Peter Evans, Trumpet...

Peter Evans, Phil Skaller (fellow UCSD Grad Student), Jeff Kaiser: Stone Brewing Company

Trumpet player Peter Evans visited UCSD this week.

I had the pleasure to hang out with this true, multi-faceted virtuoso (who is comfortable in notated and improvisational environments) over the last two days. Turns out that we both not only love the trumpet, but beer as well! After making the pilgrimage that any beer lover wants to make when visiting here (Stone Brewing Company where we tasted different vintages of the Old Guardian Barley Wine, Russian Imperial Stout, and the Vertical Epic Ale-including the red wine casked version), we also took in the Abyss, Idiot IPA (double ipa) and Anderson Valley Oat Stout at the campus pub (Porter's Pub). Lots of time to talk about art, trumpet playing, and, erm, beer. Highlights of the last two days: Peter's duo concert with Anthony Burr, and the chance to play a 20 minute improvised trumpet duo with Peter in front of 70 undergrad students and trumpet legend Ed Harkins (one of my heroes). An exciting couple of days...

Video of the wonderful Ed Harkins and Phil Larson below....

Bobby Fischer, 1943-2008

Bobby Fischer, the greatest chess player of all time, has passed away after a long illness. A true tragedy, he basically went nuts and became an outspoken anti-semitic crazed racist. He died at the age of 64, the same number of squares on a chess board...

Read the BBC obit here.

Read his Wikipedia entry here.

New Quarter...

Well, after one quarter of graduate school I look crazy pretentious like this:



Out sailing off the coast of San Diego with Jim Connolly on his sailboat and he snapped that pic of me while I was manning the tiller...it was a blast, makes me want to get a boat.....

I think that photo is hilarious. Don't worry, I'm still the same guy on the inside, but suit jackets with turtlenecks aren't far behind. Maybe a well-trimmed full beard. And a beret. That photo will be on the cover of my new book "Memoirs of a Dishwasher" and mocked by my pal Kris Tiner for a long time..."Ceci n’est pas une pipe?"

Wonderful first quarter, school was great, but also the non-school stuff. I met George Lewis and heard him lecture...played gigs and presented papers (University of Wisconsin, Madison...presented to the wonderful musician Stephen Dembski's class, also played and presented at ISIM held at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL). AND a wonderful gig in Eugene, OR in December with the killer improviser Sabrina Siegel.

This quarter, in addition to my coursework, I will be playing and presenting in Minneapolis (at the University of Minnesota) as a member of Guerino Mazzola's Quartet with Heinz Geisser and Sirone.

I will also be in Philadelphia and New York performing and recording with my friend David Bartel, a Max/MSP head who plays drumset as well.

Looking forward to it all....