Greg Sinibaldi

Well its not quite the new year yet but I’m headed for a much needed tropical vacation…

I’m looking forward to a productive and inspired 2010. I’ll be headed to the Banff Centre in late Jan for a winter artist residency that I’m very much looking forward to. I’m also headed to South by Southwest for the first time this year, playing with Uncle Pooch.

Look for more Goat activity and some new projects on the horizon as well.

I ran into this quote from Plato and think it will serve the year to come…

“Music is moral law. It gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, and a gaiety and life to everything. It is the essence of order and leads to all that is good, true and beautiful.

Peace

Last night (nov 9 or early morning Nov 10) a large portion of my gear was stolen from my car. My amp and pedal board were taken right out of the car. I have a webpage set up with pictures and descriptions of all of it at www.gregsinibaldi.com/stolen_gear.html

If you hear or see any of it please let me know!

Thanks for your help!

I’m excited to be playing a few shows with Kenosha Kid, the brainchild of Dan Nettles. Its a great band and Dans music is really great. Come check out a show near you. The new record (and it is an actual record! vinyl!) sounds great. You can get it at www.nowtrecords.com

Check out kenoshakid.com for details but heres a smattering of shows

Oct 23 Olin Fine Arts Center Washington & Jefferson College

Oct 24 @ Douglass Street Music Collective
295 Douglass b/t 3rd & 4th Ave
Brooklyn
with MAKE A CIRCUS @ 8pm and Carl Maguires FLORICULTURE @ 9pm

Oct 28 Bobo Gallery
Asheville, NC

Oct 29 The Five Spot
Atlanta, GA

Oct 30 Melting Point
Athens, GA

November 3

Frieze of Life Reunion Show @ Cafe Racer
5828 Roosevelt Way NE
9 pm

Me – tenor/bcl
Mark Taylor – alto/ten
Chris Stover – trombone
Russ Johnson – trumpet
Geoff Harper – bass
Byron Vannoy – drums

you – audient

You and all your friends are invited to a benefit show for First Place School in Seattle. They do amazing work for homeless kids and families. Goat performs at 7:30 with special guest Byron Vannoy on drums.  There will be a $5-$15 donation at the door. The event is 21+. Doors will open at 6 p.m at Tost in Fremont. 513 N. 36th St., Seattle, WA 98103.  (206) 547-0240

Here’s the lineup…

6:30 p.m. – Steve Treseler Trio (Jazz) – http://www.myspace.com/stevetreseler
7:30 p.m. – Goat (Greg Sinibaldi, Zach Stewart and Byron Vannoy) – (Experimental Jazz) http://www.gregsinibaldi.com/goat.htm
8:30 p.m. – Colin Higgins Solo Set (Singer/Songwriter/Guitar) – http://www.myspace.com/colinhigginsmusic
9:15 p.m. – Thione Diop and Yeke Yeke (West African Drumming and Dance Music) – http://www.myspace.com/thionediop
10:15 p.m. – Andy Sells/ Forrest Giberson/ Michael Stegner (Americana Soul) – http://www.myspace.com/michaelstegner
10:50 p.m. – Michael Shrieve Group (Legendary Drummer from Santana) – http://www.myspace.com/michaelshrieve
11:50 p.m. – Byron Vannoy/ Thione Diop/ Hans Teuber/ Michael Stegner (A Fusion of Dance, World, Hip Hop and Jazz) – http://www.myspace.com/michaelstegner
Morphing into mega jam with a bunch of heavy hitters
2 a.m. – The fun must end

More info about First Place here

I love this picture of Joe

I heard yesterday of the passing of my teacher Joe Maneri.

He was by far the most influential teacher I’ve ever had. He not only taught me the nuts and bolts of improvisation/composition but how to find my own sound (or at least the right direction to go, I’m not sure I’ve found it yet)

He taught me composition, the 12-tone system, and we played microtones. I still use the techniques he taught me, often going back to his words when I encounter new creative problems.

But the most profound impact on me was his spirit. Joe so lived music it was part of everything he did, the way he talked, the way he walked, the way he drove a car, everything. And he wanted to share it with you because he dug it so, so much. I’ve never seen a teacher give so much of himself to a student, ever.

We talked a lot about saxophone. I was his only saxophone student during the time I studied with him and I think he liked having a saxophone player as a student. We talked about Lester Young a lot. His mastery of the horn was un-paralleled. He could play sounds that I’ve never heard a saxophone make. I remember one lesson where he was playing piano and singing microtones against it. I thought the piano was going to explode! He opened up so many things for me…

I have two years or so of tapes from our lessons. I started the process of digitizing them and will do the rest soon. Listening back to them you can hear his love for music, his love for me, my love for him, and the gentle prodding for me to dig deeper, to dig and find the meaning in my own music. He was a father figure for me and many other students. He gave us all permission to find our own music, and I will forever be profoundly grateful to him…

For those of you in Seattle…

Come check out the Greg Sinibaldi band this Saturday (August 15) at Cal Anderson Park (1635 11th Ave between E Pike and Denny on Capitol Hill). We’re playing as part of the Sounds Outside Festival. We play at 4. Check out the schedule at www.soundsoutside.com.

Come on down and say hello…

Me, Mark and Geoff

Da Band:

Me – tenor
Mark Taylor – alto
Zach Stewart – guitar
Geoff Harper – bass
Byron Vannoy – drums

I play music a lot with Mark. Hes one of my favorite musicians to play with.We’ll be playing together in Aug at the Sounds Outside festival in Cal Anderson park.

He laid his newest record on me the other day. It’s good. Mark sounds great and so does the band. Hes a really thoughtful and sensitive player. Beautiful lines and a really interesting rhythmic concept. Plus, he can play the hell out of his horn. Theres some cool improvisations mixed in with compositions…

Dig it here

I teach a lot. Though this summer is a little slower than usual (summers always are) I’ve been trying to come up with new ways of teaching kids how to become musicians, rather than automatons.

Next week, I’m teaching a jazz camp. We’ll be doing John Zorn’s Cobra with early high school and middle school students. Its a bit of a risk and honestly I’m not sure how well it will come off.

If you dont know Cobra, its an improvisatory game that utilizes a system of cards to indicate how the music should unfold. The players give the prompter (me) signals to show various cards, which in turn tells the musicians how to behave. The fun of Cobra is being a part of it, the actual playing of the game. I hope to teach some compositional/improvisatory concepts to the kids in the process.

I’m currently working on some music for a gig on Aug 15. Check the gigs page for info about it.

The band is:
Me – tenor
Mark Taylor – alto
Zach Stewart – guitar
Geoff Harper – bass
Byron Vannoy – drums

I love playing music with these guys so its gonna be fun. This band got together for one rehearsal right after Frieze of Life broke up (2 – 3 years ago). I had played with Mark, Geoff and Byron in that band so we know each other well. Then I did the Goat project with Zach for the last 2 years or so. We played a very different style than FOL but we played a lot of my music which is structured in the same way, we just played a different style. It will be fun to see how these two different styles meet.

You should come…