in my favor, considering how hard it would be to come in as a new musician trying to land a ‘prime time’ gig.

Goal Number Two – Be a ‘full-time’ musician by June of 2012. This one is pretty self-explanatory… I’d like to save enough and have a successful enough year to start the rest of my life as a full-time musician. The sheer thought makes me giddy!

Goal Number Three – Write music. I have no idea what to expect from myself here, but I’m promising myself that I will spend have of my weekdays attempting to write something I find suitable and fulfilling. We’ll see what I come up with…

Those are all of the goals that I have for now. I’ll keep you updated on my progress with each.

Next week, I’m going to write about some new ideas that I’ve been throwing around my head about the kind of ‘cross-genre’ music I see myself doing in the future. This has a lot to do with some BIG plans I have for next summer in Des Moines, so stay tuned!

As always, feel free to send thoughts or comments my way at max(at)maxwellmanmusic.com or via Facebook! Thanks again for the support.