It's Veteran's Day 2012, and like most Veteran's Days that come along, I find myself thinking about my time in the service of my country. Having never had a blog before, I have never written anything for public consumption about those days.

I enlisted in 1989 after an audition with the 312th Army Reserve Band in Lawrence, KS. I was attending Emporia State University at the time. Aside from the opportunity to serve my country, the Army offered student loan repayment and something in the way of a monthly income while I was in school under the G.I. Bill                                                                                                   
One of my fondest memories happened in the first couple of days of basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The drill sergeants were dividing the men up into companies. They directed combat engineers, truck drivers, etc each into their own companies, and I was left standing with two other guys. One of the drills walked up to me and asked me if I "was dense", and why I wasn't in one of the companies. I told him my MOS (military occupational specialty) had not been called yet. "What is your MOS private?", he bellowed. I replied, "I'm an 02 November, Sergeant". "What in God's name is an 02 November?", he yelled. I replied, not quite as loudly, "Piano Player, sergeant!" He turned to the formed up companies, basically an entire battalion, and said "Battalion, say Whooooo Wheeeee", and of course, they did. Needless to say I was embarrassed. Oh, and the other two guys, well, they were both trombone players.

It is interesting to note that musicians are required to attend and graduate from the same basic combat training as infantry, engineers, truck drivers, etc. Needless to say, when I graduated from basic, I was one dangerous pianist, with a whole new subset of skills like shooting the M-16 rifle, the M-60 machine gun, the LAW rocket, as well as all types of hand grenades, claymore mines, even the big .50 caliber machine gun.

My time with the band was short, about 2 years, before I moved on to a Military Intelligence unit. I actually played more double bass than piano. Perhaps my favorite event as a member of the Army band came in October of 1990, when I boarded President/General Eisenhower's staff train in Lawrence, KS and rode it to Abilene, KS to play with the Army Band at the Eisenhower Centennial. That was a once in a lifetime opportunity, to be able to ride on a perfectly kept train from the 1940's. You could cut the nostalgia with a knife, and to think that Ike himself had walked those aisles! Wow!

This Veteran's Day, I'd like to say thank you to all my brothers in arms who have served and are serving their country, and may God bless America!

David James teaches piano and bass lessons at his studio in Wichita, KS .... aptly named the David James Piano and Bass Studio. "Like" his studio page on Facebook, follow him on Twitter, check out his website at www.djpianobass.com.

I was just offering assistance to a youngster who intends to audition as a pianist for a military band, and "needs to learn to read music in six months". I have long maintained that it takes about 5 minutes of one's time to learn to read music. We then spend the rest of our lives getting better at it. Six months is not much time to get proficient enough for such an audition.....having been a piano and bass player in the 312th Army Band in my younger days, and having gone through the process, I know that of which I speak (or blog).

This is not my first experience with musicians who want to "cram" for an audition. As a bass teacher, I've worked with bass students who had little or nothing in the way of piano skills. Little did they know when they started bass way back in the 4th or 5th grade how much they would enjoy the instrument. Now comes college, and the young bassist wants to study bass at university level....a neophyte music major. Guess what one of the main components of completing a music degree happens to be? Piano Proficiency......!  So I am asked to teach them how to play in short order, usually 3-6 months. I do what I can, and usually the outcome is only mildly satisfactory. Quizzing out of the first couple of levels of group piano lessons is usually the best one can hope to achieve.

Can you place your finger on one of those pivotal moments in your life that totally changed the outcome of your existence? One of mine was when I begged my parents for violin lessons, and they insisted that piano lessons would come first. They were not musical people.....we just happened to already have an antique pump organ for me to practice on.  I never did get around to really studying the violin in depth, though I did become an orchestra director. The piano (very simply, without a doubt, no argument about it) is the best instrument that a person can study as they commence their musical journey. All the basics of music are contained in those piano lessons. One may then, with a strong musical foundation, venture into other interesting instruments.

Here in Wichita, budget cuts have put us in a situation where instrumental music classes do not begin until the 6th grade.... a sad state of affairs. Parents, I urge you to expose your kids to music much earlier... I have started piano students as young as 4. Sign those kids up for piano lessons early on!

David James teaches piano and bass lessons at his studio in Wichita, KS .... aptly named the David James Piano and Bass Studio. "Like" his studio page on Facebook, follow him on Twitter, check out his website at www.djpianobass.com.

Play the video, and listen carefully!

Wait. Have you played the video yet? And if you did, were you listening? I mean really listening? If not, go back and absorb it very carefully with your ears. The man at the piano is Bill Evans. This was recorded in 1964 with fellow Bill Evans Trio members Chuck Israels (bass) and Larry Bunker (drums).

I chose this particular tune to hip my readers to Bill because, even though he didn't write the beautiful ballad "My Foolish Heart", I can think of no one who played it with more feeling. I've tried, and I might get some Evans-esque licks in there, but the study of his harmonic sense and his touch are the subject of volumes. So relaxed, so laid back, so romantic, so impressionist...I've always thought that his music sounds like a Monet looks. Introspective, lush, exposing his soul for the world to hear.

Bill died in 1980, at the age of 51....before I really even knew that jazz existed. I first heard him on that classic of all classic jazz albums, "Kind of Blue" with Miles Davis and that all-star roundup of players. I was immediately drawn to that foggy, soft touch. Listening to him, you just know that he truly cares about that approach to pressing a key so as not to be too harsh, yet not too subdued....the perfect middle ground. Watch the video and pay attention to his hands....note that they don't stray far from one another. He really likes the center of the piano and he gets so much feeling and line from hands that seem to hardly move at all. Small subtle moves in the left hand that are getting the chord structure across, while evoking some dissonance (clash amongst pitches)....the right hand stays close and really disciplined, only occasionally throwing down a lick that borders on "busy". His note choice is astounding yet whimsical all at once.

Nerdy, perhaps, to the point of cool. The glasses, the slick hair. Always hunched over at the piano.....a nod to Beethoven? Always surrounded by the best players. As a bassist myself, I've met most of the bassists of Bill Evans....Chuck Israels, Eddie Gomez, and Marc Johnson. If I could travel back in time, I would plant myself at the Village Vanguard on June 25, 1961 listening to Bill, Scott LaFaro (his bassist, who tragically died 10 days later in a car wreck at age 25), and Paul Motian on drums. Far too young to have met Bill, I feel as if I know him through the hours I have spent listening to albums like "Sunday at the Village Vanguard". He's been gone for over 30 years now, but he's there for you to enjoy, too, through a huge discography, YouTube videos, reminiscences of others, etc. Seek out and savor my favorite pianist, Bill Evans.

David James teaches piano and bass lessons at his studio in Wichita, KS .... aptly named the David James Piano and Bass Studio. "Like" his studio page on Facebook, follow him on Twitter, check out his website at www.djpianobass.com.