There once was a Southern gentleman who wanted to give a gift to his daughter. He wanted his gift to be very special, so he hired a piano playing singer.

He told the piano player, "I want you to keep this girl of mine very happy by playing piano, and singing, all the time. Don't let a moment go by where there is silence in the home."

So the piano player set his piano up in the den, and set out to play morning, afternoon, and night. After the first few days the young lady was so taken by the continous music that she could hardly contain herself. However, as the days went by she became increasingly tired of the sound of the piano.

So she took the musician by the collar, took the piano too, and put them both in a box outside for the trash man to collect. The End.

Hah ha! This picture is really the result of a bad judgement call on my part. Don't sit on boxes unless you know they can hold you!

Labels: jamie dietrich, pictures, sean dietrich trio

I've been reflecting on the idea of how many musicians play music with little, or no passion. I'm talking about good musicians too. Artists who have worked on their craft and become exceptional at handling their axe. The "paid" musician.

It's a rare thing in the world today to find a musician within the inner circle of exceptional players that is infected with passion and creativity it seems. There are so many wonderful players who lack the "Umph" that drives beautiful creativity. Their music is carbon, and their individual voice is indistinguishable from the radio.

What is worse, is that there are so many working musicians who started out with the purity of artistic zeal, but are now ruinned by business side of music. Their insides are spoiled with lukewarmness. No longer is music a means of expressing the innermost longings of the soul, but a method of entertaining. Ultimately there is no expression in their personal music. There is no personal music! The musical heart shrivels up and dies, even though the fingers stay in fantastic flexible shape.

If a music maker doesn't stand guard over his or her gift, it will eventually begin to sour in this world of corruption.

Just a thought.

Labels: artistic creativitiy, jazz, music, passion, sean dietrich trio, working musician

I was just informed that the trio is going to be in Southern Living magazine. A photographer came by and profiled Pandora's restaurant (where we've been on Tuesday nights for the past year) and got side tracked taking shots of the trio playing for a little while. Actually that night we had a horn player with us, Dave from Orlando, so we were a quartet. The proof copy has a pic of the trio, and talks about Tuesday night Jazz at Pandoras. So I'll keep everyone posted about the Southern Living debut.

A few days ago, our drummer and friend Steve Ferry came over and jammed on the vibes for a little while with me on piano. We ran through a few tunes, and played some very fun stuff. He's one of those rare drummers who knows a lot about harmony, and can play a mean vibraphone. Steve is a professor at UWF and a great all around human being, who is also at the top of his trade, for this area's group of drummers. Maybe one night we'll get him to bring out the vibes for a few tunes on the gig!

Tonight, the trio plays at Carillon Beach on the green, for the Groovin' on the Green series. 7-9pm. Come on out and listen to the music, or just come on out to say "Hi" if you get a chance!

Labels: carillon beach, electric piano, groovin, jazz, pandoras, sean dietrich trio, southern living, steve ferry, vibraphone

My performance from the National Jazz piano competition was selected to be played on NPR for a program highlighting young Jazz pianists in the nation. I'll keep everyone posted on when it is scheduled to air. I wonder if the radio adds 10 pounds to the piano?

Things are getting intense with the Airstream trailer. Jamie's poor little arms must be so tired from holding the huge fiberglass dome (inside the trailer) up so that I could secure it to the interior frame. The thing is starting to look like a work space. The next step is getting the electrical situation taken care of. If this thing is to be a commercial kitchen for Jamie to cook in for chef's purposes, then it's got to be outfitted electrically to support a lot more than a toaster!

Labels: airstream trailer, electric piano, jazz, npr, phillips, sean dietrich trio, uwf, uwf jazz competition

Most of you know that I am a runner. Check out my narcissistic weathered running blog for more info on that.Actually, a lot of people who I meet already recognize me as the crazy guy running on the side of 98. I guess Destin, and Santa Rosa Beach really are small towns at heart.

But I digress!! I found a blog of a guy who is a man after my own heart. The Jazz Runner. This guy's blog is about jazz and running. While it's true, I am not just a Jazz fan. I am more specifically, an "impressionistic-jazz" fan, in the spirit of Bill Evans, and... uh... just Bill Evans. But all jazz holds a place in my heart, and is unquestionably better than any other music to me. This guy has combined the two in a blog, and I thought I would pass it on.

I hold the sport of distance running tenderly as a minor obsession. And with the heat the way it is lately, the only suitable times for really comfortable running is either in the early morning, or at night. And since I find myself sleeping in from being out playing late, usually, I choose the night running. There is no traffic on the road, it's quiet, and it's cool. Sue me.

Last week, I took a short 7 miler on 98, and there were a few cars who almost made jelly out of me. And I run on the sidewalk! I mean come on! This city is full of cyclists, and beach tourists who are constantly out on the actual roads, surely some respect can be given to a medium-crazy runner who is on the sidewalk!

