Grateful to have taken part in Sensei @josejamesmusic celebration of the Coltrane centennial at @bluenotenyc over the past four nights 🙏🏼 lots to share and unpack from this experience; for now here’s a video of me attempting to play “Transition”
In the slides : Some thoughts, reflections, and excerpts re: a recent interview I gave.
You can read the full thing for context on @fairplanet_
Below are more detailed thoughts regarding why it felt important to speak in that context, my obvious issues with the article notwithstanding:
Over the past two years , myself and other “jazz” musicians who share my nationality and upbringing have had to grapple with the impossibility of reconciling the inherent values of the music we study and play - what is the canon of this music if not a document of the triumph of the human spirit against oppression, inequality, and unimaginable state violence?- with the explicit values (enshrined into law) of the regime we grew up under - supremacy, exceptionalism, and our collective complicity in the violent oppression of whomever the system designates as inferior.
This unresolvable conflict between our early indoctrination and the values we gravitated towards as adults - a gravity which led us to play this particular music and to seek life abroad in (slightly) more open and democratic societies - is one we have spent our entire lives running away from. This internal moral and spiritual crisis, along with immense pressure from peers, family, and institutions, has led many to a state of dissociated paralysis in the face of the genocide in Gaza.
This isn’t meant to excuse anyone’s complicity or to entertain the delusion that “dialogue” with racism and supremacy can lead to the rehabilitation or redemption of a violent system - but to share how my process of grappling with these two opposing value systems has led me to complete disillusionment with Zionism, a disillusionment that is the self-evident conclusion of examining humanistic values against the reality of what Israel is and does.
I share this perspective because my experience teaches me that the internal and collective process of examination, disillusionment, transformation, and gradual reconstitution of our identity based on coherent values isn’t merely possible, it’s necessary.
Thank you for reading🙏🏼
Free Palestine 🇵🇸
Another one from last week with maestro @josejamesmusic at @bluenotenyc : half a chorus on “My one and only love”
Doing it again this weekend at @exitzerojazzfest Cape May, NJ
🧿
Bassists !
I made a super concise, super efficient, injury-prevention-centered follow-along warm-up video to get you feeling fresh, supple, and ready for a gig or a practice session in under 20 minutes.
Too many of us warm up ineffectively (or not at all) and mess up our hands over time.
This short routine methodically separates and targets the most common movement patterns of each hand and “bulletproofs” the parts of our hand that are most vulnerable to injury (the wrists/carpal tunnel, lh shoulder, lh pinky + index finger, etc.)
This sequence is ideal for :
- getting back to playing after a break
- Helping recover from playing injuries
- As a way to quickly acclimate to loaner/rental basses
- As an ultra quick warm up if you need to play a gig but have yet to touch the bass today
- As “warm-down” sequence after an intense practice session or gig
The purpose of a warm-up is to bring enough blood flow into our hands so that the soft tissues and ligaments are protected, establish+reinforce correct movement patterns, and bring our mind and body into a focused, alert state before a performance or practice session. Playing long tones and scales for an hour is a great way to do it, but we often don’t have an hour. This video demonstrates some of the most effective exercises I’ve learned and developed over the years to help keep my hands safe in a time crunch.
You can find it in the “shop” section of my patreon page via link in bio alongside a few other foundational exercise videos.
Make sure you buy it on a desktop / laptop and NOT on mobile because Apple are greedy bastards and add 30% iOS markup for no reason.
Hope you enjoy this one 🙏🏼🧿
Slides 2 and on are an absolutely random photo dump, a sacrificial offering of mundane moments from my life that will hopefully appease and distract the algae from the fact that I’m diverting traffic away to another platform
Blessings 🧿
Or
Fake NY spring number two was last week so real spring is right around the corner, supposedly. After traveling for much of the start of 2026 I’ll be staying put and dedicating more time to practicing, writing , and teaching this spring. Here are some ways you can join me : - the Composition workshop is back in June : sign up via link in my bio
- Small handful of membership slots are available on exclusive Patreon tiers : check those out for a hybrid of 1:1 + group clinics+ access to detailed exclusive videos at a fraction of the price of a private lesson. Select videos from the library are available for purchase independently for non-members too.
- I still teach 1:1 private lessons.I’ll be traveling less this spring and have some space for one-offs / “bundles” of 3-4 project-oriented lessons, just dm me here.
Stay safe and sane , blessings🧿
Seems like we should at least be preparing for the possibility of some big changes: the Iran war is already having profound effects on the world economy, but looks like shit will get truly unhinged if it continues.
Feel free to drop any relevant info/ resources in the comments🙏🏼
/ I am attempting to play a blues in Bb
I got a bunch of DM’s last week after mentioning “bass vomits” in my stories AMA asking wtf I was talking about so I made a very detailed instructional video explaining this very fundamental bass drill on my Patreon.
For the time being it’s available to purchase for non-subscribers as well, along with two of the most popular lesson videos on the channel : I hope you check those out and find them useful.
There are also still a small handful of slots available on each of the three tiers of the Patreon : all slots include some hybrid of group and / or 1:1 session with me, access to the entire video library, and the option to message me questions directly on some tiers. Check it out via link in my bio.
Stay safe and have a blessed day🧿
Composition Workshop season TEN is a wrap
Thank you Aiden, Leo, Erikos, Leighton, Berk, Ines, Liam, and Dominic for an inspiring few weeks🙏🏼
The next workshop will likely be in June : sign up via the form in my bio / dm me to inquire
Blessings 🧿
Massive gratitude to everyone who came out, performed, donated, organized, helped spread the word about the benefit concert for @mecaforpeace at @peoplesforumnyc earlier this month co-organized with @palestinianyouthmovement . Some beautiful pictures by @theartistformerlyknownashaseeb
We are keeping the fundraiser going online through the end of March : scan the last slide, go to @accl.change ; or donate directly at MECA’s website.
Advocacy and material support for our siblings undergoing genocide, displacement, and ethnic cleansing in Gaza, the West Bank, and now Southern Lebanon is the bare minimum we can do as humans and artists at this moment. Please consider supporting and spreading the word 🧿🙏🏼
I wasn’t able to include and tag everyone’s photo from the event : massive shout out to @connors.park@jamin_jamal@jonathan_paik@mwdfu@brahm_sasner@johannesravnhagmundhansen for bringing their time energy and talents to this event
Thank you to the incredible team at TPF for hosting
Thanks to my co-organizer and originator of this event @sethsandoval01
Lastly but not remotely leastly massive gratitude to @aubrey.bk for being the MVP of this event in more ways than can be described here❤️
Free Palestine 🇵🇸
