http://jimolsenmusic.com/news.html Jim Olsen: News Jannis' PHPRss class - http://www.jannis.to/ Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:08:33 -0800 http://jimolsenmusic.com/news.html#17
As if that wasn't enough for one semester, A3 has the jazz pianist Deanna Witkowski and 3 members of Chamber Music Amici coming to perform on our Spring concert. It looks like I'll need to come up with something that will feature all of them with the A3 Group.

Oh, and two of my students have a recital in May, and they are both composing things for me to play, which means I'll need to do some practicing, too.

To work!]]> http://jimolsenmusic.com/news.html#17 Sun, 03 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700 the home of Jim Olsen Music - Jim Olsen - News http://jimolsenmusic.com/news.html#16
We did a couple of my arrangements on the show, including one of Faure's "Pavane" that featured Holly on alto flute. I haven't made it available for sale yet, but plan to do so this summer. It's not particularly difficult and could be adapted for a wide range of guest soloists.

We also played my chart on "Blues in the Closet," which is available through this site. The big change for the concert was that we featured Holly, me and all of our saxes doubling flute during the tune. Treble clef silliness!

Next up are some new pieces for my school group, as well as an original for Swing Shift's June 24th concert.]]> http://jimolsenmusic.com/news.html#16 Wed, 09 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800 the home of Jim Olsen Music - Jim Olsen - News http://jimolsenmusic.com/news.html#15
Swing Shift closed the festival Sunday afternoon, and we were lucky enough to have a few of the festival headliners sit in with us. Houston Person was, as usual, the epitome of swing. He's so smooth and graceful that you almost miss how good he is. Then again, everyone who sat in (Pelt, Hofmann, Cunliffe, Bruce Forman) was great. Thanks!]]> http://jimolsenmusic.com/news.html#15 Mon, 04 Oct 2010 00:00:00 -0700 the home of Jim Olsen Music - Jim Olsen - News http://jimolsenmusic.com/news.html#14
Next up is transcribing some or all of "Freedom Now" by Max Roach, which I need for my A3 ensemble this Fall. After that, it looks like some arrangements for an upcoming Swing Shift concert are on the agenda. We have the flutist Holly Hofmann and pianist Mike Wofford playing with us in February, and we have to generate some material for the concert.]]> http://jimolsenmusic.com/news.html#14 Wed, 11 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0700 the home of Jim Olsen Music - Jim Olsen - News http://jimolsenmusic.com/news.html#13
The first piece of note was an adaptation of the music from the Looney Tunes cartoon "What's Opera, Doc." I had to adapt Milt Franklyn's adaptation of Richard Wagner's music for the small ensemble that I coach at my high school. It's not an easy task, reducing full orchestra scores for a group comprised of flute, cello, 2 keyboards, electric bass and drums, but things turned out much better than I expected. We'll premiere the results in a couple of weeks.

Another project involved a collaboration between Swing Shift and Chamber Music Amici. We were both asked to perform at a concert, and decided that it would be fun to play a couple of pieces together. This brought about arrangements of "Eleanor Rigby" and Gabriel Faure's "Pavane" for the big band plus 2 violins and oboe. Unfortunately, the concert was cancelled, so we have yet to perform these charts. Still, I'm quite happy with how they turned out, and suspect that we'll find a way to get them in front of the public.

As if that weren't enough, I'm now in the midst of a Christmas medley for my high school ensemble. We always try to have fun with this, so the tunes are often distorted beyond all hope of repair. This should eat up any free time that I have during our Thanksgiving break!]]> http://jimolsenmusic.com/news.html#13 Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800 the home of Jim Olsen Music - Jim Olsen - News http://jimolsenmusic.com/news.html#12
"What's Opera, Doc," an arrangement of the classic Bugs Bunny cartoon, is in my sketchbook and will be performed by the A3 Group in December.

Next up, a couple of pieces for Swing Shift and a trio of 2 violins and oboe, for a November show.]]> http://jimolsenmusic.com/news.html#12 Sun, 20 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700 the home of Jim Olsen Music - Jim Olsen - News http://jimolsenmusic.com/news.html#11
I do want to thank everyone who has purchased CDs from CDBaby; I appreciate your support and hope that you enjoy the music.

I really do intend to make some changes to these pages, but that will have to wait until a more opportune moment.

Until then, thanks so much!]]> http://jimolsenmusic.com/news.html#11 Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800 the home of Jim Olsen Music - Jim Olsen - News http://jimolsenmusic.com/news.html#10
At any rate, it's time to put the office back in order after 9 months of chaos, as well as do some thinking about new music. It looks like Swing Shift's next project will involve a lot of Basie and Sinatra tunes, so I won't have much writing to do for that show.

That means that I can think about some new directions for my own music. I wrote a piece for soprano sax and piano for our A3 Artist recital at the beginning of the month, and it got me thinking about a longer work for the same combination.

I'm not sure where the music will go, only that it's time to face the piano and compose.

Stay tuned!]]> http://jimolsenmusic.com/news.html#10 Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700 the home of Jim Olsen Music - Jim Olsen - News http://jimolsenmusic.com/news.html#9
As I write this, I'm up to my ears in teaching and working on my Master's in teaching (huh?). I'm still trying to make a little time to compose; I have to come up with something for the A3 faculty artist recital in June and am thinking about writing a piece for sax and pre-recorded sounds. The couple of ideas that I've jotted down sound a little like techno-noise. One of my students told me that it sounded like video game music.

At any rate, there might be some new sounds emerging from the pen before long. Stay tuned!]]> http://jimolsenmusic.com/news.html#9 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700 the home of Jim Olsen Music - Jim Olsen - News http://jimolsenmusic.com/news.html#8
At any rate, check the calendar for details of Swing Shift's April 11th concert. I'll be back as soon with some new arrangements and perhaps news about an upcoming recording project.]]> http://jimolsenmusic.com/news.html#8 Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700 the home of Jim Olsen Music - Jim Olsen - News