So if you happen to be out later at night, and spot a night crawler on the side of the road, drive carefully! It might be me!

Labels: 98, destin, jazz, runner, running, santa rosa beach, sean dietrich trio

The weekend has been busy and good. The trio played at Santa Rosa Beach Club on the 20th, and had a great time. The indoor atmosphere is always relaxed and comfortable here, and the room has always had a good sound for a trio.

I have been slowly plugging away at the Airstream. I got some dents out of the exterior body with a rubber mallet, and have taken off EVERY interior panel! My plan is to strip every panel down to the metal underneath the vinyl. So I got a heat gun and a scraper. I thought I would breeze right along melting the vinyl glue with the heat gun and just scooping the old vinyl right off with the scraper. NOPE!

It's long hard gruleing work, and the vinyl from 1969 must've been bonded to the panels with some sort of religious bond that can only be broken under the full moon. A small 3x4 foot panel took me the better part of 3 hours. And I have panels the size of the Titanic still waiting to be scraped. If you want to know what it's like, imagine scraping the paint off a house with a butter knife.

And lastly, I'd like to thank coffee for getting me through the week. Coffee, never asks any questions, he just goes straight to work, and always does what I need him to do. So here's a raise of the mug to you coffee!

Labels: airstream trailer, jazz, sean dietrich trio

Most of you know, Jamie is a private chef, and an extreme foodie. When I met her she got off have conversations about consumer-grade vs. commercial-grade steel cutlery. If you got her going on the topic, she'd actually walk over to her knife block and start balancing knives by the handles to illustrate her case and point.

Since we became a vegan household (who also shuns white flour like the devil's one-legged whore), Jamie has intensely studied the vegan side of cooking. An art form completely unique and all it's own. In this universe, typical cooking laws don't apply! No longer does cornstarch fill our needs, it's arrow root. And in this world, "Fakin-Bacon" bits, home-made in her iron skillet out of Texturized Vegetable Protein, are one of our most sinful pleasures.

So Jamie and I kicked around Pensacola for the better half of yesterday with the purpose of visiting her favorite vegan restaurant End of the Line Cafe. The only pure vegan restaurant I know of locally. She enjoys having a conversation about exactly what we plan on ordering 45 minutes before we arrive at the cafe.

Here, in this vegan world, she fits in. We enter the run down building, and she feels right at ease with her "people". We had knuckle sandwiches with tofu. I had the side of quinoa tabouli, and Jamie had the pasta salad. I got a coffee, and then we kicked around the city.

As the day droned on, the vegan food was rapidly burned by our metabolism, and her tastes quickly shifted towards other things. Pizza. And so, to add a very contradicting twist to our "vegan journey" Jamie chose to visit Cici's pizza at 10:45pm for din din. Where the very "non-vegan" chees-sticks taste as if God christened them in his holy sanctuary of goodness and purity for our consumption. And when they brought out the hot cinnamon buns, I swear I heard a bell ring signifying that somehwere in the cosmos an angel got his wings.

We laughed on the way home about our very contradicting day!

Labels: cafe, chef, cicis, end of the line, florida, jamie dietrich, jazz, pensacola, pizza, sean dietrich trio, tvp, vegan

June 19, 2009

Seagar's held their party on the 18th and brought us in to provide music for the evening. It was a lovely event with an enthusiastic group of patrons who seemed to be enjoying themselves for the benefit of Children in Crisis Foundation. And hey, who wouldn't enjoy themselves with the 25 cent martinis? What a beautiful thing that can be. Just ask Jamie.

Saw a bunch of friends that night who came to hear the group play. And after the night was ended, my sister and her husband, and a group of their friends went to Funky Blues Shack in Baytowne and had a nice time.

Many moons ago, I acutally played at Funky's (both at Baytowne and in Destin) and it wasn't what you would call a "fit" from heaven. I am finding that you live and learn about the venues that work best for the music medium that I am a part of.

The band at Funky's was playing selections from the Who, Metallica, and every other rock band who made the electrified 3 chord songs famous. Whoops, ignore those last critiques. I am becoming aware that I am a musical snob. A jazz-hole. A piano-Nazi. Red-Headed-Step-Child. A purist. Whatever you want to call me, it's probably accurate. So the night was fun, and I enjoyed hanging with Sarah (sis) and Paul (bro-in-law), their buds Erin and Nick, and Pauls's brother Kevin and the loveable infamous Marlin, who supplied the entire crew with a river of drinks all night.

Stay tuned for the trio's next appearance at Seagars. I'll keep you posted.

Labels: baytowne, destin, funky blues shack, jazz, metallica, sandestin, seagars, sean dietrich trio, the who